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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 Relatedly, in a campaign many years ago where the DM wanted us to be a bit more resource constrained but didn’t want the bookkeeping of arrow/ration tracking, no sensible adventuring party left without Volo’s Vending Valise, which has a coin slot into which money is fed and it fills up with a days worth of rations and ammunition.. So we didn’t track either, but it was just understood that we would be subtracting X gold on every rest.
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Jul 8, 2021 18:17
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So I am gearing up for my first ever D&D session, where I will be DMing for a group of 3 of my friends - 2/3 who have never played before. I’ve been reading a lot of the great resources from the OP, talking to my buddy who has DMed in the past to study up ahead of our first session. I basically just want to make sure everyone has a fun time, and things aren’t too complicated to manage by using a pre-built adventure to start. Curse of Stradh sounds like it would be a neat and thematic way to introduce everyone (including me) to D&D, but the OP says it might not be ideal for new players. I am planning on giving everyone some extra hp to help with a smooth start, but are we biting off too much by starting with CoS? Any other tips for a first time DM, who is also a first time D&D player? We will be playing on roll20 since we live in different states.
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Jul 8, 2021 18:45
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Quarterroys posted:So I am gearing up for my first ever D&D session, where I will be DMing for a group of 3 of my friends - 2/3 who have never played before. CoS is a pretty open-ended campaign to start with. We were just discussing how it sandboxy it is. Some of the more contained modules like Lost Mine of Phandelver might be a better fit. If you've never played before and are DMing, but really want to play Curse of Strahd, I'd try explicitly running Death House as a standalone, in order to get everyone's feet wet before committing to the entirety of CoS. My other suggestions would be to have all the players use point-buy stats and fixed average HP, and to keep the tone lighter than CoS is written. It's too gloom and doom for a first time game. Play it more as Halloween Thriller rather than Gothic Horror, and it'll be a more inviting campaign as a result. https://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/Curse%20of%20Strahd%20Introductory%20Adventure.pdf Kaal fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Jul 8, 2021 |
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Jul 8, 2021 18:52
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Quarterroys posted:I am planning on giving everyone some extra hp to help with a smooth start, but are we biting off too much by starting with CoS? Yeah, don’t do CoS with a bunch of new players, and especially not if you’re a new DM too. Grab the Essentials Kit and do Dragon of Icespire Peak, that’s what it’s designed for. Like, if you and your players both really loved the idea of Curse of Strahd, then sure, but this thread has pretty recently had a discussion about CoS and the general consensus is that 1) it’s kind of more like a setting book instead of an adventure, and requires a bunch of DM work to make it coherent instead of a gothic horror flavored theme park, 2) horror is difficult to do right in 5e, and while action-horror can work well, it’s an extra challenge you probably don’t need your first time DMing, and 3) it doesn’t have a lot of the “classic D&D” tropes your players might be expecting - it’s very human-centric, fairly low-magic, and light on the loot. All these mean while I wouldn’t give a hard no to using it as a first adventure… there’s better options out there for sure.
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Jul 8, 2021 19:00
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Lost Mine of Phandelver is good. It very helpfully reminds you of relevant rules in the encounters, demonstrates tricks like modding basic enemies to be more interesting, and includes a bunch of enemies that are completely happy to talk to the party instead of getting themselves killed. It's also somewhat sandboxy, so it'd be good practice for running CoS later. And importantly, it's way cheaper than CoS. 
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Jul 8, 2021 19:04
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If you're a first time DM, I would highly recommend either Lost Mine of Phandelver, if you want a well rounded introduction, or Sunless Citadel, if you want more of a pure dungeon crawl. Both are pretty on-the-rails, and that's both good for you and your players. CoS as a module has problems that an experienced DM can work around and produce a really memorable experience, but there's a few things that make it rough for new folks. First, it's open nature means that it can be hard at times for new players to understand how to progress. An experienced DM will add in little things that point them in good directions without making them feel railroaded. Second, depending on how the card draw goes, some paths are much harder than others. There's a good reason that a lot of DMs literally fake this part and just give them a curated experience instead. Third, the CR rating system in 5e sucks and some encounters with the same CR can be significantly more deadly than others, and CoS has some real deadly encounters. Experienced DMs will work around this by either adjusting the encounters or not having every fight be to the death, or being able to improvise around a TPK and not having it be a literal game over. Fourth, even with a curated experience, the party absolutely cannot just murderhobo their way through it, and needs to instead pick their fights carefully, be prepared to retreat, or otherwise deal with fighting against overwhelming odds. Nothing there is something that would preclude you and your players from running CoS, but you should be aware that it's going to ask a lot more of you and your players than other modules, and everyone should be prepared for that.
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Jul 8, 2021 19:20
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If you and your friends have never played, then I recommend a one-shot adventure to see if everyone likes the game. When my group started I volunteered to DM and found this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTD2RZz6mlo The adventure can be downloaded for free here: https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-L_0WX-KKXsZA22VHr5j If everyone likes the game then great! On the next session you can use the same characters and start Lost Mines of Phandelver (at level 2). e: Depending on how many friends you have, you could easily swap kobolds out for the goblins (they're easier to kill). Not a bad idea as LMoP has goblins everywhere and your party will get sick of them eventually. You could also try Temple of the Basilisk Cult, which is well written and easy to DM: https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/ Trivia fucked around with this message at 19:36 on Jul 8, 2021 |
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Jul 8, 2021 19:31
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Mazed posted:I'm reading the Ravenloft book in full and I just got to the Carnival part, and A rapping werehare and you want them to fill in all the details? They're bound to be more disappointing than whatever you imagine. I mean, honestly, ask the writers for details and they'll provide you with something that's clearly not rap, it's hip-hop.
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Jul 8, 2021 19:59
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Seconded for Colville's Delian Tomb, it is the best intro one-shot I've ever run. Phandelver/Sunless Citadel is also a fantastic choice If you really want to do Curse of Strahd - Death House is an amazing introductory adventure as well to see if you guys enjoy the vibe. I've run it 5~ times and it has been a huge hit with every group.
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Jul 8, 2021 20:05
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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. I don't think they've changed much, beyond adding the Dragonborn to Q'Barra and not really having any proper Psionic rules in the current edition.
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Jul 8, 2021 20:30
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DourCricket posted:Seconded for Colville's Delian Tomb, it is the best intro one-shot I've ever run. I'm surprised to hear that about Death House. Everything I've seen has been like "shadows are way too strong for level 1 characters to fight, the ghost encounter is too dangerous, the mimic is too much, and a shambling mound is a ridiculous enemy for a starter dungeon meant to level you up to 3"
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Jul 8, 2021 20:36
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Cephas posted:I'm surprised to hear that about Death House. Everything I've seen has been like "shadows are way too strong for level 1 characters to fight, the ghost encounter is too dangerous, the mimic is too much, and a shambling mound is a ridiculous enemy for a starter dungeon meant to level you up to 3" much like, uh, most published adventures, running it straight as written does indeed suck. but a few tweaks (making the nursemaid encounter non-combat/lore dump, for example) makes it a great, spooky oneshot/intro adventure
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Jul 8, 2021 20:48
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Gotcha. I just wasn't sure since both I and another poster will be running it soon and wanted to check.
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Jul 8, 2021 22:07
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Rutibex posted: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. He should start a cult. I bet 10-20 people could meet their daily caloric requirements from 2 gallons of mayo. Might need to scavenge some roots and berries to keep everyone from getting scurvy though.
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Jul 8, 2021 22:42
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Facebook Aunt posted:He should start a cult. I bet 10-20 people could meet their daily caloric requirements from 2 gallons of mayo. Might need to scavenge some roots and berries to keep everyone from getting scurvy though. I am brokebrained, so I looked into this. There's 94 calories in one tablespoon of mayo, and 512 tablespoons in 2 gallons. That's enough calories for 24 people. It is almost entirely fat and has no micronutrients (vitamins) to speak of.
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Jul 8, 2021 23:23
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Mayo is vegetable oil with an egg yolk and some vinegar/lemon juice and a pinch of ground mustard mixed in. It's easy to make at home! And tastes 1,000x better than storebought. A tablespoon of vegetable oil is about 100 calories as well. The mayo cult is real and its tendrils are insidious. The city folk and their aioli... Just how far does this corruption spread?
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Jul 8, 2021 23:37
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:I am brokebrained, so I looked into this. There's 94 calories in one tablespoon of mayo, and 512 tablespoons in 2 gallons. That's enough calories for 24 people. It is almost entirely fat and has no micronutrients (vitamins) to speak of. The party is looking over a map to their next destination. "Looks like there is a shortcut through this small forest that would cut a couple days off our trip." "That is the Forest of the Mayofart People. We do not trespass there."
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Jul 8, 2021 23:38
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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. I think technically it moved on about a year but the differences are small. And 5e artificers are awesome (other than alchemists which need a bit of a buff)
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Jul 9, 2021 00:03
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Facebook Aunt posted:He should start a cult. I bet 10-20 people could meet their daily caloric requirements from 2 gallons of mayo. Might need to scavenge some roots and berries to keep everyone from getting scurvy though. The alchemy jug can only produce one substance per day. You need to save the mayo if you want to use it on the other days to produce wine 
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Jul 9, 2021 02:34
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Regarding Curse of Strahd: There's talk here of the "best" Tarokka outcomes, that can potentially make the game flow better or perhaps give the PCs a greater advantage. Has anyone made a short-list of exactly what these are? My DM style is too much throwing things at PCs to see what the make of them and too little crunching numbers for gameplay's sake to draw my own conclusions there. 
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Jul 9, 2021 06:56
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Rutibex posted:The alchemy jug can only produce one substance per day. You need to save the mayo if you want to use it on the other days to produce wine Cool, cool, I can see that. But what if you also teach all the other members of the cult to be artificers? Getting everyone up to level 2 in your hippy mayo sucking commune could be difficult, but after that you have all the mayo, wine, and beer you can chug down.
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Jul 9, 2021 07:32
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Mazed posted:Regarding Curse of Strahd: Spoilered b/c talking about the adventure. These are my own estimations btw. Removing the cards that place the 3 magic items in Castle Ravenloft. Chances are the party may not have the time to attune to the Sunsword and Holy Symbol of Ravenkind before stumbling upon Strahd's final location. Generally speaking spacing the items around so that the PCs have to travel around a bit is a good way to get them to explore Barovia. Also getting the Sunsword too early can be anti-climactic. Putting it in a high-risk area such as the Werewolf Den can make it feel "earned." Personally having an item in the western area of Barovia (Yester Hill, Berez, Van Richten's Tower) is a good idea, and one in Vallaki, perhaps in the care of the Keepers of the Black Feather to give the PCs a thematic reason to side with said organization. Tying an item to the Vistani clan in Vallaki is good as it ties getting the item the honest way to a sidequest. For NPCs Rudolf Van Richten is a pretty thematic result. He's not very tough offensively save against undead, and most of his spells are defensive in nature so he's not going to overshadow the PCs in combat but he's good to have around. Kasimir Velikov the dusk elf, Davian Martikov the wereraven, and Sir Godfrey Gwilyn are all thematically appropriate characters to oppose Strahd, although the last NPC has a lot of abilities which can be very threatening to Strahd, so you may need to come up with some alternate tactics if he joins the party. Ezmerelda d'Avenir the adventure pushes hard on joining the PCs, so having her as a card result is a bit of a waste. So is Tatyana who may very well end up gone from the adventure. I've heard people have fun with Mordenkainen but personally he feels a bit too powerful and out of nowhere so he may not be appropriate for all campaigns. And for the final battle location, Sergei's Tomb feels thematically appropriate.
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Jul 9, 2021 09:29
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Thank you all for the recommendations! Think I will save CoS/Death House for another day. Trivia posted:If you and your friends have never played, then I recommend a one-shot adventure to see if everyone likes the game. When my group started I volunteered to DM and found this video: I think I’m going to go this route. This guy’s videos are excellent, and I am take his dungeon/adventure template, make a few tweaks, and try that to start. If all goes well, we will either continue on to Mines.
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Jul 9, 2021 14:06
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Glad to hear it. My group had fun with the Delian Tomb, and barely scraped by the last encounter. Again, I'd change the Delian Tomb enemies to kobolds unless you have reason not to. LMoP has several sections of goblins/bugbears/hobgoblins, and your party will tire of them mechanically if you go with them. You could also try substituting gobs for cultists or bandits as well (they're not nearly as hard hitting either, so a level 1 party is less likely to wipe). If you decide to do Sunless Citadel, that also has goblins and kobolds, so keep that in mind if you go that route. LMoP can last 10+ sessions depending on your group's speed and fuckery. Sunless Citadel is...maybe 3-4, 5 if you stretch it. I recommend LMoP for sure. If you're going to DM it, look into tweaks on how to make the module better. As written it's got a few issues, particularly with the main villain being a wet fart. Matthew Perkins on Youtube has some recommendations on how to streamline the module.
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Jul 9, 2021 17:32
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Will you get fat if you eat too many Goodberries? Each one provides enough nourishment to sustain a creature for one day. So if you are using them for healing and eat several a day that's too much nourishment. Roly-poly druids.
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Jul 9, 2021 23:06
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Fun fact: 2000 calories' worth of fat is 222g, or about half a pound. So really, those goodberries should be pretty heavy considering the amount of energy packed into them. You should be able to load them into slingshots and hurt enemies with them.
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Jul 9, 2021 23:17
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Fun fact: 2000 calories' worth of fat is 222g, or about half a pound. So really, those goodberries should be pretty heavy considering the amount of energy packed into them. You should be able to load them into slingshots and hurt enemies with them. What if the enemy is good at catching them in their mouths like when you toss popcorn up and catch it? This is a bad plan for attack!
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Jul 9, 2021 23:45
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Malpais Legate posted:What if the enemy is good at catching them in their mouths like when you toss popcorn up and catch it? They could always choke. Time to consult the d100 table of "when monsters don't chew their food"
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Jul 9, 2021 23:54
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Can you stuff goodberries in your mouth like a squirrel with acorns, so that mid-combat when you've taken damage you can chew them up and eat them freely to heal? Actually, can you just make goodberry smoothies and put them in a beer hat with twisty straws straight into your mouth, so you can constantly be regenerating health?
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Jul 10, 2021 05:10
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Cephas posted:Can you stuff goodberries in your mouth like a squirrel with acorns, so that mid-combat when you've taken damage you can chew them up and eat them freely to heal? One of my players is already getting a little too cute with goodberries and I pray that she never reads your post.
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Jul 10, 2021 05:19
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There is of course also the Life Cleric/Goodberry combo, where the berries restore an extra 3HP each (thus, 40HP of healing in exchange for 1 L1 spell slot and 11 actions). You might argue that this means that the berries have 8000 calories apiece and perhaps should be called combo meals instead
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Jul 10, 2021 05:25
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Cephas posted:Can you stuff goodberries in your mouth like a squirrel with acorns, so that mid-combat when you've taken damage you can chew them up and eat them freely to heal? Goodberries take 6 seconds (action) to eat, they are probably really chewy and would be a choking hazard to keep too many in there. I guess it's fine as long as someone in the group is proficient in heimlich maneuver.
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Jul 10, 2021 06:02
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The druid/life cleric goodberries can pretty much gently caress off, I'm a "yes" DM but man I had to put the kibosh on those things between combat
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Jul 10, 2021 06:04
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Syrinxx posted:The druid/life cleric goodberries can pretty much gently caress off, I'm a "yes" DM but man I had to put the kibosh on those things between combat I'd give +3 to one (1) of the goodberries
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Jul 10, 2021 06:24
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Athanatos posted:Goodberries take 6 seconds (action) to eat, they are probably really chewy and would be a choking hazard to keep too many in there. But what if no one is a Battle Master?
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Jul 10, 2021 08:55
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Eh, all it really means is that the party takes fewer rests or buys fewer potions. Sage Advice makes it pretty clear that Disciple of Life does work with Goodberry and I can't see the upside of houseruling it. It wouldn't break anything, but it would probably irritate the player quite a bit. I'd take the opportunity to throw out more AOE attacks during combat so the party needs more healing between fights. https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/sage-advice/rules-answers-august-2015
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Jul 10, 2021 09:04
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I'd rule that Goodberries are just magic and no matter how many you eat, you end up with exact same nourishment. Perfect diet pills!
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Jul 10, 2021 09:22
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Can you bring someone back to life with a goodberry by chewing it up and barfing it into their mouths like a baby bird Logical conclusion: Aarakocra cleric but all the spells are flavoured as misplaced brooding instinct. Pillar of flame is just your seagull buddies doing drive-by guano dumps. Spirit guardians is the chickens from OOT
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Jul 10, 2021 11:41
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Cephas posted:Can you stuff goodberries in your mouth like a squirrel with acorns, so that mid-combat when you've taken damage you can chew them up and eat them freely to heal? yes but if you roll a natural 1 at any point you choke and die
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Jul 10, 2021 13:02
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Juice the berry into their mouth, when they get a hit point's worth of healing they can chew the rest themselves.
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Jul 10, 2021 14:05
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