[QUOTE=IrishBandit;49262863]I'm DMing my first campaign tomorrow and I have 7 players and a Moon Druid, am I doomed?[/QUOTE]
double doomed with sprinkles on top
[QUOTE=IrishBandit;49262863]I'm DMing my first campaign tomorrow and I have 7 players and a Moon Druid, am I doomed? Or does one of the players being a Beastmaster counteract the Moon Druid's power.[/QUOTE]
Beastmasters are pretty bad, but a Moon druid ruins the balance of the party imo... though not as much as having 7 players does! That's WAY too many.
[QUOTE=Chronische;49263018]Beastmasters are pretty bad, but a Moon druid ruins the balance of the party imo... though not as much as having 7 players does! That's WAY too many.[/QUOTE]
The encounter building rules scale up to 8 players though?
[QUOTE=IrishBandit;49263086]The encounter building rules scale up to 8 players though?[/QUOTE]
Hahahaha!
Yeah, sure. You go ahead and use those. They are really awful, but more importantly, combat takes forever with more than 5 players. It gets REALLY boring to sit there for 40 minute rounds just to say "I attack".
The balance is a serious issue too, and the guidebook is not very accurate as to what constitutes a real challenge for a party of any size, much less a bloated party like that.
[QUOTE=Chronische;49263095]Hahahaha!
Yeah, sure. You go ahead and use those. They are really awful, but more importantly, combat takes forever with more than 5 players. It gets REALLY boring to sit there for 40 minute rounds just to say "I attack".
The balance is a serious issue too, and the guidebook is not very accurate as to what constitutes a real challenge for a party of any size, much less a bloated party like that.[/QUOTE]
Roll20 makes combat 10x faster, and balance can be fudged.
[QUOTE=IrishBandit;49263125]Roll20 makes combat 10x faster, and balance can be fudged.[/QUOTE]
It's not that much faster. It also means there's more players who don't get their time to really do their thing, large parties are just a bad idea in general, but you do you.
I dunno, I don't think six players is too dang bad. Five is ideal, but six is only slightly less so. Even during our public sessions, six players went fairly smoothly, and public sessions are a bit of a shit show. Seven was pushing it, and eight or more was just boring. We'll be at home where I can help control the pacing, where we have the same players every week who should learn how their characters work well enough to not be constantly digging through books, and most of them are already good friends to boot.
One thing I'm going to try and implement to make combat flow better and be more engaging is a narrative combat order. Basically, as the DM, I'll narrate the flow of combat as it happens, rather than just boiling it down to the boring numbers and dice rolls.
[I]"Six goblins are charging your position. Two of them hold back and draw bows, the other four are close in on Nymeria. They come in slashing... [roll dice] Nymeria blocks one of the blows and sidesteps two others, but one of the buggers comes in low and gashes her leg. [roll dice] You take 7 slashing damage, Nymeria.
Ramses, you see four angry goblins hacking away at Nymeria, who is doing her best to fend them off. Two other two are nocking arrows and looking at you circling above on your war bird. What do you want to do?"[/I]
If Ramses can't give me a clear answer within a few seconds, she loses her turn to "indecisiveness."
[I]Ramses freezes up, and one of the goblins lets loose an arrow [roll dice]. Luckily it goes wide, but the second goblin is taking more careful aim. Roderick, there are arrows flying at Ramses and her mount, and Nymeria is surrounded. Are you going to help them?[/I]
It will hopefully keep combat interesting by keeping the players engaged in the narrative of it, rather than just going, "Goblin 1 attacks. What's your AC? He hits, and you take... 5 slashing damage. It's your turn." That's dull, and one of my biggest pet peeves as a player. Even if combat is mechanically faster like that, it's a billion times more boring. Combat should be just as much a part of the story as anything else! Frequently re-summarizing the layout of the battlefield will also help with players who do accidentally let their mind wander a little bit. If it comes to their turn, and they don't know what they want to do yet? Well, combat is pressing and changes quickly. You've got about three seconds to start telling me what your plan is, or you'll miss your opportunity!
Got any other advice for speeding up combat rounds, though? Or at least making it more interesting? Should I be throwing out larger groups of weak enemies, or smaller groups of big enemies at them for the best pacing? Big enemies have the benefit of fewer overall attack actions, small enemies have the benefit of going down faster. Even if they take longer to run, that cool moment in hearing that the arrow you just let fly bolted a Goblin's head to the tree he was standing in front of is super satisfying and makes you really appreciate your impact in the fight.
For reference, much of this is going to be theater of the mind. I have a big dry erase graph that I'll use for some of the more chaotic fights, but the last thing I want to do as a GM, or have my players do, is sit there and count out movement squares for every little action.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;49263266]One thing I'm going to try and implement to make combat flow better and be more engaging is a narrative combat order. Basically, as the DM, I'll narrate the flow of combat as it happens, rather than just boiling it down to the boring numbers and dice rolls.
It will hopefully keep combat interesting by keeping the players engaged in the narrative of it, rather than just going, "Goblin 1 attacks. What's your AC? He hits, and you take... 5 slashing damage. It's your turn." That's dull, and one of my biggest pet peeves as a player.[/QUOTE]
I prefer a mix of both. We do the dice rolling and 'what's your AC' and 'he hits' stuff, and then once all that's worked out I describe how it all goes down.
If you want a good example of how to do interesting narrative combat, go watch Critical Role. Mercer's ability to narrate something as simple as a single melee attack in a way that makes it engaging is incredible.
I also am thinking pretty seriously about changing Nat 20's a bit on combat rolls. They'll get to either land a critical strike for double damage, as usual, or "show off," and do something extra cool (usually involving damaging or disabling multiple enemies.
Like, Ramses has her vulture attack a goblin with its talons, rolls a Nat 20.
[I]"Hit him hard, or show off?"[/I]
"I want to show off!"
[I]"Your war bird digs her talons in deep, dealing [dice roll] 8 slashing damage, and with a flap of her huge wings, she twists and throws him into the archer pestering Roderick, sending them both crashing to the floor! Roderick, the archer who was about to pelt you just got clobbered! He's trying to get back up, but you've got an opening!"[/I]
I know it's not by the rules, but it [I]is[/I] pretty dang cool. I know I'd love it if I were player! I mean, that's kinda my whole thing here. I'm new to DM'ing, so not all this stuff I want to do will work out, I'm sure, but I really want to try to make this super cool for the players. Really give them a chance to feel like badasses. I don't ever want to just say, "you deal X damage and it dies." How unrewarding. I want to describe how damn cool they looked doing it, and all the grisly death throes of whatever bad dude they just dropped.
I'm not all that great at DMing, nor do I claim to be a good writer, but for a time I've been trying to design a world and some background lore for it if I ever get around to actually running campaigns. I like to have a bit more personal investment in my creations, so I decided to create my own deities. Anyway, if anyone feels bored and wants to give me any advice on how this reads/flows/etc or if it makes sense, needs more detail on things and where I'd be really grateful.
It's not all that long, and I'm not sure if that is a problem or not. In my game world, most of these characters are a complete mystery to the world, and I plan on providing more information as the PCs gain power and encounter 'divine' beings in their adventures which might lead them into contact with the gods. So, I want these to be somewhat mysterious. But to me, I'm just not sure how much is too much or possibly not enough.
Any input would really be nice ._.
[url]https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SEVV9Q0qo5ZDmCrvUh6FgFcPGQhxwWvbjLE5h9-MWmA/edit?usp=sharing[/url]
[QUOTE=DeathBacon;49263480]I'm not all that great at DMing, nor do I claim to be a good writer, but for a time I've been trying to design a world and some background lore for it if I ever get around to actually running campaigns. I like to have a bit more personal investment in my creations, so I decided to create my own deities. Anyway, if anyone feels bored and wants to give me any advice on how this reads/flows/etc or if it makes sense, needs more detail on things and where I'd be really grateful.
It's not all that long, and I'm not sure if that is a problem or not. In my game world, most of these characters are a complete mystery to the world, and I plan on providing more information as the PCs gain power and encounter 'divine' beings in their adventures which might lead them into contact with the gods. So, I want these to be somewhat mysterious. But to me, I'm just not sure how much is too much or possibly not enough.
Any input would really be nice ._.
[url]https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SEVV9Q0qo5ZDmCrvUh6FgFcPGQhxwWvbjLE5h9-MWmA/edit?usp=sharing[/url][/QUOTE]
give 'em names, that's my input.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;49263355]I also am thinking pretty seriously about changing Nat 20's a bit on combat rolls. They'll get to either land a critical strike for double damage, as usual, or "show off," and do something extra cool (usually involving damaging or disabling multiple enemies.
Like, Ramses has her vulture attack a goblin with its talons, rolls a Nat 20.
[I]"Hit him hard, or show off?"[/I]
"I want to show off!"
[I]"Your war bird digs her talons in deep, dealing [dice roll] 8 slashing damage, and with a flap of her huge wings, she twists and throws him into the archer pestering Roderick, sending them both crashing to the floor! Roderick, the archer who was about to pelt you just got clobbered! He's trying to get back up, but you've got an opening!"[/I]
I know it's not by the rules, but it [I]is[/I] pretty dang cool. I know I'd love it if I were player! I mean, that's kinda my whole thing here. I'm new to DM'ing, so not all this stuff I want to do will work out, I'm sure, but I really want to try to make this super cool for the players. Really give them a chance to feel like badasses. I don't ever want to just say, "you deal X damage and it dies." How unrewarding. I want to describe how damn cool they looked doing it, and all the grisly death throes of whatever bad dude they just dropped.[/QUOTE]
the danger here is that feeling like a badass wears out very very very quickly. i do descriptive deaths in my campaigns and i already feel like i'm starting to retread old ground. there's only so many ways you can describe someone dying in a particular way
players tend to be excited enough for the nat 20s plus, giving them extra bonuses on top of that ruins the balance of the game.
Dramatic deaths are best saved for characters of some kind of importance, random goons and monsters just get cut down.
Doing OotA and the party's Bard just caught Mummy's Rot after insulting the Mummy's choice in garb.
He's currently freaking out, begging the party to go back to the spot they encountered the Mummy so he can put the Ivory Idol he stole back in the sarcophagus.
[sp]The party Minotaur wants to continue, hoping the Bard will add to their rations for the journey to Gracklstug, while the Monk continues playing with his Myconoid sproutling as he has for the past four sessions.[/sp]
Overall a good session.
question for wizards:
finger of death, can you use it on a god?
[QUOTE=lintz;49264355]question for wizards:
finger of death, can you use it on a god?[/QUOTE]
As long as they're living.
[QUOTE=lintz;49264453]context: [url]http://tsunderelintz.tumblr.com/post/134717736654/nightmare-pegasi-number-one-chiquita-dave[/url][/QUOTE]
Yeah, you're right about the spell resistance, but if it's a god's herald or something rather than literally the god it would work, but if being immortal and being living are different is debatable.
[editline]7th December 2015[/editline]
Also it's probably 3.5 or PF, don't know if that spell exists/works that way in other editions.
So a friend recently told me that the super-big bad of my campaign is quite possibly one of the most terrifying he's ever heard of. I basically set up that the Ancient Elves attempted to ban the deity that acted as the guardian of time - in simple terms, it was responsible for finding, re-fletching, and shooting Time's Arrow once more. They wished to be truly immortal, and thus banished it to the Far Realm.
Tormented for eons, it became immensely depressed and nihilistic. It too, desired an end to its duties. When it was finally able to re-form, it obliterated the Far Realm and almost everything in it, before returning to the Prime Universe to wreak havoc and annihilate all as Entropy incarnate. Its goal is to essentially reduce all matter and immaterial things in the Universe to a uniform ground state.
Naturally, my friend who is working on his PhD and knows quite a bit about physics found this absolutely horrifying. This thing harries entire planes of existence. Thankfully, there IS a way to defeat it, though it's a defeat more akin to that of the Illusive Man than just outright killing it. I'm a bit afraid of my players finding out about it though, because it kind of inspires defeatism and hopelessness more than anything else.
As someone who's run call of cthulhu, let me say that defeatism and hopelessness are good things
especially if you can convince the PC's that there is hope right before you smack the hammer down
[QUOTE=SiberysTranq;49264637]As someone who's run call of cthulhu, let me say that defeatism and hopelessness are good things
especially if you can convince the PC's that there is hope right before you smack the hammer down[/QUOTE]
At least in CoC I got to be a badass and ride an explosion at the end
If you wanna know hopelessness, try savage world's melee combat
Christ I've never felt so powerless in the face of the enemy before
[QUOTE=lintz;49264035]the danger here is that feeling like a badass wears out very very very quickly. i do descriptive deaths in my campaigns and i already feel like i'm starting to retread old ground. there's only so many ways you can describe someone dying in a particular way
players tend to be excited enough for the nat 20s plus, giving them extra bonuses on top of that ruins the balance of the game.[/QUOTE]
Your players need to find new ways to kill things? :v:
Also I'm convinced I might be some sort of deity. My dice rolls have been consistently terrible since I started playing D&D 6 years ago, spitting in the face of probability. This wouldn't really be weird, if it wasn't for the fact that this also extends to people physically near me. This effect has been documented with three different groups.
People sitting near me will roll awful rolls constantly, while people on the other side of the table will roll fine.
[QUOTE=lintz;49264355]question for wizards:
finger of death, can you use it on a god?[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=lintz;49264453]context: [url]http://tsunderelintz.tumblr.com/post/134717736654/nightmare-pegasi-number-one-chiquita-dave[/url][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Rents;49264490]Yeah, you're right about the spell resistance, but if it's a god's herald or something rather than literally the god it would work, but if being immortal and being living are different is debatable.
[editline]7th December 2015[/editline]
Also it's probably 3.5 or PF, don't know if that spell exists/works that way in other editions.[/QUOTE]
There's no particular reason Finger of Death wouldn't work simply because it is a god. Even assuming that gods are immortal in your setting, an immortal is still by their very definition, alive.
That said, in most settings gods are going to have immunity to death effects. That's pretty much an entry requirement for being a god for more than five minutes, unless it's a very low powered setting like Dragonlance where wizards can't simply planeshift into your home and poke you with their ten inch dong of death.
And any god that doesn't even at the very least have [i]some[/i] spell resistance is instantly pleb-tier.
Assuming 3e/Pathfinder, anyway.
[QUOTE=kyle877;49264645]Your players need to find new ways to kill things? :v:
Also I'm convinced I might be some sort of deity. My dice rolls have been consistently terrible since I started playing D&D 6 years ago, spitting in the face of probability. This wouldn't really be weird, if it wasn't for the fact that this also extends to people physically near me. This effect has been documented with three different groups.
People sitting near me will roll awful rolls constantly, while people on the other side of the table will roll fine.[/QUOTE]
You have Will Wheaton's curse then.
Quick rule question on DnD 5e: does the Paladin's Channel Divinity feature refresh on a long rest or a short rest? I'm probably just skimming right over the bit where it says, but I just can't find the darn thing.
[editline]/[/editline]
Heh, nevermind. Right in front of my fuckin' face, as usual.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;49263355]I also am thinking pretty seriously about changing Nat 20's a bit on combat rolls. They'll get to either land a critical strike for double damage, as usual, or "show off," and do something extra cool (usually involving damaging or disabling multiple enemies.
Like, Ramses has her vulture attack a goblin with its talons, rolls a Nat 20.
[I]"Hit him hard, or show off?"[/I]
"I want to show off!"
[I]"Your war bird digs her talons in deep, dealing [dice roll] 8 slashing damage, and with a flap of her huge wings, she twists and throws him into the archer pestering Roderick, sending them both crashing to the floor! Roderick, the archer who was about to pelt you just got clobbered! He's trying to get back up, but you've got an opening!"[/I]
I know it's not by the rules, but it [I]is[/I] pretty dang cool. I know I'd love it if I were player! I mean, that's kinda my whole thing here. I'm new to DM'ing, so not all this stuff I want to do will work out, I'm sure, but I really want to try to make this super cool for the players. Really give them a chance to feel like badasses. I don't ever want to just say, "you deal X damage and it dies." How unrewarding. I want to describe how damn cool they looked doing it, and all the grisly death throes of whatever bad dude they just dropped.[/QUOTE]
Let them be badasses with their skill checks and unique problem solving. If you want a crit to do more than just a bunch of damage just have the enemies react to it. Facing a bunch of goblins and you crit one? Great you just cleaved it in half and now the rest of them are reconsidering whether this raid was worth it. Crit against the BBEG? His attention focuses on you, his hatred only fueled by the wounds he's suffered. Or better yet he looks down at the grievous wound and just laughs.
I'd say in certain circumstances if a player wants to use their crit to do something neat instead consider it, but applying CC to a couple enemies is more powerful than doing a lot of damage to one. And it also cheapens any character that relies on skills that control the battlefield.
And honestly the rest of the enemies backing off when the first guy who charged at the party got obliterated in one go is something that should happen, skills and crits or not :v:
Ultimately it's your game, run it how you want it to be run. But it may be advantageous to try and stick to the book for your first time being a DM. Or if your players are cool with it let them know you'll be trying some new things that might have to get removed later on if they detract too much/are too powerful.
Whenever you change anything, buff wizards.
Chances are whatever you just did indirectly made wizards less useful so just buff them all the time to be sure, and then buff them some more.
I'm extremely unbiased.
I've rolled up a D&D5e sword wielding, female monk that I'm quite happy with. I want to give her a Scimitar and go for a sort of Arabian-styled monk, but there's no way to do that with the monk's starting gold :v:
I rolled up her personality and stuff and was quite happy with how that turned out as well. She wants to rise to the top of her religious hierarchy, but can't because she was branded a heretic by her temple that turned corrupt.
I'd like to turn her into an elementalist monk. I just need to find a game that I can join and actually play in :/
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