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[DnD 5E Discussion] This is the way 5E ends. Not with a bang but a gnome mindflayer.

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  • Ken OKen O Registered User regular
    Got a session of the LMoP I'm running for my 7 year old in this Sunday. In the Redbrand hideout my wife's rogue find the secret door down to GlassStaff's room. GlassStaff pours on the charm and is trying to edge closer to the room's other exit. My son's paladin is eating up every excuse GlassStaff makes while my wife distrusts him more with ever word. Despite GlassStaff living in a secret room in the Redbrand hideout my son is sure this guy is innocent.

    Realizing that the rogue is about to make good on her threats GlassStaff casts Shocking Grasp, hits the paladin with it and takes off running down the hallway. As I describe the attack my son looks at me and says with the saddest voice ever, "I trusted you." GlassStaff surrenders two rounds later after almost dropping to zero but the look on my son's face during the betrayal will stick with me for awhile.

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  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    Ken O wrote: »
    Got a session of the LMoP I'm running for my 7 year old in this Sunday. In the Redbrand hideout my wife's rogue find the secret door down to GlassStaff's room. GlassStaff pours on the charm and is trying to edge closer to the room's other exit. My son's paladin is eating up every excuse GlassStaff makes while my wife distrusts him more with ever word. Despite GlassStaff living in a secret room in the Redbrand hideout my son is sure this guy is innocent.

    Realizing that the rogue is about to make good on her threats GlassStaff casts Shocking Grasp, hits the paladin with it and takes off running down the hallway. As I describe the attack my son looks at me and says with the saddest voice ever, "I trusted you." GlassStaff surrenders two rounds later after almost dropping to zero but the look on my son's face during the betrayal will stick with me for awhile.

    Whoof. Was he talking to Glasstaff or to you.?

  • Ken OKen O Registered User regular
    Steelhawk wrote: »

    Whoof. Was he talking to Glasstaff or to you.?

    Thankfully GlassStaff. I was worried for a moment but he took it completely in character and wasn't directing it at me.

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  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    Ken O wrote: »
    Steelhawk wrote: »

    Whoof. Was he talking to Glasstaff or to you.?

    Thankfully GlassStaff. I was worried for a moment but he took it completely in character and wasn't directing it at me.

    Oh, good. Amazing even.

    I haven't run a game for my almost 8yo yet, but I feel like its coming. This is one of my fears, that they won't be able to separate the bad guys being jerks from Daddy being a jerk. I had half-formed ideas of running essentially the old Hero's Quest board game for him.... where I act mostly as a referee/rules adjuicator rather than a proper DM. But then I also feel like that might dumb it down too much. I know the 8yo won't be a problem, but his 5yo sister might be and whatever little friends my wife ropes me into DMing for.

    Tangent: I was explaining to me wife the other day that RPG's might be good for shy/emotionally stunted/spectrum type kids as things like interacting with pretend/play people might be a gateway to interacting with real people (ie: https://gametogrow.org/ ) and she immediately said that she'll talk to so-and-so, and whatsherface because their kids might benefit. And now I'm terrified I'm going to have to actually run a game for these kids and potentially ruin it all for them. :)

  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    Steelhawk wrote: »
    Ken O wrote: »
    Steelhawk wrote: »

    Whoof. Was he talking to Glasstaff or to you.?

    Thankfully GlassStaff. I was worried for a moment but he took it completely in character and wasn't directing it at me.

    Oh, good. Amazing even.

    I haven't run a game for my almost 8yo yet, but I feel like its coming. This is one of my fears, that they won't be able to separate the bad guys being jerks from Daddy being a jerk. I had half-formed ideas of running essentially the old Hero's Quest board game for him.... where I act mostly as a referee/rules adjuicator rather than a proper DM. But then I also feel like that might dumb it down too much. I know the 8yo won't be a problem, but his 5yo sister might be and whatever little friends my wife ropes me into DMing for.

    Tangent: I was explaining to me wife the other day that RPG's might be good for shy/emotionally stunted/spectrum type kids as things like interacting with pretend/play people might be a gateway to interacting with real people (ie: https://gametogrow.org/ ) and she immediately said that she'll talk to so-and-so, and whatsherface because their kids might benefit. And now I'm terrified I'm going to have to actually run a game for these kids and potentially ruin it all for them. :)

    Nah don't worry about them being able to separate things. Kids play pretend all the time. D&D is just playing pretend with rules. My own kids started as early as about 4 and 6 (with Hero Kids and then a little D&D) and they did great.

  • override367override367 ALL minions Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    Game I ran yesterday featured a snowy treck to a remote mansion, owned by a Lamia spellcaster with a cadre of weretiger servants. They've started roughing up the local populace and are sheltering an orc warchief that everyone is after for the crime of a failed invasion of the the valley the party lives in. Party took it upon themselves to trek out there and deal with it, even though I had planned to make this a more relevant main quest plot hook later - the party goes in a direction and I hastily adapt some content from one of the books on the shelf to fit the campaign and world

    The rogue came across a room with some (sleeping) young tigers in it and she shoved them all in her secret chest, because she wanted some pet tigers. Somehow she hasn't realized that when she opens that later its going to be full of crying, screaming children, because they're weretigers. Admittedly it was muddled because the weretigers also have pet tigers, however the fact that the room had large soft beds for each of the kittens and toys like building blocks and dolls should have clued her in, she did not search the closet which would have been full of clothes making it crystal clear.

    Next session they're going to kill the queen of this place and go home and the rogue is going to realize that she bit off a lot more than she expected. The party took the stealthy approach and only killed a few mooks they had to, so as not to set off a general alarm, so I don't know if I should make it easy on them and have the parents come to retrieve their missing children, or say that the half dozen weretigers they killed probably were the parents and make the rogue have to deal with a pile of shapeshifting toddlers

    override367 on
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    For those interested, the Kingdoms and Warfare Kickstarter by Matt Coleville, the “sequel” to Strongholds and Followers, kicked off earlier today.

  • override367override367 ALL minions Registered User regular
    Elvenshae wrote: »
    For those interested, the Kingdoms and Warfare Kickstarter by Matt Coleville, the “sequel” to Strongholds and Followers, kicked off earlier today.

    aaaaaaaaand kickstarted

    I love me strongholds and followers, its rough in places but still has a lot of fantastic stuff in it (i'm using the orcs from strongholds and followers because they're actually big and dangerous like they're portrayed in the lore! the basic orc as presented in the MM shouldn't be overrunning any kingdoms, but somehow they destroyed Elminster's homeland?)

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    Steelhawk wrote: »
    Ken O wrote: »
    Steelhawk wrote: »

    Whoof. Was he talking to Glasstaff or to you.?

    Thankfully GlassStaff. I was worried for a moment but he took it completely in character and wasn't directing it at me.

    Oh, good. Amazing even.

    I haven't run a game for my almost 8yo yet, but I feel like its coming. This is one of my fears, that they won't be able to separate the bad guys being jerks from Daddy being a jerk. I had half-formed ideas of running essentially the old Hero's Quest board game for him.... where I act mostly as a referee/rules adjuicator rather than a proper DM. But then I also feel like that might dumb it down too much. I know the 8yo won't be a problem, but his 5yo sister might be and whatever little friends my wife ropes me into DMing for.

    Tangent: I was explaining to me wife the other day that RPG's might be good for shy/emotionally stunted/spectrum type kids as things like interacting with pretend/play people might be a gateway to interacting with real people (ie: https://gametogrow.org/ ) and she immediately said that she'll talk to so-and-so, and whatsherface because their kids might benefit. And now I'm terrified I'm going to have to actually run a game for these kids and potentially ruin it all for them. :)

    I find that it’s true but in my case older. As a person diagnosed on the spectrum I think the closest friends I made in highschool and college started as just other players and besides them GMing had me interact with new people of different stripes in prolonged periods which helped that social anxiety. My work experience in food and a pharmacy helped a lot there too.

  • GlalGlal AiredaleRegistered User regular
    The rogue came across a room with some (sleeping) young tigers in it and she shoved them all in her secret chest, because she wanted some pet tigers.
    Tell me more of this... secret chest.

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    Glal wrote: »
    The rogue came across a room with some (sleeping) young tigers in it and she shoved them all in her secret chest, because she wanted some pet tigers.
    Tell me more of this... secret chest.

    https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Secret Chest#content

  • override367override367 ALL minions Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    I think I am going to gloss over how much air is in there so she doesn't just open it up to a pile of dead thundercat children, that would be a bit much. I've decided the were-tigers are going to send someone to politely ask for them back, hat in hand, as they aren't chaotic evil or anything. Maybe even throw the players a bone about PLOT as a mea culpa for being involved with the orcs, as entertaining as the players having a coterie of small weretigers would be

    I expect my players to reward the air thing by using the secret chest a method of smuggling party members

    override367 on
  • Ken OKen O Registered User regular
    The chest can contain up to 12 cubic feet of nonliving material...

    That got dark fast...

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  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    There’s a new Unearthed Arcana out with an interesting Ranger subclass

    You guys like swarms of things, right?

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • override367override367 ALL minions Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    Ken O wrote: »
    The chest can contain up to 12 cubic feet of nonliving material...

    That got dark fast...

    yeah the secret chest in my game is a little bit more fast and loose, and the size is quite a bit larger, the interior being extradimensional. They have the one from Acquisition's Incorporated, so it's not ACTUALLY a chest, it's a kind of mimic that eats loot. The loot within ends up in a vault.... oh shit I need to see what else is in there, she effectively dumped 7 kids into a playpen thats probably full of magical weapons and wands and shit. I know there's at least a wand of polymorph in there... and her two figurines of wonderous power: golden lions

    Evil DM ideas intensifying

    override367 on
  • XagarXagar Registered User regular
    Sad part is it's still a ranger.

  • override367override367 ALL minions Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    Xagar wrote: »
    Sad part is it's still a ranger.

    and a druid going circle of the shepard screaming BEES while summoning 4 swarms of wasps with Conjure Animals (+2 swarms per spell level) is actually a better bee-based-weapons-platform

    override367 on
  • SleepSleep Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    Xagar wrote: »
    Sad part is it's still a ranger.

    and a druid going circle of the shepard screaming BEES while summoning 4 swarms of wasps with Conjure Animals (+2 swarms per spell level) is actually a better bee-based-weapons-platform

    Shepard Druid

    Literally this is one of my players entire character concept.

    Im gonna see if I can get fuckin anyone to play a swarm ranger aligned with him.

    Sleep on
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    There are some REAL cool minis in that new Kingdoms and Warfare kickstarter. Fuck me.

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  • WearingglassesWearingglasses Of the friendly neighborhood variety Registered User regular
    Sorry for the confusion about my earlier question, that was totally my bad.

    Okay, so I'm pretty familiar with Ravnica, having followed closely (and sometimes, even played) each new release starting from Kamigawa, but I'm still planning to buy the book. But I do not have any other D&D resources. As a player we got our stuff from our DM, who owns the main books and homebrew sources.

    What books are mandatory to run a Ravnican campaign? I'm assuming I need the PHB, MM, and DMG, but are there any good (and maybe free?) supplements worth getting? Are there any homebrew race/class/subclass/item/rule that's balanced and awesome and you use in your games? How's your Ravnican campaign going? (I vaguely remember seeing session details posted but I can't quite remember)

    And how the heck can a player who wants to be Gruul be party mates with other guilds, without bending the lore significantly?

  • override367override367 ALL minions Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    I have been inspired to create a creature to irritate my players

    TLDD2f0l.png

    override367 on
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    Prepare for dice pelting for Beevasion. :D

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Alright folks, I need an opinion

    My players are fighting a werejackal and a bunch of regular jackals. One of my players snuck ahead and sprung the trap so he is in the shit. He is a tabaxi currently. How bad would it be to infect him and have his cat person became a dog person sometimes? I think it would be hilarious, and I wouldn't make it too fucked up for him, I want my game to be fun after all.

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  • BursarBursar Hee Noooo! PDX areaRegistered User regular
    Make it the other way around and he becomes a tabaxi werehuman.

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  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    Cat scratch fever 🎶

  • SmrtnikSmrtnik job boli zub Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    you will definitely want https://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/guildmasters-guide-ravnica

    It has specific "under what circumstances and plot lines would a person from gulf x with with and against each of the other guilds" as well as personal relationship within and external each guild someone might have. Yes including Gruul.

    I was not familiar with Ravnica at all befoe reading it but this made me want to play it. Except nobody else at my table is interested so...

    Smrtnik on
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  • WearingglassesWearingglasses Of the friendly neighborhood variety Registered User regular
    @Smrtnik I'm assuming that one's actually for me :)

    Yeah looks like the Ravnica book's a shoe/shoo-in, as well as the PHB and MM. Is the DM Guide essential for DMs, or is it repeating stuff already in numerous DM tips & tricks online? (Mind, I have limited GMing experience, and all outside D&D).

  • SmrtnikSmrtnik job boli zub Registered User regular
    Yes whoops was a misclick.

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  • SmrtnikSmrtnik job boli zub Registered User regular
    If say a DM needs the DMG, nobody else does.

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  • override367override367 ALL minions Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    Bursar wrote: »
    Make it the other way around and he becomes a tabaxi werehuman.

    the tabaxi bard in my tomb of annihilation game was bitten by a crazy naked guy in an ally. She contracted werehumanism and during the noon sun transformed, regaining her senses that midnight after a mindless neutral rampage where she did her laundry, watched an execution in the dinosaur run, bought some stuff for the pantry, and got drunk

    I informed her werehumanism conveyed to her the defenses of humankind, vulnerability to regular weapons of all varieties, and while transformed she was slower and unable to see in the dark. Her hybrid form would just be an anime catgirl, too unspeakable to look upon. She went to the temple of Sune and convinced them to cure her immediately

    override367 on
  • XagarXagar Registered User regular
    Session report (ToA)
    I felt very useful this session!

    There were less players there, so we were able to quickly decide to head off in search of more puzzle cubes in a way that was away from known threats (like a teleporting T-Rex). After a bit of argument about how stupid it was to jump into an obviously inhabited pool of murky water in front of a shrine, Teidi the ranger did it anyway and ITEM GOT a small key. Predictably, his anklyosaur followed him in, and got severely injured by a froghemoth, which I promptly banished.

    The ranger and pet split off, and the rest of us quickly piled into the shrine. Faced with a spike pit and a clue, I was able to arm our rogue Asher with the information that this was a classic Indiana Jones situation, and she deftly replaced the cube with something of equal weight, after leaping the pit with her magic jumping boots. On our way back out, I sent the froghemoth in the wrong direction with a Silent Image / Minor Illusion combo. Amusingly, even a natural 20 on its Int check didn't cut it.

    There were some vegepygmies that were throwing a grung into a lava pit we passed by, but Asher (and her player) have a frog phobia, and my character didn't think they had any treasure, so we avoided them entirely.

    At the next shrine, there were a couple weird panthers with snakes on their back that attacked us on sight that were quickly taken care of. Teidi immediately adopted their 3 cubs and ignored us. The rest of us went inside, and after a quick bit of investigation, it seemed to want us to engage in gladiatorial combat and warned us against cheating, which worked fine for our newest member, the barbarian Trogzor. Unfortunately, one duel didn't seem enough for the puzzle, and we decided to take a short rest.

    Then the episode got weird.

    A few minutes into the rest, Teidi was pulled away by sight of a tabaxi in a headdress, who upon sight he immediately yelled his trademark "Howdy!" and pursued him across the rooftops. Meanwhile, Asher had decided that carrying three panther cubs around was not gonna work, and was determined to euthanize them. Unfortunately, the poison from her poisoner's kit didn't work as well as she'd hoped, and Trogzor had to finish two of them off. At this point, Teidi had been pounced on and hit with two poisoned sword strikes, and sunk into unconsciousness, as the camera panned back to the rest of the party looking on as I made a pyre out of the panthers with their parents.

    Teidi woke up with Bag-Of-Nails the tabaxi offering him a bowl of soup, and him looking at the camera going "Oh maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan"

  • GlalGlal AiredaleRegistered User regular
    edited October 2019
    Xagar wrote: »
    Session report (ToA)
    At the next shrine, there were a couple weird panthers with snakes on their back that attacked us on sight that were quickly taken care of. Teidi immediately adopted their 3 cubs and ignored us.

    (...)

    A few minutes into the rest, Teidi was pulled away by sight of a tabaxi in a headdress, who upon sight he immediately yelled his trademark "Howdy!" and pursued him across the rooftops. Meanwhile, Asher had decided that carrying three panther cubs around was not gonna work, and was determined to euthanize them.
    Well, I hope your ranger/their player is into hijinx like this, because I can very easily see a character and their player be reeeeeal pissed about someone pulling shit like this.

    Also, Displacer Beasts are cool AF, yo.

    Glal on
  • XagarXagar Registered User regular
    Glal wrote: »
    Xagar wrote: »
    Session report (ToA)
    At the next shrine, there were a couple weird panthers with snakes on their back that attacked us on sight that were quickly taken care of. Teidi immediately adopted their 3 cubs and ignored us.

    (...)

    A few minutes into the rest, Teidi was pulled away by sight of a tabaxi in a headdress, who upon sight he immediately yelled his trademark "Howdy!" and pursued him across the rooftops. Meanwhile, Asher had decided that carrying three panther cubs around was not gonna work, and was determined to euthanize them.
    Well, I hope your ranger/their player is into hijinx like this, because I can very easily see a character and their player be reeeeeal pissed about someone pulling shit like this.

    Also, Displacer Beasts are cool AF, yo.

    Nah, they were kamadans which are weird and gross just like everything Ubtao makes.

    The player is pretty self-aware, they know they're doing something dumb by Pokemon Trainering everything they come across. This is the same guy who insists on kicking in EVERY door unless physically stopped.

  • FryFry Registered User regular
    Xagar wrote: »
    Session report (ToA)
    a teleporting T-Rex

    That sounds terrifying.

  • GlalGlal AiredaleRegistered User regular
    Xagar wrote: »
    Glal wrote: »
    Xagar wrote: »
    Session report (ToA)
    At the next shrine, there were a couple weird panthers with snakes on their back that attacked us on sight that were quickly taken care of. Teidi immediately adopted their 3 cubs and ignored us.

    (...)

    A few minutes into the rest, Teidi was pulled away by sight of a tabaxi in a headdress, who upon sight he immediately yelled his trademark "Howdy!" and pursued him across the rooftops. Meanwhile, Asher had decided that carrying three panther cubs around was not gonna work, and was determined to euthanize them.
    Well, I hope your ranger/their player is into hijinx like this, because I can very easily see a character and their player be reeeeeal pissed about someone pulling shit like this.

    Also, Displacer Beasts are cool AF, yo.

    Nah, they were kamadans which are weird and gross just like everything Ubtao makes.

    The player is pretty self-aware, they know they're doing something dumb by Pokemon Trainering everything they come across. This is the same guy who insists on kicking in EVERY door unless physically stopped.
    Okay, correction, Kamadans are cool AF.

    Look, my old Rogue adopted a mimic, gave it sentience by way of a Sphinx and proceeded to bumble her way through its newfound questions on self, morality and the ethics of being an all-devouring monster, getting a snake kitty familiar is, like, Tuesday.

  • XagarXagar Registered User regular
    Glal wrote: »
    Xagar wrote: »
    Glal wrote: »
    Xagar wrote: »
    Session report (ToA)
    At the next shrine, there were a couple weird panthers with snakes on their back that attacked us on sight that were quickly taken care of. Teidi immediately adopted their 3 cubs and ignored us.

    (...)

    A few minutes into the rest, Teidi was pulled away by sight of a tabaxi in a headdress, who upon sight he immediately yelled his trademark "Howdy!" and pursued him across the rooftops. Meanwhile, Asher had decided that carrying three panther cubs around was not gonna work, and was determined to euthanize them.
    Well, I hope your ranger/their player is into hijinx like this, because I can very easily see a character and their player be reeeeeal pissed about someone pulling shit like this.

    Also, Displacer Beasts are cool AF, yo.

    Nah, they were kamadans which are weird and gross just like everything Ubtao makes.

    The player is pretty self-aware, they know they're doing something dumb by Pokemon Trainering everything they come across. This is the same guy who insists on kicking in EVERY door unless physically stopped.
    Okay, correction, Kamadans are cool AF.

    Look, my old Rogue adopted a mimic, gave it sentience by way of a Sphinx and proceeded to bumble her way through its newfound questions on self, morality and the ethics of being an all-devouring monster, getting a snake kitty familiar is, like, Tuesday.
    I think the issue was that there were 3 at once, and maybe a line was crossed in the number of pets. We already have an anklyosaur, a triceratops, a rescued pirate slave girl, and an almiraj.

    I mean, It hasn't crossed my personal line, in the game I run the party has a wizard's apprentice, a wizard's neglected nephew, a giant peregrine falcon, a slime, and a suit of sentient armor. I greatly enjoyed all the hijinks the pets in DCA got up to when it was running too, and the variety of side people in C-Team. Both Perkins and Jerry inspired me to have more animals and children to interact with when I can.

  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    Does anyone here use Syrinscape? https://syrinscape.com/

    Thoughts?

  • Super NamicchiSuper Namicchi Orange County, CARegistered User regular
    tried it, didn't like it--the interface feels clunky and it's easier for me to make iTunes playlists and control them from my phone to my bluetooth speaker.

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    If you become a werewolf

    Do you get an allergy to chocolate

  • GlalGlal AiredaleRegistered User regular
    Technically chocolate is bad for humans too and it's just their fast metabolism that messes up dogs and cats (you'd have to eat like 20kg in one go to hit that). I would assume a werewolf's metabolism is closer to that of a human, what with their shape and all?

    These are the sort of questions I don't dare bring up around my DM any more, because every time I make a bird/chicken joke while playing my Aarakocra he points and goes "that's canon now!".

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