|
I just wanna say I really like that beholder balloon in the charlatan picture.
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2023 19:11
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 21:42 |
|
|
Yusin posted:
Looking back, this intrigues me. It’s supposed to be a one session thing, that even has classic tournament scoring for those who want to try it that way.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2023 23:57
|
|
|
Oh that's what that brad neely video was about? How did tournament style dnd work??
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2023 00:07
|
|
|
Ominous Jazz posted:Oh that's what that brad neely video was about? How did tournament style dnd work?? I don’t really know, it was before my time, I am guessing it’s based on the objectives you accomplished and treasures you acquire in a set time. Someone went over the original version of Tsojcanth in Fatal and Friends. https://writeups.letsyouandhimfight.com/bitchtits-mcgee/the-lost-caverns-of-tsojconth-76-tournament-edition/
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2023 00:12
|
|
|
Tournament play is a set party with prerolled characters all going through the same, essentially linear, dungeon in a set time, like two hours. The team gets points for number of rooms cleared and number of survivors. Bonus points are awarded for specific actions, like using Invisibility to get past the ogre in room 6 or finding the secret door in room 8, and so on. The top scorers move to the next round, where new random parties are formed and a new dungeon is presented. Top scorer overall wins.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2023 00:35
|
|
|
I had a funny moment in my current tabletop group last night (spoiler tags because I know this is a published adventure, don't know which one, don't tell me) Playing a rogue for the first time, thri-kreen, being very cautious. We're moving through an underground temple and I find a secret door. Check for traps, roll a natural one, don't find any traps. Open the door, nothing goes off. Inside is a dark altar and three scrolls on it. I check for traps. Another natural one, no traps found. Confidently say there are no traps, move forward to the altar. Rest of the group follows behind me into the room. Since I checked for traps and didn't find any, I confidently grab a scroll from the altar. DM says "roll for initiative" I roll a 21, so I go first I ask what's happening and DM says "nothing yet but your spider sense is tingling." I ask if I can make it back out of the room. He says do an acrobatics check. I roll and it's 25 or so and so I literally backflip over everyone else's heads out of the room. On initiative 20, before anyone else in the party can act, the door to the room snaps closed and the room starts filling with boiling water, everyone else in the party starts taking damage, I'm just out in the hallway with my thri-kreen telepathy pulling a C-3P0 at the trash compactor, "hey, you guys ok in there? anything I can do to help?" Eventually I find the door control and open it at which point I point out that I saved the party I have never felt more theifly
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2023 01:40
|
|
|
That's pretty awesome, drat. The rogue class fantasy idealised.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2023 02:37
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:I have never felt more theifly 
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2023 14:30
|
|
|
Rythian posted:That's pretty awesome, drat. The rogue class fantasy idealised.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2023 19:27
|
|
|
i'm a new dm and i'm struggling with a puzzle. To set it up there's a tinkerer in this halfling town. they have a lab that they use to make experiments and they're being targeted for assassination by the halfling village preservation society basically Hot Fuzz, except they're mad about a lack of "traditional" dnd values (not enough elfs and dwarfs, too many tieflings and dragonborn) and this tinkerer's lab doesn't fit the aesthetic. The Tinkerer has a hidden part of their lab where they're doing their REAL work, research into mimics, changelings, and warforged. to that end they have captured a mimic specimen and have contained in a room sized flask. when the players bust in, they'll see that there are three bodies in the flask, a dead would be assassin, and two identical members of the rival adventure party they've encountered bleeding out and babbling. The flask is filling with a noxious smoke, a failsafe in case anything went wrong, and if it weren't for the rival adventurer stuck in the self sealing door then the gas buildup would smother whatever's inside the flask. There's also a TWIN of the mimicked adventurer frantically trying to save their brother. I'm basically thinking of having it be a skill challenge.
But I feel like it's missing an existential threat. Like they only have a few rounds before the smoke smothers everyone OUTSIDE of the flask so if it breaks bad enough they may have to trolley problem it. also, the mimic is obviously the twin on the outside of the flask.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2023 15:43
|
|
|
My brain keeps repeating “benzoberranzan” at me. Welp, cya
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2023 16:17
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:My brain keeps repeating “benzoberranzan” at me. Welp, cya ah, yes... in the Darkunder
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2023 16:19
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:My brain keeps repeating “benzoberranzan” at me. Welp, cya Thanks, stealing this for my modern-day game
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2023 16:29
|
|
|
Any thoughts on the Monster Manual vs the Young Adventurer Series? The series has 5 books for less than the manual but I’m having trouble finding good pictures of what’s actually in them. This is for an 11 year old who plays a bit but is more interested in the world itself than actually setting up a game.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2023 17:59
|
|
|
Ominous Jazz posted:i'm a new dm and i'm struggling with a puzzle. How about the party is trapped inside the lab, and the key they need is inside the flask on a raised dias, and instead of gas it's acid that's slowly rising and threatening to destroy the key and trap them inside forever
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2023 18:02
|
|
|
Ominous Jazz posted:i'm a new dm and i'm struggling with a puzzle. To clarify, this is a mimic that can copy people or it's a doppelganger? And for the bodies in the room, it is one dead assassin, one wounded rival, and one shapeshifter that looks like the wounded rival? The existential threat should be twofold: the players need to know that the container/fog is in place to neutralize a serious threat but also the players need a reason to risk entering the danger zone. For the former, hint at the fact that the way the assassin died does not make sense for the surroundings. Maybe it is bifuracted with blood spatter on the back wall but there are no large/bloody weapons in sight to justify the outcome. There should also be a few mechanisms in the room (or rooms on approach) that say "press in case of specimen escape" but the devices have been deactivated. I like the idea of an item being in there, probably on the rival party member's body. I guess that requires some information about why the party is breaking in in the first place.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2023 18:15
|
|
|
Opopanax posted:Any thoughts on the Monster Manual vs the Young Adventurer Series? The series has 5 books for less than the manual but I’m having trouble finding good pictures of what’s actually in them. This is for an 11 year old who plays a bit but is more interested in the world itself than actually setting up a game. The Young Adventurer books are just fluff books for little kids. An 11-year-old who's already played the game is going to find them boring and perhaps even a bit patronizing, so go for the Monster Manual.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2023 18:17
|
|
|
PeterWeller posted:The Young Adventurer books are just fluff books for little kids. An 11-year-old who's already played the game is going to find them boring and perhaps even a bit patronizing, so go for the Monster Manual. That’s kind of what I was expecting, I’m looking for a proper bestiary not a storybook. Thanks
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2023 18:21
|
|
|
Zurreco posted:To clarify, this is a mimic that can copy people or it's a doppelganger? And for the bodies in the room, it is one dead assassin, one wounded rival, and one shapeshifter that looks like the wounded rival? I think that works for the for sure dead body. I was thinking of having alchemical stuff lying around that they can try. maybe like a color mixing puzzle while everything is getting intense? Zurreco posted:I like the idea of an item being in there, probably on the rival party member's body. I guess that requires some information about why the party is breaking in in the first place.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2023 19:35
|
|
|
Ominous Jazz posted:also, the mimic is obviously the twin on the outside of the flask. funny, but: why is the mimic trying to save the two people inside the flask, instead of just trying to escape? Is it so hungry that it's willing to re-enter its prison and risk the smoke and recapture?
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2023 20:40
|
|
|
hm. good point. i was gonna say it imitated too good. but that's just too silly.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2023 22:22
|
|
|
Ominous Jazz posted:i'm a new dm and i'm struggling with a puzzle. So if I understand correctly: 1. There's a situation that's very complex going on, and when the PCs burst into this room it gets more complex because presumably they don't already know all about the lab and they're receiving new information immediately as a crisis hits. 2. In that situation, confusing and ambiguous, instead of seeing how the PCs decide to respond you plan to run a skill challenge that boils down to "make a bunch of rolls to solve the problem as I think you should solve it." 3. But you're afraid there isn't enough tension, so you want to make the consequences of failure a potential TPK. At the very least, they have 18 seconds or so to make lots of decisions and the right course of action (going through notes) will take more than 18 seconds for sure. Yes, this sounds like something a new GM might come up with (which is OK, you're learning). You're approaching the situation from your perspective and trying to decide in advance what should happen, when you should approach it from a player's perspective and allow them to make the decisions. I suggest you completely reconceive the situation. PCs burst into the lab. The rival adventurer and the duplicate are in the lab, both stuck in place by magic. Each asks to be freed, offers something in exchange (maybe the same thing, like the information they know about the secret lab). Urgency comes from both of them insisting that the tinkerer could return at any moment (assumes that the tinkerer is a threat or a potential threat to the PCs, but the PCs just have to believe that even if it's false). Each claims the other is a dangerous creature able to mimic people perfectly and that letting it escape could doom the entire town. You have stakes, you have rewards, and you have a potential time-limit, but then allow the PCs to work out their own solutions. Maybe they wait for the tinkerer to get back and have a conversation with them? Maybe they try freeing both and running for it? Maybe they knock both unconscious and try to drag them away? Maybe they hate the rival so much they decide to kill both captives? Then adjudicate whether what they try works, and what the consequences will be. Maybe there are clues in the lab notes they can use to tell the difference between the "twins?" Maybe they look for an inconsistency in behavior? Or ask quiz questions? Maybe they try using magic? Even the ways they try to "solve" the situation may lead to consequences down the line: searching the notes and finding nothing is going to complicate matters if they wait for the tinkerer to return, for example. "You break into and ransack my lab and now you want my help?!"
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2023 20:21
|
|
|
Yeah a complex situation with open-ended outcome is better than one with preconsidered outcomes. Also, if you want an intelligent creature that ably mimics other humanoids, a doppleganger is the more traditional option. There's nothing wrong with using a mimic in your game, of course, I just wanted to throw that in as food for thought. Traditionally mimics have been concieved-of as more sort of animal-level intelligence or worse, they mimic things out of instinct rather than carefully laid plans and probably can't carry on an actual conversation, no matter what they look like. Mimics in your campaign could be different, or maybe just this mimic is different, again that'd be fine and good. I also don't think it's terrible to have one or two outcomes in mind as possibilities. As a GM I never want to put too much effort into them because the players have a habit of confounding expectations and inventing their own solutions: but, sometimes they get stuck or are feeling out of ideas and it's good to be able to just hint or suggest at something at the table to keep the session from bogging down. But I agree with Narsham, mostly. I don't think it's terrible to have a skill challenge, that's part of the game; but let the players dictate their solution and then decide on the spot if they've attempted a skill challenge, or a combat encounter, or something else.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2023 20:58
|
|
|
I'm trying to name a chaotic evil aquatic elf barbarian and it's eluding me because I'm really bad at elf names. The theme for the guy is supposed to be vaguely "Mad Max villain" and he worships Sekolah. Any ideas on something in that vein?
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 02:52
|
|
|
Zurreco posted:Shadow or Long Death would be my suggestions as well. The former gives you access to some helpful spells and kinda vibes with the tomb. The latter helps you with sustain. If you think you could make it to Monk 6, the Shadow step ability will be a godsend in the later floors. We leveled to 8 and I ended up going Shadow monk + got Artus's legendary +3 dagger so I finally have a magic weapon. I think I'm going to take her at least to monk 5 to get a second attack, stunning strike, and the bump up to a D6 for my monk weapons. change my name fucked around with this message at 20:47 on Dec 6, 2023 |
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 04:30
|
|
|
two fish posted:I'm trying to name a chaotic evil aquatic elf barbarian and it's eluding me because I'm really bad at elf names. The theme for the guy is supposed to be vaguely "Mad Max villain" and he worships Sekolah. Any ideas on something in that vein? Some spontaneous ideas:
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 04:33
|
|
|
Ominous Jazz posted:fascist halflings are trying to kill the tinkerer gnome (who has been losing their mind convinced that they are somehow a mimic/doppelganger/changeling but don't know it). the players have been warned. the tinkerer also may be the one person who can "fix" the broken dungeon nearby. I'll echo what Narsham said about simplifying (and definitely not having a potential TPK as the threat) but also just think about : 1. what the players know already know about the situation 2. what can the players quickly glean from the evolving situation (and what needs to be super obvious vs. intentionally misleading) 3. what the players are most likely to do with all this information (as well as the second and third most likely, like what is stopping them from just trying to smash in this "flask"?) For example, it seems based on your description that this "rival" adventurer is more of a friendly rival they would have incentive to save (and like, wouldn't just be happy to watch die to loot their stuff, which I know many people who I've played with would) but would they know/suspect/roll to remember whether this rival has ever mentioned a twin? And if they don't have any reason to doubt, what exactly would they do with this information in any case (like, is it obvious at a glance that this panicking "twin" is about to accidentally kill them all? or would it seem like a better idea to dive in and help?) Alternatively, since it seems like you weren't clear on the motivations of the mimic, why not make it a classic clone dilemma where instead of the mimic trying to "save" his sibling, the mimic is trying to assassinate his "clone" and both are trying to convince you they are the real one, with the clone trying to use evidence of the dead assassin and other mimics to let you kill his doppelganger assassin while the real guy begs for his life? It's definitely a potentially compelling setup but I think "simple and non-lethal but with interesting challenges and various solutions" is better than having just a big chaotic soup of concepts and panic and potential death
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 05:33
|
|
|
two fish posted:I'm trying to name a chaotic evil aquatic elf barbarian and it's eluding me because I'm really bad at elf names. The theme for the guy is supposed to be vaguely "Mad Max villain" and he worships Sekolah. Any ideas on something in that vein? The Depth of Appolexy Fish Feaster Mad Mackerel The Horrible Hun-gar
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 05:41
|
|
|
Chum Darkwater Finolas of the Red Depths Bigeye Thresher is an actual type of shark bagrada fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Dec 6, 2023 |
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 06:53
|
|
|
Fhangestriel, better known as simply "Fang".
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 13:39
|
|
|
two fish posted:I'm trying to name a chaotic evil aquatic elf barbarian and it's eluding me because I'm really bad at elf names. The theme for the guy is supposed to be vaguely "Mad Max villain" and he worships Sekolah. Any ideas on something in that vein? Scrimshaw Harpoon Goon Moby Melville Alba Hardcore Spurdog (comedy option) Chum Guzzler
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 13:51
|
|
|
two fish posted:I'm trying to name a chaotic evil aquatic elf barbarian and it's eluding me because I'm really bad at elf names. The theme for the guy is supposed to be vaguely "Mad Max villain" and he worships Sekolah. Any ideas on something in that vein? I kinda feel like Chumungus is right there.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 13:54
|
|
|
Hra Mormo posted:I kinda feel like Chumungus is right there. This is the correct and proper answer.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 16:07
|
|
|
two fish posted:I'm trying to name a chaotic evil aquatic elf barbarian and it's eluding me because I'm really bad at elf names. The theme for the guy is supposed to be vaguely "Mad Max villain" and he worships Sekolah. Any ideas on something in that vein? Culri Megalodon Frach Tooth Smooth Steve
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 16:33
|
|
|
Styxen Roqsbones Leafer Bedlam Asque Leaves Jayoe Cryxzstals
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 17:03
|
|
|
Thought I'd pass this along-- if you've got Ollie's discount stores in your region, I noticed "Dungeons and Dragons" on their weekly email and it turns out they got a bunch of those Warriors of Krynn boardgames for $10 apiece and the Campaign Case: Terrain and Campaign Case: Creatures for $3 apiece. (Plus those terrible action figures based on the cartoon and the recent movie.)
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2023 20:36
|
|
|
Is this gonna be the best thread for me to ask for suggestions/critique on DMing the new Planescape module It feels too very specific for the GM advice thread
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2023 01:39
|
|
|
All of the name suggestions were amazing, thank you! Ultimately went with Lord Chumungus and will use the remainder of them for his lieutenants and goons. They're going to crawl out of the sea at beach towns on the coasts of Faerun and Lord Chumungus is going to call out his demands for a sacrifice to the Great Shark God and if they don't comply they're going to get speared with tridents shot out of ramshackle ballistas.
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2023 16:56
|
|
|
two fish posted:All of the name suggestions were amazing, thank you! Ultimately went with Lord Chumungus and will use the remainder of them for his lieutenants and goons. Ah, those would be the Harpoon Goons.
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2023 17:21
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 21:42 |
|
|
Asterite34 posted:Ah, those would be the Harpoon Goons. Goons With Harpoons was Right There
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2023 18:01
|
|
