Dungeons & Dragons: 5th Edition - Its not called Dungeons & No Dragons, son

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Dungeons & Dragons: 5th Edition - Its not called Dungeons & No Dragons, son

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

I wish the martials had better ways to "hold aggro". I vaguely remember 4e having some mechanics to do this. Any ideas on moving them over or implementing new ones?

# ¿ Dec 22, 2018 17:50

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 07:03

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

Admiral Joeslop posted:

You get one opportunity attack per round, and taking Sentinel delays your To Hit. If you're fighting a single monster (which will not be a threat to a full party unless it is really customized) and have other ways to negate the loss of a +2 to your ability score, those two combined are great.

Yeah, attack or opportunity as a bonus actions really squashes the ability to pull mobs

# ¿ Dec 22, 2018 18:11

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

Conspiratiorist posted:

I fixed Sentinel, guys.

I support this

# ¿ Dec 22, 2018 20:50

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

AlphaDog posted:

Most players find it deeply un-fun to be KO'ed before they get to take an action, and most players also find it deeply un-fun to sit out >1 round going "I'm still down/stunlocked/paralysed/whatever can someone please help me" while everyone else is playing D&D.

With most fights being 5-7 rounds, it's not unlikely that the optimal play is to leave a single downed character, win the fight, and get them up again at the end. So 0hp can quite often mean "out until the end of the fight".

So just maybe think about that before you use the intellect devourer or banshee or whatever other thing has a save or gently caress off you don't get to play D&D ability.

I think it's nice to put these sorts of effects on a warm-up the players are aware of. So they can see "oh, we have to kill this thing or something really bad happens next turn". Having a series of ticking timers is good to keep combat tense without ruining everyone's fun.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2018 00:05

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

TOA endgame: I can't believe Acererak is gonna run away like that. Sure, he nearly killed all us and my simulacrum, but we did bloody him at least.

# ¿ Dec 28, 2018 05:13

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

koreban posted:

Probably best that you not use them then. Might want to stay away from most overly-intelligent NPCs, especially of the spellcasting type, because they’re even worse than Mind Flayers at being overly complicated, dynamic, with crowd control spells.

When my group fought Acererak I ended up locked in a cage of force with a sphere of annihilation for the entire fight while he spammed at-will counterspells which was... Not so fun

# ¿ Jan 3, 2019 17:12

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

gradenko_2000 posted:

1. Inflict penalties

2. Force the player into certain behaviors without completely taking away control. Even something like "you must attack your party mates" keeps interactivity on the side of the player

3. If you absolutely must hit them with a debilitating effect, announce it ahead of time and give them an opportunity to prevent it avoid it. You can hit the players with anything as long as you warn them beforehand

One-round charge-ups work great to give them a ticking bomb to deal with too

# ¿ Jan 3, 2019 18:09

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

Toshimo posted:

The DM afterwards on Discord:

This sounds like a bad session. Sounds like everyone got hosed except the player that got given a super powerful magic item.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2019 03:06

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

Farg posted:

lucky rules actually

Especially with a diviner

# ¿ Jan 25, 2019 04:23

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

Elfgames posted:

i mean if you just put your soul into a jar and bury it then there's not much to stop the gm from going "oh mr badguy found your soul and is now holding it in his arms" like it's not great gming but that's a huge temptation for any gm to resist

This is why I would be terrified to leave my phylactery completely unattended.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2019 18:47

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

GoGoGadget posted:

Except when your DM has every creature in a dungeon come at you all at once any time someone uses a thunder ability...

This sounds legitimately fun if you have the right abilities.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2019 19:21

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

BattleMaster posted:

I get that wizards have no sense of right and wrong but animate dead seems like it should be evil-aligned only.

See you all in a couple pages

# ¿ Jan 28, 2019 00:37

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 07:03

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

Nehru the Damaja posted:

Conjurer just hit level 7. I'm taking Polymorph but the other spell pick is going to backfill since one level 4 slot is probably gonna be Polymorph all the time until we hit another level.

There are some better spells I could pick that I'm probably not going to get because I don't want to monopolize. (Haste leads to having to explain how to maximize it and Hypnotic Pattern either does nothing or just kind of ends encounters singlehandedly.)

I'm looking at either Hold Person since it's an urban campaign, or Ice Knife to have a level one recharge of Benign Transposition.

Things I either have or that are effectively replaced that do a lot of work: Web, Slow, Misty Step, Counterspell, Tiny Hut, most rituals, etc.

Any thoughts? I'm trying to make it my job to make the other folks feel like stars rather than turn games into "Wizard Wins!"

have fun with your giant ape form.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2019 21:20

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