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Rutibex posted:Natural 1 critical failure isn't a house rule. Its like putting money on Free Parking, its a meta-rule that exists socially in D&D even if it's not written into the book. 5E actually has a box in the PHB that explains HP as stamina, fighting spirit, ability to keep fighting while enduring minor wounds, etc., and that only the blow that takes you to 0 is the one that lands true and causes serious injury. This is particularly egregious because this is Mearls' edition and he criticized 4E warlords being able to heal as "shouting arms back on," which is counter to how he even sees HP at the base level.
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Jul 7, 2021 01:02
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Whether HP represents abstract fighting spirit or actual physical wounds depends primarily on which interpretation helps grognards win the current argument. Being 1 HP from death doesn't have any effects because HP is abstract fighting spirit, but also warlords can't heal by shouting because HP is actual physical wounds.
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Jul 7, 2021 01:11
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sexpig by night posted:I personally like occasionally throwing in odd/kinda cumbersome treasures just to spice things up a little bit but yea when it comes to big piles of coins or whatever there's no reason to be anal about the logistics unless you're in a heist or old school style 'you're in a massive dungeon and your loot is directly tied to your advancement, this adventure is about getting a ton of cash' things. The Guide to Ravenloft book is really good, but I cannot imagine how anyone expects that the PCs would hear about the Bagman, and then try and do anything except grab him and try to be his friend. And with regards to treasure: It's great that the most valuable thing in the Strahd adventure is, arguably, his entire library. But nothing will beat the Tomb of Horrors' couch made entirely of solid gold.
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Jul 7, 2021 01:14
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By the same token, it's hard to narrate combat, I find, if HP represents "fighting spirit" or whatever. If a player rolls a critical hit and does like 40 damage, they don't want to hear about how they inflicted a minor injury or made the bad guy a bit tired or whatever, they want to hear about how their axe sinks deep into their foe, rupturing organs and putting them mere inches from death. But if someone's actually inches from death, why are they fighting at full capacity, why aren't they bleeding out, etc. etc. The only workable solution, I think, is to accept that HP is in a superposition of both actual injuries and fighting spirit (based mainly on whether the person taking damage has an actual character sheet) and don't worry about it.
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Jul 7, 2021 01:30
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Libertad! posted:I'd also be interested as to the popularity between standard and Variant humans. I can see humans being so popular if the latter's allowed, given how bonus feats are a no-brainer. Neck and neck. In 2019 it was 11.8% default, 11.0% variant. Yes I was surprised too
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Jul 7, 2021 01:44
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neonchameleon posted:Neck and neck. In 2019 it was 11.8% default, 11.0% variant. Yes I was surprised too Is vhuman free on dnd beyond? I would bet that would account for the discrepancy. Also, there are a lot of games that simply don't allow feats (which is ridiculous to me).
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Jul 7, 2021 01:46
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BattleMaster posted:5E actually has a box in the PHB that explains HP as stamina, fighting spirit, ability to keep fighting while enduring minor wounds, etc., and that only the blow that takes you to 0 is the one that lands true and causes serious injury.
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Jul 7, 2021 05:29
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There is definitely a paragraph in the old AD&D 1st edition book where it explains that HP doesn't make sense as meat points and gives some example about where it breaks down if you treat it as literal wounds and gives the usual "luck, divine favor, magic, and fighting spirit" explanation. People still want you to regain 1 HP per week through natural healing though for some reason.
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Jul 7, 2021 05:54
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Glagha posted:There is definitely a paragraph in the old AD&D 1st edition book where it explains that HP doesn't make sense as meat points and gives some example about where it breaks down if you treat it as literal wounds and gives the usual "luck, divine favor, magic, and fighting spirit" explanation. People still want you to regain 1 HP per week through natural healing though for some reason. AD&D 1e DMG posted:It is quite unreasonable to assume that as a character gains levels of ability Classic longwinded Gygax runaround way to say "It's both, don't worry about it." Rutibex posted:Natural 1 critical failure isn't a house rule. Its like putting money on Free Parking, its a meta-rule that exists socially in D&D even if it's not written into the book. Notably that houserule is one of the two reasons that everyone thinks Monopoly is an endless slog of a game, along with not auctioning every property anyone lands on and doesn't buy. theironjef fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Jul 7, 2021 |
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Jul 7, 2021 06:07
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Fighting perfectly at 1hp is honestly preferable to dealing with systems where you have to constantly keep track of injury/wound penalties (on top of all the regular ones) and dealing with damage boxes or percentage of max health. Oh that hit brought you to... hang on a second... 76% health? Good, 2% more and you would have taken a penalty. I'll take regular old hit points thank you.
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Jul 7, 2021 10:28
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Turns out "health potions" are just meth. Restore that fighting spirit!
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Jul 7, 2021 10:35
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getcha supreme laudanum potions here!
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Jul 7, 2021 10:45
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cowboy
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I was briefly in a game where the GM asserted that your con/HP total represented how bulky you were and your strength was how toned your were, so anyone with con higher than their strength was fat. I did not last long in that game.
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Jul 7, 2021 12:54
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Roach Warehouse posted:I was briefly in a game where the GM asserted that your con/HP total represented how bulky you were and your strength was how toned your were, so anyone with con higher than their strength was fat. BRB making a strength 8 con 20 character. He carries belts of giant strength for when he wants to appear in public and when adventuring uses different gear, so he has to be fat for adventures.
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Jul 7, 2021 13:07
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Amulet of Health, more like Amulet of Thicc.
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Jul 7, 2021 13:16
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Roach Warehouse posted:I was briefly in a game where the GM asserted that your con/HP total represented how bulky you were and your strength was how toned your were, so anyone with con higher than their strength was fat. haha this is so stupid it almost rules. Gimme that 20 STR 8 CON wiry meth body baybee
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Jul 7, 2021 13:26
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Mr Beens posted:There is gently caress all to spend money on any way in 5th edition. By the time you get to level 5 a pile of 5000 copper coins is meaningless to most characters, even though that is the gdp of a small village. D&d cash economy has always been busted. What do you mean? Are you only including cash in that gdp and assuming 99% of the village's economic activity is in barter? 5000 copper isn't even enough for one person to maintain a poor lifestyle.
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Jul 7, 2021 13:47
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Staltran posted:assuming 99% of the village's economic activity is in barter? To be fair this would be historically accurate. Not so much barter but informal credit systems, not coins.
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Jul 7, 2021 14:06
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Poil posted:Fighting perfectly at 1hp is honestly preferable to dealing with systems where you have to constantly keep track of injury/wound penalties (on top of all the regular ones) and dealing with damage boxes or percentage of max health. Oh that hit brought you to... hang on a second... 76% health? Good, 2% more and you would have taken a penalty. I'll take regular old hit points thank you. Yeah, I once tried to work out a system once where combat effectiveness scaled with HP. It was, uh, cumbersome, to say the least.
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Jul 7, 2021 14:56
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Roach Warehouse posted:I was briefly in a game where the GM asserted that your con/HP total represented how bulky you were and your strength was how toned your were, so anyone with con higher than their strength was fat. Loving this TTRPG version of GTA San Andreas. What happened if you put on an item that buffed your stats? Were amulets of health out of style because wearing one would make you insanely fat?
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Jul 7, 2021 14:59
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Roach Warehouse posted:I was briefly in a game where the GM asserted that your con/HP total represented how bulky you were and your strength was how toned your were, so anyone with con higher than their strength was fat. This is a thing in Tunnels and Trolls, a long running fantasy RPG. For bonus points, wizards used the same stat for their spellcasting in many editions. In other words, MUSCLE WIZARDS.
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Jul 7, 2021 15:05
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Arivia posted:This is a thing in Tunnels and Trolls, a long running fantasy RPG. For bonus points, wizards used the same stat for their spellcasting in many editions. In other words, MUSCLE WIZARDS. I want to play a D&D Flex Mentallo now
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Jul 7, 2021 15:22
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Mazed posted:The Guide to Ravenloft book is really good, but I cannot imagine how anyone expects that the PCs would hear about the Bagman, and then try and do anything except grab him and try to be his friend. The Ravenloft guide has really sparked my imagination for a whole set of adventures to do after Curse of Strahd, and I think that's pretty cool. But it does feel like it swerves way too far in the direction of "these are just feelies, man, you can crunch out the numbers yourself." I'd never bought one of these settings books before, but I was hoping there'd be a bit more, like, concrete material to work with? That said, I am really into the idea that a Ravenloft domain can be as big or as small as you want it to be. I've been thinking of an adventure where the party is swept into a magical book of horror stories, and each domain is one- or two- sessions long with a unique darklord and a small setting, like a summer camp or a school ground or a haunted shopping mall.
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Jul 7, 2021 15:57
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FWIW the lack of stat blocks for big bads in the ravenloft book was a conscious decision and a departure from the norm. That said, I’m a fan of the choice because it makes it a little more interesting when it’s not just a hit list of bosses to kill.
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Jul 7, 2021 16:09
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I like the idea, as well, that the lords aren't necessarily the actual villain of a given adventure. There are a few where the lord might even conceivably sponsor an adventuring party -- Borca comes to mind, and I adore the new spin on Har'akir (including the idea that Ankhtepot's problem is, he's fully bought into his own lie that he made his power grab by the will of the gods, rather than for himself. It's such a believable thing someone would do.) That, as well as the intentionally vague relation that the domains have to one another. It's tickling my obsession with games like Souls and Bloodborne, where history is implied and insinuated rather than set in stone, personal goals rather than backstories are a focus, and there's an ever-present sense of something eldritch and incomprehensible behind it all. Mazed fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Jul 7, 2021 |
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Jul 7, 2021 17:11
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Cephas posted:The Ravenloft guide has really sparked my imagination for a whole set of adventures to do after Curse of Strahd, and I think that's pretty cool. But it does feel like it swerves way too far in the direction of "these are just feelies, man, you can crunch out the numbers yourself." I'd never bought one of these settings books before, but I was hoping there'd be a bit more, like, concrete material to work with? Setting books and boxes are generally light on crunch compared to other supplements, and what crunch they do have is usually setting specific monsters and setting specific character options. CaptainPsyko posted:FWIW the lack of stat blocks for big bads in the ravenloft book was a conscious decision and a departure from the norm. Yeah, the idea with Ravenloft's Dark Lords specifically is that they threaten the party in oblique ways and shouldn't be defeated with just a combat encounter. But the book basically just tells you to refer to other sources for stats if you want them: "[Dark Lord]'s statistics are similar to those of a [monster]."
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Jul 7, 2021 17:14
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MelvinBison posted:How do your groups handle the weight of currency? Coinpurse of holding: a magic item that can only hold currency, and is so easy to produce and craft that everybody has one, problem solved
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Jul 7, 2021 18:23
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Yea I like how they do setting books, personally. High fluff with crunch devoted to the genuine unique things to the world and all. They don't stat Dark Lords because you're 100% not supposed to treat them as the kinds of big bads you just walk up to and cast Fireball on to win. If you need stats for them you should make them for what fits the current needs, since they're tied to their Domains so inherently and all. If you need a template to work with they're fairly good with giving notes of 'alright this lady's basically an evil sorcerer so use that as your base if you need to'
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Jul 7, 2021 23:13
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MelvinBison posted:How do your groups handle the weight of currency? I'm one of those players who loves tracking arrows and carry weight, but even I don't gently caress with money weight. As a DM, I don't care at all, UNLESS, there is some giant horde somewhere and part of the fun for the players is figuring out out to get it all home. Mr Beens posted:There is gently caress all to spend money on any way in 5th edition. By the time you get to level 5 a pile of 5000 copper coins is meaningless to most characters, even though that is the gdp of a small village. D&d cash economy has always been busted. Yeah, at some point you get to the point where your amazing heroes can buy whatever normal stuff they want 100 times over, and the only expenses are magic items. Not only gods of power and ability, but also of spending power. ilikedirt posted:Coinpurse of holding: a magic item that can only hold currency, and is so easy to produce and craft that everybody has one, problem solved This is a great idea. Poil posted:Fighting perfectly at 1hp is honestly preferable to dealing with systems where you have to constantly keep track of injury/wound penalties (on top of all the regular ones) and dealing with damage boxes or percentage of max health. Oh that hit brought you to... hang on a second... 76% health? Good, 2% more and you would have taken a penalty. I'll take regular old hit points thank you. I like the video game Uncharted explanation that you are not taking bullet damage with every hit. The red that shows you getting hit represents your luck running out. Eventually that last shot you take, is what actually lands. It doesn't really work in a D&D context, but it's a clever way of explaining why some regular guy can seemingly take all this damage.
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Jul 8, 2021 00:08
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I like to think DnD works on the same logic as Grappler Baki, where you can just fall 200 feet out of a building and into a car, no problem, as long as you're a high enough level Fighter.
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Jul 8, 2021 04:01
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MelvinBison posted:How do your groups handle the weight of currency? How does that take 10 minutes? Isn't it just 50 coins per pound? So 200 lbs for the copper, 24 for the electrum, and 12 for the gold. Total of 236. Shouldn't take even a single minute to calculate, let alone ten. Especially since everyone has easy access to a calculator on their phone.
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Jul 8, 2021 05:57
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I'm reading the Ravenloft book in full and I just got to the Carnival part, andVan Richten's Guide to Ravenloft posted:Alti the Werehare. A quick-tongued rapper and dancer, Alti (wererat) is a bombastic performer who turns into a rabbit on nights of the full moon. what-- Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft posted:A quick-tongued rapper and dancer quote:rapper listen, book. you can't just drop a rapping werecritter on us and just move along without seriously elaborating on what might be the best NPC ever
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Jul 8, 2021 07:55
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Staltran posted:How does that take 10 minutes? Isn't it just 50 coins per pound? So 200 lbs for the copper, 24 for the electrum, and 12 for the gold. Total of 236. Shouldn't take even a single minute to calculate, let alone ten. Especially since everyone has easy access to a calculator on their phone. Most discussions that should last one minute often last quite a bit longer when multiple people are involved.
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Jul 8, 2021 09:18
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:My group has a Bag of Holding, and we still end up dickering over weight because we've found two colossal piles of coins in this campaign and the DM has made it clear that no, we're not allowed to carry 50000 coins around with us all the time. (and towns that can absorb that kind of cash are a bit thin on the ground) Multiclass to artificer. On 2nd level you can infuse your own personal bag of holding. You get 2 infusions so you can also make a jug of alchemy and have 2 gallons of mayonnaise every day. Don't need 2 gallons of mayonnaise every day? Put the excess in the bag of holding.
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Jul 8, 2021 11:29
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Facebook Aunt posted:You get 2 infusions so you can also make a jug of alchemy and have 2 gallons of mayonnaise every day. Don't need 2 gallons of mayonnaise every day? Put the excess in the bag of holding. Ah I see you have been reading the backstory of my character Malidrex Mixadar, the weirdo alchemist hermit of the forest. Civilization is corrupt, and also unnecessary! Just live in the forest and eat mayo.
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Jul 8, 2021 11:50
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Mazed posted:I'm reading the Ravenloft book in full and I just got to the Carnival part, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjRHI_vfOCo this is the rap, right?
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Jul 8, 2021 13:51
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Well, I have finally stopped yelling at clouds and decided it was time to move on from 4th edition. I plan on running an Eberron game as I absolutely loathe Forgotten Realms. I haven't picked up the Eberron book yet, but has much changed lore wise compared to 4th edition? I'd still like to mine my older books for adventure ideas.
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Jul 8, 2021 14:48
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Mazed posted:I'm reading the Ravenloft book in full and I just got to the Carnival part, and "My name is Alti and I'm here to say That I love cheese in a major way" *does kickflip and ends with a cross arm pose
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Jul 8, 2021 15:05
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Super Waffle posted:Well, I have finally stopped yelling at clouds and decided it was time to move on from 4th edition. I plan on running an Eberron game as I absolutely loathe Forgotten Realms. I haven't picked up the Eberron book yet, but has much changed lore wise compared to 4th edition? I'd still like to mine my older books for adventure ideas. From browsing Eberron: Rising from the Last War reviews on Amazon I glean that the lore hasn’t really changed but more details are given about the city of Sharn and there are many updated mechanics such as a patron system.
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Jul 8, 2021 15:15
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Super Waffle posted:Well, I have finally stopped yelling at clouds and decided it was time to move on from 4th edition. I plan on running an Eberron game as I absolutely loathe Forgotten Realms. I haven't picked up the Eberron book yet, but has much changed lore wise compared to 4th edition? I'd still like to mine my older books for adventure ideas. Very little in the way of direct changes. The Blood of Vol’s differences from the Order of the Emerald Claw are more emphasised, the Mror dwarves are now explicitly engaged in a war for survival against the Daelkyr with many of the clans turning to the use of symbionts to get an edge, it’s now left as a mystery with no canon answer whether king Kaius is human or a vampire. A few minor changes to how magewrights and dragonmark s work to reflect the different mechanics. Little things mostly.
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Jul 8, 2021 15:37
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