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pog boyfriend posted:1) i have a soft spot for low level death traps because thats what i grew up on, but lol Oh yeah, for sure. That's what the taking 20 principle is for, or just have a good DM that doesn't even call for a roll. That kind of goes for granted in my mind. Same thing but with a different skill would be giving the players a book in which they find information that's important. You wouldn't think of having them roll investigation or whatever. You'd just give them the info, unless maybe there's a time factor involved where they have 30 minutes to find the relevant passage or whatever. There's this weird disconnect where some skills (strength and dexterity skills most often) 'feel' like they require a skill check when they often don't. Maybe because computer RPGs often require a check for those? The thing I love about dnd is that as a DM I can do whatever I want, as long as I can fairly justify it. I'm running a home game, not some competitive league or whatever, so gently caress it. If it feels wrong to call for a check or I want to be creative and just mess with things I do, and justify it narratively to make it cool and awesome, or to avoid tedious and nonsensical poo poo.
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Jun 30, 2020 23:06
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Humble Bundle has a bundle of 5e adventures & maps for another 19 hours. Has anyone bought it yet or read other adventures by the authors?
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Jun 30, 2020 23:08
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One of the NPCs I use and am quite fond of is a lich-questgiver who doesn't want to be a lich anymore (gets kind of dull, really, after a few hundred years) but has lost his phylactery and can't die without destroying it first (it's on display in a museum somewhere). Evil at first, but I wouldn't call him evil now.
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Jun 30, 2020 23:19
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Gobbeldygook posted:Humble Bundle has a bundle of 5e adventures & maps for another 19 hours. Has anyone bought it yet or read other adventures by the authors? I find stuff published by Troll Lord / Frog Lord to be annoying to read because their layout and art are basically poo poo. Although Kobold Press is in that bundle too and they're not too bad. If you want 5e stuff from a fully developed world/campaign with much better production values, I'd spend your money on a few months of DMDave's patreon instead of that humble bundle. That guy absolutely shits out content and most of it is quite good
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Jun 30, 2020 23:30
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Yeah, gotta concur with that. Frog God stuff is pretty meh, Kobold Press stuff is usually at least decent. (Tales of Old Margreve being their one top-line product in this bundle.) There's also Barrowmaze, which is a big-rear end well-received old school megadungeon.
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Jun 30, 2020 23:42
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It'd be good for the Kobold Press zine stuff, Old Margrave, the maps. I don't hate Troll Lord stuff but god the layout can be tedious to read.
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Jul 1, 2020 00:46
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Some paladin highlights from last session: - Got involved in an argument between two soldier dudes who were having "locker room talk" about someone and intervened cuz Heroes Respect Everyone. One of the soldiers threatened my paladin by saying "who's gonna pick you up when you're on your rear end?" After passing some skill checks with the party and knocking him back, I was able to say, "THAT'S my help, where's yours?" DM gave me Inspiration for that quip - During combat, I was starting to get low (below half HP against a boss with multi attacks) and decided go gamble with a big attack instead of using Lay on Hands to heal up. Wound up using Thunderous Smite and critting so just got to deal insane damage and got lucky enough that 2 of the 3 attacks the boss rolled missed me so the group was able to take him down during the rest of the round without any of them eating more damage. Finished the combat with 6HP remaining I love playing tank characters
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Jul 2, 2020 01:35
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change my name posted:Exactly, necromancy doesn’t have to be evil, all clerics get access to a bunch of “make some skeletons dance around” spells. It’s easy to rationalize as just animating some debris in the service of a greater good. Yeah, when you know that souls are verifiably separable from bodies then creating non-sapient undead is just like, recycling.
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Jul 2, 2020 02:22
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Skypie posted:Some paladin highlights from last session: i love paladin. this is great content
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Jul 2, 2020 03:47
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Paladin Content: Was going to have an NPC Paladin investigating vampires and other undead nastiness link up with the part while they had their airship repaired, but instead they completely ignored the sound of him and his squire fighting off a band of gnolls, instead just kinda haggling about airship repairs, going back inside the literal vampire nightclub to get drinks, and watching idly as women and children were trafficked into the feed pits.  Paladin. The Gnoll chief sold your armor and fed your corpse to his pack. I'm not a huge fan of DMs just changing player alignments on the sly, but come on....
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Jul 2, 2020 03:55
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I'd been teasing a crisis of faith with my Paladin before realizing that Oathbreaker is an absolutely terrible thing to be in Curse of Strahd. I guess we're gonna come out okay.
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Jul 2, 2020 17:02
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What happens if you're an evil/neutral paladin who breaks their oath to turn good? Do you still get all of the nasty oathbreaker stuff considering the requirement is being evil?
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Jul 2, 2020 17:11
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change my name posted:What happens if you're an evil/neutral paladin who breaks their oath to turn good? Do you still get all of the nasty oathbreaker stuff considering the requirement is being evil? as a DM if my player was alright with it i would keep the same abilities but reflavour them to be rainbows and sunshine and etc as that sounds hilarious to me
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Jul 2, 2020 17:17
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A culture where necromancy is specifically treated as an honoured fate for the worthy dead would be pretty cool. Like, the mightiest warriors get forged into bone-golems to protect their country for eternity, for instance.
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Jul 2, 2020 17:44
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Darth Walrus posted:A culture where necromancy is specifically treated as an honoured fate for the worthy dead would be pretty cool. Like, the mightiest warriors get forged into bone-golems to protect their country for eternity, for instance. Sounds kinda like 40K. Don't they take soldiers who are severely/mortally wounded and just entomb their organs in a walking death machine?
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Jul 2, 2020 17:49
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Pussy Quipped posted:Sounds kinda like 40K. Don't they take soldiers who are severely/mortally wounded and just entomb their organs in a walking death machine? Yup, although they're also not a great example because the Imperium is a dysfunctional fascist nightmare.
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Jul 2, 2020 17:51
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Darth Walrus posted:A culture where necromancy is specifically treated as an honoured fate for the worthy dead would be pretty cool. Like, the mightiest warriors get forged into bone-golems to protect their country for eternity, for instance. You could tweak Karrnath in Eberron to be this. As it is, they're more like extreme recycler necromancers, but this is a pretty cool take on the concept. In fact, I might do just that...
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Jul 2, 2020 17:55
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Darth Walrus posted:A culture where necromancy is specifically treated as an honoured fate for the worthy dead would be pretty cool. Like, the mightiest warriors get forged into bone-golems to protect their country for eternity, for instance. Stealing this for the orc country in my game
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Jul 2, 2020 18:08
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Arcsech posted:You could tweak Karrnath in Eberron to be this. As it is, they're more like extreme recycler necromancers, but this is a pretty cool take on the concept. Literally the Undyimg Court in Eberron are a ruling body of undead elves sustained through ancestor worship.
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Jul 2, 2020 18:12
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Darth Walrus posted:A culture where necromancy is specifically treated as an honoured fate for the worthy dead would be pretty cool. Like, the mightiest warriors get forged into bone-golems to protect their country for eternity, for instance. I have something like this, a small kingdom where every member of the royal dynasty that dies is brought back and they just kind of shamble around in a big ceremonial palace getting fed chum once in awhile and being guarded by reanimated palace guard skeletons. I don't think my players will ever find a reason to go there in the near future but I like knowing it's around.
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Jul 2, 2020 19:21
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mango sentinel posted:Literally the Undyimg Court in Eberron are a ruling body of undead elves sustained through ancestor worship. More Karrnath's flavor. Soldiers volunteer for eternal duty as wights while alive
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Jul 2, 2020 20:00
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I forget the specific lore but didn't Morrowind have special necromancy practices? Like it was totally cool to summon the ghosts of your ancestors or something?
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Jul 2, 2020 20:13
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Darth Walrus posted:A culture where necromancy is specifically treated as an honoured fate for the worthy dead would be pretty cool. Like, the mightiest warriors get forged into bone-golems to protect their country for eternity, for instance. Does 5e not cover baelnorns and kiira for the FR, then? Because that’s what happens to a lot of elven heroes in FR.
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Jul 2, 2020 20:13
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Of course, you could also apply that more generally. Imagine a society where necromancy is used as a form of automation for every job that can be automated. Mortal citizens live in comfort and luxury, but are encouraged to dedicate their lives to certain arts and crafts so that their bodies will inherit their skills and ease the lives of their descendants for generations to come. Each animated corpse is engraved with the name of the one who provided it, and scrimshawed with their heroic feats during life in order to encourage others to dedicate themselves to their community in the same way.
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Jul 2, 2020 20:24
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It's all gonna depend on whether necromancy requires you to force the soul (or a soul) into the corpse to make it rise into undeath. This will vary hard between settings.
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Jul 2, 2020 21:52
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This sounds like a big nation of my homebrew. Necromancy is a normal part of the society, but there are pretty hard rules about it. 1. Only willing people are turned into undead. If you go and resurrect corpses without their permission while alive it’s a huge no no. Temples employ grave clerics and death monks to hunt down and take out unlawful undead. 2. When you agree to undeath you do it as a contract. You sign an agreement that when you die your body will be used for a specific purpose. The money will go to the people you specify. Many soldiers sign up to make sure their families are taken care of. If there is no one to collect the pay it goes into a fund to help the poor. 3. Children are never resurrected. Same as for loved ones. You don’t have a spouse or sibling resurrected to spend more time with. It worked pretty well and super weirded out my school group when they came across a farm that was being run by both undead and living out in the fields. Nash fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Jul 2, 2020 |
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Jul 2, 2020 22:57
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^^^ This is very Planescape, I love it. Glagha posted:I forget the specific lore but didn't Morrowind have special necromancy practices? Like it was totally cool to summon the ghosts of your ancestors or something? Dunmer could summon ancestral ghosts, yeah. Individual graves/shrines were guarded with spirit barriers back in the day, but by the time of the game everybodies bones were relocated to the Ghost Fence to make a giant magic forcefield to keep Dagoth Ur's Blight contained 
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Jul 2, 2020 23:41
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Nash posted:This sounds like a big nation of my homebrew. A lot of really good stuff here. Although I can see where corruption would easily slip in, particularly in regards to paying people to use their body in death. There's also the question of how you can even tell the undead was created with permission.
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Jul 2, 2020 23:57
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Arthil posted:There's also the question of how you can even tell the undead was created with permission. I’d go with monitoring capable practitioners and extensive use of geas
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Jul 3, 2020 00:03
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The MTG book should totally have an Orzhov bit on this because making debtors into undead minions until the debt is paid off is totally their thing
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Jul 3, 2020 00:16
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How Wonderful! posted:I have something like this, a small kingdom where every member of the royal dynasty that dies is brought back and they just kind of shamble around in a big ceremonial palace getting fed chum once in awhile and being guarded by reanimated palace guard skeletons. I don't think my players will ever find a reason to go there in the near future but I like knowing it's around. I believe I remember reading years ago that in the Incan Empire the emperors, being gods, were thought never to have truly died, so each new Sapa Inca was expected to build a new palace, seeing as his predecessor was obviously still spiritually alive and therefore still owned his home. This continuing ownership extended to servants and family (save the one who inherited rule), who would all continue to carry out festivals and religious observances in the previous Sapa Inca's palace just like they did when he was still alive. The children of the Sapa Inca who didn't get the honour of becoming the new ruler would thus inherit the wealth of the previous monarch, freeing the new ruler from the responsibility of having to support a massive family, and in principle each new monarch would not be able to rest on the laurels of inherited wealth and would be obliged to ensure the prosperity of the Empire (read: conquering new lands) since he'd be building his own wealth from scratch each generation. You could imagine a fantasy kingdom where the various noble houses of the realm were each headed by a mummy lord created from a previous king.
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Jul 3, 2020 09:59
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I'm playing a valor bard whose form of entertainment is pro wrestling, and I'm about to hit level 10 in our Descent into Avernus campaign. I'm looking for some fun options for Magical Secrets, definitely emphasizing "is this fun and awesome" over "is this optimal". One of the slots is going to Steel Wind Strike, since a big flashy anime attack is very on-brand, but I don't know what to do for my other spell. Usually I'd pick Find Greater Steed, but it seems a little neutered by our access to C.A.R.s. Any other suggestions?
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Jul 4, 2020 04:13
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I'm gonna give 5e credit for one thing one actual good piece of FR writing I like its take on the shadar-kai better than how they tried to fit them in in 4e putting them back in the plane of shadow/shadowfell as cursed fey works a lot better than "failed shade eugenics project" (and fits a lot better with their appearances in 3e)
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Jul 4, 2020 04:44
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VikingofRock posted:I'm playing a valor bard whose form of entertainment is pro wrestling, and I'm about to hit level 10 in our Descent into Avernus campaign. I'm looking for some fun options for Magical Secrets, definitely emphasizing "is this fun and awesome" over "is this optimal". One of the slots is going to Steel Wind Strike, since a big flashy anime attack is very on-brand, but I don't know what to do for my other spell. Usually I'd pick Find Greater Steed, but it seems a little neutered by our access to C.A.R.s. Any other suggestions? Find greater stead would still make for a grand entry. Especially something like a Pegasus. Make sure you give it barding covered in rhinestones.
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Jul 4, 2020 04:46
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VikingofRock posted:I'm playing a valor bard whose form of entertainment is pro wrestling, and I'm about to hit level 10 in our Descent into Avernus campaign. I'm looking for some fun options for Magical Secrets, definitely emphasizing "is this fun and awesome" over "is this optimal". One of the slots is going to Steel Wind Strike, since a big flashy anime attack is very on-brand, but I don't know what to do for my other spell. Usually I'd pick Find Greater Steed, but it seems a little neutered by our access to C.A.R.s. Any other suggestions? Wall of Light, except instead of a standard wall of light, it's a giant projection screen that shows off your intro video.
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Jul 4, 2020 04:54
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We're starting up a (most likely) Strahd game soon and I'm going to roll up a bard. I was thinking either eloquence or whispers, but are there a lot of chances for social interaction/RPing in the module that I'd actually get to use my skills on?
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Jul 4, 2020 05:00
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change my name posted:We're starting up a (most likely) Strahd game soon and I'm going to roll up a bard. I was thinking either eloquence or whispers, but are there a lot of chances for social interaction/RPing in the module that I'd actually get to use my skills on? Yes there are a lot of NPCs scattered all over that you and the rest of your party can interact with. As long as your party aren't complete murder hobos and can buy in to NPCs then you should get a chance. Also depends on how well your DM uses the NPCs but still I think you should be okay.
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Jul 4, 2020 05:14
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VikingofRock posted:I'm playing a valor bard whose form of entertainment is pro wrestling, and I'm about to hit level 10 in our Descent into Avernus campaign. I'm looking for some fun options for Magical Secrets, definitely emphasizing "is this fun and awesome" over "is this optimal". One of the slots is going to Steel Wind Strike, since a big flashy anime attack is very on-brand, but I don't know what to do for my other spell. Usually I'd pick Find Greater Steed, but it seems a little neutered by our access to C.A.R.s. Any other suggestions? You could flavour Destructive Wave a whole bunch of ways to give it a pro wrestling vibe (e.g. shouting your catchphrase real loud)
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Jul 4, 2020 05:15
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Anyone have any good advice on DM organizers? I'm losing my mind with my notes spread out across several places for this semi-homebrew game and am going to use the holiday weekend to get them in order. I'm all over google docs right now and am trying out Scrivner on the advice of a friend. I did try to set up a wiki once for a campaign, but quickly forgot about it and it was more to provide players with info anyway.
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Jul 4, 2020 05:22
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Bingo Bango posted:Anyone have any good advice on DM organizers? I'm losing my mind with my notes spread out across several places for this semi-homebrew game and am going to use the holiday weekend to get them in order. I'm all over google docs right now and am trying out Scrivner on the advice of a friend. I did try to set up a wiki once for a campaign, but quickly forgot about it and it was more to provide players with info anyway. I use Scrivener too. Ultimately it’s a bunch of files organized in a hierarchy you set; doing the tutorial is a good idea because it’ll show you how the features work and help you figure out what’s useful for your game prep. A couple suggestions: -using one of the project templates isn’t a bad idea. I usually use the novel one, it’ll give you some basic structure and also give you a couple item templates for characters and places that are nice. -if you’re more of a visual thinker try Scapple too, that way you can mind map stuff and import it directly into Scrivener to detail the actual nodes. If you want something more freeform than Scrivener but still digital and a bit organized, most people go for OneNote at that point.
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Jul 4, 2020 05:36
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