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I DM a long running campaign, the players are level 14 and are now plane hopping around. They have a week of downtime in Bytopia and the tortle Bard/Barbarian gave me this for his downtime activity  I need to fill this thing up, so give me your best extraplanar pit fighter and/or wrestler ideas! Pussy Quipped fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Feb 23, 2022 |
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Feb 23, 2022 20:04
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A Trios Team of three Dragonborn, the twist is each one is three Kobolds in a wrestling singlet.
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Feb 23, 2022 20:20
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Pussy Quipped posted:I DM a long running campaign, the players are level 14 and are now plane hopping around. They have a week of downtime in Bytopia and the tortle Bard/Barbarian gave me this for his downtime activity A pair of opposite-handed Yagnoloths:  They've got specialized arms just for walloping!
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Feb 23, 2022 20:27
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Blooming Brilliant posted:A Trios Team of three Dragonborn, Any excuse to post this
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Feb 23, 2022 20:29
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A doppelganger who transforms into their opponent, except they're wearing a rudo luchador mask. Edit: Andre the Giant but in a literal sense, can also work for yuan-ti Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Blooming Brilliant fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Feb 23, 2022 |
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Feb 23, 2022 20:44
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An artificer wrestler who really likes conjuring steel chairs, tables and ladders. Speaking of pit fighting I did write up a design for a monk subclass:
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Feb 23, 2022 20:57
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Pussy Quipped posted:I DM a long running campaign, the players are level 14 and are now plane hopping around. They have a week of downtime in Bytopia and the tortle Bard/Barbarian gave me this for his downtime activity The "Manly Man" Randall Wildman needs to make an appearance! He just recently got back from Avernus, and he's hankerin' for a spankerin'. He's level 14 (or thereabouts) as well, actually. He's a great weapon master bear totem barbarian (or bearbarian, if you wheel), who utilizes the "gnomish folding greataxe" aka a steel chair. Legit Businessman fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Feb 24, 2022 |
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Feb 23, 2022 21:35
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Pussy Quipped posted:I DM a long running campaign, the players are level 14 and are now plane hopping around. They have a week of downtime in Bytopia and the tortle Bard/Barbarian gave me this for his downtime activity One of the players in my new campaign is playing a Giff wrestler named Sgt. Pepper that struts around like the Million Dollar Man and makes opponents kiss his signet ring. Do with that what you will.
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Feb 23, 2022 21:39
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Pussy Quipped posted:I need to fill this thing up, so give me your best extraplanar pit fighter and/or wrestler ideas! Would it be too cliche/stereotypical to have a Fray Tormenta/Nacho Libre expy, with actual divine thunder and lightning powers?
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Feb 23, 2022 21:40
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Pussy Quipped posted:I DM a long running campaign, the players are level 14 and are now plane hopping around. They have a week of downtime in Bytopia and the tortle Bard/Barbarian gave me this for his downtime activity Someone gotta wrestle a Xorn 
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Feb 23, 2022 22:04
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Tarkaxas, Emperor of Tomorrow...Today! Kobold wrestler using Giant's Might from the Rune Knight kit. Claims to be the cousin of Godzilla or whatever off-brand kaiju you want.
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Feb 23, 2022 22:07
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The Undertaker, that's it 
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Feb 23, 2022 22:11
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Also its an afterlife fighting tournamnet so Goku is gonna be there
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Feb 23, 2022 22:13
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Clearly you've got to have a bear there. Just a random, genuine bear who somehow got in there. So the organiser just shrugged and had it ushered into the ring for a fight Anyway, I just had another session of our Strahd campaign. We've spent a bunch of sessions avoiding the plot now, while visiting Vallaki and surrounds. I don't know how much has been altered from the source material, but after a day of shopping and talking to animals (I'm a fishman druid who strives to protect sealife, but I'm proficient in horse-drawn vehicles. So I wanted horses and a wagon for our long treks between towns. But seeing as I like animals, I naturally asked the horses for consent to buy them and bought the ones who agreed. And also talked to some ravens later on) we went to the lake, where I planned some trouble for the local fishermen, as I make it my business to stealthily hinder fishermen's efforts to harvest my fellow fish. But while en route we discovered that there haven't been any fish biting for a while...then when we arrived a Vestani girl was in a sack and tossed into the lake by a local drunk out on the lake in a rowboat. I swam out there and cut the sack open, then brought her back into the boat and revived her before she died. (Normally I don't mind humans dying, but I've had a great time with the Vestani before, so I didn't care for this guy trying to kill one) Then when I questioned him and he said it's lucky to sacrifice Vestani, and he doesn't want the 'spirit of the lake' to be angry because of the lack of sacrifice...so naturally I grabbed him and dove into the water with him, pulling him deeper under the surface. (The party were waiting by the shore through all this, by the way. Just like, 'what the hell is he doing??') then I noticed an emerging shape and saw that the 'spirit' is actually a young sea serpent, who somehow got into the lake and wiped out the local water life. I had a brief chat with it to explain who I was (and the serpent explaining how little it cares ), then quickly swam to the surface and clambered aboard the boat before rowing to shore, leaving the drunk racist guy to his fate.After getting the girl back home to the nearby Vestani camp I gave her a small, sharp knife and a pouch/sheath, with some tips on using it, if someone tries nabbing her again. But now, I'm wondering if next session/the next day I should try to abduct a few of the local fishermen with a party member to help me, then drop them into the lake to see if I can have a proper conversation with the lake monster and find out how it got there, etc. So yeah, I'm not sure how much of that was added on vs source material, but it's certainly been real good to actually have some animals to talk to and bodies of water to delve into, after the sunless citadel and other trekking!  Now I've just got the ethical conundrum of what to do with the creature, seeing as although it's a sea creature, it's also technically a mere dragon...it also hasn't exactly gone out of its way to preserve the local ecosystem either...
Major Isoor fucked around with this message at 01:45 on Feb 24, 2022 |
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Feb 24, 2022 00:34
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Kenning posted:Dungeons and Daddies is legitimately hilarious. I followed all of the podcasts mentioned, so thank you all for the great suggestions. I kicked things off with Dungeons and Daddies. The moment they all took psychic damage because someone in the party made a dad joke, and then psychic damage again (almost downing one of the players) because someone tried to explain the dad joke, I knew I was in the right place. Can’t wait to see where this goes.
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Feb 24, 2022 01:00
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Thanks everybody for your assistance with my question! Gonna weigh some options for my player.
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Feb 24, 2022 01:33
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Thanks for all the luchador suggestions! Great stuff.
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Feb 24, 2022 01:43
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Major Isoor posted:So yeah, I'm not sure how much of that was added on vs source material, but it's certainly been real good to actually have some animals to talk to and bodies of water to delve into, after the sunless citadel and other trekking! I don't know if you want to know or not, but some of that is RAW, some of that is definitely homemade. Good on your DM for adding some cool stuff for you to interact with! I say definitely lean into it, should be great fun to explore it a lot.
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Feb 24, 2022 02:20
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Ragequit posted:what other podcasts heavy on goofiness/comedy are recommended? Never gonna not recommend Nerd Poker. Between the 4 main self published campaigns, the 130+ bonus episodes on Patreon, and the original campaigns at Earwolf, it's been going since 2012-ish. Don't listen if you're a rules lawyer.
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Feb 24, 2022 02:32
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One Legged Ninja posted:Never gonna not recommend Nerd Poker. Between the 4 main self published campaigns, the 130+ bonus episodes on Patreon, and the original campaigns at Earwolf, it's been going since 2012-ish. Don't listen if you're a rules lawyer. hell yes ... I didn't realize this was extant. the old episodes are loving golden, and I'm glad to hear it continued
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Feb 24, 2022 02:39
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Gray Ghost posted:So, question: my 6 players and I just started up a Witchlight campaign; one of my players is playing a barbarian and expressed the fear that she won’t have a lot of utility outside of combat. It certainly wouldn't be broken, if you're worried about that. I'd also suggest checking out the Tasha's supplement, which included some minor buffs to Barbarian such as Primal Knowledge, which gives them an additional skill proficiency at level 3 and 10. Skill checks are great and can help even the playing field in a lot of ways, particularly with ones that are as physical as Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, and Survival. https://blackcitadelrpg.com/skill-checks-5e/
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Feb 24, 2022 03:24
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Rythian posted:I don't know if you want to know or not, but some of that is RAW, some of that is definitely homemade. Good on your DM for adding some cool stuff for you to interact with! I say definitely lean into it, should be great fun to explore it a lot. Yeah, I assume the serpent is something that was added by the DM. It's gonna be interesting to see what can be done about it, later in the campaign. Since ideally I'd like to displace it from the lake (preferably just transporting it to the open sea somehow, but that's definitely not feasible) or trap it somehow, like if there's an underwater cavern or something. At worst we could fight it I suppose, but that's gonna be a real bad time... Should be an interesting challenge to resolve, anyway!
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Feb 24, 2022 05:53
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Speaking of actual play podcasts, can someone recommend a good one that isn't comedy? Doesn't mean it should be Super Serious Never Laugh Grimdark Roleplaying Hour or anything, just one where laughs aren't the main goal. I'm a bit burnt out on goofy shenanigans.
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Feb 24, 2022 06:57
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Guildencrantz posted:Speaking of actual play podcasts, can someone recommend a good one that isn't comedy? Doesn't mean it should be Super Serious Never Laugh Grimdark Roleplaying Hour or anything, just one where laughs aren't the main goal. I'm a bit burnt out on goofy shenanigans. Encounter Party by a country mile
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Feb 24, 2022 07:02
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Ragequit posted:I followed all of the podcasts mentioned, so thank you all for the great suggestions. I kicked things off with Dungeons and Daddies. The moment they all took psychic damage because someone in the party made a dad joke, and then psychic damage again (almost downing one of the players) because someone tried to explain the dad joke, I knew I was in the right place. Can’t wait to see where this goes. I've never heard an actual play podcast get off the ground faster. Love 'em. Guildencrantz posted:Speaking of actual play podcasts, can someone recommend a good one that isn't comedy? Doesn't mean it should be Super Serious Never Laugh Grimdark Roleplaying Hour or anything, just one where laughs aren't the main goal. I'm a bit burnt out on goofy shenanigans. Friends at the Table has some genuinely good moments and pretty satisfying overall development. They play a few different systems, but it's mostly Powered by the Apocalypse or Forged in the Dark. The first season has abysmal audio, but I really enjoyed the story despite that. The only reason I fell off FatT was that their narratives trends towards Hard Choices and Characters Making Sacrifices, which is completely legit and they do it well, it just ended up being a bit much for me during my work commute. My friend reports that they're still quite good.
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Feb 24, 2022 09:22
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Seconding Friends at the Table, they do make jokes sometimes but the focus is on characterization and drama.
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Feb 24, 2022 13:41
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FatT's Partizan season loving slaps. I recommend everyone listen to it Also Critical Role is probably closer to like 50/50 split of drama/comedy. But when they do drama those theater kids lean all the way in.
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Feb 24, 2022 15:02
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Isn't FatT the podcast that inspired Griffen McElroy to dedicate the first nine hours of TAZ's current arc to worldbuilding exposition? Because if it is I'm taking a hard pass on it.
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Feb 24, 2022 19:41
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FatT used The Quiet Year to establish a setting for their third (?) arc, although they did it in less time than the Adventure Zone did. Also the Quiet Year is a fantastic tool for establishing a home base at the beginning of a campaign.
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Feb 24, 2022 20:08
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KingKalamari posted:Isn't FatT the podcast that inspired Griffen McElroy to dedicate the first nine hours of TAZ's current arc to worldbuilding exposition? Because if it is I'm taking a hard pass on it. Maybe, as yeah, FatT does world building stuff before their major seasons, but Like for Partizan that was the Road to Partizan, which you could just skip, and just start at episode 1 if world building and talking through character building isn't for you. I dunno, as I've never really liked TAZ
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Feb 24, 2022 20:11
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Guildencrantz posted:Speaking of actual play podcasts, can someone recommend a good one that isn't comedy? Doesn't mean it should be Super Serious Never Laugh Grimdark Roleplaying Hour or anything, just one where laughs aren't the main goal. I'm a bit burnt out on goofy shenanigans. High Rollers is lightly serious, one player has a sort of comic relief character (a foppish, clueless elven noble), but that's in the context of a party that otherwise takes themselves quite seriously, as the DM does with the world. Players make sarcastic jokes and quips to each other but the actual play is the focus. General premise for the current "season" (it's like 3 and a half years going) is that the world the game is set on is sealed off from the rest of the multiverse following an invasion from the Astral Sea, and the survivors of an airship crash are caught up in a conspiracy surrounding the return of the invaders. It is very much in the vein of "this is our actual D&D game", you occasionally get episodes which are just one huge long combat, and episodes where they end up just shopping, so I guess be warned about that. First episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tFVR96qCHA (There's a podcast version available)
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Feb 25, 2022 03:02
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We had some issues with Conjure Animals at our table this last week. Druid has been using it to summon 1 thing that gets ganked immediately and decides to try summoning 8 things, DM rolls randomly and gives him panthers. This is in a fight where there are around 9 enemies, so this was really equalizing action economy, not turning an encounter into 12 on 1 or anything. Player is running them really fast and efficiently but after they gang up on one enemy, DM says “I will never let you summon 8 again, I’m capping this at 4.” Next round, player wants a Panther to pounce attack an enemy they’re right next to (so the Panther would have to back up, maybe taking an AoO) and DM says “no that’s bullshit, a Panther would never do that, it can only attack in place.” Since the spell text says the spirits follow your verbal commands I felt like this was a heavy handed ruling, but at least one other player agrees with the DM and thinks any summons should ignore dangerous commands. I feel like invoking preservation instinct is a weird idea for spirits that will disappear in a hour at most anyway, and that it will also be really hard to apply consistently through a campaign. Has this kind of thing come up at any of your tables and were you able to resolve things in a good way?
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Feb 27, 2022 02:32
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I think the DM is in the right on that particular ruling, though they are dealing with the overall situation badly. To elaborate, the animals have animal intelligence and while they are cooperative, taking a step back against a hostile enemy which necessarily involves exposing itself is not something that an angry predatory animal will generally do when actively engaged in a fight. They're just going to bite and claw because that's how animals behave in a fight. They're fey spirits but that's not really relevant because they're supposed to act like the animal. Besides, them being fey spirits is basically just there so that people won't feel bad about sending real animals to their deaths whenever they cast the spell. That said, your DM needs to have an adult conversation with the player about how they're going to use Conjure Animals and they both need to agree on a baseline for how it will work. It seems like the DM is getting frustrated with the player either trying to cheese things or slowing everything down with a three ring circus, and a good DM will be able to adapt to that. The player seems to think that the animals should be able to follow complex commands, which seems dubious to me but seems more a DM discretion thing. I don't think there's a "right" answer to how to handle this and it's something they'll need to negotiate themselves unfortunately.
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Feb 27, 2022 02:53
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“A panther would never pounce attack, only attack in place” is some funny logic
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Feb 27, 2022 03:07
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It sucks that the DM reacted so negatively to the first time a player figured out how to use the spell effectively. The issue of course with Conjure Animals is that there's a huge variability in its combat power and its oversight is shared between player and DM. Conflict is just really inherent to it. The newer versions of conjuration spells (like Summon Beast or the other Tasha's spells) have a much more limited array of possibilities. I'd just suggest switching to them rather than continuing the conflict. https://rpgbot.net/dnd5/characters/summoning/
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Feb 27, 2022 03:18
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I just feel like consistency from the DM is going to be hard to come by - in this same encounter, the enemies had trained giant wasps that all fought to the death. We fought a person with a trained dog earlier - if they send the dog past our front line to attack our wizard, can we say “no, the dog isn’t that smart, it should attack the closest one of us”? I think a big use of summoned animals would be to soak reactions to free up player movement, but can the DM veto that and say the Panther would never do that? I don’t think any argument about training makes sense as the spirit beasts explicitly obey your commands and seem like they are as trained as anything could be to me. Arguing that “pounce on that guy” is too complex when it’s like the one thing on their stat block seems weird to me. If you had a panther summon and walked up to a chasm, and jumped over and told the panther to jump over too, and then the DM said the panther would fall to its death because it couldn’t understand it should back up to get a running start, and it could only jump from where it was, wouldn’t that be weird? I’d expect anything with a special move to know how to do it (and probably prefer to attack that way) DM is pretty new to DMing and they’re having some issues, so I’m not going to harp on this to them, I want them and everyone to have fun. I’m a little worried that they want encounters to play out a specific way and we might see more reactionary house rules every time a player subverts the sacred timeline.
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Feb 27, 2022 04:02
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Kaal posted:It sucks that the DM reacted so negatively to the first time a player figured out how to use the spell effectively. The issue of course with Conjure Animals is that there's a huge variability in its combat power and its oversight is shared between player and DM. Conflict is just really inherent to it. The newer versions of conjuration spells (like Summon Beast or the other Tasha's spells) have a much more limited array of possibilities. I'd just suggest switching to them rather than continuing the conflict. Or you could get rid of the variability by letting them use the 3.5 edition summoning spells  quote:Summon Nature’s Ally quote:Unicorn [CG]
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Feb 27, 2022 04:17
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For what it's worth I don't think that the player did anything wrong, but it's a common sticking point of a spell.
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Feb 27, 2022 04:18
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I can get behind a DM limiting how a spell like conjure animals is used, especially if you’re summoning 8 creatures at a time. That sounds nightmarish to run! And I think his logic for how to run the panthers makes sense too, but he could have worded it better.
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Feb 27, 2022 04:25
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I think the DM was annoyed they broke the combat system and started making nit-picky calls. It happens, DMs are human too
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Feb 27, 2022 05:06
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