D&D V6 - Edition jokes don't really make sense anymore - Games

A big reason to play CofD over oWoD is that the latter's mechanics just don't hold up anymore. The newer editions of WoD aren't particularly well designed systems either, but they're still miles ahead. In oWoD, you have the definition of a success changing from check to check, you've got scaling EXP costs punishing you for not minmaxing during chargen, you have that obnoxious initiative system that locks you into a course of action without even the ability to defend yourself unless you spend willpower and cancel your action, you have Dexterity completely dominating the trio of physical stats, you have Appearance as an unnecessary filler stat, you have redundance and clutter in the rules, and then you have wild power swings in the character options presented in the books, with some abilities and backgrounds being straight up useless, some being completely overwhelming, and the rest being neither here nor there, often mildly useful but packed with unreasonable downsides, and the list really goes on, with further problems popping up with splat-specific mechanics and how they interact with normal ones. It's archaic as hell and they refuse to fix any of it even with the numerous rereleases they've been doing for years now and it just boggles my mind.

[QUOTE=TectoImprov;51836977]Can you guys help me think of some cool lair actions for a boss fight my PCs are gonna come across soon? It's a Raven Queen Paladin at the bottom of an half-submerged forsaken mausoleum. He'll be using a giant raven as a mount.[/QUOTE] 1. Summon x amount of raven swarms appropriate to the pcs level. 2. Flooding. Water levels rise which prevents parts of the dungeon floor from being walkable. 3. Judgement. A PC within 30ft of the Paladin is judged by the raven queen. D.C. Save to not take necrotic damage. 4. Talking Dead. Illusory Corpses from the nearby tombs begin to wail and rattle, whispering horrible truths. Fear save centered on the source. 5. Falling rocks. Part of the ceiling collapses with a D.C. Dex save to avoid it.

My friends and I resumed our pathfinder campaign a few days ago, and added some new players and the result was hilarious. We where suppose to negotiate with our enemy for which are new members where working for as mercs. Our paladin, being lawful stupid decided not to negotiate, which resulted in a fight breaking out between us. I immediately got crit for twice the maximum damage I can take, then the guy who crit me got obliterated by our paladin next turn. The DM shrugged, and decided the victorious party would take the others prisoner and used his magic to stop us from dying. Eventually we settled our bloodbath and lawful stupid paladin prevailed. Yesterday we all joined forces and proceeded into a dungeon, I wanted to take prisoners, but lawful stupid paladin curb stomps them every occasion (because evil) when I incapacitate them. Usually leading to the Tiefling (me) and half-orc watching the righteous paladin murder unconscious enemies

We can all agree that Dragonborn is objectively the worst D&D race and that halflings will always reign supreme?

[QUOTE=Amakir;51838172]We can all agree that Dragonborn is objectively the worst D&D race and that [highlight]halflings[/highlight] will always reign supreme?[/QUOTE] You misspelled "humans".

Humans are just dire halflings. What a knockoff.

I'm playing a Dark Heresy campaign with some friends, and we're currently in an abandoned tunnel system under a city, after our latest lead on a missing specialist our Inquisitor wants us to find. I manage to detect some weird mole people like things through the wall with my psyker powers, and me and the beserker techpriest manage to find a secret door through to their chamber. My character has the stealth skill, so I sneak forwards, but one of the creatures starts acting weirdly, so I try to read its thoughts to see what's happening. My first attempt fails, so I try again. And fail, spectacularly. In the process, I cause psychic phenomena and cover everything within 25 metres in ice, alerting everything nearby, causing them charge, skewering my ass in the process. But on the plus side, no-one died :v:

I think we can all agree that every single game and setting would be objectively better if all halflings, kender, and other "short + annoying kleptomaniacs; The race" were banished into the core of the sun until the heat death of the universe.

Dwarf is the only short race I acknowledge.

[QUOTE=Oliolio;51840536]I think we can all agree that every single game and setting would be objectively better if all halflings, kender, and other "short + annoying kleptomaniacs; The race" were banished into the core of the sun until the heat death of the universe.[/QUOTE] Only if they bring Gnomes along with them.

[QUOTE=Axznma;51840585]Dwarf is the only short race I acknowledge.[/QUOTE] Dwarfs are boring beard fetishists who live underground and smith large weapons to compensate for something else. Halflings are chill and smoke weed from pipes while throwing sick parties everyday.

[QUOTE=Amakir;51840597]Dwarfs are boring beard fetishists who live underground and smith large weapons to compensate for something else. Halflings are chill and smoke weed from pipes while throwing sick parties everyday.[/QUOTE] Nah that's hobbits. I can see how you might mistake the two, but where Hobbits are genetically predisposed to chilling out all day and living the good life, Halflings are genetically predisposed to being thieving little shits.

[QUOTE=elowin;51840587]Only if they bring Gnomes along with them.[/QUOTE] Gnomes in my campaign are highly aggressive tech fetishists that like to jihad population centers and eat people alive. So far I've horrified every player who comes into my games expecting regular old gnomes.

[QUOTE=elowin;51840621]Nah that's hobbits. I can see how you might mistake the two, but where Hobbits are genetically predisposed to chilling out all day and living the good life, Halflings are genetically predisposed to being thieving little shits.[/QUOTE] Generally halflings are described as mostly lawful good and preferring to chill out in their shires. Basically hobbits. In 5e halflings who live amongst other races are known for their "hard work and loyal outlook" and there's no reference to thieving at all. Halfling thieves is just what a lot of players go to because of their stats. Halfling fighters and clerics are great.

[QUOTE=Glent;51840676]Generally halflings are described as mostly lawful good and preferring to chill out in their shires. Basically hobbits. In 5e halflings who live amongst other races are known for their "hard work and loyal outlook" and there's no reference to thieving at all. Halfling thieves is just what a lot of players go to because of their stats. Halfling fighters and clerics are great.[/QUOTE] That's just their disguise, mate. Halflings want you to think they're just like Hobbits, then BAM, you wake up with all your gold gone and without any pants in the middle of the forest.

[QUOTE=elowin;51840705]That's just their disguise, mate. Halflings want you to think they're just like Hobbits, then BAM, you wake up with all your gold gone and without any pants in the middle of the forest.[/QUOTE] that's just all the unscrupulous wizards using magic to make themselves look like halflings, exploiting the completely deserved trust other races put in them

[QUOTE=elowin;51840621]Nah that's hobbits. I can see how you might mistake the two, but where Hobbits are genetically predisposed to chilling out all day and living the good life, Halflings are genetically predisposed to being thieving little shits.[/QUOTE] Friendly reminder that halflings where originally called hobbits in D&D before the Tolkien estate threatened to sue TSR.

Hobbits and Halflings are both shit anyways. Human best race.

[QUOTE=Amakir;51840733]Friendly reminder that halflings where originally called hobbits in D&D before the Tolkien estate threatened to sue TSR.[/QUOTE] I curse Tolkien's estate every day for removing Hobbits

[QUOTE=Rats808;51840742]Human best race.[/QUOTE] I've used humans more than most races simply because of the art availability. There's an abundance of good human art for virtually every kind of character compared to any other race.

[QUOTE=Rats808;51840742]Hobbits and Halflings are both shit anyways. Human best race.[/QUOTE] Just because you are taller than us halflings doesn't mean that you humans can discriminate against us. Halfling justice now.

[QUOTE=Amakir;51841398]Just because you are taller than us halflings doesn't mean that you humans can discriminate against us. Halfling justice now.[/QUOTE] Actually that's exactly what it means. Here, we put justice on the highest shelf. If you can reach it without needing a human or a stool, you can have it.

I'm new to DnD. Our group is 4 people, 3 of which are new, 1 is a veteran. It's a ton of fun so far and I feel like us noobies are becoming more well versed in what's going on (we've had 5 sessions so far, all reigning from around 4-5 hours each). Today we had our first test with traps and it was the most intense session so far, I actually felt really tense because the dungeon we were in was almost labyrinth like and we had no idea what was lurking down the corridors. However, I still feel like I'm not that great at role playing. On paper, my character has a good backstory and I have a clear idea of his personality and potential for how he could turn out...I just actually struggle with the role playing aspect. Is there any tricks to really be able to translate what I know about my character in my head and how to portray that more? Or will that come with more experience, being able to separate my own voice when talking to NPC's and make my character more of an actual character.

It takes time usually, id recommend that when your characters have down time try RPing little nuances and quirks like polishing your armor or spending an evening preforming. Try to involve other players as well if you can. Also play up some aspects of your characters backgrounds or stats. I had a negative 1 int mod for my fighter and would frequently make minor errors when remembering names and numbers. I also had a burn scar that I would periodically spend downtime tending to. It made him memorable to the rest of the party and humanized him slightly. [editline]18th February 2017[/editline] One good one Is to make friendly wagers on card games between players. 1gp in the pot each, d20 + int to see who rolls higher and wins. Players can really flex little quirks, like the rogue using slight of hand to cheat or the barb messing get up his card numbers.

Ultimately you have to remember a character is a work in progress even as the game goes on, and no matter how interesting they are at the start, what really makes them stick is how the events of the game change them, and make them learn about themselves. That is, give them an arc It doesn't even have to be huge, world changing things that do it, either. Little, subtle shit like whacky downtime misadventures, or telling campfire stories, or keeping journals, or making friends are all great ways to kickstart larger developments, and even if it's rough at first, as long as you keep trying at it eventually you'll get into your character's head enough it'll just come naturally

Quite disappointed in the way Volo's guide handles player races. Like the fluff is great and the monster sheets (Devastator/Iron shadow) are fine but the races themselves kinda don't meet the bar. Hobgoblins are a really [I]normal[/I] race. They're medium, they're mundane,They're formidable,They're common, They're not locked into an alignment. They're intellegent, civilised and organized and when they conquer a people, they're only slightly worse than humans (you'll probably be fine if you pay taxes, abandon worship of a rival god, and observe the new rules). In the scheme of things, I'd say they'd be a more grounded choice than Dragonborns or Teiflings and most of the stuff you'd get in an expansion. I don't get why volo doesn't give them a treatment equal to that of dwarves or humans. That they don't have subraces and have simple abilities just sucks (I mean they're not a bad race, they're just not a great race). It's the same with goblins: it's such a common and widespread race that there's gotta be a few subraces there. Meanwhile, the Orc gets bonuses and minuses. Now, yeah, you'd be right in saying that it'd be broke if orcs got better attribute modifiers because they had minuses, because DnD works in a way that favours minmaxing (and 5e has sofar done away with the negative stats). but at the same time it's just so disappointing. They could've really tried to go with the orc archtype with,say, more positive and negative abilities. Tabaxi are bullshit broke and most of the races added are way worse than the 'monster races' they warn might not be as balanced as the normal guys.

[QUOTE=SiberysTranq;51842785]Ultimately you have to remember a character is a work in progress even as the game goes on, and no matter how interesting they are at the start, what really makes them stick is how the events of the game change them, and make them learn about themselves. That is, give them an arc It doesn't even have to be huge, world changing things that do it, either. Little, subtle shit like whacky downtime misadventures, or telling campfire stories, or keeping journals, or making friends are all great ways to kickstart larger developments, and even if it's rough at first, as long as you keep trying at it eventually you'll get into your character's head enough it'll just come naturally[/QUOTE] Great way to start getting into character and know about others is to just ask questions to other pcs. A lot of people sort of have clear ideas of their own characters in their heads, but none of that actually becomes *real* until it's vocalized. And that's also a great way to introduce conflict and development with other characters. Also something I find to be useful in establishing character is to give the character a few strong opinions and triggers that will spring them into action. Flaws are generally a good way to set these up, like anger issues or superiority complexes. It helps to create a consistent base for the character that makes development feel significant.

Anyone know where i can get good map's for a only war campaign?

[QUOTE=Vengeful Falcon;51843296]Great way to start getting into character and know about others is to just ask questions to other pcs. A lot of people sort of have clear ideas of their own characters in their heads, but none of that actually becomes *real* until it's vocalized. And that's also a great way to introduce conflict and development with other characters. Also something I find to be useful in establishing character is to give the character a few strong opinions and triggers that will spring them into action. Flaws are generally a good way to set these up, like anger issues or superiority complexes. It helps to create a consistent base for the character that makes development feel significant.[/QUOTE] Yes this absolutely. Talk to other players. Even antagonistic relationships IC can do a ton to help you get into it (though obviously make sure you're both clear it's IC only if it does happen), and everyone else is often trying to do the same thing to get their characters across, and one of the best way to unload your backstory baggage, even if piecemeal, is through helping others do the same Reactions are also really critical, too. I found the thing that really made characters start ticking for me was to just shut down my meta-voice saying 'xyz is a bad idea because of reasons I might not necessarily be aware of IC'. Now, the mileage you get out of this can depend a TON on your GM, but in my time playing I've found most would rather you have fun and play your character than kill you whenever you mistep, but until you figure out your GM's leanings in that regard it might be a good plan not to go fully into it like that Of course, there is always the other extreme where PC interactions take up so much time that they start to slow down the plot, but as long as everyone is having fun with it that's really not a downside as long as the GM is able to say 'now moving on...' with sufficient authority

So we had our 5th session of Sunday Funday/Shadows in Waiting campaign. Here's the [URL="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/123216147"]VOD link on twitch[/URL] This weeks doodles are: Epic brofist from the radiant meatgrinder: [t]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/249422503556939776/282891043643326476/unknown.png[/t] Double crit fail at sneaking, and turning it into a dance: [t]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/249422503556939776/282882269876715521/unknown.png[/t][t]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/249422503556939776/282882317943439360/unknown.png[/t][t]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/249422503556939776/282882371496181761/unknown.png[/t]