|
theironjef posted:Is this your first D&D campaign? Yes
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 20:37
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 6, 2024 11:46 |
|
|
I don' t think there is any issue with just going into Strahd at level 5 if you skip Death House. It gets you out of the easily murdered by Night Hags range.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 21:54
|
|
|
D-Pad posted:Yes Figures, you've got all the elements. Attempts at pvp, the "character riding another character" thing, GM's girlfriend playing a very different game. All you're missing is the "PC that's a shape shifting thief." It will seem right now like you shouldn't leave this experience because it seems pretty good, but this is all a bunch of trash and you will do better elsewhere. DTMFA.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 22:10
|
|
|
Hmm thinking about rolling a battlemaster in a DiA game I'm starting tonight. I'm probably going to be the only non squishy melee class judging by preliminary discussions. What's the viability of a Dex based battlemaster? Or should I go strength if I don't particularly care about damage so much as control
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 22:20
|
|
|
I don't think it's been mentioned in here, but Amazon is doing a buy 2, get 1 free sale on a lot of books, dungeons and dragons books included. Related, I'm looking at Xanathar's guide to everything and mordenkainen's tome of foes. Are they worth it, or what else might you recommend?
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 22:20
|
|
|
Dexo posted:Hmm thinking about rolling a battlemaster in a DiA game I'm starting tonight. Glaive/Halberd Battlemaster with Polearm Master and Sentinel, Defense fighting style. Variant Human lets you have it all functional by level 4. Incidentally it's also great at damage, but you're in for the PAM+Reach+Sentinel+Trip maneuver interaction, and Disarming/Goading/Menacing Attack. Also take Precision, which is by far the best maneuver.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 22:26
|
|
|
theironjef posted:"character riding another character"... ...."PC that's a shape shifting thief."
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 22:29
|
|
|
Dexo posted:Hmm thinking about rolling a battlemaster in a DiA game I'm starting tonight. Dex is a hair better than strength for sword-and-board builds, since a rapier has all the damage of a longsword, plus the extra utility of Dex. But if you're playing fighter you really shouldn't be sword-and-boarding in the first place, since they're one of several martial classes that don't have a lot of ways to use their bonus action, which pushes them towards Polearm Master/Crossbow Expert builds, if only for the sake of doing something with their bonus action. So that really leaves you with the choice of a Hand Crossbow dex build, a shield-and-spear strength build, or a halberd strength build. As previously mentioned, Precision is a really good maneuver, and in particular the extra accuracy goes really well with the attack penalty from either Sharpshooter or Great Weapon Master, so if you're set on playing a battlemaster and going into melee, then the best build is to grab both Polearm Master and Great Weapon Master and swing a halberd that benefits from both.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 22:31
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Figures, you've got all the elements. Attempts at pvp, the "character riding another character" thing, GM's girlfriend playing a very different game. All you're missing is the "PC that's a shape shifting thief." It will seem right now like you shouldn't leave this experience because it seems pretty good, but this is all a bunch of trash and you will do better elsewhere. DTMFA. What does DTMFA mean? And worth noting I didn't attempt PvP, I avoided it because wtf, I am just asking because she has already tried to attack me once and if it happens again I won't ignore it and was curious if there was a ruleset for it. What's not cool about a little frogman riding on my back and shooting mans though? I mean is it any more ridiculous than the adamantium nipple rings of alarm my beefcake gladiator has?
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 22:39
|
|
|
D-Pad posted:What does DTMFA mean? There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. I think it's just one of those things you try with your first character. Kudos for trying to resolve it ooc, way too often people try to deal with that poo poo ic. The most likely pushback you'll get ooc is, "but that's what my character would do" to which I usually respond, "have you considered writing a character who isn't an rear end in a top hat".
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 22:52
|
|
|
D-Pad posted:What does DTMFA mean? Dump those morherfuckers already. I think you've got room to grow here but you're in a toxic cruddy beginner game environment. And there's nothing wrong with your grung. It's just an easy stereotype about first time D&D players, they always seem to think that a thing riding a PC is the pinnacle of good ideas. ...also "hilarious" sex trope jokes involving nipples and armor. I don't want you to get the impression that I think your jokes are bad. They're just old and common in first timers. Splicer posted:I'm feeling very attacked right now Raise your hand if you ever told the party you were good but actually had evil written on your sheet. theironjef fucked around with this message at 23:10 on Nov 27, 2019 |
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 23:05
|
|
|
Splicer posted:He left 5e and made that game, and in many ways it's genuinely D&D with vast mechanical improvements. Unfortunately it seems he decided the best way to differentiate it from 5e was to go full poop and guts 13 year old edgelord, which is way better than full sex and racism 16 year old edgelord but still not something I feel comfy handing over to my group. What is this future poopless variant? I've skimmed through SotDL and it seems interesting mechanically, the only problem is, you know, all the edginess and poo.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 23:10
|
|
|
Beast Pussy posted:I don't think it's been mentioned in here, but Amazon is doing a buy 2, get 1 free sale on a lot of books, dungeons and dragons books included. Speaking of sales the new Humble Book Bundle has a bunch of campaigns/adventures for cheap: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/orcus-5e-holiday-horde-books
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 23:11
|
|
|
Dexo posted:Hmm thinking about rolling a battlemaster in a DiA game I'm starting tonight. Sharpshooter longbow battle master has been fun for me so far
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 23:11
|
|
|
change my name posted:Sharpshooter longbow battle master has been fun for me so far If there ends up being another melee besides the rogue(a Paladin hopefully as it's DiA), boy do I want to be able to use something like Commander strike to trigger reaction based sneak attacks.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 23:30
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Dump those morherfuckers already. I think you've got room to grow here but you're in a toxic cruddy beginner game environment. And there's nothing wrong with your grung. It's just an easy stereotype about first time D&D players, they always seem to think that a thing riding a PC is the pinnacle of good ideas. It's obvious low hanging fruit so it doesn't surprise me it is common with new players. I didn't recruit him for that purpose originally though, my character is just a beefcake rear end in a top hat gladiator who was quite famous and used to having servants. He was getting tired of oiling himself before every battle so he tried to strong arm somebody into being his squire first chance he got. Likewise the nipple rings fit his personality as well. The inspiration for this character is the fabulous pillar custodes from 40k: https://if-the-emperor-had-a-texttospeech-device.fandom.com/wiki/The_Fabulous_Custodes
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 23:40
|
|
|
Dexo posted:If there ends up being another melee besides the rogue(a Paladin hopefully as it's DiA), boy do I want to be able to use something like Commander strike to trigger reaction based sneak attacks. getting two sneak attacks in a combat round is pretty much every rogue's wet dream, go for it
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 23:54
|
|
|
"That's what my character would do" is usually pretty handled with "I'm having to break character constantly for you, here's how any of our characters would respond to your antics." I was in a group where my character had vital information for the plotline that was going to be centered around "I'm just playing my character" person, who actively pushed away anyone getting involved with their business. Then the current plotline ended, their plotline was up, and all the other PCs went their separate ways, because we weren't going to force them to take our help. They want to handle it on his own? Fine. They were really surprised, they expected the rest of us to basically force our way into their plot. Anyway, the DM asked if it'd be ok if the players tried to be hirelings or mercenaries for the plot, so it's officially Their Plot, but when we got "well I'm not sure my character would do that", we ended the game and made a new group without them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2019 23:56
|
|
|
One of my first campaigns died because someone played a paladin sworn to some money-grubbing deity and was so obnoxious about his Greed Is Good mantra that he got robbed by a few other people banding together and threw a fit as a result - this was after people vocally complained out of character, too. I don't know why people make intentionally obnoxious characters and just expect everyone else to play nice with their creation.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 00:04
|
|
|
please knock Mom! posted:One of my first campaigns died because someone played a paladin sworn to some money-grubbing deity and was so obnoxious about his Greed Is Good mantra that he got robbed by a few other people banding together and threw a fit as a result - this was after people vocally complained out of character, too. I don't know why people make intentionally obnoxious characters and just expect everyone else to play nice with their creation.  ?
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 00:17
|
|
|
please knock Mom! posted:I don't know why people make intentionally obnoxious characters and just expect everyone else to play nice with their creation. Some people want to be the comedic relief dude from whatever media they've watched or read but don't get that that's a lot easier to pull off when it's a writers' room or whatever that can rein in the character when the plot necessitates it. Those players are usually terrible at that part.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 00:19
|
|
|
I couldn’t come up with a cool quip before people started yelling and throwing things.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 00:21
|
|
|
please knock Mom! posted:One of my first campaigns died because someone played a paladin sworn to some money-grubbing deity and was so obnoxious about his Greed Is Good mantra that he got robbed by a few other people banding together and threw a fit as a result - this was after people vocally complained out of character, too. I don't know why people make intentionally obnoxious characters and just expect everyone else to play nice with their creation. Players just starting out have a tendency to view spotlight time as a hoardable resource, and have a variety of tactics to try and get it. 1. Loners: They don't want your help, but they do want to sneak off at night and have their own long adventure while everyone else has to sit there. See also secret-keepers, who think having some drama written down on their sheet is as good as actually playing the game. 2. Pet collectors: Obviously more characters means more spotlight, so they catch all the wolves and try to recruit anyone that speaks their language. They have a tendency to call NPCs in the party "My NPC." They'll get mad if these things are threatened, because they aren't creatures, they're extensions of the collector's spotlight. 3. Shapeshifters: This way you can get your own spotlight space and also everyone else's because you can just turn into them or people important to them so that you're always there! It also tends to be a big part of the next one, which is 4. Party thieves: Kender, old 2nd edition Gypsy kits, anyone who espouses the sentence "My character doesn't understand personal property." Sure the other players are going to be mad at them, but that's attention! 5. The Joke: When your character is basically one big gag, so you can bask in the glory of having a good idea two months ago. Has become less popular but good lord when I was playing the scene was loving thick with characters that were basically walking boob pairs or worse, playing low int as ... well you know. It takes a game or two to get over that hump and realize that spotlight just sort of goes around naturally and you don't need to trick people into giving it to you. D-Pad posted:The inspiration for this character is the fabulous pillar custodes from 40k: https://if-the-emperor-had-a-texttospeech-device.fandom.com/wiki/The_Fabulous_Custodes Yeah, I played a lame-rear end Rifts character that was basically Vile from Mega Man X when I was 14. I get it. theironjef fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Nov 28, 2019 |
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 00:22
|
|
|
D-Pad posted:What does DTMFA mean? Like every human activity there's good universally relatable rights of passage and bad universally relatable rights of passage. Everyone's had a blast using a smaller character as a projectile and everyone's gotten screwed over by gently caress-based favouritism or the rogue stealing half the loot because "I'm a rogue lol".
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 00:25
|
|
|
Joke Miriam posted:What is this future poopless variant? I've skimmed through SotDL and it seems interesting mechanically, the only problem is, you know, all the edginess and poo. Shadow of the Mad Mage, I believe. I for one am very excited about a 5e replacement that I won't have to give a big, rambling disclaimer about.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 00:34
|
|
|
Joke Miriam posted:What is this future poopless variant? I've skimmed through SotDL and it seems interesting mechanically, the only problem is, you know, all the edginess and poo. e: which makes me a little worried he's badly misunderstood what the problem is and we're going to get a game with no insanity of stress mechanics and a whole lot of "you find a +1 poop of bloodgutsing" Splicer fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Nov 28, 2019 |
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 00:36
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Players just starting out have a tendency to view spotlight time as a hoardable resource, and have a variety of tactics to try and get it. Good post. Note some people never grow out of it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 00:40
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Raise your hand if you ever told the party you were good but actually had evil written on your sheet.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 00:42
|
|
|
People bother writing their alignment down?
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 00:48
|
|
|
Thinking alignment matters is extremely first time playing D&D
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 00:53
|
|
|
Some people also never grow out of it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 01:00
|
|
|
There are things in the game that will change your alignment. To me that implies that the way you play your character ought to change in at least some fashion.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 01:14
|
|
|
Look if this character doesn't write evil on their sheet they can't hold all these soul coins
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 01:44
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Raise your hand if you ever told the party you were good but actually had evil written on your sheet. My second character after 2E came out was a drow cleric of the local campaign's God of Thieves who disguised himself as a high elf cleric of the God of Commerce. In the process of designing the character I ended up having to write a program in Pascal that allowed you to select major and minor cleric domains and print out a complete spell list, so that I could compare the thief god's spell list to all the other deities and find the one with the most overlap. I then carefully took only spells that were available to the type of cleric the PC was pretending to be. This was entirely moot and the campaign mercifully ended while I was only part way toward planning the secret organization this PC was going to found with the objective of seeking out and exposing all the hidden followers of the God of Thieves, which he would then use to protect his friends and root out his enemies within the cult. I was mid-way toward planning the cell structure which would rely upon a secret communication method the PC would be in control of, as well as sketching out the group he wanted to found for followers of the God of Thieves in "response" to the first group when we switched campaigns. Youth is a hell of a drug. whoda thunkit posted:This sounds like a really fun bit of meta gaming that I'd like to see the outline of, or maybe a link back to the old thread if you have the time. All I was able to dig up on the Modron adventure were a few statblocks: the initial foes were "orcs," actually Quadrones wearing orc masks led by a Pentadrone. They also had a "giant" (a Hexton boosted to giant size), the mechanical dragon construct, and the "evil high priest" who had 12 Tridrones dressed up like human skeletons and who had actually summoned a Pit Fiend. I did, however, find sketches of the RP encounters I ran on the first layer of Mount Celestia, a few of which might be of interest. "Solving" the encounters in a Lawful Good way was the only way to proceed to the second layer of the plane. MERCY/COMPASSION The PCs meet a crippled, dying demon on the road. (This should probably be a Glabrezu.) It explains that it has repented and come here to atone for its evil deeds for the rest of eternity, but was crippled by other demons and has just barely managed to reach the plane. Its natural healing is not functioning here. Conventional magical healing will not be enough. It needs the blood of a mortal to survive. Do they provide it with blood, kill it, or leave it on the side of the road? ENLIGHTENMENT The path to paradise is paved with good intentions? A Hound Archon, an elderly mystic Basset Hound named Leroy, will debate paths and philosophy with the PCs. Do they understand what it is to be enlightened, and do they seek it? UNITY A stern-faced Planar (dressed in the armor of the Harmonium) accosts the group. After a brief interrogation, she identifies Chaotic PCs as being recorded law-breakers who are wanted for questioning. Will the PCs split up so that some can achieve their goal, or will they stand by each other? CHARITY The PCs meet a twisted wreck of a white bull, with atrophied limbs. To their surprise, the animal speaks in measured tones. It desires the fruit of a nearby tree, which it cannot reach. The fruit is of fantastic taste, but any living being eating of it who is not entirely pure will be physically twisted and distorted. The bull itself is impure. Where does charity lie–in feeding its addicition, ending its suffering, or trying to cure it? OBEDIENCE A lone Lantern Archon descends upon the group. It has a message–two of the PCs (choose semi-randomly, picking those most active/noisy first) have been commanded not to speak to the next creature or set of creatures the PCs encounter, nor to speak to her companions until that creature departs. The Lantern is merely a messenger and doesn’t know why–it will state its message comes from a Trumpet Archon who delivered that message from a higher power. Can the chosen PCs resist speaking in the next test–especially if their words are vital?
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 01:50
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Players just starting out have a tendency to view spotlight time as a hoardable resource, and have a variety of tactics to try and get it. A lot of these also ultimately come down to trying to force a bit onto the other members of the party, trying to give mechanical weight to stupid jokes, or otherwise trying to set up bits at the direct expense of another player rather than the two players working together to get some jokey banter going between their characters. One player joking that his Rogue was holding onto the Barbarian's coin purse when they're about to go shopping is all in good fun, the party Rogue actually trying to pick the barbarian's pocket and trying to make an actual roll for it is just being an asshat. Also I still stand by the stupid joke character I made when I first got into D&D because it ended up paying off big time at the end of the campaign when my kleptomaniac octopus pirate threw all of the useless junk he'd been hoarding throughout the adventure at a demon and the GM rolled "Target is trapped in a magical warding circle" and "1d10 diamonds erupt from each of the caster's hands" on the random magical backfire chart she'd created just in case.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 05:13
|
|
|
I am playing two characters in different games, both absolutely juvenile on the surface. Don't feel bad, just lean into it and have fun. Lo Wang - aarakokra monk skinned as a wuxia wire-fu - filled with trite fortune cookie sayings (i've got a list) and stories about his revered master and tragic upbringing, it starts with innocuous punching bark off trees and jumping off cliffs to learn to step on the wind, but the stories get increasingly dark and make it clear his master was some sort of evil dungeon lord. Is in extreme denial about this and all his master's faults are explained away as eccentricities and his soverign-citizen-like treatment of visitors to his island. Having ran away to get stronger after his master claimed he trained him wrong as a joke, is determined to go back and elicit even the smallest nod of grudging respect. Personification of stockholm syndrome. He's played as complete comic relief, everything from terrible kill bill references to bad fortune cookie sayings. "Master says..." comments and clearly horrible / over-the-top traumatic stories from his childhood training are pretty much what this character's all about. Richard Manley (dick to his friends) - 2 pally/sorcerer - originally an impressed army cook, after the war he distinguished himself as an absurdly lucky but clearly inept detective who bumbled into solving case after case. The solutions kept getting less subtle until finally he was blatantly granted divine powers in his hour of need by an unknown force. One perp ended up being a highly connected noble's son and he was forced to flee the city after refusing to let the case drop. Convinced the other shoe will drop someday and there will be a price for the divine aid, he travels the world killing and eating every non-human creature he comes across. Is constantly cooking and offering up recently slain foes in odd sauces. Strives to protect his party by being in the front line but astutely avoids any sort of inter-party conflict by dropping a silence spell and walking off to "concentrate" on other things. Wants nothing to do with gods but they seem to want to do with him. Played as an enormously egotistical fighter just living in the moment and loving it, he forced the party wizard to buy him replacement underwear after the first got burned away with a fireball and has every creature he's killed (and subsequently eaten) engraved on his armor. Is unfailingly loyal to the party and is kinda the 'face' but has a bit straightforward "us or them" mentality and handles inter-party conflict by just pretending it isn't happening. Bombastically enthusiastic any time blood is spilled, especially his own. Party members think he might have a little masochism fetish (they aren't wrong) Both these characters get more of their own fair share of face time, but a lot of it is party interaction and conversation, and I created both backstories to specifically fit in with pretty much whatever the party wants to do at any given moment, mostly because I kinda like party cohesiveness and dislike anything that disrupts the coop nature of D&D. Bhodi fucked around with this message at 06:10 on Nov 28, 2019 |
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 06:01
|
|
|
Bhodi posted:I am playing two characters in different games, both absolutely juvenile on the surface. Don't feel bad, just lean into it and have fun. Don't listen to this guy. If you name your character some bullshit racist nonsense, you actually should feel bad.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 06:08
|
|
|
To be slightly fair, I'm pretty sure he's a Shadow Warrior reference. That being said, that's not a good excuse don't do that.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 06:10
|
|
|
look at this guy who never played shadow warrior who is bad and should feel bad we already did the 'D&D is inherently racist' chat a few pages back, let's not rehash it
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 06:11
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 6, 2024 11:46 |
|
|
Bhodi posted:look at this guy who never played shadow warrior who is bad and should feel bad So hold on, you're proud of playing derivative racism? Go off I guess.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 06:13
|
|