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Aren't you a little light for a storm trooper? Edit: what a crappy snipe. The party I'm GMing for is headed toward a campfire they can see in the valley between White Plume Mountain and mount Hotenow. They've just had a very long day where they cleared the entire umbral vault (a busy 5 room dungeon) before clearing the entire central passage of White Plume Mountain (2 combats, 1 boss fight, and an additional combat due to random encounter mechanics). They brutally murdered two people in their mountain home to try and find somewhere in the mountain to safely barricade themselves. Keraptis, the evil Wizard who has been watching and telepathically congratulating the party on their achievements, didn't want them to sleep on the floor. He summoned a magnificent mansion in their sleeping area and offered them lodgings. The party freaked out about this doorway that was summoned in their sleeping chamber and they wasted no time in fleeing the mountain. They can see the tents at the campsite are waving banners: the Harpers harp, and flags of various gods including Selune and Bahamut. They have already met two of the characters here: Maarin, a dwarf paladin of Bahamut who has mellowed, she is an old friend of our divine sorcerer acolyte, and she likes the party because they're getting poo poo done. Merendaer, a high elf mage and priestess of Selune who is a softly spoken and inoffensive person who tries to find gentle ways to air her concerns about a wayward group of adventurers barging in to the scenario. These Harpers are concerned about the evil they could sense coming from the mountain, and decided to set up the camp as a watching post. They are far behind the party on information about who Keraptis is, but they have resources to bring into bear: the wizard can communicate with Harper contacts and can teleport. The paladin is from Gauntlgyrm, a subterranean dwarven keep beneath mount Hotenow. Her people have this proud tradition of forging a specific weapon to deal with each specific threat. She would be honoured if the party would wield such a thing, as she believes they will be the ones to fell the wizard. She just needs to know what exactly they need to make. There's a few other ideas for people to bring in: A friendly pixie from the forest that is yards away from the campsite, who only our druid can see/hear. A Harper who withdraws from the group and always shies away into his own tent because he's been in arguments with Merendaer over the fact that Merendaer doesn't actually do any of the campsite chores: when it comes to her chores on the rota, she casts unseen servant and gets to relax while her magic does the chores for her. Merendaer argues she has completed every task assigned to her by the rota, but this guy doesn't think it's fair that she gets to sit around all day. Azza Bamboo fucked around with this message at 07:33 on Oct 19, 2020 |
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Oct 19, 2020 06:40
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The lengths that people will go to in order to hack DnD into being WFRP instead of just playing WFRP never ceases to amaze.
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Oct 19, 2020 11:37
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I have the books for Deathwatch and Inquisitor. It's not WFRP but I'm told the fantasy flight people basically did the same thing for that. I'm never running those games. They just look like such rear end to actually GM what with the bajillion random tables you have to reference. I can totally get people hacking 5e, because even if people are making random tables or other bullshit, it's their random tables and bullshit. It's much easier to navigate a maze you built yourself.
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Oct 19, 2020 11:51
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Isaacs Alter Ego posted:As for my character dying...Honestly, that doesn't bother me as much as the idea of them becoming permanently blinded/delimbed/horribly disfigured etc.? If it were a straight meatgrinder where we were just up against monsters out of our league, I could deal, but the idea of getting stuck as a paladin with permanent disadvantage on charisma checks and attacks, with only one arm and one leg is not really something I'm up for. I'd rather just roll a new character every session than have to deal with mounting permanent negatives. Since this issue seems to be a sticking point (which I certainly understand) maybe select a race that incorporates body modification as a core concept, like a Warforged or a Simic Hybrid? That way you'd have some more narrative agency about it built into the character.
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Oct 19, 2020 11:57
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Baku posted:Absolutely baffling take imo. The 5E healing rules are insanely weird, as has been repeatedly discussed in this thread, producing bizarre situations from a narrative perspective and a kind of weird minmaxing in which everyone who has the opportunity to take the level 1 spell Healing Word always should (and never, ever take any other numerical heal basically). A DM not wanting to "shoulder the guilt" of having killed a PC randomly in combat is sane and normal; most people would rather their character have a -2 to Int checks for a session than have their head caved in by a mace because someone rolled bad/good. Having enemies beeline for downed foes, aware they must strike them a couple of more times to Ensure a Kill, even when live opponents continue to threaten them, also produces bizarre narrative situations and mechanical choices on the part of enemies. I admit I was being hyperbolic, but I stand by the position. If most lingering injury tables just had things like "-2 on INT checks" that would be fine, but so far as I can tell the general sentiment among those who want injury tables is that the table in the DMG is too lenient (which includes things like "lose an arm", mind you, have fun with that if you're a two-handed or two weapon fighter), and almost every lingering injury table I've ever seen bandied about has some truly atrocious outcomes that, if you're not able to get them healed immediately, are practically like killing your character and forcing you to play as their ghost for several sessions. At least if the character dies, you can have the player roll up a new character temporarily for a few sessions until you can get back to wherever you'd need to be for Raise Dead. And it's not uncommon for these tables to specify that the Regeneration spell is necessary to heal the worst injuries, which means it's literally harder to recover from than actually being dead. My point about shouldering guilt isn't that you shouldn't feel bad if a player dies in combat, but that presumably the reason you'd feel bad is because you don't want to be responsible for ruining someone else's fun. If you implement a lingering injury table into your game, you're increasing the chance of ruining someone else's fun, not reducing it. But because it's the dice's fault someone rolled "cracked skull" and now has to pass a DC17 Con check any time they want to take an action, it's easier to forget that it was the DM who put in this house-ruled injury table in the game. If you would feel bad about killing players, you should feel bad about blowing off their limbs or collapsing their lungs too. Like, if your players are leaning hard into min-maxed play with everyone picking up healing word and nobody ever throwing out heals unless someone hits 0, I really do think as a DM you ought to be willing to step up to their level, or have a conversation about the sort of game you want to run vs the one they're wanting to play. It's not like this is all or nothing, you don't have to beeline to every downed PC, just stop pulling the punches, especially if the PCs clearly aren't interested in pulling theirs. Zombies fall upon a downed PC ignoring other threats in their mindless hunger. A rabid wolf lunges at a players neck as they fall to the ground, acting on instinct to finish off a foe. A human NPC downs a PC with their axe, then follows up by slamming it down into them. Generally it's not unreasonable to have attackers confirm kills. It's harsh, potentially too harsh if everyone just wants to tell a fun story together, but players can get away with letting people drop to 0 and never use a heal other than Healing Word only when they know they're in no danger at 0. I'm not saying you have to do this as a DM. If you want a chill game where the players are at low risk of death, pull your punches, have enemies ignored downed PCs. If you want a very narratively consistent game, maybe talk to your players about not having them all take healing word and always waiting until someone hits 0 (or alternatively, reflavour reaching 0 as the PC reeling from a serious blow, so they're concussed or something and unable to act unless healed so the up-down healing is less egregious to your narrative). What I don't think you should do in either of these cases is use an injury table, because being injured isn't very chill, and if it's not narratively consistent for your players to just go get regenerate cast for them this session you could be seriously affecting someone's enjoyment for several sessions. But if what you and your players want is a game where dropping to 0 has real consequences and you want to discourage players from letting their PCs drop to 0 in the first place, the game already has a mechanism for that: attacking downed PCs.
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Oct 19, 2020 12:07
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For what it's worth one of the most fun campaigns I had was with a pretty brutal DM that wasn't afraid to kill and was really good for setting unforgiving and scary tone. It ended up with my Halfling wizard being the only one left alive from original party with severe PTSD and lost eye and it was a very fun RP in the end. On the other hand it was in narrative where I worked with said DM together to incorporate all of that into the story instead of a weird table. That said it looks like that is just not the style of play that OP enjoys in which case sit out. I would recommend to try it though. Since the DM is a friend I'm sure he will work with you in making injuries work for you on case by case basis and if it won't work out drop later. Also your group should check out some other systems for that kind of play since mechanically DnD really doesn't support it and that long wall of janky houserules proves it. We had fun despite the system and by using mostly narrative tools rather than mechanics. ugusername fucked around with this message at 12:18 on Oct 19, 2020 |
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Oct 19, 2020 12:13
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I solved the healing word problem by never casting it because i need that spell slot to give myself more AC. Downed party members get the medicine skill, unless things are real bad. God, limited use things over a time period longer than a single battle break my brain.
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Oct 19, 2020 12:20
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ugusername posted:For what it's worth one of the most fun campaigns I had was with a pretty brutal DM that wasn't afraid to kill and was really good for setting unforgiving and scary tone. It ended up with my Halfling wizard being the only one left alive from original party with severe PTSD and lost eye and it was a very fun RP in the end. On the other hand it was in narrative where I worked with said DM together to incorporate all of that into the story instead of a weird table. That said it looks like that is just not the style of play that OP enjoys in which case sit out. I would recommend to try it though. Since the DM is a friend I'm sure he will work with you in making injuries work for you on case by case basis and if it won't work out drop later. i agree with all this. i think 90% of problems people have in this thread with their games could be solved by better communication at the table and a better understanding (on the part of the dm and the pcs) of what kind of game everyone wants to have
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Oct 19, 2020 12:58
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theironjef posted:Look Star Wars had a number of scenes that famously hinged on the exact weight of several of the characters, and not a single Star Wars film has ever been made worse by the presence of an 11 year old so I don't know what you have to worry about here. 
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Oct 19, 2020 14:08
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Isaacs Alter Ego posted:A friend of mine really wants to play warhammer fantasy roleplay but is running D&D 5e for some reason Froghammer posted:The lengths that people will go to in order to hack DnD into being WFRP instead of just playing WFRP never ceases to amaze.
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Oct 19, 2020 14:23
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If people aren't rolling for HP at new levels, do people just get the HP listed under the class? Just the set amount every level? I've been letting players roll, with a single re-roll if they don't like the result. They have to keep the second roll though. They do get to re-roll 1s in either case.
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Oct 19, 2020 14:52
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Funzo posted:If people aren't rolling for HP at new levels, do people just get the HP listed under the class? Just the set amount every level? I've been letting players roll, with a single re-roll if they don't like the result. They have to keep the second roll though. They do get to re-roll 1s in either case. D&d beyond defaults to giving the average roll at each level 3xcept max at first.. It's a good rule because otherwise you can get a fighter who rolls all 1's for hp and welp
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Oct 19, 2020 14:56
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Funzo posted:If people aren't rolling for HP at new levels, do people just get the HP listed under the class? Just the set amount every level? I've been letting players roll, with a single re-roll if they don't like the result. They have to keep the second roll though. They do get to re-roll 1s in either case. Straight from the PHB: 
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Oct 19, 2020 14:59
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We do max HP for first 3 levels, then roll replacing 1s every level after. Obviously the DM has to crank up the difficulty a bit to compensate but it's nice not having every other attack/spell be a potential one-shot at lower levels.
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Oct 19, 2020 15:03
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The GM for the game I currently play in auto-maxes HP at level up too, but for every level, and that's probably the best way to do it. I think I saw that or something similar floated in this thread before, or maybe the previous iteration. Failing that as a really sensible and cool house rule, taking average works fine. When running, I normally do that too but also tack on adding Con score at 1st level only to prevent that being needlessly lethal (and then also start at 3rd level anyway  ). That part I definitely got from this thread, and it helps a ton.
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Oct 19, 2020 15:06
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Funzo posted:If people aren't rolling for HP at new levels, do people just get the HP listed under the class? Just the set amount every level? I've been letting players roll, with a single re-roll if they don't like the result. They have to keep the second roll though. They do get to re-roll 1s in either case. Yeah I just have everyone use the fixed average in the PHB since it resolves any problems related to random stats. It's a simple solution, and I much prefer it. If people really want randomization during character creation, have them all roll on a magical item table and see who gets the legendary item - I guarantee it'll be more memorable than "that guy who had extra HP". Thread Game: You have the first item on this list, what is it and how did you get it? https://donjon.bin.sh/5e/random/#type=magic_item I rolled the Hammer of Thunderbolts, which my warrior father wielded during his soldiering days - when the Giant Wars began again I secretly took it from his shrine to carry in his stead. I'll have a man made out of me! Now I just need to find a Belt of Giant Strength and Gauntlets of Ogre Power in order to unlock my hammer's true potential. My next attempt I rolled a set of +1 ammunition. I assume that it "fell off the back of a wagon" into my rucksack along with some dirty cabbages. Looking forward to some rags to riches roleplaying! Kaal fucked around with this message at 15:49 on Oct 19, 2020 |
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Oct 19, 2020 15:11
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Nothing says "RP potential" like a tank fighter with less HP than your average wizard.
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Oct 19, 2020 15:18
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Toshimo posted:Straight from the PHB: I knew the rule was there, I just didn't know if that's what most people used.
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Oct 19, 2020 15:45
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theironjef posted:Suit yourself but he asked and that is a loving lot of writing on the wall. I mean how much obvious bullshit you wanna wade through to play a game just because a friend is running it? If I get invited to Monopoly night but the host has rewritten the game to be about libertarianism and bitcoin I'm ... I'm gonna say no to that friend. Houseruled Monopoly about libertarianism and bitcoin might own (or at least be less bad than monopoly) ... if the writer remembered that The Landlord's Game was a critique of monopolies and capitalism in general. You can do most things well, but you need to know what you're doing. And all the secrecy unless in a game where secrecy is a key mechanic (because PvP) is a huge red flag - communication good and it actively gets in the way. Also there are games with injury rules and they are good - but the D&D rules aren't. What injury rules are good at is not getting rolled but making you want to avoid combat and want to fight from ambush if you have to fight at all. They work really badly with 5e's Bullet Sponge enemy design that inherently nerfs ambushes. Even Fate has more long term consequences from combat than any edition of D&D Or to sum up huge red flags.
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Oct 19, 2020 15:59
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There's no worse feeling in the game that'll sour you for multiple sessions than rolling a 1 for HP on level up. From another DM, I go with "if you roll below the average on HP just take the average in favour of the player instead." So roll 1 on a D10? That 1 becomes a 6. Blooming Brilliant fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Oct 19, 2020 |
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Oct 19, 2020 16:06
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This works out to basically average anyway and is probably more effort than it's worth but I wanna steal what I believe The Dark Spire did on 3ds which was reroll all your hp every level and only change your total when it increases. So you might get a low level but next level you'll probably go up a bunch, or you could roll really high then might kinda plateau for a while. Gave you that random HP gambling feeling while still evening it out so you wouldn't fall behind.
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Oct 19, 2020 16:13
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Blooming Brilliant posted:There's no worse feeling in the game that'll sour you for multiple sessions than rolling a 1 for HP on level up. yeah rolling for something as essential as hp game-ifys things in a bad way and reminds me of save scumming in fire emblem my friend was playing an eldritch knight with low con and managed to roll so badly that he (as a fighter) had something like 90 hp as a fighter at level 15 which is just... brutal
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Oct 19, 2020 16:14
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Declan MacManus posted:yeah rolling for something as essential as hp game-ifys things in a bad way and reminds me of save scumming in fire emblem Fighters have a 6 in the "just take this instead of rolling" slot, right? Assuming starting max hp that's 4 under average.
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Oct 19, 2020 16:25
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theironjef posted:Fighters have a 6 in the "just take this instead of rolling" slot, right? Assuming starting max hp that's 4 under average. Assuming you have at least a +2 CON, it's like 30 below average.
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Oct 19, 2020 16:29
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Glagha posted:This works out to basically average anyway and is probably more effort than it's worth but I wanna steal what I believe The Dark Spire did on 3ds which was reroll all your hp every level and only change your total when it increases. So you might get a low level but next level you'll probably go up a bunch, or you could roll really high then might kinda plateau for a while. Gave you that random HP gambling feeling while still evening it out so you wouldn't fall behind. I like this a lot. It sounds like a really fun way incorporate random health increases, without upsetting the game's balance too much. You get the exciting benefit of occasionally being ahead of the curve, without the risk of potentially making a fragile or weak character over the course of a campaign. It'd also make bookkeeping easy if you give players extra HP for levels 1-3.
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Oct 19, 2020 16:44
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No Safe Word posted:Assuming you have at least a +2 CON, it's like 30 below average. Weird thing to assume about a fighter with a low CON, as mentioned in the original anecdote. The character way below average for tuned fighters, but right on target for his own crappy self.
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Oct 19, 2020 16:45
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theironjef posted:Weird thing to assume about a fighter with a low CON, as mentioned in the original anecdote. The character way below average for tuned fighters, but right on target for his own crappy self. +2 is pretty low for a fighter at level 15, and even with a +1 CON 90 HP would still be 15 below average (ie, about 15% below average) Yes if they happen to have a literal +0 CON mod then 90 HP shouldn't be considered that low for them, but I imagine if it were average they wouldn't be posting the anecdote about how low rolls screwed them 
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Oct 19, 2020 16:49
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theironjef posted:Fighters have a 6 in the "just take this instead of rolling" slot, right? Assuming starting max hp that's 4 under average.
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Oct 19, 2020 16:51
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Eldritch knight so I'm assuming they sacrificed con for int. Worst case reasonable scenario we're looking at the 15 and 14 into int and str/dex, leaving 13 for con, with con presumably getting rounded up at some point. Maybe 12 con if they put the 13 into wis. That said, the actual average on a d10 is 5.5, not 6. So 90 at con 10 is actually 3 above average for rolling, at 12 it's only 12 below etc. If stats were also rolled all bets are off though Splicer fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Oct 19, 2020 |
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Oct 19, 2020 17:07
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Okay this is a mess to read, but it's my mess, and it's the product of my combined research and homebrewing for a scenario in the Sword Coast North that I'm using just as some background noise because I like to make it seem like there's a wider world than just what the adventurers are touching.  Key  The two major players here are the Lords Alliance and a thing I imagined as the endpoint of the Dwarfholds, called the Dwarven Crowns. The Lords Alliance After a cataclysmic event left the sword coast worse for wear (In our case it's the giants tearing everything up in Storm Kings Thunder, which we finished in a previous campaign) people grew discontented with the Lords Alliance as an institution. The nations promised to defend one another, but their response proved sluggish, inadequate and completely chaotic. If it were not for that plucky band of roughly 5 level 11 adventurers, the sword coast may have been ruined. While the people are thankful to those old heroes, it was humiliating for the Lords Alliance. Their inadequacies were laid bare: their slow bureaucracy and even slower diplomatic process combined with member self interest ultimately became a failure to protect its peoples. Worse yet, it was a failure to protect their own financial interests. With the cataclysm over, and the alliance's nations straining from the human and material cost of this unexpected event, there's now two problems: Mass unemployment and a glut of people who became battle hardened in the cataclysm with nowhere to apply themselves in the peace that followed. Fear is mounting over the increasing threat of violent crime, banditry and piracy that has resulted from this perfect storm. One Man, Admiral Telleson, is using this set of political circumstances as an opportunity. He has amassed willing warriors and seafarers on a project of positivity which he says will "end the pirate scourge!" This charismatic leader speaks ill of the Lords Alliance, calling for reform, pressing the importance of "getting things done, for a change!" His attitudes have proven popular with ordinary people. He's giving people honest work and he's working to allay peoples largest fears. What's not to like? Admiral Telleson intends to invade Luskan, bringing it under the control of a loyal relative of his, taking the pirate vessels for his own while expanding the Lords Alliance. He's aware that Luskan is defended by fireball casting mages who hide away in their tower, and he has a plan to defeat them. He plans to outrange them and to fell their tower with this newly acquired foreign technology: the cannon. The Dwarven Crowns Citadel Adbar, Citadel Felbar and Sundabar have formed a confederacy over their shared distaste for the Lords Alliance. In particular, they despise Silverymoon. Other Dwarfholds are watching with a curious eye as to whether their kin have started something worth joining. Unbeknownst to the Lords Alliance, Luskan is the port of the Dwarven Crowns. The surface rivers flow to Waterdeep, where blockades enforce harsh tolls against foreign vessels travelling through, so the Dwarves don't take the surface waterways. Subterranean waterways, however, connect the Dwarven Crowns with the free port of Luskan through a little known set of locks that join the underdark with a gated cave in a sea facing cliff. Mirabar and Mithral Hall Mirabar and Mithral Hall are two ancient Dwarfholds who are both members of the Lords Alliance. They secretly benefit from the smuggling their dwarf kin carry out in the underdark beneath them. This frequent trade and their kinship with the Dwarven Crowns makes the invasion of the port of Luskan a disgrace in their eyes. They find themselves at odds with the alliance, who seems disinterested at best and unapologetic at worst about this unsanctioned war. With the other lords against them, they find themselves edging ever closer to leaving the alliance and joining the Crowns. Okay but isn't your campaign about an evil wizard? Who knows how to tamper with the mythal at Silverymoon should he want to make allies with Dwarves and an opportunity to steal the assets of the magical colleges there. Azza Bamboo fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Oct 19, 2020 |
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Oct 19, 2020 18:22
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he had 12 con to be clear which is fine for a caster but bad for someone on the frontlines
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Oct 19, 2020 18:42
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Azza Bamboo posted:Okay this is a mess to read, but it's my mess, and it's the product of my combined research and homebrewing for a scenario in the Sword Coast North that I'm using just as some background noise because I like to make it seem like there's a wider world than just what the adventurers are touching. This is cool and a lot of thought gone into it. Not to be like "BUT IN THE LORE!" cause it's your interpretation of Faerun and you have free reign to do anything you want, but the Dwarven Holds hate Luskan. It's a city of pirates that offers safe haven to all the criminal organisation that prey upon the North.
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Oct 19, 2020 19:00
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Here's a weird-rear end story. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, the Dragonlance authors, are suing Wizards of the Coast for breach of contract and tortious interference. Apparently there was a contract for them to write a new trilogy, and earlier this year, WotC put Nic Kelman on oversight for the trilogy, then went behind Weis and Hickman's backs to try to subvert them with the publisher, leading to WotC breaking the contract while claiming they're not breaking the contract. Weis and Hickman allege that the reason is that WotC is getting so much poo poo for racism, sexism, etc. that I guess they're calling off anything that isn't perfectly corporate-bland? They don't do a great job of drawing a straight line there. If this part is true, though, they've probably got a pretty good case: quote:On or about August 13, 2020, acting with the knowledge and consent and possibly at the direction of Hasbro, Defendant held a telephonic meeting with Plaintiff-Creators and their representatives. Among those present at the meeting were Messrs. Kelman and Morrissey, Defendant’s in-house lawyers, Nick Mitchell and Ben Hellerstein, and various PRH representatives, including executives and counsel. At that telephonic meeting, without any forewarning, Defendant’s attorney (Mr. Mitchell) stated Defendant refused to perform under the License Agreement, effectively terminating the agreement unilaterally. When challenged about the grounds for such termination, Mr. Mitchell responded with the nonsensical statement, “We are not moving toward breach, but we will not approve any further drafts.”
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Oct 19, 2020 19:44
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Unfortunately Tasslehoff borrowed their copy of the contracts so they have no case! What a scamp!
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Oct 19, 2020 19:51
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Blooming Brilliant posted:Not to be like "BUT IN THE LORE!" cause it's your interpretation of Faerun and you have free reign to do anything you want, but the Dwarven Holds hate Luskan. It's a city of pirates that offers safe haven to all the criminal organisation that prey upon the North. That's a very good point. Enough that, although the subterranean smuggling route seemed pretty dope in my head, I'll think about a change. In a situation where there's no love lost between Luskan and the Dwarven Holds: Scenario A: The Dwarven Holds object because they're worried about a Lords Alliance that's expanding into its neighbours without going through the proper diplomatic processes. Once Luskan is gone, where next? Fireshear?, Ironmaster? Scenario B: The dwarves of Mirabar and Fireshear join the battle in order to take the low ground, striking Telleson's forces when the battle is all but won, in order to form a contiguous Dwarven territory from Citadel Adbar to Ironmaster. Luskan falls, but into the hands of the Dwarves. Scenario C: Telleson returns triumphant to the nations of the Lords Alliance. He announces that it is high time the Sword Coast North brought itself out of the bureaucratic and diplomatic failure that is the Lords Alliance. With his castle in Luskan, his sizeable armies and navies, and the popular support of the people, he declares himself king. He demands tribute from the Lords Alliance nations, knowing that some have already spoken to him about agreeing to this plan. Mirabar and Mithrall Hall refuse to bow to a human king. The Lords Alliance now only comprises a few of the nations who refused this demand, and who may not survive the ensuing conflict. The Kingdom of Clifflund is newly formed, and finds itself becoming increasingly infiltrated by Zhentarim as they hire new troops and dish out their new land claims. Azza Bamboo fucked around with this message at 20:17 on Oct 19, 2020 |
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Oct 19, 2020 20:13
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I'd go A or C, with C being the most interesting to me in creating a new potential villain in the tyrannical King Telleson. B doesn't feel particularly "dwarvish" if that makes sense, albeit I always go the trope of super-honourable dwarves in my campaigns.
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Oct 19, 2020 20:27
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Blooming Brilliant posted:There's no worse feeling in the game that'll sour you for multiple sessions than rolling a 1 for HP on level up. This is what I do, but I lowered the average by 1, mostly because five of my six players are d8 classes. I felt it gave a little more of a higher end to get lucky with, plus it's kind of future-proofing for someone playing a wizard or sorceror.
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Oct 19, 2020 20:30
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Isaacs Alter Ego posted:Wearing any armor (including leather) during a long rest incurs exhaustion. A little late to the conversation, but I wanted to draw attention to this seemingly innocuous point on the house rules document that I think is telling. In most of the games I've played, the idea of characters sleeping in their armor during long rests never comes up, it's always handwaved away as a matter of "Of course your character removes their armor to sleep, we gloss over that fact because it's not relevant to the game". The only time sleeping in armor would come up is if the party is ambushed by baddies in the middle of a long rest, potentially catching some party members out of their armor. That this DM Is specifically calling out that you can't sleep in your armor means that they plan to have your party ambushed when they're sleeping a bunch, and wants you guys to be caught without your armor, which generally doesn't sound like a fun time, and also sounds like this DM is going to be pissy if players manage to counter their "fiendish traps" or whatever. As someone who has accumulated a bunch of random house rules I tend to use when I run 5e to make the game more fun, it never ceases to amaze me how many of the common house rules I see thrown around for the game are to make things MORE punishing for the players. Like, I'm amazed at how many people think making short rests take 8 hours is a good idea. On the matter of players rolling for their health: How I ended up agreeing to do it with my one group is that everyone can roll for their HP on level up, and if they don't like the result they can either take the average instead, or they can re-roll, but they have to stick with the second roll if they do. I've made it very clear to my players the latter is the worse option in the long-run, but some of them still like to gamble.
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Oct 19, 2020 22:39
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I wasn't sure, so I went back and checked and Critical Role does HP rolling although there are two caveats: - Apparently, they can reroll ones - Mercer is a "setpiece combat" GM, so he can finetune the encounter so that it's appropriate for the party no matter what they roll. It's rare for multiple combats between rests. KingKalamari posted:On the matter of players rolling for their health: How I ended up agreeing to do it with my one group is that everyone can roll for their HP on level up, and if they don't like the result they can either take the average instead, or they can re-roll, but they have to stick with the second roll if they do. I've made it very clear to my players the latter is the worse option in the long-run, but some of them still like to gamble. I like this.
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Oct 19, 2020 22:49
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| # ? Jun 4, 2024 02:50 |
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KingKalamari posted:A little late to the conversation, but I wanted to draw attention to this seemingly innocuous point on the house rules document that I think is telling. In most of the games I've played, the idea of characters sleeping in their armor during long rests never comes up, it's always handwaved away as a matter of "Of course your character removes their armor to sleep, we gloss over that fact because it's not relevant to the game". The only time sleeping in armor would come up is if the party is ambushed by baddies in the middle of a long rest, potentially catching some party members out of their armor. I would normally agree with you, but to be fair, Barovia is supposed to feel incredibly hostile, to the point that being outside of your town walls after dark is effectively a death sentence for the average commoner. I would absolutely have something attack if a party tries to take a long rest in the middle of nowhere without some serious preparations like Tiny Hut or at least explicitly trying to camouflage their campsite. That said, I would definitely have NPCs make it clear that being outside of town after dark is incredibly dangerous, and camping should generally not be necessary as Barovia is not a huge place, and takes less than a day to travel between towns. The bigger issue to me is all the secrecy - secret HP rolls by the DM, not expanding on how to resolve lingering injuries (that one sounds like he took /r/CurseOfStrahd a little too seriously, that place loves poo poo like that), unexplained "alternative death rules". Those are no good - I go out of my way to be super clear about any house rules. I also agree with your point about a lot of house rules seem to make things more punishing - that's weird, all the ones I default to are in favor of the players - and if I did feel it was necessary to have something that was detrimental to the players, I'd try to balance it out with some benefit as well.
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Oct 19, 2020 23:02
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