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[D&D 5E] Xanathar's Guide to Striking a Nerve

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Posts

  • evilthecatevilthecat Registered User regular
    Just use the grid rules in the DMG?
    There are rules there for everything ...

    tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    I just finished watching the PAX AQI show and I am interested in the Tomb of Annihilation campaign. Online reviews say that its the greatest thing ever, apparently.

    Anyone have any hands-on experience with Tomb of Annihilation?

  • SchadenfreudeSchadenfreude Mean Mister Mustard Registered User regular
    I've only just started reading it this evening so can't help with how it plays, but the base city (Port Something Something) looks like a fun little metropolis.

    The campaign also has a "Hard Mode" which is cool.

    Contemplate this on the Tree of Woe
  • NotoriusBENNotoriusBEN Registered User regular
    The big thing this season is that death is real, yo.
    Ressurection magic is failing and those that have been ressurected in the past are wasting and rotting away.

    And Acererak is bigger and badder than ever,
    Becoming a god is so passe.
    He. MAKES. gods.

    a4irovn5uqjp.png
    Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
  • AegisAegis Fear My Dance Overshot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered User regular
    Sounds like it's time to invest in the Lichdom business!

    We'll see how long this blog lasts
    Currently DMing: None :(
    Characters
    [5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    Re: Tomb of Annihilation...

    Can someone with the books please give me the gist of the new backgrounds? My google-fu is weak...

  • Mr RayMr Ray Sarcasm sphereRegistered User regular
    We use a grid, and our house-rule is that if it isn't obvious whether a creature is in the area of effect or not, roll a D20 and 10+ hits.

    Is this the place to run DM type ideas past people? I'm planning a campaign and I've got a few encounters and "twists" that I'm not sure about, and obviously I can't ask my potential players for feedback for fear of ruining the surprise.

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    Mr Ray wrote: »
    We use a grid, and our house-rule is that if it isn't obvious whether a creature is in the area of effect or not, roll a D20 and 10+ hits.

    Is this the place to run DM type ideas past people? I'm planning a campaign and I've got a few encounters and "twists" that I'm not sure about, and obviously I can't ask my potential players for feedback for fear of ruining the surprise.
    I like the way they did it in one of the Acquisitions Incorporated games. Since they don't use a grid to track monster locations vs Player locations, the GM requested an Arcana check from the caster. The higher the check, the more creatures got hit by the AoE. It seemed like a pretty elegant method to use.

    So long as your players don't post here (or are honest enough to leave your spoilers alone, or at least enough not to use that meta information in game) sure. We're generally more than happy to provide feedback or suggestions.

    Edit: To clarify, the few circumstances where we're not happy to provide feedback generally start with "Hey guys, I've got a great idea for a FATAL campaign..."

    see317 on
  • SleepSleep Registered User regular
    Its like one of our favorite things to do

  • GaddezGaddez Registered User regular
    So I've been doing some thinking for a couple of campaigns and was hoping for some feedback from other people for ideas.

    The first one, was running a campaign set in Cormyr with a slant towards intrigue and investigation; at the moment, the forest kingdom is at an intereting point because post sundering they've effectively beaten their most obvious enemies (the Princes of shade are for all intents and purposes defunct and sembia is desperately trying to re-establish itself as an independant state) and in doing so re-established their borders... with the caveat being that The royals effectively burned out their military in the process. So while they don't have any immediate enemies, they also can't engage with any potential threats outside of their borders. This also means that the various noble families are more free to engage in scheming without fear of consequence. Assuming of course, they're not too blatant.

    So what happens when it looks like a major family of nobles who have been defined by their loyalty and service to the crown for centuries appear to be going rogue? Why, figure out whether this is a case of someone getting too big for their britches, bad optics or perhaps a conspiracy and who better then a group of plucky adventurers a the behest of the Mage Royal.

    That's the premise, here's the rub: I don't have a lot of expierience with campaigns that focus on espionage/investigation and I really want to make it to be satisfying for the players to do more then smash skulls. Any suggestions?

    The other one, was to try my hand at running something in dragonlance circa war of the lance. I'm familiar enough with the time period that I think I could run something authentic feeling and original, but the problem is that a lot of classes and races don't mesh well with the setting (which is fine, I can redact those as neccesary and adapt some of the others) while at the same time some classes/races aren't really represented at all (Silvanesti and Qualinesti are distinct enough that they should count as different sub races of elves, Minotaurs don't really have an analogue from released materials and Knights of solamnia are kind of their own thing all together).

    Has anyone tried doing a setting guide for 5th that I could crib some notes from?

  • captainkcaptaink TexasRegistered User regular
    Gaddez wrote: »
    So I've been doing some thinking for a couple of campaigns and was hoping for some feedback from other people for ideas.

    The first one, was running a campaign set in Cormyr with a slant towards intrigue and investigation; at the moment, the forest kingdom is at an intereting point because post sundering they've effectively beaten their most obvious enemies (the Princes of shade are for all intents and purposes defunct and sembia is desperately trying to re-establish itself as an independant state) and in doing so re-established their borders... with the caveat being that The royals effectively burned out their military in the process. So while they don't have any immediate enemies, they also can't engage with any potential threats outside of their borders. This also means that the various noble families are more free to engage in scheming without fear of consequence. Assuming of course, they're not too blatant.

    So what happens when it looks like a major family of nobles who have been defined by their loyalty and service to the crown for centuries appear to be going rogue? Why, figure out whether this is a case of someone getting too big for their britches, bad optics or perhaps a conspiracy and who better then a group of plucky adventurers a the behest of the Mage Royal.

    That's the premise, here's the rub: I don't have a lot of expierience with campaigns that focus on espionage/investigation and I really want to make it to be satisfying for the players to do more then smash skulls. Any suggestions?

    The other one, was to try my hand at running something in dragonlance circa war of the lance. I'm familiar enough with the time period that I think I could run something authentic feeling and original, but the problem is that a lot of classes and races don't mesh well with the setting (which is fine, I can redact those as neccesary and adapt some of the others) while at the same time some classes/races aren't really represented at all (Silvanesti and Qualinesti are distinct enough that they should count as different sub races of elves, Minotaurs don't really have an analogue from released materials and Knights of solamnia are kind of their own thing all together).

    Has anyone tried doing a setting guide for 5th that I could crib some notes from?

    There's a Minotaur UA

    http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/UA_Waterborne_v3.pdf

    There's also a Knight sublcass for Fighters, not exactly Solamnia but it could work.

    http://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/2016_Fighter_UA_1205_1.pdf

    Elves could definitely work as subraces of the regular elf, those aren't hard to tweak.

  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    Gaddez wrote: »
    The other one, was to try my hand at running something in dragonlance circa war of the lance. I'm familiar enough with the time period that I think I could run something authentic feeling and original, but the problem is that a lot of classes and races don't mesh well with the setting (which is fine, I can redact those as neccesary and adapt some of the others) while at the same time some classes/races aren't really represented at all (Silvanesti and Qualinesti are distinct enough that they should count as different sub races of elves, Minotaurs don't really have an analogue from released materials and Knights of solamnia are kind of their own thing all together).

    If you want to run a Dragonlance game, I don't think these issues should slow you down...

    Qualinesti = High Elf (Sun)
    Sivlanesti = High Elf (Moon)
    Kagonesti = Wood Elf

    I think the Qualinesti and Silvanesti are different, yes but mostly in fluff and maybe not enough that they need to be separate sub-races crunch-wise. A good breakdown can actually be found in Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide as to the differences between Sun and Mood elves.

    Ever since even 3.5e or 4e, I think, Halflings are much more like Kender than they are like Hobbits anyway.

    Dwarves are Dwarves. :)

    Knights of Solamnia are just Fighters and Paladins. Crown Knights are Fighters, Sword Knights are Paladins and Rose Knights are douche-y Paladins.

  • GaddezGaddez Registered User regular
    The thing about Knights of solamnia is that I kind of see them as being a cludge of fighter and paladin; they aren't as mystical as paldins (so no turning undead, spell casting, sensing evil or laying on hands, but inspiring presence and courage would be really appropriate) while they're also more structured then the fighter.

    Might spend the next couple of days working on a base concept and post it up for peoples opinions.

  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    Another, simpler, idea would be to have an aspirant Knight start as a Fighter, and a certain point have them take Paladin levels to reflect then rising in the ranks of the Order.

    Crown Knights had no abilities like that, but in the Olden Days before the Gods left the world in a snit, Sword and Rose knights for sure had Paladin abilities granted to them by Kiri-Jolith (?) and Paladine. Things during the War of the Lance may be a bit fuzzy.

    Steelhawk on
  • AegisAegis Fear My Dance Overshot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered User regular
    Can always just play a Paladin that only uses their Convert-a-spell-into-damage ability.

    We'll see how long this blog lasts
    Currently DMing: None :(
    Characters
    [5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
  • evilthecatevilthecat Registered User regular
    soooo I've got a bit of a quandary.

    My players were taken prisoner and made slaves.
    To ensure their obedience, they were given nasty shock collars.
    This wasn't a permanent state, I was going to get them out one way or another; there were many options to getting free.
    The way they played it, they sided with one of their masters who was keen to get the others (all mages) out of the way to steal their works and get rich.

    At no point throughout any of this did my players think to bargain for their freedom.
    As all hell broke loose (experiments getting out of containment), the master they sided with opened a portal to his home city and they all jumped through (they were in an isolated research facility up until then).

    I'm aghast.
    I had an entire story arch prepared to run after this filler episode, but now that they're in Douchemageopolis, home of the Slavermages, I'm lost as to how to handle this.

    On the on hand .. story arch!
    On the other .. they kinda deserve to be put through the ringer!

    tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    evilthecat wrote: »
    soooo I've got a bit of a quandary.

    My players were taken prisoner and made slaves.
    To ensure their obedience, they were given nasty shock collars.
    This wasn't a permanent state, I was going to get them out one way or another; there were many options to getting free.
    The way they played it, they sided with one of their masters who was keen to get the others (all mages) out of the way to steal their works and get rich.

    At no point throughout any of this did my players think to bargain for their freedom.
    As all hell broke loose (experiments getting out of containment), the master they sided with opened a portal to his home city and they all jumped through (they were in an isolated research facility up until then).

    I'm aghast.
    I had an entire story arch prepared to run after this filler episode, but now that they're in Douchemageopolis, home of the Slavermages, I'm lost as to how to handle this.

    On the on hand .. story arch!
    On the other .. they kinda deserve to be put through the ringer!

    Why?

  • NotoriusBENNotoriusBEN Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    What better way to destroy slavermagecity than from within.

    Also, tighten the collar until they decide to rebel

    NotoriusBEN on
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  • evilthecatevilthecat Registered User regular
    Denada wrote: »
    evilthecat wrote: »
    soooo I've got a bit of a quandary.

    My players were taken prisoner and made slaves.
    To ensure their obedience, they were given nasty shock collars.
    This wasn't a permanent state, I was going to get them out one way or another; there were many options to getting free.
    The way they played it, they sided with one of their masters who was keen to get the others (all mages) out of the way to steal their works and get rich.

    At no point throughout any of this did my players think to bargain for their freedom.
    As all hell broke loose (experiments getting out of containment), the master they sided with opened a portal to his home city and they all jumped through (they were in an isolated research facility up until then).

    I'm aghast.
    I had an entire story arch prepared to run after this filler episode, but now that they're in Douchemageopolis, home of the Slavermages, I'm lost as to how to handle this.

    On the on hand .. story arch!
    On the other .. they kinda deserve to be put through the ringer!

    Why?

    the complete lack of foresight of what they were doing.
    the had multiple opportunities to try and apply the leverage they had, they didn't.
    Instead of being ported to relative safety as non slaves they're where they are now.

    tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    Sounds like a good time for the Gladiator Arc. Every campaign has to have one, might as well go whole ham and mash it together with the Slavery Arc.

    Have you done the Pirate Arc yet? Maybe they could escape to the seas once they've overthrown the evil government by winning over the populace through their against-all-odds victories in the arena.

  • RendRend Registered User regular
    Honestly this sounds less like a lack of foresight and more like a call for help.

    "We need a tournament arc, please... please?"

  • evilthecatevilthecat Registered User regular
    I've already done the gladiator arc.
    When pitted against children for the amusement of drow they cut them down without nary a thought. D:

    tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    @Gaddez , satisfying intrigue takes time and effort! This is what I do when I'm bored:

    For each competing noble family/faction, create one leader and 1d6 agents. For every five agents total, one should be a double agent. One double agent should be a triple agent.

    Each noble family should have a goal, a secret, and a method. The family should always be willing to work towards their goal with the party, and the secret should give the players leverage while putting them at risk.
    The method should determine how far the family is willing to go. Murder? Hiring mercenaries or assassins? Demon summoning? Blackmail and theft? Fomenting peasant revolt? Lots of options, get creative!

    Finally, the players need a starting allegiance. Whoever they align with should have a Secret that will give the players second thoughts about their choice, but not be an immediate dealbreaker.

    Agents have room to be colorful, spy tropes are great here. Leaders should be more vanilla if you're playing it straight, and the players should interact with them much less often.

    Rainfall on
  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    It sounds like this recent event wasn't really out of character for them then. They don't strike me as the most thoughtful group of characters.

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Man I really want to play a swashbuckler rogue. That sounds like a lot of fun.

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  • SleepSleep Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    evilthecat wrote: »
    I've already done the gladiator arc.
    When pitted against children for the amusement of drow they cut them down without nary a thought. D:

    Did you at any point reinforce the fact that they were doing something fairly evil for their own preservation?

    Also did you actually give them any other visible option for the situation besides tpk?

    Sleep on
  • evilthecatevilthecat Registered User regular
    Sleep wrote: »
    evilthecat wrote: »
    I've already done the gladiator arc.
    When pitted against children for the amusement of drow they cut them down without nary a thought. D:

    Did you at any point reinforce the fact that they were doing something fairly evil for their own preservation?

    Also did you actually give them any other visible option for the situation besides tpk?

    I think if I have to point that out then somethings wrong with my players.
    Ok so the setup was this:

    the PCs were were engaged in a tug of war with a spike pit in the middle against 7 children.
    With a bit of nudging, they deduced (correctly) that the ethereal rope they were all shackled to wasn't corporeal over the middle (otherwise how would people fall into the pit).
    They were told that anyone that didn't absolutely suck at physical tasks could make a running leap and free themselves of the rope (I had placed the martial PCs at the front).
    Anyway, the drow provided action incentive (because what sort of person kills kids, right? ;p ) in the form of an ogre; the tug of war was going no where, if the tug didn't conclude itself soon the ogre would be released.

    Now they had no way of knowing this, but they easily outranked the ogre. even if only the front three leaped out (leaving the two others to keep the children in check), it would have been a short fight.
    But nope, not one heroic bone in their body, as soon as the ogre was mentioned they yanked as hard as they could sending the kids face first into a spiky and messy death.

    Afterwards they justified it by saying: "those kids would have died or ended up in the mines, we actually did them a favour!".

    tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    Are the players enjoying their Evil campaign? Did you talk with them one on one about their experiences so far? Maybe you are the only one at the table feeling uncomfortable about killing children and slavery? DnD is about making up stories together, so everyone should get some enjoyment out of the shit your group comes up with.

  • evilthecatevilthecat Registered User regular
    Aldo wrote: »
    Are the players enjoying their Evil campaign? Did you talk with them one on one about their experiences so far? Maybe you are the only one at the table feeling uncomfortable about killing children and slavery? DnD is about making up stories together, so everyone should get some enjoyment out of the shit your group comes up with.

    I think you're misinterpreting what I'm getting at.
    I was trying to highlight their poor decision making skills.
    When asked about why they acted the way they did, they said that they did want to save the children, but were scared about losing their characters.
    With regards to alignment: I prefer good parties, because I like watching people try to do the "right" thing, despite the odds. I try to be consequential about things they do, which ultimately would mean their deaths if they pursued an evil agenda. Don't get me wrong, I can throw buckets of children and cripples at them all day for them to murder, it's just that my players are the sort that'll do it in the middle of the town square, telling objectors to bugger off because they're lords and can do as they please.

    My current problem is that I want to consequently act upon their poor decision making, but on the other hand I want to "end" the current campaign to start something new and had an arc planned to do so. Both are mutually exclusive.

    tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    I've never had to deal with a party in any game act like that. I don't know where to start.

    I guess if a good D&D party goes from goblins to tyrants to dragons to demons to evil gods... they will eventually draw the attention of good adventurers, good monsters (gryphons, a gold dragon, make something up), then angels, and so on.

    Let them know they're the bad guys in a world that has active forces for good, and be a fair DM until they reach a narrative conclusion; let them take over the kingdom, or kill a good god.

    Oh! Offer them a chance to betray each other in return for power! They might like that, and it'll show them how being evil is there end.

    Tell them once they're through maybe try not to be psychopaths with their next characters.

    Endless_Serpents on
  • SmrtnikSmrtnik job boli zub Registered User regular
    Put up wanted posters in taverns they visit and it's them. Make the reward go up as they keep misbehaving. Make people run out when they enter. Maybe some guys gets a constable. Maybe bounty hunters and other adventuring groups start going for them.

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  • evilthecatevilthecat Registered User regular
    gah!
    it's like no one's listening to me!

    tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    Taking over Slavertown and becoming the new evil overlords seems like a fitting way to end this unintentionally evil campaign.

  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    There's only one thing left to do then...

    ROCKS FALL, EVERYONE DIES

    And then you say, "That's what you get you filthy meatbags! Now we're doing it my way."

    :razz:

  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    Can I get a straight forward explanation of spells in combat? I'm playing my first 5e game and it's a bit different. My only experience prior to this is 4e.

    https://orcpub2.com/pages/dnd/5e/characters/17592211214625

    That's my guy and as far as I can tell he should get a +5 to spells cast against enemies, but against what? And I assume the 13 is what has to be rolled to save against ongoing effects? Or do I have that all wrong?

  • RendRend Registered User regular
    evilthecat wrote: »
    gah!
    it's like no one's listening to me!

    Sorry if you mentioned this before, but have you tried, in the moment, telling them that their intended course of action is evil? And then, of course, reminding the good aligned ones that this goes against their stated character motivations, which is totally fine as long as they understand it indicates a fundamental shift in their character's motivations and alignment, etc.

    That being said, it sounds like your players are more interested in acting strategically than role-playing their characters. Which is frustrating. I find that kind of table very frustrating.

  • evilthecatevilthecat Registered User regular
    Their AC.
    Spells are either like attack rolls or people have to beat your DC.

    spell attack rolls are always your prof+mod+dice.
    your personal spell DC is 8+prof+mod.

    tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  • RendRend Registered User regular
    Another way to go about that is, when a player is planning to do something absurd like pull seven children into a spike pit, ask the player or players how their characters feel about the situation, and try to nudge them toward playing their characters based on that feedback. Asking a player how their character feels is a good way to get the player in the character's head.

  • evilthecatevilthecat Registered User regular
    Rend wrote: »
    Another way to go about that is, when a player is planning to do something absurd like pull seven children into a spike pit, ask the player or players how their characters feel about the situation, and try to nudge them toward playing their characters based on that feedback. Asking a player how their character feels is a good way to get the player in the character's head.

    I've spent nearly three years trying to get them to RP more, it just isn't in their blood.
    Well, it is for one of the players but he can't do everything on his own without being too meta about it.

    tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    I was (mostly) joking before but now I'm a little more serious.

    Maybe they need more serious consequences. In game consequences for them being jerks. Like, the Queen gives only half the reward because the party was supposed to save the villagers from the Orcs and not sacrifice them to lure the Orcs onto a trap. Or the town guard escorts them out as these child killers are not welcome here anymore. All the merchants in town triple their prices just to motivate the players to move on.

    Maybe they need to learn the selfish attitude of those characters does not make them the big damn heroes they think they are.

This discussion has been closed.