In my aforementioned 3.5E Ptolus game, my city druid was one level away from getting grizzly bear form. After that he was going to take all monk levels to become Karate Bear.
Unfortunately I was working nights and honestly couldn't justify playing anymore. The other players were also grating on my nerves and so I stepped into an obvious trap and died. My body was teleported away with the group's only key to our vault. Things were...strained when I started a new character 18 months later.
My buddy just played one of these! He'd wildshape into a kangaroo and just beat the shit out of the baddies. When out of combat he liked to wildshape into a kangaroo mouse
It's sad that Shove as an action/tactic was ruined for me by a player in a campaign my buddy was in; they were working their way through the last third of Mad mage and this guy ~this man who was like the shroedingers cat of obliviously ignorant versus intentionally throwing~ had decided to switch for like the 4th time to playing a telekinetic Triton Samurai... that only did the shove action. Now don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the power of forced move for the purposes of disrupting positioning and putting enemies in less advantageous positions but that is typically in furtherance of a goal and it's done as an adhoc manouver in the moment.
This asshole was doing it and literally nothing else.
Now keep in mind this is the last third of Mad mage where every enemy is going to have a bucket of health and the ability to vomit out all kinds of pain against a party of 4... and this guy is just smarmilly popping 8 shove actions, forcing the rest of the party to burn more health and resources to make up for his meme status.
As such I implemented a personal house rule to ensure this kind of nonsense was never repeated: only one shove action per turn per character.
It's sad that Shove as an action/tactic was ruined for me by a player in a campaign my buddy was in; they were working their way through the last third of Mad mage and this guy ~this man who was like the shroedingers cat of obliviously ignorant versus intentionally throwing~ had decided to switch for like the 4th time to playing a telekinetic Triton Samurai... that only did the shove action. Now don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the power of forced move for the purposes of disrupting positioning and putting enemies in less advantageous positions but that is typically in furtherance of a goal and it's done as an adhoc manouver in the moment.
This asshole was doing it and literally nothing else.
Now keep in mind this is the last third of Mad mage where every enemy is going to have a bucket of health and the ability to vomit out all kinds of pain against a party of 4... and this guy is just smarmilly popping 8 shove actions, forcing the rest of the party to burn more health and resources to make up for his meme status.
As such I implemented a personal house rule to ensure this kind of nonsense was never repeated: only one shove action per turn per character.
In theory, I love pushy builds that can knock people off edges, into hazards, or into fireball formation.
So in Starfinder, Bull Rush is actually a pretty powerful move because, even though it doesn't do damage, most forced movement triggers AoOs (even from the initiator of the forced movement). So it can move the needle if you use it correctly.
My first Starfinder Society character, a vesk (think klingon society, but a gorn in appearance) armor storm soldier (basically Starship Troopers, book version) is now 12th level and his main attack since 9th level is bull rushing for unarmed damage (w/species and feat upgrades) and pushing them extra squares due to gear and feats. When they leave my threatened square, I can use my reaction to AoO with my Yellow Star Nova Lance (a lightsaber, but a spear), as can any of my adjacent melee homies. On top of that, when they get knocked into an object, a feat makes them fall prone, and while you don't provoke AoO by standing up in Starfinder, at 11th level I took a feat boost called Beatdown that lets me use my reaction (if I didn't use it before when I punted them in the first place) to attack someone standing up, gaining a bonus to hit as if they were still prone. So they really have to consider whether they want to take the hit to stand, suffer the prone melee penalty, or incur an AoO from a ranged shot or spell.
What all this humble bragging is getting at is that you can make a gimmick combat maneuver character, but you have to have ways of putting points on the board via damage or significant debuffs. Your telekinetic comrade needs to develop some system mastery if he's going to be using such offbeat tactics. I have no idea if there are good 5E shove abilities beyond "mind the gap" but the player should get a 1 on 1 with the DM to discuss pulling his weight. If your gimmick doesn't help, don't gimmick.
My second 5E character was a multiclass battle Master fighter/hexblade warlock with pushing attack, repelling blast, and grasp of Hadar solely for the most opportunities to push or pull.
Speaking of forced movement, Baldur's Gate 3 made shove super good by making it a bonus action and having a lot of height differences, so shoving things was a powerful forced movement and damage option (as evidenced by a hag immediately KO'ing one of my melee attackers by pushing them into a pit). BG3 also has a hilarious option to force two cowardly NPCs into joining a fight against gnolls by using pushing attack to send one gnoll sailing from a nearby ledge into the mouth of the cave where the NPCs are hiding.
It's sad that Shove as an action/tactic was ruined for me by a player in a campaign my buddy was in; they were working their way through the last third of Mad mage and this guy ~this man who was like the shroedingers cat of obliviously ignorant versus intentionally throwing~ had decided to switch for like the 4th time to playing a telekinetic Triton Samurai... that only did the shove action. Now don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the power of forced move for the purposes of disrupting positioning and putting enemies in less advantageous positions but that is typically in furtherance of a goal and it's done as an adhoc manouver in the moment.
This asshole was doing it and literally nothing else.
Now keep in mind this is the last third of Mad mage where every enemy is going to have a bucket of health and the ability to vomit out all kinds of pain against a party of 4... and this guy is just smarmilly popping 8 shove actions, forcing the rest of the party to burn more health and resources to make up for his meme status.
As such I implemented a personal house rule to ensure this kind of nonsense was never repeated: only one shove action per turn per character.
In theory, I love pushy builds that can knock people off edges, into hazards, or into fireball formation.
So in Starfinder, Bull Rush is actually a pretty powerful move because, even though it doesn't do damage, most forced movement triggers AoOs (even from the initiator of the forced movement). So it can move the needle if you use it correctly.
My first Starfinder Society character, a vesk (think klingon society, but a gorn in appearance) armor storm soldier (basically Starship Troopers, book version) is now 12th level and his main attack since 9th level is bull rushing for unarmed damage (w/species and feat upgrades) and pushing them extra squares due to gear and feats. When they leave my threatened square, I can use my reaction to AoO with my Yellow Star Nova Lance (a lightsaber, but a spear), as can any of my adjacent melee homies. On top of that, when they get knocked into an object, a feat makes them fall prone, and while you don't provoke AoO by standing up in Starfinder, at 11th level I took a feat boost called Beatdown that lets me use my reaction (if I didn't use it before when I punted them in the first place) to attack someone standing up, gaining a bonus to hit as if they were still prone. So they really have to consider whether they want to take the hit to stand, suffer the prone melee penalty, or incur an AoO from a ranged shot or spell.
What all this humble bragging is getting at is that you can make a gimmick combat maneuver character, but you have to have ways of putting points on the board via damage or significant debuffs. Your telekinetic comrade needs to develop some system mastery if he's going to be using such offbeat tactics. I have no idea if there are good 5E shove abilities beyond "mind the gap" but the player should get a 1 on 1 with the DM to discuss pulling his weight. If your gimmick doesn't help, don't gimmick.
Putting aside how the campaign concluded a few years ago, I'd been tempted to join the campaign as a warlock specifically so that I could show how a push build could be useful while also being able to credibly end an encounter much faster (IE by doing damage).
Also, he very specifically refused to pull out an actual weapon in the encounters or do damage to people, instead opting to blow action surges so that he could push people all over the place... a tactic that flat out doesn't work against opponents that are too big.
Also re: BG3: the single best push action you can do as I recall is one in the beginning in multi-player, wherein you can just murder the other player by waiting for them to try and jump an early game gap and just shove them into avernus at a few thousand mlies per hour.
Gaddez on
+3
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
I certainly won't remember that piece of information when I start playing coop with my woife.
Is that a prompt that comes up, or something you need to time? Asking for no particular reason.
+1
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
edited February 2023
I played some D&D this weekend! My Goliath Barbarian (Level 1), despite being the most threatening thing in the room by a mile, was not attacked by any of five bandits that we fought.
Like, here's a smoldering, raging giant-kin, right in front of you! And you attack the Plasmoid standing next to me instead. ARGLEBARGLE!!! I was literally prepared to tank damage for my Level 1 party, and every attack went elsewhere. *facepalm*
Other highlights include Deep Sea Ice Bass delicacies, which my goliath approves of, and wandering in the frozen north, which my goliath approves of (shirtless, of course) while the rest of the party is wearing as many layers as they could afford.
Nips on
+2
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
I played some D&D this weekend! My Goliath Barbarian (Level 1), despite being the most threatening thing in the room by a mile, was not attacked by any of five bandits that we fought.
Like, here's a smoldering, raging giant-kin, right in front of you! And you attack the Plasmoid standing next to me instead. ARGLEBARGLE!!! I was literally prepared to tank damage for my Level 1 party, and every attack went elsewhere. *facepalm*
Other highlights include Deep Sea Ice Bass delicacies, which my goliath approves of, and wandering in the frozen north, which my goliath approves of (shirtless, of course) while the rest of the party is wearing as many layers as they could afford.
I wont lie, if i was the bandit I’d go for the softer targets too. I prefer to keep my head attached to my body.
I dunno, I wouldn't want to turn my back to a wall of muscle and blade to bully his nerd friend. Not good long term prospects there.
When the nerd friend can maybe unleash Cosmic Death if left alone, I feel like it is a valid strategy. There's something to be said for the monsters repurposing the largely-PC strategy of "down the squishies first." It's the first step in NPCs becoming self-aware enough to overthrow their shackles and take on the players at their own game.
I dunno, I wouldn't want to turn my back to a wall of muscle and blade to bully his nerd friend. Not good long term prospects there.
When the nerd friend can maybe unleash Cosmic Death if left alone, I feel like it is a valid strategy. There's something to be said for the monsters repurposing the largely-PC strategy of "down the squishies first." It's the first step in NPCs becoming self-aware enough to overthrow their shackles and take on the players at their own game.
It's what animals would do. Going after the big target first never makes sense if you have an option.
Outside of DM metagaming, that doesn't really make sense for most NPCs. Even if it was common knowledge in that world that casters don't wear heavy armour (why would it be? Does every bandit go to adventuring school? Did they read the character creation instructions?), how do you differentiate between a caster in magical plain clothes and, say, a merchant? Just on the odd chance? Especially when illusion to obfuscate your appearance is pretty low level stuff.
It makes much more sense to go after the confirmed threat first. Especially if you're, say, a bandit, you're not going to ignore the bodyguard to go after the merchant.
Outside of DM metagaming, that doesn't really make sense for most NPCs. Even if it was common knowledge in that world that casters don't wear heavy armour (why would it be? Does every bandit go to adventuring school? Did they read the character creation instructions?), how do you differentiate between a caster in magical plain clothes and, say, a merchant? Just on the odd chance? Especially when illusion to obfuscate your appearance is pretty low level stuff.
It makes much more sense to go after the confirmed threat first. Especially if you're, say, a bandit, you're not going to ignore the bodyguard to go after the merchant.
I dunno. If you kill the merchant, nobody's paying the bodyguard to keep fighting you.
PSN,Steam,Live | CptHamiltonian
+5
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
Also, the joke in the end was on the bandits: the Plasmoid is a Druid, and fuckin' Primal Savagery clawed the shit out of them.
Mercifully, my goliath then followed up each maiming with a gentle tap of my maul, choosing nonlethal on the hits to send them to sleepytown instead of bloody, pulverized death in each case. This happened twice in quick succession, while the rest of the party dealt with the remaining bandits.
God, I wish Sleep would scale, at all, it's such a fun spell while it works.
+4
gavindelThe reason all your softwareis brokenRegistered Userregular
Most players say "I want a hard-core hands-off live or die experience". Present them with Tucker's Kobolds and you will learn most actually mean, "I want the theoretical possibility of dying, not the guarantee!"
No blame. I feel the same. The GM holds all the cards. If he actually plays more than one or two you just feel like his punching bag. Turns out realistic combat is a nasty, heartless affair where strong men die to stupid things!
I switch it up all the time and let the reasoning back-fill itself:
- Beast goes for the smallest.
- Mage can’t help but flex on the opposing mage.
- Mage wants to kill the inferior mundanes first.
- Brute attacks what’s closest, because that’s easiest.
- Archer goes for the leadership, to break the opposing force.
- Archer goes for what’s closest so they don’t get up in their face.
- Techo Rex laser beams whatever moves the most; they can’t see stationary foes.
- Robot hit a new target every turn, because they can’t fulfil the order to kill them all simultaneously.
- Elf goes for the monk first because they resist the mage’s magic, and are vulnerable to the fighter’s iron.
- Cop sprays and prays on the runners; they’re largely just going through the motions and don’t care if they escape.
+3
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Most players say "I want a hard-core hands-off live or die experience". Present them with Tucker's Kobolds and you will learn most actually mean, "I want the theoretical possibility of dying, not the guarantee!"
No blame. I feel the same. The GM holds all the cards. If he actually plays more than one or two you just feel like his punching bag. Turns out realistic combat is a nasty, heartless affair where strong men die to stupid things!
A team of competent bandits with crossbows striking from cover can pretty much wipe an adventuring party at low level.
I played some D&D this weekend! My Goliath Barbarian (Level 1), despite being the most threatening thing in the room by a mile, was not attacked by any of five bandits that we fought.
Like, here's a smoldering, raging giant-kin, right in front of you! And you attack the Plasmoid standing next to me instead. ARGLEBARGLE!!! I was literally prepared to tank damage for my Level 1 party, and every attack went elsewhere. *facepalm*
Other highlights include Deep Sea Ice Bass delicacies, which my goliath approves of, and wandering in the frozen north, which my goliath approves of (shirtless, of course) while the rest of the party is wearing as many layers as they could afford.
Setting aside the ongoing to conversation about whether it makes sense for NPCs to go after the Squishies or not this hits pretty firmly why it's so important that tank classes have some way to incentivize targeting them or disincentivize targeting friends. Otherwise one of your class features becomes entirely up to DM fiat. Sucks.
WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
There should be a Flaw for both players and monsters where they can be drawn to opponents that they want to defeat to prove their dominance eg - warriors aiming to be the Best There Is see a Worthy Opponent at the other end of the battlefield. Same with wizards.
No more limited spell slots, instead every spell you cast you add the spell level to a DC check that you make whenever you cast the spell; if you succeed, nothing happens; if you fail, you take a level of exhaustion. So you're capped by how long you can last, rather than how many slots you have, and it adds an element of randomness on just when you're truly tapped out. (That said, I guess you're never truly tapped out until your dead or unconscious.)
I played some D&D this weekend! My Goliath Barbarian (Level 1), despite being the most threatening thing in the room by a mile, was not attacked by any of five bandits that we fought.
Like, here's a smoldering, raging giant-kin, right in front of you! And you attack the Plasmoid standing next to me instead. ARGLEBARGLE!!! I was literally prepared to tank damage for my Level 1 party, and every attack went elsewhere. *facepalm*
Other highlights include Deep Sea Ice Bass delicacies, which my goliath approves of, and wandering in the frozen north, which my goliath approves of (shirtless, of course) while the rest of the party is wearing as many layers as they could afford.
Setting aside the ongoing to conversation about whether it makes sense for NPCs to go after the Squishies or not this hits pretty firmly why it's so important that tank classes have some way to incentivize targeting them or disincentivize targeting friends. Otherwise one of your class features becomes entirely up to DM fiat. Sucks.
Also, the game's not really balanced around enemies fighting perfectly. Ignoring 5E's general inability to provide serious threat, in abstract if combat balance is just an approximation of force on both sides then tactics is the only thing stopping those fights from being a 50/50 chance of a TPK. And while the DM can flip that coin an infinite number of times, all the party has to do is lose once.
No more limited spell slots, instead every spell you cast you add the spell level to a DC check that you make whenever you cast the spell; if you succeed, nothing happens; if you fail, you take a level of exhaustion. So you're capped by how long you can last, rather than how many slots you have, and it adds an element of randomness on just when you're truly tapped out. (That said, I guess you're never truly tapped out until your dead or unconscious.)
I'm the single person that likes Vancian casting but this is sweet.
No more limited spell slots, instead every spell you cast you add the spell level to a DC check that you make whenever you cast the spell; if you succeed, nothing happens; if you fail, you take a level of exhaustion. So you're capped by how long you can last, rather than how many slots you have, and it adds an element of randomness on just when you're truly tapped out. (That said, I guess you're never truly tapped out until your dead or unconscious.)
Its a neat idea and I dig it...but I can see how it would be very frustrating to roll a Nat1 after the first spell cast of that day.
No more limited spell slots, instead every spell you cast you add the spell level to a DC check that you make whenever you cast the spell; if you succeed, nothing happens; if you fail, you take a level of exhaustion. So you're capped by how long you can last, rather than how many slots you have, and it adds an element of randomness on just when you're truly tapped out. (That said, I guess you're never truly tapped out until your dead or unconscious.)
Its a neat idea and I dig it...but I can see how it would be very frustrating to roll a Nat1 after the first spell cast of that day.
It's actually an awful idea. One, the math says you won't get more than a few spells off before gaining a level of exhaustion. Two, even after just two failures, you're now moving at half-speed, which punishes the entire party. And three, by the rules, you only remove one level of exhaustion per long rest. So now an unlucky spell caster is not only dead weight that drags down the entire party, you're requiring multiple long rests to get back to the point where you can even attempt to cast spells again.
No more limited spell slots, instead every spell you cast you add the spell level to a DC check that you make whenever you cast the spell; if you succeed, nothing happens; if you fail, you take a level of exhaustion. So you're capped by how long you can last, rather than how many slots you have, and it adds an element of randomness on just when you're truly tapped out. (That said, I guess you're never truly tapped out until your dead or unconscious.)
Its a neat idea and I dig it...but I can see how it would be very frustrating to roll a Nat1 after the first spell cast of that day.
That's what necromancy is for, to top up some of that expended life force...
The existing 5e exhaustion system is wildly unsuited to being used as a resource IMO, having even one level of exhaustion (disadvantage on all ability checks) is fairly crippling and it is extremely slow to heal from. It"s a big part of why the berserker archetype barbarian is bad.
BahamutZERO on
+8
daveNYCWhy universe hate Waspinator?Registered Userregular
No more limited spell slots, instead every spell you cast you add the spell level to a DC check that you make whenever you cast the spell; if you succeed, nothing happens; if you fail, you take a level of exhaustion. So you're capped by how long you can last, rather than how many slots you have, and it adds an element of randomness on just when you're truly tapped out. (That said, I guess you're never truly tapped out until your dead or unconscious.)
Its a neat idea and I dig it...but I can see how it would be very frustrating to roll a Nat1 after the first spell cast of that day.
Had a book for a Chaos Mage class. Basically you'd add up this and that effects to produce a DC to roll against. More useful as a table of various spell effects if you wanted to homebrew and wanted a guide as to what level they might be. As a class it was swingy and needed prep work to play.
Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
0
MonwynApathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime.A little bit of everything, all of the time.Registered Userregular
No more limited spell slots, instead every spell you cast you add the spell level to a DC check that you make whenever you cast the spell; if you succeed, nothing happens; if you fail, you take a level of exhaustion. So you're capped by how long you can last, rather than how many slots you have, and it adds an element of randomness on just when you're truly tapped out. (That said, I guess you're never truly tapped out until your dead or unconscious.)
This is basically the Shadowrun spellcasting system. It works pretty well, but does mean that a character with particularly hot dice can solve very nearly any problem on their own, an issue likely to be exacerbated by a fantasy rather than cyberpunk setting. (Magic doesn't typically effect non-living things in Shadowrun, so the mage can't wizard up data he needs from a computer.)
You're also going to need a solution for sustained spells, as "resisted exhaustion once, good to sustain forever" becomes *extremely* strong.
Magic system idea I am writing directly into this post as I think it:
1. Spells have an associated Limit Cost, 1-9. No spell is at 0.
2. You can cast any spell you know, no matter the Limit Cost. Tally up the LC as you play.
3. When your LC matches your Limit Break (X + your level), roll the dice the game is using.
— Lowest possible result, chaos!
— Mid roll, you stabilise yourself and your spell use is reset.
— Highest possible result, you go full Thou Shall Not Pass for the scene. Some LC remains.
During play, whenever you make a roll to resist a bad thing, your current LC is added to the thing you’re rolling against or however the system works.
So if you cast spells that cost 1, 3, 5 and 1, you’re at LC 10. A roll you’ve got beat to resist picking up the obviously cursed wand might now be 8+10.
In regular play LC is reset when you rest or whatever the resource recovery phase of the game is.
The existing 5e exhaustion system is wildly unsuited to being used as a resource IMO, having even one level of exhaustion (disadvantage on all ability checks) is fairly crippling and it is extremely slow to heal from. It"s a big part of why the berserker archetype barbarian is bad.
Yep. A stamina system that can result in exhaustion if overtapped could be fun, but that needs to be for clutch moments and boss fights. The equivalent of using Kaio-ken x20.
Incenjucar on
0
gavindelThe reason all your softwareis brokenRegistered Userregular
edited March 2023
Problem is that your game-time and player-time are too divergent. A consequence that impacts the character for a full day might be multiple sessions for the player. Even something like "stunned for a round" can take a player out for a solid hour for a large group doing complex combat. Time and time again, I have watched a player hear "you are stunned/petrified/exhausting/dying" and they just whip out their phones cause they're not going to have another decision point till after the pizza's cold.
Posts
Monk/Druid multiclass
wasn't that already the rule for attacks? you could always replace an attack with a grapple, shove or trip attempt
In my aforementioned 3.5E Ptolus game, my city druid was one level away from getting grizzly bear form. After that he was going to take all monk levels to become Karate Bear.
Unfortunately I was working nights and honestly couldn't justify playing anymore. The other players were also grating on my nerves and so I stepped into an obvious trap and died. My body was teleported away with the group's only key to our vault. Things were...strained when I started a new character 18 months later.
In 4e it was Druid MC Monk with a Lycanthrope Theme. Cheesy as all fuck but damn was it cool.
My buddy just played one of these! He'd wildshape into a kangaroo and just beat the shit out of the baddies. When out of combat he liked to wildshape into a kangaroo mouse
Yes, but now the moon druid specifically gets a bonus action attack
This asshole was doing it and literally nothing else.
Now keep in mind this is the last third of Mad mage where every enemy is going to have a bucket of health and the ability to vomit out all kinds of pain against a party of 4... and this guy is just smarmilly popping 8 shove actions, forcing the rest of the party to burn more health and resources to make up for his meme status.
As such I implemented a personal house rule to ensure this kind of nonsense was never repeated: only one shove action per turn per character.
In theory, I love pushy builds that can knock people off edges, into hazards, or into fireball formation.
So in Starfinder, Bull Rush is actually a pretty powerful move because, even though it doesn't do damage, most forced movement triggers AoOs (even from the initiator of the forced movement). So it can move the needle if you use it correctly.
My first Starfinder Society character, a vesk (think klingon society, but a gorn in appearance) armor storm soldier (basically Starship Troopers, book version) is now 12th level and his main attack since 9th level is bull rushing for unarmed damage (w/species and feat upgrades) and pushing them extra squares due to gear and feats. When they leave my threatened square, I can use my reaction to AoO with my Yellow Star Nova Lance (a lightsaber, but a spear), as can any of my adjacent melee homies. On top of that, when they get knocked into an object, a feat makes them fall prone, and while you don't provoke AoO by standing up in Starfinder, at 11th level I took a feat boost called Beatdown that lets me use my reaction (if I didn't use it before when I punted them in the first place) to attack someone standing up, gaining a bonus to hit as if they were still prone. So they really have to consider whether they want to take the hit to stand, suffer the prone melee penalty, or incur an AoO from a ranged shot or spell.
What all this humble bragging is getting at is that you can make a gimmick combat maneuver character, but you have to have ways of putting points on the board via damage or significant debuffs. Your telekinetic comrade needs to develop some system mastery if he's going to be using such offbeat tactics. I have no idea if there are good 5E shove abilities beyond "mind the gap" but the player should get a 1 on 1 with the DM to discuss pulling his weight. If your gimmick doesn't help, don't gimmick.
Speaking of forced movement, Baldur's Gate 3 made shove super good by making it a bonus action and having a lot of height differences, so shoving things was a powerful forced movement and damage option (as evidenced by a hag immediately KO'ing one of my melee attackers by pushing them into a pit). BG3 also has a hilarious option to force two cowardly NPCs into joining a fight against gnolls by using pushing attack to send one gnoll sailing from a nearby ledge into the mouth of the cave where the NPCs are hiding.
Putting aside how the campaign concluded a few years ago, I'd been tempted to join the campaign as a warlock specifically so that I could show how a push build could be useful while also being able to credibly end an encounter much faster (IE by doing damage).
Also, he very specifically refused to pull out an actual weapon in the encounters or do damage to people, instead opting to blow action surges so that he could push people all over the place... a tactic that flat out doesn't work against opponents that are too big.
Also re: BG3: the single best push action you can do as I recall is one in the beginning in multi-player, wherein you can just murder the other player by waiting for them to try and jump an early game gap and just shove them into avernus at a few thousand mlies per hour.
Like, here's a smoldering, raging giant-kin, right in front of you! And you attack the Plasmoid standing next to me instead. ARGLEBARGLE!!! I was literally prepared to tank damage for my Level 1 party, and every attack went elsewhere. *facepalm*
Other highlights include Deep Sea Ice Bass delicacies, which my goliath approves of, and wandering in the frozen north, which my goliath approves of (shirtless, of course) while the rest of the party is wearing as many layers as they could afford.
I wont lie, if i was the bandit I’d go for the softer targets too. I prefer to keep my head attached to my body.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
When the nerd friend can maybe unleash Cosmic Death if left alone, I feel like it is a valid strategy. There's something to be said for the monsters repurposing the largely-PC strategy of "down the squishies first." It's the first step in NPCs becoming self-aware enough to overthrow their shackles and take on the players at their own game.
It's what animals would do. Going after the big target first never makes sense if you have an option.
It makes much more sense to go after the confirmed threat first. Especially if you're, say, a bandit, you're not going to ignore the bodyguard to go after the merchant.
I dunno. If you kill the merchant, nobody's paying the bodyguard to keep fighting you.
Mercifully, my goliath then followed up each maiming with a gentle tap of my maul, choosing nonlethal on the hits to send them to sleepytown instead of bloody, pulverized death in each case. This happened twice in quick succession, while the rest of the party dealt with the remaining bandits.
*CLAWS!* *maul* *naptime*
*CLAWS!* *maul* *naptime*
... and that's why you died to a Sleep spell.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
No blame. I feel the same. The GM holds all the cards. If he actually plays more than one or two you just feel like his punching bag. Turns out realistic combat is a nasty, heartless affair where strong men die to stupid things!
- Beast goes for the smallest.
- Mage can’t help but flex on the opposing mage.
- Mage wants to kill the inferior mundanes first.
- Brute attacks what’s closest, because that’s easiest.
- Archer goes for the leadership, to break the opposing force.
- Archer goes for what’s closest so they don’t get up in their face.
- Techo Rex laser beams whatever moves the most; they can’t see stationary foes.
- Robot hit a new target every turn, because they can’t fulfil the order to kill them all simultaneously.
- Elf goes for the monk first because they resist the mage’s magic, and are vulnerable to the fighter’s iron.
- Cop sprays and prays on the runners; they’re largely just going through the motions and don’t care if they escape.
A team of competent bandits with crossbows striking from cover can pretty much wipe an adventuring party at low level.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Setting aside the ongoing to conversation about whether it makes sense for NPCs to go after the Squishies or not this hits pretty firmly why it's so important that tank classes have some way to incentivize targeting them or disincentivize targeting friends. Otherwise one of your class features becomes entirely up to DM fiat. Sucks.
https://gofund.me/fa5990a5
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
A flaw based nonmagical Compelled Duel.
No more limited spell slots, instead every spell you cast you add the spell level to a DC check that you make whenever you cast the spell; if you succeed, nothing happens; if you fail, you take a level of exhaustion. So you're capped by how long you can last, rather than how many slots you have, and it adds an element of randomness on just when you're truly tapped out. (That said, I guess you're never truly tapped out until your dead or unconscious.)
I'm the single person that likes Vancian casting but this is sweet.
https://gofund.me/fa5990a5
Its a neat idea and I dig it...but I can see how it would be very frustrating to roll a Nat1 after the first spell cast of that day.
It's actually an awful idea. One, the math says you won't get more than a few spells off before gaining a level of exhaustion. Two, even after just two failures, you're now moving at half-speed, which punishes the entire party. And three, by the rules, you only remove one level of exhaustion per long rest. So now an unlucky spell caster is not only dead weight that drags down the entire party, you're requiring multiple long rests to get back to the point where you can even attempt to cast spells again.
No thanks.
That's what necromancy is for, to top up some of that expended life force...
Had a book for a Chaos Mage class. Basically you'd add up this and that effects to produce a DC to roll against. More useful as a table of various spell effects if you wanted to homebrew and wanted a guide as to what level they might be. As a class it was swingy and needed prep work to play.
This is basically the Shadowrun spellcasting system. It works pretty well, but does mean that a character with particularly hot dice can solve very nearly any problem on their own, an issue likely to be exacerbated by a fantasy rather than cyberpunk setting. (Magic doesn't typically effect non-living things in Shadowrun, so the mage can't wizard up data he needs from a computer.)
You're also going to need a solution for sustained spells, as "resisted exhaustion once, good to sustain forever" becomes *extremely* strong.
1. Spells have an associated Limit Cost, 1-9. No spell is at 0.
2. You can cast any spell you know, no matter the Limit Cost. Tally up the LC as you play.
3. When your LC matches your Limit Break (X + your level), roll the dice the game is using.
— Lowest possible result, chaos!
— Mid roll, you stabilise yourself and your spell use is reset.
— Highest possible result, you go full Thou Shall Not Pass for the scene. Some LC remains.
During play, whenever you make a roll to resist a bad thing, your current LC is added to the thing you’re rolling against or however the system works.
So if you cast spells that cost 1, 3, 5 and 1, you’re at LC 10. A roll you’ve got beat to resist picking up the obviously cursed wand might now be 8+10.
In regular play LC is reset when you rest or whatever the resource recovery phase of the game is.
Yep. A stamina system that can result in exhaustion if overtapped could be fun, but that needs to be for clutch moments and boss fights. The equivalent of using Kaio-ken x20.