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[DnD 5E Discussion] This is the way 5E ends. Not with a bang but a gnome mindflayer.
Chances that any of that was in-game footage?
Because I can't help but wonder how hard it would be to play a game when the camera is pointing at your character's face for 90% of the time.
that trailer is absolutely abysmal, who thought the gopro bullshit camera angles was a good idea
also while it's cool that drizzle, cats, broner, and wolfy are characters in it, I hope you can create your own
Never once in a dark alliance game. Its always been an assortment of pre gen named characters. I'd be surprised by a change to that dynamic
+5
MrVyngaardLive From New EtoileStraight Outta SosariaRegistered Userregular
edited December 2019
That numetal bullshit hurts after all the fine soundtracks I associate with the Baldur's Gate generation.
Good thing then they dropped the BG part.
MrVyngaard on
"now I've got this mental image of caucuses as cafeteria tables in prison, and new congressmen having to beat someone up on inauguration day." - Raiden333
im glad we're getting an actiony D&D game and a hopefully turn based old school D&D game from larien (divinity os 2 was fantastic)
Coming from Divinity 1 and 2 I have a lot of faith it will be good. They are seriously solid games and just about the only ones to come out in that style of game in a decade or more. Seriously if you haven't played them yet and want to play a D&D video game they are awesome even on console.
im glad we're getting an actiony D&D game and a hopefully turn based old school D&D game from larien (divinity os 2 was fantastic)
Coming from Divinity 1 and 2 I have a lot of faith it will be good. They are seriously solid games and just about the only ones to come out in that style of game in a decade or more. Seriously if you haven't played them yet and want to play a D&D video game they are awesome even on console.
im glad we're getting an actiony D&D game and a hopefully turn based old school D&D game from larien (divinity os 2 was fantastic)
Coming from Divinity 1 and 2 I have a lot of faith it will be good. They are seriously solid games and just about the only ones to come out in that style of game in a decade or more. Seriously if you haven't played them yet and want to play a D&D video game they are awesome even on console.
last time in SKT my players stole from a white dragon and took off, all but calling my bluff on the "no seriously the DM will kill you" signs
so today I get to call their bluff, I asked everyone to make sure they have backup characters prepared and they shared memes in response
*readies ancient white dragon statblock*
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
they have exactly two ways of everyone surviving this, lets hope they check their inventories and look at what their items can do, otherwise im going to have it kill the one who has its stuff, KO everyone else, take some of their stuff, and leave
A bit more time to expand on our latest adventure:
A short adventure this time as we had a session after work. Our group (lvl 3s all) consists of a evil half-orc bard who collects bones, a human edritch knight, an Aasimar (but everything thinks she's half-elven) divine sorceress and a dwarven Monk with an adversion to money and gold.
A religious order of knights runs a test in a nearby cave for aspiring knights. The last group of kids have been gone for 2 weeks though, a week more than usual. The knights are forbidden from interfering in the test, but there is nothing from stopping a group of adventurers to take a look and bring some kids back to their parents. We've managed to enter the cave last time and were greeted by a Warforged Cleric (this time played by a guest player). Apparently all teams that enter the test get a Warforged Cleric to assist them and prevent the kids from actually dying during the tests. The Warforged mentioned that it was owned by one of the kids that disappeared, but was unwilling to enter in too much philosophical debate with my monk re: whether it was a living being and if so whether it could be owned and if it was not a living being, how was it able to have a god and worship it. Warforged revolution seems a bit farther away than I expected.
The caves are covered in ice and we made our way to the first room. Nothing too special here, a frozen lake in the middle with a female body beneath the ice and ice blocking the only exit to the north. Attempts to break the ice backfired on anybody trying it, reflecting all damage back (our Cleric got the worst of it as it got into a few crossfires when our overeager sorceress was throwing firebolts around). My monk, being the cook of the party, tried a bit of salt and that seemed to work, but only had a small pouch, not enough to actually melt any significant amount. An inscription nearby reminded us of the knightly vows of self-sacrifice, so once again we poored some blood on ice and the ice disappeared. No body beneath it, but instead a green stone that melted the iceblocks to the north.
The next room contained several exits and in the middle a large nest with golden and silver eggs and a large bird sleeping on it (any ornithology checks failed, so we called it a chicken). Our bard wanted the eggs, my monk wanted to leave the bird alone so she walked towards one of the exits. Our bard stealthily entered the nest, considered killing the giant bird with his tiny knife, but decided to steal an egg instead. A failed stealth check and the bird woke up. Our bard went "eep" and rolling initiative. Bard and Sorceress both had 22 (lucky bastards), Monk and Knight both 4 (and that's including my +3 DEX bonus). Warforged 1. Bird somewhere between 4 and 22. Sorceress buffed the bard. Bard immediately cast invisibility on himself and hid. Bird then decided to go for the nearest target: my monk. I then decided that the 4 initiative would be explained by her being stunned for the rest of combat that a giant bird would attack the small dwarf that had her back turned and was silent instead of the knight and Warforged who both had cast light on their shield/helmet and were loudly arguing over something. A lucky saving throw (>20 on a STR saving throw) made her ignore the pounce and she dodged the first attack as easily, but the second did a decent amount of damage and my Matrix-like dodging streak finally ended. Counter attacks were mediocre but did some damage. Eldritch Knight then decided to throw a magic javelin at the bird, but rolled a 1. So the javelin came for me. Luckily > monk. Deflecting missiles limited the damage to 1 point (sadly no cool catching the javelin, so instead of following up with a throw at the bird, it became a "Seriously?" at the Knight). Warforged did defensive work as the bird was part of the tests.
Next round: the bard tried to sneak away but touched one of the eggs and his arm turned to silver (after failed CON check). His pet mini-mimic suffered the same fate. The Bird turned around and went for the Bard. The Sorceress found an inscription that said that a knight should never attack first and only fight when having no other choice. A bit of fight later, the bard (at 1 hp after using relentless endurance) managed to soothe the bird and the bird stopped attacking. The knight (who himself had touched some eggs and had 2 small spots of silver on his skin now, but succeeded in his saving throw so the curse was not spreading) decided to use the opportunity to change his copper coins into silver. I asked the DM if I could use my reaction to attack of opportunity on my own teammate to smack him up the head for that. She agreed, so the only damage the knight received during the fight was 7 points of blunt damage from a dwarven monk (once again her belief that gold and money were the root of all evil was confirmed).
The next room had some puzzles, but we lacked the items yet to solve it. The exit from that room was a long slide downwards, but we found 2 of the students we had been looking for. Their two teammates were missing (but probably still alive), their Warforged was dead. "HER NAME WAS PINNY.", said our Warforged, but he was not too sad, believing that warforged could not die and could always be rebuild.
22nd of December a new, longer session of all goes as planned. Wondering if my habit of rolling either >17 or <4 and no rolls in between will continue. I did get a 25 on a DEX saving throw when walking backwards from the nest away from the bird to avoid all eggs.
My teammates are back to calling my character Freya instead of Loffy (short for Lofnheiðr, cause the eth confuses them.) and she is too shy and polite to correct them. That's becoming a bit of a problem; on one hand she is very shy and quiet, on the other hand she has WIS 16 and a strong will and keeps seeing her teammates do dumb, dumb things, so I'm not sure how to properly roleplay that.
My old, core group is engaged in some serious "Real Talk" starting last night in our group chat. The one member of the group with game system ADD blasted us for always wanting to play D&D, but we like D&D, and not his indie game of the month. Also, we like campaigns and not just one shots that change systems as his whims dictate. Anyway, I don't want to get into it, but things have been said and people (maybe me and another guy?) have gotten upset and defensive in return. Anyway, we've all known each other for 15-20 years. Some of them 30 years. So, we'll see what happens.
But another think the came to light out of this is that the newest member of the group, who missed the last two sessions to due to (we assumed) the new baby in the house, has actually found another group to play with and ghosted us? Which sucks, but OK. Fine. Maybe his new group fits better with his new father availability. At least have the stones to tell us, instead of just ghosting. Also... I've shared all of my DnDBeyond library with this guy. And if he's not playing with us, and he hasn't kicked in his share of the not-insignificant costs of the membership and legendary bundle (which he has not) then how do I boot this guy from my campaign and block him from accessing my content on the 17 characters he's made for himself using my library of sources.?
0
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
I think you can just boot him as dm from the campaign in beyond and he’ll lose access to everything.
Also... I've shared all of my DnDBeyond library with this guy. And if he's not playing with us, and he hasn't kicked in his share of the not-insignificant costs of the membership and legendary bundle (which he has not) then how do I boot this guy from my campaign and block him from accessing my content on the 17 characters he's made for himself using my library of sources.?
Definitely make sure to be the bigger person and give them a heads up before you actually boot them off the account. As for actually booting I have no clue
Also... I've shared all of my DnDBeyond library with this guy. And if he's not playing with us, and he hasn't kicked in his share of the not-insignificant costs of the membership and legendary bundle (which he has not) then how do I boot this guy from my campaign and block him from accessing my content on the 17 characters he's made for himself using my library of sources.?
Definitely make sure to be the bigger person and give them a heads up before you actually boot them off the account. As for actually booting I have no clue
Oh, yes. I really want him to actually tell us himself what the deal is before booting him on the words of an upset third party.
There's no way of taking away content players have already - but you can stop sharing with them.
They wanted to prevent a scenario where a malicious DM just removes someone's access to their character
The rub is, that character won't be able to add any items, feats, or class levels for content they don't own anymore.
So if the character is a 9th level gloomstalker and they dont own xanathars, once you cut access, they still have their 9th level gloomstalker, but on level up they can't pick ranger/gloomstalker anymore. They'd have to change their class to a subclass they own.
override367 on
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WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
edited December 2019
So we had a session zero, and here's the crew:
Benny, the Minotaur Boros Fighter (going Battlemaster)
Zorya, the Human Izzet Forge Cleric (she's a member of the oft-forgotten First Aid Security and Safety Personnel of the Metallurgy Laboratories). Played by Tessa Thompson Valkyrie.
????, the Devkarin Golgari Spore Druid (dude still hasn't decided on a name). Played by Snoop Dogg until the player finally makes his choice.
Biboy, the Human Selesnyan Duck Totem Barbarian. Played by a local star you don't know, but is basically Oliver Hardy with a bigger moustache and a more cheerful manchildish demeanor.
I had Zorya and Benny do a practice encounter (it's Zorya's first time playing), and the two (and an unconscious Spore Druid) were sipping coffee after work at the local Selesnya's Best, when the alley of restaurants they're in got blockaded by a small Rakdos gang looking for "volunteers" for their knife act in a show later that day. Long story short their, 19 and 18 ACs made them tough sonuvabitches with a squishy level 1 interior, so they often switch between smugness and panic when they actually got hit. The ringleader actually got away, so now I have a nuisance enemy I can chuck at them at random times.
Also turns out that my sister (Zorya) is a goddamn looter. She wants to repurpose the broken daggers and armor for her forging side racket.
DM Houserules:
- Flanking only gives +2 to attack rolls, not Advantage.
- Critical success gives Max Damage on one die.
- UA Class Variants are a go here.
- Characters get a free feat, but only from the list of Okay-Not-That-Good-But-Not-Totally-Bad-Feats-Though-Some-Are-Kinda-Bad-Actually:
Lord_AsmodeusgoeticSobriquet:Here is your magical cryptic riddle-tumour: I AM A TIME MACHINERegistered Userregular
I always feel weird as a player basically asking someone else to GM a game because I know how much work that is. I've gone to a sort of social for D&D people in the city and will keep my eye out for any games they might start, but I kind of really want to play a Humblewood campaign... and have no faith in my own ability to run one.
Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. - Lincoln
I've stretched this pre-curse-of-strahd hundreds of years in the past thing longer than I would have expected because the players are enjoying it so much
During a period of downtime between quests the Warlock got married, the Wizard aged into adulthood, the Bard went to the amber temple to learn higher magic, the Rogue had a child but remains single
Strahd has returned, his army forces order upon an increasingly unruly populace, the morning lord's throne is empty and the nights grow longer, werewolves howling in the dark places of the land, Tatyana has come of age and caught the uncrowned king's eye
I am sooo glad the player characters are building lives here, as a dungeon master this is like a lego castle being built just so I can smash it
I always feel weird as a player basically asking someone else to GM a game because I know how much work that is. I've gone to a sort of social for D&D people in the city and will keep my eye out for any games they might start, but I kind of really want to play a Humblewood campaign... and have no faith in my own ability to run one.
Huh, I didn't realize that I had awesomed this post earlier. I don't think I meant to, but now I feel like I need to reply to it.
Have more faith in yourself, man! Don't judge yourself too harshly. DMing ain't easy, of course. But its also just a game. Relax and enjoy yourself. If someone thinks your an asshole because you're not the best DM ever? Fuck that guy. They're the one not playing a game properly, not you. Just do it!
I'd recommend running a mini-campaign that is light on specifics and heavy on bullet points before running a big one, or run the old classic Phandelver, just to get the janks out before you start the real deal
Jeebus. Someone referring the Phandelver as "the old classic" make me feel old.
To me, the original Keep on the Borderlands is the old classic. Although to be fair, I was maybe 8 and wouldn't realize what D&D actually was for another few years.
So, my group had our annual Christmas game, with a story of how our plucky group of adventurers saved Frostfeast and Father Winter. And like last year, the group was each offered a chance to draw from the Deck of Many Things (with a few of the more broken cards removed). My Paladin once again declined, insisting that his present should be better working conditions for the gnomes who make the toys (we were all going to lobby for this, but I'm the only one who remembered). The rest of the party got a few fun picks, though. The Bard now has an ally that is waiting to betray him, the "Fighter" (it's a homebrew class but close enough) has the chance to change one past event in his history, the Cleric got 50k gp in jewels, and the Ranger has a monster infested keep out on the astral sea.
I always feel weird as a player basically asking someone else to GM a game because I know how much work that is. I've gone to a sort of social for D&D people in the city and will keep my eye out for any games they might start, but I kind of really want to play a Humblewood campaign... and have no faith in my own ability to run one.
I've been listening to this guy's videos and he's a font of really good advice.
I like what he said about "you will start terrible, but you can still have fun while being terrible, same way you'll have fun when you've become great". It's reassuring, in a way.
The group are speaking to a person that had stolen some books they themselves had stolen.
Hippo Chrissy is a tavern owner somewhere far away.
The mage of the group is a know-it-all and, given that the NPC is also a mage, he starts trying to one up him at every moment.
NPC: "you think you're pretty smart, eh?"
PC: "I'm an intellectual giant!"
NPC: "care to test that in a battle of wits?"
PC: "You'd be coming to the fight unarmed!"
granted, that was a pretty epic put down.
So the NPC offered him a deal: a battle of wits to the death.
If the PC won he'd be given access to the name of the person currently in possession of his books.
The setup was the following:
the NPC introduced a poison and had 2 cups of wine. He put the poison into a cup (in a way that the PC could not see) and placed the cups in front of himself and the PC. The PC was to divine where the poison had been poured into; he was to decide who was to drink from which cup. An easy task, surely, for someone of such cognitive prowess.
For those of you thinking "hey, that's that bit from Princess Bride!" you're absolutely correct and I'm pleased to report that the interaction played out exactly as it did in the movies :P
tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
+19
WACriminalDying Is Easy, Young ManLiving Is HarderRegistered Userregular
Did a co-worker's annual review this week. We were sitting around shooting the shit waiting for my boss to get there, and she mentioned that she wished somebody would start an office D&D group because she hasn't played before and is curious. My old group kinda fell apart (tentatively, it could always get back together of course) and I figured if she hasn't played before then she probably wouldn't be interested in my rotating-DM framework I've been working on. After a brief discussion with another coworker who I discuss RPG stuff with, I have a plan. I'm gonna tell the group (once we have four or five people interested) to show up for the first session with the following understandings:
1. We're playing Fifth Edition, so you'll need a full polyhedral dice set.
2. Come up with a non-human character concept with a personality and an idea of their stat distribution, but don't pick a character class because the setting is homebrew and not all classes may be available. You'll gain your first character level at a specific point during the first session, and I'll go over the available classes at that time.
First session plan:
"You're all falling through a seemingly endless blue rift in space. You look down (if there was a 'down' here) at yourself and you realize you pretty much only remember two things: 1. This is not normal. 2. You're not human. What are you?" and this is where we go over stat distribution and racial traits before the characters are all ejected from the interplanar rift into a grassy field near a cottage.
There's an old woman nearby, beset by a pair of monstrous purple snakes. The snakes flee as the party approaches, but it's too late, the woman has been poisoned. She knows that without an antidote (which she doesn't have and can't get), she doesn't have long, so she asks them to help her inside so she can at least die in peace.
She explains that she can tell they're "not from around here", that she's never met anyone who looks like them, but that she's learned not to judge by appearances. She's been studying monster biology all her life, and knows that non-human creatures are people all the same. Now, if they would honor an old woman's dying wish, there's a favor she needs to ask. Behind that locked door, there's some eggs. The key is in the desk, along with some money and a map. Take the money, take the eggs, and make sure they're well taken care of. You'll want to speak to Commissioner Aprix, people say he knows about...places that aren't here.
In addition to the key and the map, the desk drawer contains a wad of unfamiliar paper, a few bars of a reddish metal, and some polished orbs of that same metal. Nothing you would confidently recognize as money, so probably best to just take all of it. There's also what seem to be incredibly detailed miniature portraits of the old woman with various wildlife (a beautiful blue bird, some kind of orange dragon, etc.), and an old handwritten note that addresses the woman as "Professor".
When you enter the locked room, you find the eggs in oddly-shaped glass jars. You're slightly unsettled to realize that the number of eggs exactly matches the number of party members. Each egg looks different, but you each feel yourself drawn towards a specific one. Describe the egg you feel drawn towards. What color is it? Are there any patterns to its coloration? As you reach out and take the jar (which feels oddly warm to the touch) you suddenly recover a memory of your old life, a formative memory from your childhood. What is that memory? How did it effect you?
The map indicates that there are towns within a few days' journey to the north, east, and south. Decide among yourselves which path you'll take, given what the map shows you.
Shortly after leaving the cottage, you're ambushed by the same pair of monstrous snakes who attacked the Professor. Just as you steel yourself for a fight, you each feel a curious sensation that compels you to pull out the glass jars. As you do, all of your eggs hatch simultaneously, revealing strange animals who immediately face off against the snakes.
WACriminalDying Is Easy, Young ManLiving Is HarderRegistered Userregular
The reveal, of course, means that:
1. You didn't need to pick a character class because your class is Pokemon Trainer.
2. Commissioner Aprix means Pokemon League Commissioner Aprix. And, dear reader, you just know he's not going to grant an audience to anyone who isn't a League Champion, so you better get started collecting this region's badges.
+1
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
This sounds fun if you've got buy-in from the players, but a bit like a bait-and-switch if they're coming in expecting something closer to "typical" D&D.
This sounds fun if you've got buy-in from the players, but a bit like a bait-and-switch if they're coming in expecting something closer to "typical" D&D.
Yeah I'd i was a newbie existing something i saw in YouTube or read about I'd be very confused by some Homebrew Pokemon setting with social house rules.
yeah as fun as that sounds given you have someone who tentatively wants to try “D&D” you have the potential to turn someone away from the hobby
check with them first and be prepared with something a bit more orthodox too
being experimental is awesome but don’t do it with newbies and never do it without letting people know you’re gonna throw curveballs
+14
WACriminalDying Is Easy, Young ManLiving Is HarderRegistered Userregular
edited December 2019
Well I did already ask her if she wanted d&d specifically, or if she'd be open to a different system, "like a Pokemon system, or a SciFi something" and she said that she'd be interested in "any roleplaying." EDIT: And the guy I discussed things with is planning to be one of the players, I specifically went over it with him because I wanted to figure out how to lean into it as "fun, exciting reveal" rather than "bait-and-switch", and I trust him not to ruin the surprise for the other players. I'll run the same question by all the other players ("would you be OK with a non-D&D system?") before settling on it.
Posts
Boo this man!
Boooooo! Boooooo!
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Because I can't help but wonder how hard it would be to play a game when the camera is pointing at your character's face for 90% of the time.
also while it's cool that drizzle, cats, broner, and wolfy are characters in it, I hope you can create your own
Never once in a dark alliance game. Its always been an assortment of pre gen named characters. I'd be surprised by a change to that dynamic
Good thing then they dropped the BG part.
Coming from Divinity 1 and 2 I have a lot of faith it will be good. They are seriously solid games and just about the only ones to come out in that style of game in a decade or more. Seriously if you haven't played them yet and want to play a D&D video game they are awesome even on console.
PSN:Furlion
Pillars of Eternity?
Tyranny?
Torment?
Wasteland?
PSN:Furlion
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torment:_Tides_of_Numenera
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasteland_2
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillars_of_Eternity
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_(video_game)
so today I get to call their bluff, I asked everyone to make sure they have backup characters prepared and they shared memes in response
*readies ancient white dragon statblock*
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
they have exactly two ways of everyone surviving this, lets hope they check their inventories and look at what their items can do, otherwise im going to have it kill the one who has its stuff, KO everyone else, take some of their stuff, and leave
A short adventure this time as we had a session after work. Our group (lvl 3s all) consists of a evil half-orc bard who collects bones, a human edritch knight, an Aasimar (but everything thinks she's half-elven) divine sorceress and a dwarven Monk with an adversion to money and gold.
A religious order of knights runs a test in a nearby cave for aspiring knights. The last group of kids have been gone for 2 weeks though, a week more than usual. The knights are forbidden from interfering in the test, but there is nothing from stopping a group of adventurers to take a look and bring some kids back to their parents. We've managed to enter the cave last time and were greeted by a Warforged Cleric (this time played by a guest player). Apparently all teams that enter the test get a Warforged Cleric to assist them and prevent the kids from actually dying during the tests. The Warforged mentioned that it was owned by one of the kids that disappeared, but was unwilling to enter in too much philosophical debate with my monk re: whether it was a living being and if so whether it could be owned and if it was not a living being, how was it able to have a god and worship it. Warforged revolution seems a bit farther away than I expected.
The caves are covered in ice and we made our way to the first room. Nothing too special here, a frozen lake in the middle with a female body beneath the ice and ice blocking the only exit to the north. Attempts to break the ice backfired on anybody trying it, reflecting all damage back (our Cleric got the worst of it as it got into a few crossfires when our overeager sorceress was throwing firebolts around). My monk, being the cook of the party, tried a bit of salt and that seemed to work, but only had a small pouch, not enough to actually melt any significant amount. An inscription nearby reminded us of the knightly vows of self-sacrifice, so once again we poored some blood on ice and the ice disappeared. No body beneath it, but instead a green stone that melted the iceblocks to the north.
The next room contained several exits and in the middle a large nest with golden and silver eggs and a large bird sleeping on it (any ornithology checks failed, so we called it a chicken). Our bard wanted the eggs, my monk wanted to leave the bird alone so she walked towards one of the exits. Our bard stealthily entered the nest, considered killing the giant bird with his tiny knife, but decided to steal an egg instead. A failed stealth check and the bird woke up. Our bard went "eep" and rolling initiative. Bard and Sorceress both had 22 (lucky bastards), Monk and Knight both 4 (and that's including my +3 DEX bonus). Warforged 1. Bird somewhere between 4 and 22. Sorceress buffed the bard. Bard immediately cast invisibility on himself and hid. Bird then decided to go for the nearest target: my monk. I then decided that the 4 initiative would be explained by her being stunned for the rest of combat that a giant bird would attack the small dwarf that had her back turned and was silent instead of the knight and Warforged who both had cast light on their shield/helmet and were loudly arguing over something. A lucky saving throw (>20 on a STR saving throw) made her ignore the pounce and she dodged the first attack as easily, but the second did a decent amount of damage and my Matrix-like dodging streak finally ended. Counter attacks were mediocre but did some damage. Eldritch Knight then decided to throw a magic javelin at the bird, but rolled a 1. So the javelin came for me. Luckily > monk. Deflecting missiles limited the damage to 1 point (sadly no cool catching the javelin, so instead of following up with a throw at the bird, it became a "Seriously?" at the Knight). Warforged did defensive work as the bird was part of the tests.
Next round: the bard tried to sneak away but touched one of the eggs and his arm turned to silver (after failed CON check). His pet mini-mimic suffered the same fate. The Bird turned around and went for the Bard. The Sorceress found an inscription that said that a knight should never attack first and only fight when having no other choice. A bit of fight later, the bard (at 1 hp after using relentless endurance) managed to soothe the bird and the bird stopped attacking. The knight (who himself had touched some eggs and had 2 small spots of silver on his skin now, but succeeded in his saving throw so the curse was not spreading) decided to use the opportunity to change his copper coins into silver. I asked the DM if I could use my reaction to attack of opportunity on my own teammate to smack him up the head for that. She agreed, so the only damage the knight received during the fight was 7 points of blunt damage from a dwarven monk (once again her belief that gold and money were the root of all evil was confirmed).
The next room had some puzzles, but we lacked the items yet to solve it. The exit from that room was a long slide downwards, but we found 2 of the students we had been looking for. Their two teammates were missing (but probably still alive), their Warforged was dead. "HER NAME WAS PINNY.", said our Warforged, but he was not too sad, believing that warforged could not die and could always be rebuild.
22nd of December a new, longer session of all goes as planned. Wondering if my habit of rolling either >17 or <4 and no rolls in between will continue. I did get a 25 on a DEX saving throw when walking backwards from the nest away from the bird to avoid all eggs.
My teammates are back to calling my character Freya instead of Loffy (short for Lofnheiðr, cause the eth confuses them.) and she is too shy and polite to correct them. That's becoming a bit of a problem; on one hand she is very shy and quiet, on the other hand she has WIS 16 and a strong will and keeps seeing her teammates do dumb, dumb things, so I'm not sure how to properly roleplay that.
But another think the came to light out of this is that the newest member of the group, who missed the last two sessions to due to (we assumed) the new baby in the house, has actually found another group to play with and ghosted us? Which sucks, but OK. Fine. Maybe his new group fits better with his new father availability. At least have the stones to tell us, instead of just ghosting. Also... I've shared all of my DnDBeyond library with this guy. And if he's not playing with us, and he hasn't kicked in his share of the not-insignificant costs of the membership and legendary bundle (which he has not) then how do I boot this guy from my campaign and block him from accessing my content on the 17 characters he's made for himself using my library of sources.?
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Definitely make sure to be the bigger person and give them a heads up before you actually boot them off the account. As for actually booting I have no clue
I thought I saw something that said the characters already created keep the stuff even though the sources are now cut off?
Oh, yes. I really want him to actually tell us himself what the deal is before booting him on the words of an upset third party.
They wanted to prevent a scenario where a malicious DM just removes someone's access to their character
The rub is, that character won't be able to add any items, feats, or class levels for content they don't own anymore.
So if the character is a 9th level gloomstalker and they dont own xanathars, once you cut access, they still have their 9th level gloomstalker, but on level up they can't pick ranger/gloomstalker anymore. They'd have to change their class to a subclass they own.
Benny, the Minotaur Boros Fighter (going Battlemaster)
Zorya, the Human Izzet Forge Cleric (she's a member of the oft-forgotten First Aid Security and Safety Personnel of the Metallurgy Laboratories). Played by Tessa Thompson Valkyrie.
????, the Devkarin Golgari Spore Druid (dude still hasn't decided on a name). Played by Snoop Dogg until the player finally makes his choice.
Biboy, the Human Selesnyan Duck Totem Barbarian. Played by a local star you don't know, but is basically Oliver Hardy with a bigger moustache and a more cheerful manchildish demeanor.
I had Zorya and Benny do a practice encounter (it's Zorya's first time playing), and the two (and an unconscious Spore Druid) were sipping coffee after work at the local Selesnya's Best, when the alley of restaurants they're in got blockaded by a small Rakdos gang looking for "volunteers" for their knife act in a show later that day. Long story short their, 19 and 18 ACs made them tough sonuvabitches with a squishy level 1 interior, so they often switch between smugness and panic when they actually got hit. The ringleader actually got away, so now I have a nuisance enemy I can chuck at them at random times.
Also turns out that my sister (Zorya) is a goddamn looter. She wants to repurpose the broken daggers and armor for her forging side racket.
DM Houserules:
- Flanking only gives +2 to attack rolls, not Advantage.
- Critical success gives Max Damage on one die.
- UA Class Variants are a go here.
- Characters get a free feat, but only from the list of Okay-Not-That-Good-But-Not-Totally-Bad-Feats-Though-Some-Are-Kinda-Bad-Actually:
* Actor
* Charger
* Dungeon Delver
* Durable
* Elemental Adept
* Heavily Armored
* Grappler
* Keen Mind
* Lightly Armored
* Linguist
* Martial Adept
* Medium Armor Master
* Moderately Armored
* Mounted Combatant
* Savage Attacker
* Skilled
* Skulker
* Spell Sniper
* Tavern Brawler
* Weapon Master
During a period of downtime between quests the Warlock got married, the Wizard aged into adulthood, the Bard went to the amber temple to learn higher magic, the Rogue had a child but remains single
Strahd has returned, his army forces order upon an increasingly unruly populace, the morning lord's throne is empty and the nights grow longer, werewolves howling in the dark places of the land, Tatyana has come of age and caught the uncrowned king's eye
I am sooo glad the player characters are building lives here, as a dungeon master this is like a lego castle being built just so I can smash it
Huh, I didn't realize that I had awesomed this post earlier. I don't think I meant to, but now I feel like I need to reply to it.
Have more faith in yourself, man! Don't judge yourself too harshly. DMing ain't easy, of course. But its also just a game. Relax and enjoy yourself. If someone thinks your an asshole because you're not the best DM ever? Fuck that guy. They're the one not playing a game properly, not you. Just do it!
Also make sure you have a session zero
To me, the original Keep on the Borderlands is the old classic. Although to be fair, I was maybe 8 and wouldn't realize what D&D actually was for another few years.
and like any skill it’s super rewarding to watch yourself improve
and there are so many good streamed games nowadays that you can basically cobble a “starter style” by imitating your favorites
sorta like how people watch cooking shows and get better at cooking, you can do the same with D&D/TTRPGs now
what a world
I've been listening to this guy's videos and he's a font of really good advice.
I like what he said about "you will start terrible, but you can still have fun while being terrible, same way you'll have fun when you've become great". It's reassuring, in a way.
The group are speaking to a person that had stolen some books they themselves had stolen.
Hippo Chrissy is a tavern owner somewhere far away.
The mage of the group is a know-it-all and, given that the NPC is also a mage, he starts trying to one up him at every moment.
NPC: "you think you're pretty smart, eh?"
PC: "I'm an intellectual giant!"
NPC: "care to test that in a battle of wits?"
PC: "You'd be coming to the fight unarmed!"
granted, that was a pretty epic put down.
So the NPC offered him a deal: a battle of wits to the death.
If the PC won he'd be given access to the name of the person currently in possession of his books.
The setup was the following:
the NPC introduced a poison and had 2 cups of wine. He put the poison into a cup (in a way that the PC could not see) and placed the cups in front of himself and the PC. The PC was to divine where the poison had been poured into; he was to decide who was to drink from which cup. An easy task, surely, for someone of such cognitive prowess.
For those of you thinking "hey, that's that bit from Princess Bride!" you're absolutely correct and I'm pleased to report that the interaction played out exactly as it did in the movies :P
1. We're playing Fifth Edition, so you'll need a full polyhedral dice set.
2. Come up with a non-human character concept with a personality and an idea of their stat distribution, but don't pick a character class because the setting is homebrew and not all classes may be available. You'll gain your first character level at a specific point during the first session, and I'll go over the available classes at that time.
First session plan:
There's an old woman nearby, beset by a pair of monstrous purple snakes. The snakes flee as the party approaches, but it's too late, the woman has been poisoned. She knows that without an antidote (which she doesn't have and can't get), she doesn't have long, so she asks them to help her inside so she can at least die in peace.
She explains that she can tell they're "not from around here", that she's never met anyone who looks like them, but that she's learned not to judge by appearances. She's been studying monster biology all her life, and knows that non-human creatures are people all the same. Now, if they would honor an old woman's dying wish, there's a favor she needs to ask. Behind that locked door, there's some eggs. The key is in the desk, along with some money and a map. Take the money, take the eggs, and make sure they're well taken care of. You'll want to speak to Commissioner Aprix, people say he knows about...places that aren't here.
In addition to the key and the map, the desk drawer contains a wad of unfamiliar paper, a few bars of a reddish metal, and some polished orbs of that same metal. Nothing you would confidently recognize as money, so probably best to just take all of it. There's also what seem to be incredibly detailed miniature portraits of the old woman with various wildlife (a beautiful blue bird, some kind of orange dragon, etc.), and an old handwritten note that addresses the woman as "Professor".
When you enter the locked room, you find the eggs in oddly-shaped glass jars. You're slightly unsettled to realize that the number of eggs exactly matches the number of party members. Each egg looks different, but you each feel yourself drawn towards a specific one. Describe the egg you feel drawn towards. What color is it? Are there any patterns to its coloration? As you reach out and take the jar (which feels oddly warm to the touch) you suddenly recover a memory of your old life, a formative memory from your childhood. What is that memory? How did it effect you?
The map indicates that there are towns within a few days' journey to the north, east, and south. Decide among yourselves which path you'll take, given what the map shows you.
Shortly after leaving the cottage, you're ambushed by the same pair of monstrous snakes who attacked the Professor. Just as you steel yourself for a fight, you each feel a curious sensation that compels you to pull out the glass jars. As you do, all of your eggs hatch simultaneously, revealing strange animals who immediately face off against the snakes.
In your packs, the red bars of metal suddenly emit an odd voice: "New trainer registered!"
2. Commissioner Aprix means Pokemon League Commissioner Aprix. And, dear reader, you just know he's not going to grant an audience to anyone who isn't a League Champion, so you better get started collecting this region's badges.
Yeah I'd i was a newbie existing something i saw in YouTube or read about I'd be very confused by some Homebrew Pokemon setting with social house rules.
check with them first and be prepared with something a bit more orthodox too
being experimental is awesome but don’t do it with newbies and never do it without letting people know you’re gonna throw curveballs