D&D NEXT: Infinite Posts of the Abyss

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Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

So, this weekend I'm getting drafted into a campaign of 5e and I haven't really played anything since 2e back in the 90s. It's gonna be an "Assault the Keep"-type scenario so I don't anticipate a lot of rests. Any suggestions on what to check out and/or avoid so I can get myself some mechanical breathing room and focus on the plot/characters without worrying too about pasting myself in combat?

# ¿ Jul 31, 2015 15:48

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 22:29

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Apparently, we already have a fighter and a Barb (which I think are the only 2 confirmed classes at this point), so I was strongly considering caster. Is there anywhere that provides a good breakdown/comparison of casters as played (I've read the PHB descriptions, but you know they always play out a bit different in practice)?

# ¿ Jul 31, 2015 16:01

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Trip report on D&D weekend:

The campaign was broken into 2 groups running simultaneously with separate DMs in separate rooms with text contact between the DMs. While an interesting concept, having intertwined campaigns while expecting the groups to progress at similar real-time paces proceeded predictably poorly.

Our group was a smattering of pre-gen and self-gen 3rd level characters, none of which was quite up to speed or designed in the same format. I don't think any of the players had touched 5E before and I'm almost certain that one had never played an RPG of any type. Some were endlessly quoting 3E rules only to be told they didn't exist anymore.

There was little to no RP and the entire campaign was a series of combats with no real breaks, therefore no rests.

In total, I think we muddled through the first portion of 5 combats in about... 6 hours? I didn't really pay any attention to time, and that was probably for the best.

We had:
Barb - Who did about 70% of the party damage and was virtually unkillable. Player was functionally illiterate and would routinely roll a d12 to hit and be unable to determine the difference between his attack bonus and damage dice on his character sheet. Complained that all he did was hit things with an axe.
Thief - Who did about 25% of the party damage and was 1 swing away from death.
Fighter - Who, despite spending hours in the weeks leading up telling us what a badass his Eldritch Knight was going to be, effectively did nothing the entire game.
Cleric - Who we thought was a Paladin since he only ever cast offensive spells and never healed. Also, a non-factor.
Wizard - Me. I spammed cantrips that never hit for minimal damage. None of my non-combat spells ever really mattered.

Combat was a clusterfuck. The monsters were all giant sacks of HP and armor that we just chewed on forever, and all damage was effectively permanent, since we didn't have a healer. The Barb and Thief appeared to have perma-Advantage and just beat on things forever while either taking half-damage with a massive HP pool (Barb) or just not being focused by the DM whatsoever (Thief). As a Wizard, I was pretty much told I never had advantage and that it was "just my bad rolls". I didn't have the heart to explain the statistics to him, but when you have a sub 50% chance to hit (either +5 Ranged Spell Attack vs 18AC or 13DC saves vs. +3 roll) and your spells only do 1d6 or 1d8, then your expected sustained damage is around 2HP/round, so those 30 HP meat slabs (we had 3 of those at a time as the minor enemies accompanying a leader) would take me 15 rounds each to kill unassisted. The final encounter of the first campaign was a Helmed Horror(?), a construct that gained advantage on all magic DCs and had 20+ AC and was immune to CC. I decided to see how much beer I could consume while waiting for the others to do whatever it was they did.

That said, the Barb was constantly rolling Advantage on a +6 (I think) roll for 1d12+5 damage and the Rogue was popping sneaks/assassinations all day for advantage and 4d6+x damage so...

Rolling a Wizard in a no-rest campaign felt completely useless as I could have just unloaded my 7 spell slots in 1 combat for half a trash mob's health and then had nothing but cantrips for the rest of the day.

I gave the DM some feedback, but I don't think I'd be inclined to try something he ran again until I was confident that we had a group with a bare minimum understanding of RPGs and that the DM understood that there was a whole world of gaming somewhere between CONSECUTIVE SERIES OF COMBATS and I GET DRUNK AND SHOOT MY MAGIC MISSILE AT THE SERVING WENCH.\\

# ¿ Aug 6, 2015 16:18

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Plague of Hats posted:

Why do so many people assume the convention staff would just shut off the lights on a room filled with 200 people? I mean, it's loving bizarre for the event runner to do it, too, but it seems that every time it comes up someone pins it on con staff. Did a GenCon representative say "oops sorry" for it?

Speaking from a Convention Management perspective: Shutting off the lights in a large hall is almost assuredly 100% out of the control of both BMG and Gencon staff. It would have had to have been ICC staff and to do it on purpose would be begging for a firing just on liability issues. Somebody just hosed up and hit the switch while going through their end-of-day.

# ¿ Aug 6, 2015 20:43

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Roadie posted:

I find myself wondering now how long until the guys in the MtG part of the company make their own RPG as a side project.

You don't want this. That side of the house is notoriously incompetent at literally everything that is not making Wizard Poker Cards. See also: Magic Online, Magic Event Coverage, GLEEMAX

# ¿ Aug 6, 2015 22:46

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

MtG nerds have been pining for years for someone to create an RPG based around the old Arena series of novels where spells were something you could physically trade and acquire. WotC Brand can never allow it, especially now in a post-Planeswalker world, but demand has never waned.

# ¿ Aug 7, 2015 04:06

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

FRINGE posted:

I quit playing a long time ago. What the hell is "mending"?

They wrapped up every primary storyline in 1 major event and then stripped all planeswalkers down to a baseline power level that was more "Strong wizard who can also planeswalk" and less "Roaming diety limited by author fiat".

The term " Mending" itself refers to the closing of the time rifts that were the core plot device of the story in question.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2015 02:15

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

I might have missed it, but if this didn't get mentioned yet, the IDW D&D comics are the current Humble Book Bundle: https://www.humblebundle.com/books

I hear they are p good.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2015 03:34

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

gradenko_2000 posted:

It's my understanding that they errata'd Unarmed Strikes from "a weapon" to "not a weapon, but can exceptionally be used for melee weapon attacks" that if you are wielding a sword in one hand and nothing in the other, you cannot claim that you get +1 AC from the Dual-Wielder feat from having two weapons armed/drawn.

Since Unarmed Strikes are not weapons, and their special exception does not grant them the Light property, you cannot dual-wield them.

They had to do this:

quote:

Weapons (p. 149). Unarmed strike
doesn�t belong on the Weapons table

So you couldn't do things like cast Elemental Weapon on your goddamn hands:

Elemental Weapon posted:

A nonmagical weapon you touch becomes a magic
weapon.

But they had to add this:

quote:

Melee Attacks (p. 195). The rule on
unarmed strikes should read as follows:
�Instead of using a weapon to make a
melee weapon attack, you can use an unarmed
strike: a punch, kick, head-butt, or
similar forceful blow (none of which count
as weapons). On a hit, an unarmed strike
deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1 +
your Strength modifier. You are proficient
with your unarmed strikes.�

So that stuff like this would still work:

quote:

S t u n n i n g S t r i k e
Starting at 5th level, you can interfere with the flow of
ki in an opponent�s body. When you hit another creature
with a melee w eapon attack, you can spend 1 ki point to
attempt a stunning strike. The target must succeed on a
Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of
your next turn.

But that broke resistances since the resistances were only to Weapon Types, not Weapon Attack Damage.

So, an Unarmed Strike would go right through Bludgeoning Weapon Resistance.

But then they ruled that separately, to be fixed in the MM or something.

# ¿ Sep 8, 2015 04:53

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Skellybones posted:

What does this mean for my plans of an unarmed wrestler Barbarian/Fighter?

Consult your DM before starting a multi-class regimen.
If you have an erection that lasts more than 4 hours, seek immediate clerical treatment.

# ¿ Sep 8, 2015 05:10

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

dwarf74 posted:

This is absolutely marvelous.

Was this an actual exploit they were trying to patch, or did they just hate the idea of someone's fists getting wreathed in fire?

Yes.

# ¿ Sep 8, 2015 05:10

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

gradenko_2000 posted:

@JeremyECrawford What specifically does "Melee Weapon Attack" mean: A melee attack with a weapon, or an attack with a melee weapon?

A melee weapon attack is a melee attack with a weapon.

@JeremyECrawford @ApocalypticTwit since unarmed strikes are no longer considered weapons, they cannot be used for melee weapon attacks?

@undrhil @ApocalypticTwit The rule on unarmed strikes is an exception: they can be used for melee weapon attacks, despite not being weapons.

@jeremyecrawford Not to be confused with: an attack with a melee weapon

@sebkha That's correct, since an attack with a melee weapon can be a ranged attack if you throw it.

===

This descent into solipsism was brought to you by Divine Smite:

He's saying that throwing a spear and melee-attacking with a spear both fall under "attack with a melee weapon", but only melee-attacking with a spear falls under "a melee weapon attack", and so only melee-attacking with a spear can trigger Divine Smite.

BTW, I don't see the issue with this. Smites need a solid connection between you and your foe, an a weapon can act as a conductor, but not a transport.

# ¿ Sep 8, 2015 05:23

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

WotC should just sell WWDMD bracelets.

# ¿ Sep 8, 2015 13:23

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

I'm going to get a bunch of backgammon doubling dice and let players roll those instead of normal damage dice for crits in non-boss encounters.

Great DMing or Greatest DMing?

# ¿ Sep 9, 2015 16:39

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Could be worse.

They could be shooting for Gleemax 2.0.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2015 22:50

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

mastershakeman posted:

The homebrew I play gives rogues instakill in surprise round. 60% chance at level 1, up to 95% at level 10. Works on any leveled creature and any monster at cr5 or less.

So basically if your rogue hits someone that isn't expecting combat, he almost always dies outright, no save. We also don't use coup de Grace, if someone is held personed or asleep or whatever you just kill them without a roll if not in combat, kill them with a hit roll if in combat.

Have you ever considered alternatives to "massacring ever living being you come across"? Or do you have the shiniest meat bicycle?

# ¿ Sep 17, 2015 14:24

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

My buddy and I are gonna do the beginner Adventurer's League stuff at Gencon. Neither of us has really played since 2E. Are there any good youtubes or podcasts or anything for intros to 5E, mechanically?

# ¿ May 7, 2018 02:31

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Forever_Peace posted:

Are the grapple rules for moving a grappled creature vertically?

Can I:
- jump off something with it?
- take it with during a 10' climb?
- fall prone with it?
- lift it up?
- jump with it?
- orient it beneath me while falling?

Also, can I swivel around which adjacent square it takes?

# ¿ May 9, 2018 19:07

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Average Bear posted:

What are some cool dice

# ¿ May 15, 2018 12:36

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

I'm getting ready to do my very first AL stuff in prep for doing the Moonshae stuff at GenCon this year. I'm fairly novice to 5E, but I played a bit of 2E many years ago.

I like being a mage. I was a mage in WoW, I was a mage in FF14, I play Storm in M:tG, and I renamed the bluetooth in my new car "Wizard Van".

That said, can someone offer me a sort of compare/contrast overview of the cater classes/archetypes that I'll be able to choose from for AL, sort of "how these classes play out in practice"?

I assume that, given that I'll be doing pre-written AL scenarios, there will be a good mix of combat/non-combat so I'll need to cover both sides of that with my choices.

Also, if anyone has any good tips for AL play, I'd be glad to hear them. Thanks.

# ¿ May 24, 2018 06:44

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Ok, duders, having read a bunch of stuff, and looking at the input here, I'm thinking maybe Wizard with the War Wizard features from Xanathar's.

So, it seems like martials have a ton of ways to generate Advantage on combat rolls, but how do Wizards do the same? Like, can someone "Help" me in combat the way they can a martial class? Does my spell attack roll get advantage? Does this do anything for me if it's a DC check instead? Are there other good ways to generate Advantage/Disadvantage on spells?

# ¿ May 24, 2018 16:05

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Ok, I got my wizarding dude mocke up on DDB. Can anyone take a look and tell me if I fell into any terrible newbie traps? I don't need him to be perfect, but I don't want to hold my group back by punting at character select.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ag4sbzy3gwspk02/Toshimo_AL.pdf?dl=0

Edit: I guess their export is a work-in-progress since it only exported my prepared spells and not the whole spellbook. v0v

Toshimo fucked around with this message at 00:08 on May 25, 2018

# ¿ May 25, 2018 00:04

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Enourmo posted:

Remember that Ritual tag spells can be cast without having them prepared.

I did not know this was a thing. Thanks!

# ¿ May 25, 2018 00:26

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Ok, I think I got most of this.

Is it unreasonable to ask an AL GM if I can start the run with my familiar summoned, but dismissed in order to save a spell slot?
I'm going to start with my rituals unprepared, which lets me prepare Shield and whatever damage spell I replace Chromatic Orb with (I kinda wanted to have 1 better-than-cantrip DPS spell.
I liked Shocking Grasp as a way to have a pretty solid way to generate advantage on a high AC armored dude who got up close and personal in a pinch. It also seemed rad that my owlbuddy could dive bomb Shocking Grasp people at range. I can see that another utility cantrip might get more mileage, and I might sap it.
Although the image doesn't show it, and the PDF does, I get Minor Illusion as a racial bonus cantrip, which seems pretty good (and probably makes Prestidigitation less valuable for me).

Thanks for all the tips, though. Keep 'em coming.

# ¿ May 25, 2018 01:49

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:

In the name of expedience, The Harpers have assigned me to be your party's PM. I'm going to have a lot of questions to start with so please be patient while I "get in the swing" of things. I'm sure we'll all find a workflow together that ensures a quick and decisive victory. Here's the roadmap I've laid out for the next 3 months - please submit any feedback by this friday.

Hello, who just joined?

# ¿ May 26, 2018 21:12

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

kidkissinger posted:

What's a good resource for learning to be a better actor for NPCs as a DM?

Take an improv class.

# ¿ May 31, 2018 01:54

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

If y'all mad about decks that make Legendary Monkey tokens, go gently caress yourselves, cause that's the best thing.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2018 02:45

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

https://twitter.com/vauIttecs/status/1002676661484023809?s=20

# ¿ Jun 3, 2018 23:19

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

For AL play, how should I generally expect the Shield spell to be handled:
(A) I know before casting if the +5AC would matter
(B) Casting blind and maybe wasting it

# ¿ Jun 4, 2018 04:10

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Kaysette posted:

It�ll vary DM to DM but when I�m attacking players I usually just ask �does an X hit?� then they can quickly do the math.

Yeah. I was hoping AL would have a standard, but I guess I'll just see how it plays out. It's a bit annoying since I went War Magic and my level 2 trait is basically "Shield, but also for saves" and burning that on stuff where it's not gonna affect it will get old quick.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2018 19:18

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Firstborn posted:

I love this website. I mocked this up to put in the sleeve on the front of my character sheet folder.
http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/B1POs-5nCG

Very cool website. I was inspired by WebDM's advice to have your Oath tenets in front of you as real touchstones on how you should act. Then I got carried away.
E: Yes, he's only level 2. He's still following them, though.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2018 18:08

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

KingFisher posted:

How does the thread feel about bladesingers?

Elves are delicious.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2018 12:57

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Baby T. Love posted:

Why isn't your character's running long jump distance determined by your speed at all? I don't have a specific formula in mind but at the risk of being too complicated I feel like your STR should determine what percentage of your movespeed you can running long jump.

Long jump is (Speed+(5ft*Athletics Bonus))/2 rounded down?

# ¿ Jun 9, 2018 18:58

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:

Yeah if you want a game full of fiddly physics rules, power to you, but they should apply to all the characters not just half of them.

TBF, fiddly physics already does not apply to Wizards because... *checks spellbook* I'll just alter the entirety of reality so that my corporeal self already exists on the other side of the ravine.

# ¿ Jun 10, 2018 16:30

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Scenario: Me (Rad Wizard) and my buddy (a Fighter) get jumped by some gobbos.

If I try to shoot his gobbo with my Fire Bolt, does he provide cover against it? Can it hit him by accident? Does shooting his gobbo while I have one adjacent cause disadvantage since I'm "firing ranged out of melee"?

# ¿ Jun 10, 2018 17:00

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Anyone got any rad pics of Bugbears? I need to make up my Roll20 token for tomorrow night.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2018 00:02

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Ryuujin posted:

Like what kind of bugbear image are you looking for?

Thanks for these. I'm going Bugbear Assassin because it's incredibly hilarious to me to basically be playing a guy with the mutant body proportions of Michael Phelps who is simultaneously The Stealthiest Motherfucker On Faerun.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2018 02:00

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Ryuujin posted:

Thanks, duders. I had a rad time with my Bugbear Murderhobo tonight.

If anyone is a pixel art master enough to make a :smugbear: smilie, I will buy it for the forums, because that's the only fair thing to do.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2018 04:20

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

Ryuujin posted:

Huh I totally missed the glasses at first.

He's just like Beast from X-Men, but instead of being a terrible drag on the team, he's an All-Star.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2018 04:49

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 22:29

Toshimo: Aug 23, 2012; He's outta line...

But he's right!

ChaseSP posted:

What good places are there to find games, besides Reddit?

I see a lot of local AL stuff on MeetUp.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2018 06:29

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