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

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  • SleepSleep Registered User regular
    I actually use a ton of old content from second and third edition in my 5e games.

    I use the magic items from encyclopedia magica, and will use adventures from 3 and 3.5.
    All with very little tweaking to make the old rules fit into the new rules.

  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    My DM is doing his darnest to tweak the LMoP to fit with our band of weird characters and he was smart enough to get us to level 2 before the whole goblin ambush. I'm curious what other tweaks he'll come up with. It's great that he's a first time DM and we are all first time 5e players. One of the PCs played a lot of 3.5e and he's very nostalgic about it (he keeps promising to run his own campaign of 3.5e), so we kind of have to balance him out. But overall we're just happy to have a DM in the first place. Makes it so that we let him get away with obvious quests being obvious, because we know he put in effort to make that specific combat encounter or cute NPC.

  • JustTeeJustTee Registered User regular
    Aldo wrote: »
    My DM is doing his darnest to tweak the LMoP to fit with our band of weird characters and he was smart enough to get us to level 2 before the whole goblin ambush. I'm curious what other tweaks he'll come up with. It's great that he's a first time DM and we are all first time 5e players. One of the PCs played a lot of 3.5e and he's very nostalgic about it (he keeps promising to run his own campaign of 3.5e), so we kind of have to balance him out. But overall we're just happy to have a DM in the first place. Makes it so that we let him get away with obvious quests being obvious, because we know he put in effort to make that specific combat encounter or cute NPC.

    Yeah, being a rookie DM, my party was making comments like "Oh, this is just like WoW", or "Haha Quest Giver NPC Guy!", and that made me do a bit more work to flesh out the world.

    Diagnosed with AML on 6/1/12. Read about it: www.effleukemia.com
  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    JustTee wrote: »
    Aldo wrote: »
    My DM is doing his darnest to tweak the LMoP to fit with our band of weird characters and he was smart enough to get us to level 2 before the whole goblin ambush. I'm curious what other tweaks he'll come up with. It's great that he's a first time DM and we are all first time 5e players. One of the PCs played a lot of 3.5e and he's very nostalgic about it (he keeps promising to run his own campaign of 3.5e), so we kind of have to balance him out. But overall we're just happy to have a DM in the first place. Makes it so that we let him get away with obvious quests being obvious, because we know he put in effort to make that specific combat encounter or cute NPC.

    Yeah, being a rookie DM, my party was making comments like "Oh, this is just like WoW", or "Haha Quest Giver NPC Guy!", and that made me do a bit more work to flesh out the world.

    For sure. We got our "I'm scanning the inn for any yellow exclamation marks" and "is there a notification board outside?" out of the way during session 1.

    He actually implemented the notification board and the next session brought pamphlets with "HELP NEEDED" and "WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE" for two minor quests he had cooked up to level us up.

  • SmrtnikSmrtnik job boli zub Registered User regular
    Is the UA mystic (Awakened) overpowered? We are level 3 and my whole party and the DM thinks my character is crazy strong. Comments like 'he's casting lvl 6 spells at character lvl 1'. And I'm only using what's in the UA, no class/feat synergies. I picked up Keen Mind for flavor, and using point buy have 17 int.


    I suspect it's because we all collectively roll like shit and all of my attacks (even the basic cantrip-like) the DM rolls a save, not me an attack. Meanwhile my party is averaging < 6 on the die all night with a ton of 1s.

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  • DaenrisDaenris Registered User regular
    Smrtnik wrote: »
    Is the UA mystic (Awakened) overpowered? We are level 3 and my whole party and the DM thinks my character is crazy strong. Comments like 'he's casting lvl 6 spells at character lvl 1'. And I'm only using what's in the UA, no class/feat synergies. I picked up Keen Mind for flavor, and using point buy have 17 int.


    I suspect it's because we all collectively roll like shit and all of my attacks (even the basic cantrip-like) the DM rolls a save, not me an attack. Meanwhile my party is averaging < 6 on the die all night with a ton of 1s.

    What talents and disciplines are you using that they're complaining about? With the limit on number of talents and disciplines known, total psi points available each long rest, and maximum you can spend at a time at level 3 I wouldn't expect it to feel overpowered, but who knows.

  • GarickGarick Registered User regular
    Never played with one, but just looking at the abilities, yea, it's pretty OP. An autohit no resist 3d8+2 attack? or the same damage plus they can't do anything but dodge or disengage if they fail an int save at level 3? You know that anything UA isn't meant to be balanced right? It's basically just concept phase.

  • DaenrisDaenris Registered User regular
    Garick wrote: »
    Never played with one, but just looking at the abilities, yea, it's pretty OP. An autohit no resist 3d8+2 attack? or the same damage plus they can't do anything but dodge or disengage if they fail an int save at level 3? You know that anything UA isn't meant to be balanced right? It's basically just concept phase.

    That's pretty similar to magic missile cast with a 2nd level spell slot. 4d4+4 with no attack roll or save.

  • GarickGarick Registered User regular
    A range of 5-26 compared to 8-20? Well, the first is still better, but the thing about it is, you got maybe 2 second level spell slots at 3, compared to being able to use that ability double that amount with the psi

  • ZomroZomro Registered User regular
    Just started a new D&D campaign with my buddy who is serious DMing for the first time. He's doing pretty well so far save for some combats getting bogged down, but once he gets more comfortable in the DM role it'll go a lot smoother.

    I usually tend to play tanky or support characters, usually Paladins and the like, but this time around I wanted to be the damage dealer. I rolled a Battlemaster Fighter who uses a Greatsword. I'm an absolute death machine, and it's awesome.

  • JustTeeJustTee Registered User regular
    Daenris wrote: »
    Garick wrote: »
    Never played with one, but just looking at the abilities, yea, it's pretty OP. An autohit no resist 3d8+2 attack? or the same damage plus they can't do anything but dodge or disengage if they fail an int save at level 3? You know that anything UA isn't meant to be balanced right? It's basically just concept phase.

    That's pretty similar to magic missile cast with a 2nd level spell slot. 4d4+4 with no attack roll or save.

    3d8+2 averages 15.5 damage. 4d4+4 averages 14. So, that checks out. However, I don't know what the opportunity cost of using the 3d8+2 ability is. At level 3, you only have 2 level 2 spell slots. That 2nd level magic missle represents a fairly hefty chunk of your total daily power, as well as cuts off using something more powerful like Hold Person, Invisibility, Flaming Sphere, Suggestion, or others.

    Additionally, at level 3, a Barbarian with +3 Strength will be doing, on average, 13.5 damage per swing, while raged, with no opportunity cost to himself. A rogue, with sneak attack, will average ~14.5 damage (and can realistically add another potential 1d4-8+3 if they were variant human for dual wielding, or just 1d4-8 with an offhand dagger/shortsword/rapier).

    Generally speaking, most direct damage spells are *slightly* more powerful than individual attacks by martial classes at equivalent levels. The difference mostly comes down to opportunity costs to the mages. Why would you spend a spell slot / resources casting a damaging spell when your martial comrades can do that for basically the whole day. Instead, you should either use Cantrips for free damage, or concentrate on battlefield control spells. This general rule of thumb tends to break down at higher levels, unless the martial classes gain access to powerful magical items to supplement their damage.

    Diagnosed with AML on 6/1/12. Read about it: www.effleukemia.com
  • GarickGarick Registered User regular
    However CC is a lot harder to quantify its power for direct comparison. Looking at even the psi 'cantrips' however I can see a 1d6 plus prone, or a flat out charm on failed save, both of which I'd say are better then any normal cantrip.

  • SmrtnikSmrtnik job boli zub Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    Ok at lvl 3:
    My stats are 8str, 10dex, 15con, 17int, 12wis, 13cha. Hp24, but the party paladin hands out 6 temps every short/long rest. Ac 12 in studded leather, unlikely to ever grow. I have a spear and a xbow, but never use either except one time i did and rolled 2 crits in a row. Profficiency in deception, history, insight, investigation, nature, perception, and persuasion. Profficiency in int and wis saves.

    Keen mind feat.

    I have 14 psi points that refill to full on long rest, can spend up to 3 at a time on a turn. For every psi i spend, i self heal 1hp but can't go over max hp.

    My spell save dc is 13.

    My cantrip is mind thrust, which does 1d10 dmg 120ft range, enemy has to int save to negate. If i focus on my psychic assault that becomes 1d10+2.

    I have 2 way line of sight 120ft telepathy with one person. If that person willingly shares a visual or sound memory with me during this, i gain perfect recall if it. If i focus on my Telepathic Contact discipline, that turns into a one way out broadcast mode instead to up to 6 people.
    I can ask once per long rest for 2 psi telepathically ask a question, and target has to answer truthfully. Fails if target immune to charm.
    I can telepathically once per long rest for 2 psi make a target believe a statement of my choice of up to 10 words that describes me or a creature or object i can see, and target believes it for 5 min. Fails if target immune to charm.

    It takes Bonus action to switch focus btw.

    Focusing my mastery of air (reflavored to telekinesis with DM permission) lets me ignore difficult terrain and not take fall dmg.
    Focusing on my psychic phantoms gives me advantage on deception checks.


    I can focus my mind once per short/long rest on and object instead and see within past 24 hours from it's perspective out 20 feet.

    A psi buys me 20ft of flying added to my regular movement with no action needed. Self cast only.

    3 psi, concentration 10 minutes, attack rolls vs me have disadvantage, and if a creature i can see misses me i can use my reaction to force that creature to repeat the attack roll vs itself.

    Damaging abilities (all dmg psychic unless otherwise noted, all saves vs int):
    - do 1d8 per psi, no save, 60ft
    - 3d8 for 3 psi, 60ft, save for half and no special effect, if target fails can use its action next turn only for hide/dash/disengage.
    - 1d10 per psi, 60ft, save for half and no special effect, target can't make reactions and melee attacks vs it have advantage until end of my next turn
    - 1d8 at start of target turn, 3 psi, concentration 1min, Target also can't take reactions, save at end of each turn negates/stops it
    - i make a 30ft long 5ft wide line of focused air/telekinesis that does 1d8 bludgeoning per psi and prones. Save vs strength halves dmg and negates prone.


    So tons of options and most of the time the targets are rolling int saves instead of me rolling attack.

    Smrtnik on
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  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    Garick wrote: »
    However CC is a lot harder to quantify its power for direct comparison. Looking at even the psi 'cantrips' however I can see a 1d6 plus prone, or a flat out charm on failed save, both of which I'd say are better then any normal cantrip.

    1d6 plus prone is roughly on par with ray of frost since removing prone is just half your speed.

    Smrtnik, none of what you have there seems out of line. The goose talking about sixth level spells was apparently talking about Rary's Telepathic Bond which is very much better than your telepathy thing and also way the fuck overleveled as a spell because tradition basically.

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • FryFry Registered User regular
    I haven't assayed the monster manual, but I'd guess that INT as a save is probably pretty bad for most monsters, especially the kinds of things you're likely to fight at low level. Whereas good DEX saves, good CON saves, and defensive abilities relating to DEX saves are moderately common.

  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    I am honestly surprised I can't find a breakdown of saves from the MM.

    I'm not sure my intuition matches yours. I'd expect a higher amount of good Int saves than say Wis saves myself.

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • GarickGarick Registered User regular
    Garick wrote: »
    However CC is a lot harder to quantify its power for direct comparison. Looking at even the psi 'cantrips' however I can see a 1d6 plus prone, or a flat out charm on failed save, both of which I'd say are better then any normal cantrip.

    1d6 plus prone is roughly on par with ray of frost since removing prone is just half your speed.

    Except that while they are prone, all melee attacks on them get advantage and you can even go over and grapple them if you want so they can't get up. That's a hell of a lot better then -10 speed.

  • Desert LeviathanDesert Leviathan Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    Garick wrote: »
    However CC is a lot harder to quantify its power for direct comparison. Looking at even the psi 'cantrips' however I can see a 1d6 plus prone, or a flat out charm on failed save, both of which I'd say are better then any normal cantrip.

    1d6 plus prone is roughly on par with ray of frost since removing prone is just half your speed.

    Smrtnik, none of what you have there seems out of line. The goose talking about sixth level spells was apparently talking about Rary's Telepathic Bond which is very much better than your telepathy thing and also way the fuck overleveled as a spell because tradition basically.

    Anyone who attacks the prone enemy in melee before their turn comes up gets advantage though, so that's a pretty big deal depending on your initiative results. There are entire Fighter and Monk builds dedicated to nothing but knocking an enemy prone as often as possible.

    Desert Leviathan on
    Realizing lately that I don't really trust or respect basically any of the moderators here. So, good luck with life, friends! Hit me up on Twitter @DesertLeviathan
  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    That psi character would probably feel overpowered if you were at the table with like a shitty vanilla ranger or something, but it doesn't look overpowered to me. It does look really fun to play though.

  • JustTeeJustTee Registered User regular
    The only thing surprising about the psi character is how many *options* they have, not that any particular option is overpowered.

    However, if you view psionics as basically a reflavored Wizard, it all seems to be in the realm of possibility. Could use a few more drawbacks to things, and targeting monster INT saves are some of the better ones (at least until you start encountering beholders, dragons, naga, etc), but overall nothing in there screams out to be in need of immediate nerf.

    Diagnosed with AML on 6/1/12. Read about it: www.effleukemia.com
  • SmrtnikSmrtnik job boli zub Registered User regular
    The other player characters are:
    - paladin
    - drunken master monk
    - forge cleric
    - ranger
    - bard

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  • GarickGarick Registered User regular
    And wow, that 2 psi to make a target believe up to 10 words you say as fact seems pretty crazy too. Walk up to a shop keeper, 'You want to kill yourself and leave everything to me' Oh, and here is a filled out will you just need to sign and a rope is set up right over there, I'll wait. Boss guy? 'You want to rip your dick off and eat it' It's a death note that you don't have to write anything down, just think it in your head =P

  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    Garick wrote: »
    And wow, that 2 psi to make a target believe up to 10 words you say as fact seems pretty crazy too. Walk up to a shop keeper, 'You want to kill yourself and leave everything to me' Oh, and here is a filled out will you just need to sign and a rope is set up right over there, I'll wait. Boss guy? 'You want to rip your dick off and eat it' It's a death note that you don't have to write anything down, just think it in your head =P

    The power is poorly written (this is 5E after all) but it would be pretty easy to interpret those things as outside of what the power is capable of. That being said, exactly how powerful this power is depends entirely on the whims of the DM and the table.

    Occluded Mind (2). As an action, you target a creature that you can see within 120 feet of you. The target must make an Intelligence saving throw (it succeeds automatically if it is immune to being charmed). On a failed save, the target believes one statement of your choice for the next 5 minutes, provided that it understands the statement. The statement can be up to ten words long, and must describe you or a creature or object the target can see. On a successful save, the target is unaffected, and you can’t use this ability on it again until you finish a long rest.

  • SmrtnikSmrtnik job boli zub Registered User regular
    Yeah i used it once so far to make an enemy spellcaster move to the exit of the tomb we were in instead of staying behind his frontline, thus also letting us make opportunity attacks as he passed (which is incidentally the one time i used my spear and happened to roll a crit).

    DM said he'd let me do it that time but would be more restrictive in the future.

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  • FuselageFuselage Oosik Jumpship LoungeRegistered User regular
    All you had to say was Forge Cleric.

    You'll be fine in your group.

    o4n72w5h9b5y.png
  • SmrtnikSmrtnik job boli zub Registered User regular
    Fuselage wrote: »
    All you had to say was Forge Cleric.

    You'll be fine in your group.

    He reflavored his priest cantrip that makes enemy dex save to negate to be an anvil made of light. Pretty neat.

    steam_sig.png
  • Nova_CNova_C I have the need The need for speedRegistered User regular
    I've been DMing D&D for the first time the last few weeks, after playing through a couple campaigns as a player (I ran an Apocalypse World 2nd Edition game a few months back, though). I am having an absolute blast as a DM. It is so much fun, I can't even.

    Last night the party had gotten a lead on the location of The Pale Altar, an ancient elven legend about a font of power that could cleanse corruption. It was my first time building a dungeon from scratch, and I had been turned onto those dry erase tiles.

    They work spectacularly. They fit together and can reveal rooms and passageways as your players explore, they're doublesided so traps and secret passages are on the underside and when they find them (Intentionally or no) just flip the tile. We're using minis in our game and it's just the tits.

    21151319_10156268792209796_9148039098202849019_n.jpg?oh=225331ebecae555e197c7487a555b7b1&oe=5A1E5FDA

    I've started painting my Bones miniatures from the first Reaper kickstarter, finally, so some minis are painted, most are not. I'm working on it. It's gotten me into the new Bones kickstarter so I'll be getting a shitton of new minis in a couple years, hopefully in time to reveal the devil conspiracy that is following the party (If we last that long).

    After fighting some risen skeletons guarding the hidden key, the party gained access to The Pale Altar and encountered a riddle that was solved by matching corrupted items to the creature that killed the original bearer of those items. When two items matching the same creature were placed on the altar, a portal opened and that creature was brought forth. When the creature is killed one item is destroyed and the other returned to it's magical status (Player's choice).

    At level 3 my players encountered a Phase Spider, which wasn't much of a challenge for them. They got a pair of Boots of Elvenkind out of the deal.
    They then summoned a Giant Scorpion. That mother fucker nearly killed them all. They got a Cloak of Protection out of the deal.
    Recklessly, possibly greedily they placed items that matched an image of an eight legged lizard.

    Yeah.

    After nearly dying to the Scorpion they summoned a Basilisk.

    Things got dire.

    But they pulled through! And got a Pearl of Power.

    Guys, D&D is the best.

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    If, like me, you're not at PAX but still want to catch the Acquisition Inc. game, it starts in 15 minutes.
    https://www.twitch.tv/pax

    see317 on
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Man I'm so jealous, a couple I play D&D with were in that crowd.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • FuselageFuselage Oosik Jumpship LoungeRegistered User regular
    edited September 2017
    Dang, I just thought how cool it would be to have a wizard tattoo artist that specialized in tattooing Touch spells on people for delayed use...but then I realized how Pathfinder that is. It could've had such utility as long as it had black limitations for time of tattoo sessions and gold/material investment!

    Edit: I guess that's similar to the Rune Priest unearthed arcana prestige class, except mine would do better almost as a wizard school or different prestige class that favors existing spells over weird runes (even if the tattoos themselves are runes).

    I just think it would be easier to balance around spell levels instead of create a new system and try to compare it to something different. What makes more sense, ki points or spell slots?

    Edit: Even just modifying Arcane Trickster might make sense because of the limited spell slots. They'd tattoo and use their spell slots early in the day, and be done casting.

    Fuselage on
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  • evilthecatevilthecat Registered User regular
    poor dumpster wizard fell off towards the end there.
    shoulda killed jim to make a point!

    tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  • Nova_CNova_C I have the need The need for speedRegistered User regular
    evilthecat wrote: »
    poor dumpster wizard fell off towards the end there.
    shoulda killed jim to make a point!

    Strix was p awesome, though, and I'll give that D&D stream a go.

    Man.

    Critical Role and C Team are already 6-8 hours a week of content to keep up on.

  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    @Fuselage

    That's been done before as a reflavor of the scrolls rules.

  • FuselageFuselage Oosik Jumpship LoungeRegistered User regular
    I'm going to Google this when I'm stopped!

    o4n72w5h9b5y.png
  • SurfpossumSurfpossum A nonentity trying to preserve the anonymity he so richly deserves.Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    So near the end of our last campaign thingy, I rolled up some stats for a random character. I present them here:
    str: 9
    dex: 11
    con: 10
    int: 9
    wis: 7
    cha: 13
    To clarify, these are all from rolling 4d6 and dropping the lowest. Yes, really.

    z6igd3g5j16m.jpg

    This is... El Grandia, debonair man (half-elf, which he will insistently remind you of, despite having inherited seemingly none of the grace and wisdom associated with his elvish half) of mystery. He was painted in half an hour at the start of the second session, having found a suitable miniature on the way over. The reasons for having this half an hour free will become clear in time. But first!

    Creation!
    It was immediately obvious that with stats like that he had to be a bard, and a walking personification of the Dunning-Kruger effect: supremely confident in his musical talent, oblivious to the pains it is inflicting on those around him.

    I rolled up some background info as well: he is insatiably curious, values independence to a chaotic extreme, and has a past involving forbidden lore and a fascination with it. This was decided to take the form of a book in his possession, which he can't read but nevertheless assumes is full of darkest knowledge (and doesn't let that stop him from acting like he knows what it says).

    He's from the bard college of lore, obviously. He's got half the hit points of our ranger and two thirds the armor class of our sorcerer. He will be indefatigable.

    I completely blanked on a name so we rolled in a generator for that as well and got Elgrana, which was obviously no good, and thus was born... EL GRANDIA.

    Setting Sail!
    We are joined on a vessel braving the stormy seas by:

    Callista, a human paladin with a fanatical hatred of HERESY and HERETICAL THINGS, especially of the forbidden knowledge variety. Light on the healing, heavy on the smiting. She ran out of heretics upon which to do smiting, and is seeking out strange and distant lands. To smite.

    Norisse, a drow... sorcerer? and more reserved than the rest of the bunch. They have left their home for reasons largely unspecified. Prying seems unappreciated.

    Grar, a half-orc ranger with an almost obsessive desire to find strange and fantastic beasts, or more specifically their heads, and mount them on walls. He's killed at least one of nearly everything back home, and wonders what the new world will offer.

    And I, EL GRANDIA, half-elf bard, setting sail in search of more civilized peoples, the savages in that unfortunate slum I called home having no appreciation for the finer nuances in music. I have been greatly enjoying the voyage and my captivated (some might say captive) audience; only two of the crew have thrown themselves overboard. A record!

    Suddenly, however, as if the gods themselves grew wrothful with jealousy over my talents,
    the sea roils from a mighty tempest, whipping the ship around, smashing it into massive waves, until its timbers are rent asunder and the deep blue gray turns to inky black....

    A New Shore!
    The four of us come to on a sandy beach, miraculously unharmed. Fortune has seen fit to spare my lute, my guitar, and my banjo. My three companions were similarly spared, though the crewmembers whom we can see were not as fortunate.

    My keen survival instincts flare up, and I feel it may be necessary to be armed with more than just my prodigious musical talents. I spy a suitable scimitar in the possession of a poor soul who no longer needs it, and feel the intimidating +3 to attack rolls I have with it. It will do.

    We set off randomly into the dense jungle. I already know we will be the best of friends.

    A Mysterious Temple!
    As Callista and Norisse deal with the unglamorous task of bushwhacking, Grar and I swap tales of our hunting exploits. I regale him with many a fantastic expedition leading to the killing of rare, exotic, and dangerous game. The veracity of these deeds will not be commented upon, but by the end of it I believe I've done them almost as much as he does.

    We come upon a great clearing, paved with massive stones and an imposing ziggurat at the far end. My companions seem strangely on edge, but I feel like this place must have marvelous acoustics. I launch into a set of vocal exercises with great gusto, and am gratified by the sound. For some reason, nobody else seems to notice the figures skulking at the edge of the clearing in a very obvious manner. I complain loudly about their presence to my compatriots, saying they are disturbing the harmonics.

    Then the ground caves in beneath us.

    The Ancient Ruins!
    We find ourselves in a dark and musty chamber, built from massive stone blocks. The walls are decorated with elaborate reliefs, which I know nothing about but expound in at great length regardless. Running my hand over them as I do so, I come into contact with some pale white slime, which burns. I inform my companions of the slime's presence and that it is hazardous, along with a great many other important but unverifiable facts about it. My hand continues to burn. I ignore it.

    As we make our way through the winding tunnels, we come across a larger chamber with some kind of boulder ringed with what appear to be pieces of thick bamboo. As we approach, the boulder rises up, revealing the fact that it's a giant crab, and a massive crawfish splashes up out of the knee deep water near it. They watch us suspiciously, but make no move.

    I whisper to my friends that, as one with my extensive knowledge of crustacean biology can easily tell, the larger crab is a female while the other is a male, and thus I shall create a musical atmosphere conducive to romance to get them to commence mating, allowing us to move past at our leisure. For some reason they express extreme doubts, but, undeterred, I pull forth my guitar and strum a beautiful, irresistible tune. I nearly weep at the intensity of it.

    The horrid creatures don't react at all, their mandibles chewing silently at the air, an insolent bubble forming at one's mouth. My companions begin sneaking around them, ignoring my efforts to secure their safety. The beasts eye them carefully but make no move. Eventually, I cease my unappreciated efforts and follow them. Vexed by their brutish heartlessness, I smack the large crab with the flat of my scimitar as I pass by.

    We leave the larger crab hiding in a corner, withdrawn to the security of its massive shell, and the crawdad bludgeoned to death near the center of the room. I managed to hide, I mean, take up a defensive position in a corridor during the fight, from which I inspired my allies and confused my enemies, launching Cutting Words and a vicious pantomime of their stupid claws.

    The Slug King!
    We enter a room that some massive, silvery trails of slime had been leading to. They cover its walls and many of the pillars. As we gingerly step into the still and faintly glimmering water that covers the floor, a massive slug rises out of it at the far end. It advances slowly, oozing in a menacing fashion, burbling a long string of something in a language we can't hope to understand.

    I step forward confidently, with a flourish, assuring my companions that I will soon persuade this creature to let us pass in peace. I roll a 1, and eloquently insult it, its offspring, and its ancestors going back to near the dawn of time. The frothiness of its angry burbling increases, as does its pace towards us.

    We decide that perhaps that small tunnel in the side of the room is a more desirable route, and make a hasty exit through it, the slug king's raging splashes fading behind us.

    The Death of El Grandia!
    As we head down the tunnel, we hear a strange, lilting voice, a beautiful and ethereal song. Callista suspects heresy or something close enough, but I shush her and begin to harmonize with the voice.

    We enter a sort of grotto, with an entrancing young woman perched on a rock near the water, on the other side of which is a submerged door. She beckons to me, as fair young women are obviously often wont to do, and so naturally I follow her into the water, ignoring the silly protestations of my clearly jealous companions. I duck under, and see her reaching out to caress my face... and feel the sting of an acid burn, which instantly knocks me unconscious. I'd lost nearly half my health due to the substance on my hand I'd been ignoring this whole time, but even a quarter would have been enough.

    My friends frantically snag me with a grappling hook and try to haul me out, but my illustrious cape makes this difficult as I roll a 1 on my death saving throw. Their struggles attract the attention of the massive electric eel lurking below, whose blast sends me into cardiac arrest and nearly knocks the rest of them out. They, with what I can only assume are great lamentations and wails of despair, leave the body of El Grandia in its watery grave as they save themselves.

    He died as he lived: impulsive, incorrigible, and an idiot.

    Epilogue... ?
    The party, now of three, with an admittedly higher average competence, wanders through the temple, probably inconsolable. They clear out some rats, then decide to take on the slug king.

    He is a formidable foe, ancient and cunning, and does not take kindly to their efforts. It is a long fight, and several times they narrowly evade death as he sprays acid around the room, but they prevail at last. With a mighty blow following the meaty strikes of Callista and a barrage of arrows from Grar, Norisse cleaves the beast entirely in half.

    They are catching their breath and taking a closer look at the room's contents when one half of the creature starts wriggling again. A flurry of scrapes ensue as weapons are drawn, and Callista is raising her warhammer to bring it smashing down when

    a scimitar bursts through the flesh of the slug, followed by me, El Grandia! I recovered my senses after the shock, and used my diving abilities acquired while hunting for the black pearls found in specific dangerous waters to make my way through the winding underwater passages. The enchanting young woman and I shared a brief but intense personal journey as I fought off innumerable vicious creatures of the deep, before this slug ambushed us and swallowed me whole. Luckily for them, I managed to slay it from the inside just in time. I also made a friend while in there: I hold aloft the weirdly preserved head of Iorek, a fellow slug belly resident.

    I have no memory of any of this, of course, but they don't need to know that. What actually happened during that time, which I'm not yet aware of, is that the dark god or entity whose book I have in my possession is exceedingly interested in being summoned to our world, and sees my curiosity and desire for forbidden knowledge as quite useful in the pursuit of that. It resurrected me and placed me into the slug's belly as it died. I have not yet looked, but when I do I'll find that while I still cannot comprehend the book, I will find what appears to be my name, written in blood, appearing in a number of places.

    I had discussed this with the DM at the end of the previous session, and so was happily painting (albeit in a rushed and sloppy way) while the rest of the party fought the slug. I have since managed to nearly die again twice, and am enthusiastically taking to my role as unfixable curse on the party.

    In short, D&D is pretty good.

    Surfpossum on
  • ozone275ozone275 Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    realized i forgot to post this yesterday

    so just finished the session and it was insane. started off the session with a battle with a gas spore (AC 5, 1 HP) and once dead exploded releasing toxic gas, 1 party members failed and nothing happened immediately (though they are infected with gas spores), the human cleric is the only party member who is still using the same character from session 1 and decides he wants to change up so he runs down a slope and headbutts into a stone slab dying instantly (he had 2 hp left before running into the slab) next room he introduces his character, a warforged warlock (i allow some UA but they have to let me know before hand so i can read up) the party now consists of 4 members, warforged warlock, warforged monk, warforged barbarian and kobald artificer

    fast forward a bit and they come to a room where there is a tree growing in the middle of the room, it is basically a roper but tree instead of stalagmite and Int 2, the warlock and barbarian become trapped in its tentacles (branches) and the monk and artificer run through the door and slam it shut, the rest of the encounter is spent with the warlock eldritch blasting and barbarian attacking (both with disadv and both missing almost every time) and the monk and artificer using a method where the monk opens and closes the door while the artificer shoots (artificer readies the attack and monk uses his action and bonus to open and close the door between the attacks, thus keeping themselves safe)

    warlock goes down, and thanks to bear totem, barbarian is still up so i focus more on him as unless i want to just kill the warlock he is the only target available, he eventually goes down and now have to decide which of the downed 2 to go after til the tree dies, at this point it is at single digits so i am not expecting it to be much longer so i attack the barbarian and..... nat 20, no lie and i had a party member come around to confirm for the barbarian so that was 2 death saves gone, the barbarian went to roll for his save and I'm hoping he makes it...... nat 1, again no lie

    i felt so bad for the guy, considering he deliberately killed off his last character the previous session so he could play this new character (made, introduced played then killed in 1 week, that is real time btw as again we play every tuesday) but that wasn't the half of it, he was pissed, no yelling or swearing as we are in a public place but you could tell, he proceeds to pack up everything and walks out saying he is done and not coming back, not 100% about this but still worried none the less

    with them being so close to the end of the dungeon and cause next week if the final session for this season, i did cheat a bit and push the party to the end, though a nat 20 perception did also send them through a secret room where they found a statue and a friend (which is a doppleganger but also a way in for the barbarian if he shows up next week), the cheating was mostly done by the ghost of every dead character the party played leading them and pointing the way out, this included a halfling rogue, human cleric, dragonborn bard, dragonborn paladin, assimar warlock and, after the guy left, a sour looking warforged barbarian

    as i said next week is the final and i have been planning this for 2 months, made better as 5000 years have gone by, expect as much of a play by play next week as i can, they are being bumped to level 9 (from 5) and not it is time just sit back and wait

    ozone275 on
  • SmrtnikSmrtnik job boli zub Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    We are lvl 4, DM throws an ac 20 monster at us that nobody can hit, but it has -1 on int saves. I'm so the bulk of the damage to it while it is surrounded by almost the whole rest of the party in melee just flailing at it. Including the forge cleric who is swinging a hammer at it.

    When it dies, Mystic once again declared overpowered by whole party and DM.

    Smrtnik on
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  • FryFry Registered User regular
    Smrtnik wrote: »
    We are lvl 4, DM throws an ac 20 monster at us that nobody can hit, but it has -1 on int saves. I'm so the bulk of the damage to it while it is surrounded by almost the whole rest of the party in melee just flailing at it. Including the forge cleric who is swinging a hammer at it.

    When it dies, Mystic once again declared overpowered by whole party and DM.

    I would look around for hidden cameras. It's like the DM picked an encounter intentionally to make your character shine, and then complained about it? Did your DM not work out your character's schtick the previous session?

  • SmrtnikSmrtnik job boli zub Registered User regular
    Fry wrote: »
    Smrtnik wrote: »
    We are lvl 4, DM throws an ac 20 monster at us that nobody can hit, but it has -1 on int saves. I'm so the bulk of the damage to it while it is surrounded by almost the whole rest of the party in melee just flailing at it. Including the forge cleric who is swinging a hammer at it.

    When it dies, Mystic once again declared overpowered by whole party and DM.

    I would look around for hidden cameras. It's like the DM picked an encounter intentionally to make your character shine, and then complained about it? Did your DM not work out your character's schtick the previous session?

    He said we are very strong as a party due to me, so he thought of throwing in another roper at us but in the end "played it straight out of the book".

    steam_sig.png
  • Ken OKen O Registered User regular
    Sounds like the rest of the party rolled pretty poorly too. 20AC would be difficult but a few shots should have landed.

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