/5eg/ Fifth Edition General:

>>51614755
It's okay, I get it every session and forget to use it though, which sucks

I don't use inspiration, if someone wants something like that they are free to take the lucky feat. What makes me laugh is how so many people wrung their hands fretting about lucky when exactly one person has taken in it in all the groups and games I've played after the first couple months of 5e.

>>51614755
>What's your opinion on inspiration?
Offload that shit from the DM.

>At the start of a session each player starts with an inspiration die
>They can use it at any time but they MUST justify it's use through a character trait, flaw, etc. and have the DM's approval
>To regain inspiration, take disadvantage on a roll not already at disadvantage, and justify it through the same means (character traits, flaws etc) also with the DM's approval
>Metagaming fucks get b& from their free inspiration at the start of the next session, rules not fit for use with man-children, etc.

>>51614755

Really depends how your DM uses it. Most seem to forget it exists. Personally I'm more of the opinion that it should work like the Lucky feat does, where they can reroll a d20 of their choosing after they see the result, but must accept the second result.

Good 3rd party books and devs?

I have godly stats
18
16
13
13
13
11

I'm going to make a stone sorcerer.

I'm thinking half orc or hill dwarf, maybe yuani-ti pure blood

Is it worth going sword and board or 2H weapon? Should I take warcaster so I can cast with a two handed weapon? What spells would you guys take?

Where is the rule for adventurers league saying you can change your character pre level 5? I am trying to find it in case I need to show the GM.

Also, I need the specifics of it. I made a gimped character and looking to change as much as I can about it.

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I'm going to be jumping into my GF's group soon now that my own finished up its latest campaign. They're a very melee-heavy party (2 fighters, a barbarian, and a moon druid) so I was thinking a caster might be fun.

Anyone have any fun character concepts for a caster? Usually I like to take a lot of time thinking them up myself but the next session is tomorrow so I don't have a ton of time.

>>51614893
In the adventure league player's guide

Can someone explain dimension doors utility over other teleport spell?

>>51614868

Can't you still cast with a 2-handed weapon? I know most DMs rule that you can use your free item-interaction action to take one hand off your weapon and touch your arcane focus. Otherwise paladins and rangers would be totally screwed without that feat.

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>>51614860

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Modifying dragon stat blocks and their abilities.

Say a dragon or a dragon egg was "corrupted" by say lost/vengeful spirits, something like the Fel from Warcraft, or by powerful necrotic magic.

Some way to corrupt them. What kind of stuff would you change about the dragons? I suppose it'd be based on what affected them?

>>51614860
Tome of Beasts by Kobold Press

>>51614914

Compared to, say, Misty Step it has a much greater range and you can bring a friend with you. Makes it a lot better if you want to use it for, say, GTFOing of a bad situation.

>>51614919
What is shadow dragon?

>>51614918
>>51614860
Nothing? I want to find something that gives martials some maneuvers and a higher variety of spells so that casters can actually get more elemental damage than just fire or lightning.
>>51614975
Heard that its somewhat unbalanced with the CR for most monsters being lower than in actuality.

>>51614994
Woops, meant for >>51614964

>>51614755
What uses or effects should a bunch of dreamlands spices/drugs have?

Maybe this should be payed in yog-sothothery general, but I didn't see it.

>>51614755
I like inspiration, with one minor twist:
Play to your positive characteristics like your Bond or Ideal to get one inspiration you must use immediately. Play to your Flaw to get one inspiration you can bank for later use.

Anyone else think it sucks that Oath of Devotion spells are already in the Paladin spell list?

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>>51614860
Goodman Games' Fifth Edition Fantasy series seems okay. Note that they have almost no player options, and contain almost exclusively adventure paths and monsters.

>>51614755

The way our table inspiration works is: the DM gives you inspiration for outstanding roleplay, or in some cases, coming up with novel solutions to problems. It's your job to track and remember when you have inspiration. Inspiration gives you one opportunity to reroll any roll you want (your own, enemy, teammate, whatever). You must take the results of the new roll.

>>51615145
No, it frees you to prepare other spells.

>>51615145

I had to reread some shit because I noticed that and thought it was basically a waste of a spell, but basically Oath spells don't count toward your # of spells prepared

Stone sorcerers does not need extra attack, they have access to scag cantrips, attack on reaction (with extra damage) and smite (with more slots than paladins). At high levels they even gain force damage each time they cast a damage spell.

And they are sorcerers, they have metamagic

>>51614896
Did you have any particular class in mind? I like coming up with backstories. I always have a couple dozen on the backburner.

>>51614822
That's actually pretty smart.

Looking for a new adventure to run since the group has finished LMoP. I'm fairly new to DM'ing and I wanted to know if there were any real recommendations?

>>51614755
Inspiration works great at my table, but it's used mostly for as a "i really want to succeed at this stupid and pointless thing im doing" roll. Maybe once a campaign they go "okay i'm gonna die here unless I blow this inspiration."

>>51614755
I overwhelmingly prefer situational bonuses instead of a flat yes/no reroll. It just seems lazy and unimaginative.

>>51614994
Well, maybe. I rarely take CR much into account. It's a nice bestiary.

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>>51614868
>rolling for stats

>>51614820

Nearly every person I play with picks Lucky

>>51615488
>not rolling stats

17 16 15 14 14 14 master race reporting in

>>51615343
I'd suggest SKT if you think you got the hang of LMoP. It's similar to LMoP where the players get several quests early on and then can go do whatever they want to. There's a ton of areas so it will require a bit of planning by you if they head somewhere obscure, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

>>51615503
>All +2 or greater bonuses

Must be nice having a DM fellating yoru flawless mary sue character cocks.

>>51615522

the DM didn't do it, the dice did. If I had rolled three 6's, that's what I'd be playing.

>>51615542
Normally in that case you end up playing a joke character or hte DM just says 'lol roll again'

3d6 or 4d6d1 in order is far superior if you just want to dick about. If you don't want to dick about.

Point buy is the best if you don't want a joke campaign or one where people die a lot.

Either way, rolling for stats should be left for a game that's actually suited for it, like old D&D where stats mattered less.

>>51615585
>Point buy is the best if you don't want a joke campaign or one where people die a lot.

or just don't be a bitch and accept that people want to roll dice in game bout rolling dice

>>51614755
Players should play correctly by default. I think it's sad that you have to give out treats to players for simply playing their character without devolving into lolrandumXD.

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>>51615621

>>51615333

My two main ideas at the moment are a hill-dwarf sorcerer (maybe trying one of the new UA sorcerer bloodlines) or a wizard of some sort.

>>51615522
>all those 8 int characters
Must be nice having a score modifier of a giant eagle since INT is so fucking useless in this edition.

Quick guys, we're running a module tonight with level 14 characters for the fuck of it.

We're all making pretty unoptimized, goofy builds. Give me a good meme build thats not the tabaxi shit.

>>51615609
And what does it add that makes gameplay more interesting?
You could roll dice for literally everything and it wouldn't add anything.

Rolling dice represents a possibility of failure - you can't be sure you'll make that jump, you can't be sure you'll hit that creature, you can't be sure the enemies won't avoid the spell.

The effect is barely any different from rolling dice to see who starts at what level with some people playing higher level characters and some playing lower level characters. In fact, rolling to see who plays what level would actually be BETTER - Lower level characters can catch up on exp rather than being forever doomed to be 2 ASIs behind and having more levels is more interesting than having more non-feat ASIs which are almost always just 'you roll higher numbers'.

>>51615693
Then roll in order if you don't want people dumping dump stats.

>>51615693

yeah I have to say, that's got to be my biggest problem with 5E. mechanically, INT barely does anything at all unless you're a wizard. I feel like, even as a fighter, having low INT should feel like a sacrifice.

>>51615609

I was always a fan of rolling for stats in 3.5, but it really doesn't fit with the bounded mechanics of 5e. Even a 6+ point difference in starting stats is an insane advantage in 5e because you don't get nearly as many stat bonuses over time.

All rolling for stats does is make 1-2 players arbitrarily steal the show because their characters are and will always be several levels of power above the rest. Might be fun if you're a sperglord who just wants to show off how OP you are, but the rest of the group will get tired of it really quick.

>>51615714
>And what does it add that makes gameplay more interesting?

Ok, for example take my 17 16 15 14 14 14 superhero. I imagine someone who seems naturally talented at everything all his life would be incredibly conceited and have a superiority complex so I tied that into his backstory and flaws. I incorporate the stat rolls into my role playing, in other words.

>>51614755
So the character I play is an entitled noble who demands the entire party swear fealty to him. As of last night, all of our party actually did swear themselves to me. Two of the players made it pretty clear OOC and IC that the allegiance was nominal and tenuous at best but my character takes that shit REALLY seriously. I was wondering, what are some punishments for them breaking their word that are quirky and fun rather than actually confrontational and would lead to PvP.

I don't want to attack them or leave them to die or anything when they eventually break their word but I want to some sort of consequences.

>>51615783
You could do that and take your stats into consideration for your character with point buy, as well.
'But you'll never end up with an all-rounded characters type unless you want to suck!'
No, but rolling for stats and assigning you'll never end up with a low con character type either unless you want to suck because nobody would dump con.

And that's why rolling for stats in order does the purpose of rolling for stats better than rolling for stats and then assigning. It has the same risks - you could potentially lock yourself out of a character (roll and assign can still softlock you out of characters like monks) and not get to play what you want to play, and there might be team unbalance, but hey.

Iconically,

which other Geenie race is it that is at odds with the Djinn?

I thought Djinn hated the Efreeti? and Efreeti hate the Dao? I am not sure now. Does anyone know?

>>51615865

I've played 10con when I thought it fit the character. Never lower than that though.

>>51614914

Compared to Misty Step, has huge range, can bring a friend, costs an action

Compared to Teleport, it's a level 4 spell slot

Compared to Teleportation Circle, it doesn't take a minute

>>51615824

Make a huge deal about how serious the repercussions will be if they break fealty. When/if they finally do, make a big show of storming off. Then write a series of sharply worded letters condemning them for their disloyalty and false allegiance which you send to the respective lords of whatever cities/places they hail from.

No consequences because these rulers probably won't ever actually care about these letters (if they even read them) and it's something a noble might actually think would work.

>>51615824
Give each of them a honorary, purely symbolic title, such as the master of the hunt or the herald, or the executioner. Promote and demote them as your mood changes.

>>51615927
If I was the DM, I would absolutely have at least one of the lords care and overreact to the letters in a ridiculous fashion.

>>51615692
>Hill Dwarf Earth Sorceror
>Descended from a dwarf who fucked an Earth Elemental

>>51615824

My whole plot hook revolves around the party being a suicide squad team working for an archfey. I need them to stop trying to fuck around with his fact in order to DM properly because I'm not good enough DM to give them the whole fucking sprawling universe in one go.

So when the elf ranger broke his word to her on their first mission, he lost two levels.

Haven't had a problem with it since

>>51615937
They all already have titles. But I am ABSOLUTELY doing this. Excellent idea. Thank you.

>>51615927
I'm totally going to do this too. My character is held in really low regard by basically every noble everywhere so it has pretty good potential to be funny.

>>51616037
I'm just a player so I don't have that kind of power. I have pretty sizeable resources so I could probably pull some elaborate pranks but nothing beyond that.

>>51616092

If you play a Paladin they will literally stop receiving benefits from your auras and shit if they break their words to you. Talk to your DM in private about this, as its more of a fun thing if they discover it from him

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>>51616037

>>51616152
>The only way a campaign is fun is if I can ignore every plot hook and run around the countryside proving how lolXDrandumb! I am

>>51616198
> The only way the campaign is fun if the players are bitches of my all-powerful godlike DMPC

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>>51616198
>>51616037

It isn't optimal, but what would be the most efficient Moon Druid/Monk leveling combo?

also what about adding a single level of Barbarian for kicks?

>>51616120
A paladin wouldn't automatically lose their powers, but if they carry on that path without seeking redemption for their actions then they'll inevitably fall if they no longer lack the force of will to continue paladinning.
But if they then become an oathbreaker they'll actually end up being more powerful because fucking oathbreakers man.

>>51616037
I hope you've told your players you're bad at improvising before the campaign.
But jesus fuck
>lose two levels

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>>51616198

A new player died about 6 sessions in to Venomfang in LMoP. He wanted his new character to be a necromancer but decided to balance out the party by becoming an Oathbreaker Paladin with a backstory that calls for personal power - even at great cost.
At the end of the first big arc I am considering giving him the option of comitting ritual suicide in order to become an undead and reflavour his Smite and Lay on Hands in order to play to the player's desire to venture into lord of the undead territory and play to the characters uncompromising ambition.
Making him undead, he will be immune to regular magical healing but subject to turn undead and similar abilities that affect undead. I would make his smite necrotic rather than radiant and change his Lay on Hands significantly:

You have a pool of necromantic power that replenishes when you take a long rest. With that pool, you can restore a total number of hit points to undead creatures equal to your paladin level x 5.
As an action, you can touch an undead creature and draw power from the pool to restore a number of hit points to that creature, up to the maximum amount remaining in your pool.
Alternatively, while touching a corpse, you can expend 15 hit points from your pool of healing to raise a Skeleton from the corpse. The creature is under your control for 24 hours, after which it stops obeying any command you've given it. Expending another 15 hit points from your pool of healing while touching the skeleton will cause you to maintain your control for another 24 hours.

Am I being retarded? Is this incredibly over- or underpowered. Do I scrap the whole concept? How can else can I play to the characters and players wants?
Thanks in advance.

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Anyone else hate rolling for initiative? It's not that it's hard or complicated, but I hate the tone it sets. It removes all ambiguity, because it's basically like the Final Fantasy woosh cut where all of a sudden you're in an alternate universe doing something unrelated. It completely disrupts the flow of the game.

The other awful thing about it is what it tells the players. It immediately says "hey, anything that's vaguely hostile must be destroyed without mercy, because now we're in combat and we won't stop being in combat until you kill them". It makes players ignore other possible solutions, because as soon as initiative has been rolled for you're not out of initiative until everyone on the other side is dead.

Anyone have any alternative systems? I'd like to try something different this weekend, and I was thinking about using the initiative score system. Any experience with that?

>>51616228
>Archfey questgiver is a DMPC
??????????

If a king gives you a quest and you betray him, when he sends people to fuck your shit up, is the king an omnipotent DMPC? Is every NPC that doesn't piss their pants and get run over by your Mary sue an omnipotent DMPC?

You're just furthering my point that you consider the only fun game is you frolicking around memeing and proving how random you are. It's clear you've never DMed and that you are just baiting.

>>51616037
I mean, if there was going to be an unfuckable-with being that could take a player's levels, an Archfey would do it. That said, I hope you at least told your players "hey, I'm bad at improvising, please just go along with the adventure" a few times before you resorted to the Fuck You option.

>>51616288
Druid 2/Monk x gets you wild shape (which works with martial arts) and spells, but monk features don't scale well outside of their class.

>>51616331
>It immediately says "hey, anything that's vaguely hostile must be destroyed without mercy, because now we're in combat and we won't stop being in combat until you kill them".

what is running, talking, or maiming

>>51614755
Hi guys, I was looking for some advice/opinions on some combat I have planned for my well rounded (good mix of martials and casters, 1 dedicated healer) party of 6 level 6 players.

All of the monsters are from fifth edition foes, and it should work out to be a medium encounter, then two hard encounters, and I've planned a few small traps using the DMG guides for the lower damage setback traps.

So far I'm planning on putting them up against:

4 x Fear Guard
2 x Stygian Skeleton
1 x Soul Reaper

I'm expecting them not to get a rest in between, but I'll probably let them get a short rest if they think to ask for one.

>>51616331
Simply have your DM consider that monsters sometimes decide to flee to protect their lives, might be intimidated to flee, might not even start a fight in the first place because the party looks too tough for them to beat without getting themselves probably killed, monsters could be bribed or might work out hostages (They give you hostages, or you give them hostages), might agree peace if you agree to help them with work and they'll agree to help you with yours...

The problem isn't initiative, it's how the DM runs things in this case. Initiative should be a 'SURPRISE ATTACK' sort of thing, whereas normally you'll have a moment before initiative starts or if the monsters are really angry no chance of initiative anyway.

>>51616331
I gotta agree, yeah. My players don't want to explore any alternative systems so I guess we're just stuck with what we've got. I mean, if they like it I guess it's all right, I don't mind it too much.

>>51616333
If a magical being you have no power over whatsoever takes away two of your levels in the blink of an eye because you didn't do what it said to, is that being a practically-omnipotent DMPC?

Yes.

>>51616369
I will come to your house and blow you if you can come up with 5 times in your life that a group of players have ever done that, without being in the face of impossible, overwhelming odds.

It's not that those aren't options, it's that players don't think of them, because they're in the final fantasy mindset.

>>51616303

he's saying character A is a paladin, character B does a ton of shit character A disapproves of, character B stops receiving bonuses from character A's auras

>finally find a 5e group after years of looking
>it's awesome
>two months later
>"Hey guys, let's switch to Pathfinder."
>four against one

>>51616447
You simply need to enforce that players need to get through the dungeon or whatever it is with minimal harm, and that they don't need to fight monsters that aren't protecting anything. They don't get exp for beating stuff up, they get exp for results.

Then they realize that the only reasons they might fight that bunch of poor goblins at the side are
A) Hatred, moral obligation
B) To torture them and get information
C) To scare them off and make sure they don't try anything sneaky
D) To kill them and ensure they don't try anything sneaky
E) They're fucking idiots

Aside from that, in any game, players might avoid fighting weak things if they're low on health and really don't need to fight it because it might result in player death.

I've been thinking about having my next character be blind or deaf or mute or missing a limb but I'm not sure if I should do it. Seems like it could grt annoying

>>51616508
Oh, right.

That could be pretty plausible.

>>51614917
It requires two hands to attack with, not hold.

>>51616303
>But jesus fuck

Don't break deals with the Fey, man.
People have got to get into their minds that just because she don't live in the pits of hell, that don't mean Mab fucks around.

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>>51616333
Not only have I DMed before, it's incredibly obvious that I would be a far better DM than you even if I never did.

I want to do a level 0 session for the first adventure. Has anyone ever done this?

>>51616645
yes

>>51616662
Was it a good idea?

>>51616687
yes

>>51616587
I like playing characters with obvious disadvantages such as those, for example playing a character that literally cannot move on their own in an Eclipse Phase campaign. Still manages to be VIP most of the time.

It's all dependent on whether you are ready to really get out of your comfort zone while roleplaying. Also, negotiate with your GM beforehand before making this kind of character. Statistically, they're going to suck in some very serious way.

>>51616687
No. Level 1 adventurers are pretty pathetic already. What's level 0 wizard going to do? Cast only one spell per day as opposed to two?

>>51616625

what would the consequences for betraying an archfey be in one of your games?

>>51616615
At least just give them some sort of curse that hurts them if they try to attack fey or, say, makes certain fey-related magics fuck up sometimes or something like that until they please the archfey to get it removed or something.
Don't make them weaker, with less options and less potential to have fun than the rest of the party.

>>51616308
Mixed bag.

Now they can't heal party members with the new LoH. But he has another spell to cover healing the party if need be.

Smite being necrotic sucks for them, because there's like, 10 things in the whole game that resist/immune smite, and enough who're vulnerable to it, but lots more resist/immune necrotic.

Now he can also summon 1 more skeleton every 3 levels starting at 3 instead of healing. Oathbreaker adds his CHA bonus to attack damage for himself and undead/fiends near him. So his basic skeletons can get armed with meaty weapons (or hell 2 shitty 1handers) and have eventually an auto +5 damage on all melee attacks. At this point past 5 he can spend 1 of his attacks to knock the enemy down, give his minions advantage, and then go to town on said enemy if they don't have a good save. At level 9 that's realistically at max ~20-30+ damage per turn just from minions(if he has 3 minions and both have 2 1hand weapons and all attacks hit) plus whatever he does. But what're the odds that'll happen?

>>51616645
If you want to do it as a way to tie in backstories, where players play as their backstory rather than adventurers, and you're fine with characters not being fully developed (Level 3 characters are where most characters are properly defined) and the players are all maybe new or something, go ahead.

If it's experienced players who've played the low levels far too often and have character ideas that just don't work at low levels and don't want to play the 'you can be one shot at any time' level 1 or level 0, then not really.

>>51616152

I know what you mean, but I told y'all, I'm not a great Dm. I'm new at this side of the screen, and the players can only get together to play sporadically, like once a month, so all my adventures have to be both a series of one shots and something that tells an over arching story, and that can get tricky.

>>51616348

Sure. And it went better than I hoped, since the pre-3.5 grognard that kept doing it basically reacted like when you find the biggest bully in jail and punch him on your first day.

So what do you think?

Can a thief with their ability to use magic items not intended for them use a Bheur Hag's graystaff?

>>51614755
Favored Souk Sorcerer seems pretty unbalanced to me, very more powerful than the other Sorcerous Origins (cleric spells, double charisma mod on important checks...)
what do /5eg/ think of that?

>>51616719
Who knows? It depends on the exact situation at hand, and what would be most dramatically appropriate. But here's one thing I know for sure - never once will I make a plot, where
> You're all bitches of an all-powerful NPC, who will buttfuck you the moment you get off my rails
is the starting point.

>>51615742
Honestly, since you can't have high stats everywhere, I would like players to feel happy with the stats they have. Dump stats are fine, though I like having variable secondary stats as an option.

>>51616802
>never once will I make a plot, where
>> You're all bitches of an all-powerful NPC

I feel like that could make perfect sense if you're low level, but there should always be the possibility that you become powerful enough later on that the NPC can't retaliate.

>>51616308
They can Animate Dead by themselves at level 9 which is 4 skeletons, which is when he could have 3 skeletons from his Lay on Hands.
I am not too worried about an army. 6 Skeletons at 20 doesn't seem too bad.
I could be worried about bogging down combat with summons. That's the reason most of those spells were removed since 3.5 anyway.

>>51616833

why even have low stats in the game if it's not going to matter at all?

>>51615711
>lvl14
Illusionist has the highest meme potential at this level

>>51616725

Yeah, I'll give him a chance to roleplay for his levels back, but I'm not just going to hand them to him.

I'm also considering the Archfey's competition to offer him a couple of levels in Warlock to offset the damage

>>51616891
Intended for:
>>51616308

>>51616909
>>51616891

u ok m8?

>>51616333
>Don't do what king tells you to
>King puts out a warrant for your arrest, but assumes you're long gone into the wilds
>As long as you don't go near his city or any wandering patrols you're pretty much fine and are free to explore the world
As opposed to
>Don't do what Archfey tells you to
>Well fuck you, rocks fall, you die.

If the characters didn't want to follow the plot hook in the first place, it's because you didn't sell it to them and they don't want to follow it.

>>51616924
>>Well fuck you, rocks fall, you die.

he didn't die though :^)

>>51616792
Yeah, it's imba, whatever. The document says not do give sorcerers more spells, but it does just that and more, it's a shit document.

>>51616802
>You're all bitches of an all-powerful NPC,

Well, it wasn't that exactly. Party wanted to start at high level (seven or nine), and they had a penchant for evil campaigns, so I did the Suicide Squad

>You people are all convicted criminals, to either life or death in jail (you get to choose what for)
>This all powerful NPC gives you a deal to work around that in exchange for a series of services
>NPC can't solve all her problems herself because she exists at a delicate system of checks and balances between other equally significantly powerful NPCs and so needs your plausibly deniable ass to do it for her,

idk man, I thought it was cool.

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>get into DND
>DM online normally
>go to very popular LGS(Seattle)
>see ads for need DMs, dated Jan 27
>cool
>talk to the owner, grab all the books, screen, mat, markers, dice
>tell him I'm available late weekdays and early Sunday
>yeah man we really need DMs, those times are fine
>buy all that stuff (like $300)
>I expected it to be that much, it's fine
>gives me 4pm to 6pm (opens at 4) Sunday after I check out

Feeling particularly cucked

>>51616962
He's talking about the updated version, which doesn't give more spells, and it's not really that powerful considering how valuable divine domain features are. TL;DR it's not theurge levels of broken.

>>51616447
I got my players to realize this after I threw a timid slime at them as an encounter. It kept climbing up trees away from them. Eventually the group's most murder-hobo player realized that they were only trying to kill it because it was there and advised the rest of the group to move on, and they all did.

>>51616942
He'd be luckier if he died, because he'd probably get to reroll a character that isn't underpowered.
Living is a fate worse than death.

>>51616924

I'm sure you'd have done great.

This is what I did with what I was capable of and how, and for what it was, it worked.

>>51616988
The only real problem is that the NPC is effectively all powerful vis-a-vis the players, and that you handled punishment from this all powerful being in a rather heavy and metagamey way: not by making things more difficult in character, but by straight up taking away levels without a chance to resist it.

Because, well, fuck, if she's THAT powerful in the first place, why doesn't she just Geas their asses?

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>mfw starting at level 1 for the fourth time

To anyone who's looking to DM for people who have played even once before, don't do this please.

>>51617040

Well yeah. The guys and girls i was DM'ing to are pretty used to gruesome and punishing adventures and campaigns, and they like it that way.

I had to step shit up.

With the talk of rolling for stats in this thread what do you think of this method.
roll a load of d6s and count how many of each face for your 6 stat values, this has the benefit that a high stat in one place requires a low stat elsewhere. How you assign these stats is up to you if your feeling nice players can assign freely but im feeling gm rolls stats in order for each player plus a couple of spares and players choose one each and keep the spares for if someone dies.

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>>51617065
>with what I was capable of
Oh no you don't, motherfucker. This is YOUR fault. You can't claim that you didn't have any other options. You have a whole damn book of options labeled "monster manual" to choose from, and thousands more that aren't just stat blocks, but you did the dumb, lazy, metagaming thing and just knocked some levels off the fucker via DM fiat.

Don't kid yourself -- you don't have anybody to blame for your own behavior but you. Or if you are going to kid yourself, don't try and expect anybody else to fall for that bullshit. Fuck off.

>>51617143
I'm getting the feeling that we're talking with two different people here. One is reasonable, the other is baiting and pretending to be the other.
Or just one bipolar person.

>>51617079
>Because, well, fuck, if she's THAT powerful in the first place, why doesn't she just Geas their asses?

Because of the way I choose to roleplay the Fey. They are part story-beings, and so when they break their word, they break themselves.
It's why they can't directly lie, but they are rarely honest, with the more powerful the fey, the more serious the consequences for "breaking deals".

She is bound by this too, so whenever they make a deal with her, she has to forcefully live up to her end, or else she too looses the equivalent of a couple of levels to that guy

With that in mind, the thing that made the most sense to me was taxing levels

Rolled 2, 6, 6, 6, 1, 4, 4, 1, 2, 6, 1, 2, 3, 6, 1, 6, 3, 5, 4, 1, 5, 5, 5, 1, 3 = 89 (25d6)

>>51617131
72d6 to match standard array

>>51617131

in a game I just joined but haven't had session 1 yet we had to roll 4d4 for each stat, and racial stat bonuses have all been replaced with extra racial features.

You 4d6 drop 1 weenies have it easy.

>>51617143

Jesus fuck, why are you frothing at the mouth at me like this?
Do realize that there are two people talking to you about this.
I mean, I began by prefacing that this was in the context of "because as a new DM I couldn't handle that much volume at the time"

>>51617183
>They are part story-beings, and so when they break their word, they break themselves.
What part of casting Geas would "break her word," though? Were those the terms? "Do what I said and I won't Geas you, and if you disobey me I'll do something even worse"? Geas is a classic fey tactic, whatever a"story-beings" is.

>>51617191
that's just stupid for this system, though

>>51617246

no u

>>51617131
So basically point buy with variable points, less penalties for stacking lots of high numbers in the same stat and no limits to how high/low it is?

Could probably just do the same but better with a point buy calculator, removing the limits and adding 2d4 or 3d4 points on.

>>51616892
The trick with the carrot and the stick is there has to be a carrot. If you just hit the fighter with the low-int stick, then he won't play fighters. There has to be a high-int carrot for them first, and for a lot of people that's enough.

Basically I don't want to create more indecisive players who always wish they had something they can't have, or want to reroll all the time.

>>51617186
As i can only roll 25d6 at a time lets just triple that 18,9,9,9,12,18 but thats 3 stats over and not as evenly spread as it should be.

>>51617289

I don't know what you're trying to say man, the fighter is the one who chose low INT, right? so if all he gets is a stick it was his fault. What is the carrot for low INT even supposed to be?

>>51617088
I don't see any problem starting at level 1.
So long as before the end of the session you are at least level 2. Those should be the RP levels and where you maybe kill some trash mobs.

>>51617239

Part of the whole thing with the fey is this mechanic of "deals".

When Mab acquired the custody of these people, they became her wards under her word. They were rightfully convicted under judgmenet, in some cases even her personal judgement, and can't just break them out because of what she wants, because that would be her breaking her word. (As queen, her word is Law. )

She can however, make deals to get around that, and she offers them a deal for their freedom in exchange for a service, but in order for a deal to have magical validity, it has to have been signed up for under both parties own volition. Geas couldn't work. because the party would have had to agreed to the Archfey's scheme in order for her to even have the power to put it into motion in the first place.


Scheming as she is however, naturally this "own volition" affair is heavily contextually manipulated, as the ending of their first adventure came to show the party, as loopholes in their deals are used to sometimes advance their power or freedom, and others to perpetuate their debt

>>51617268
I will admit its just rng point buy but i still prefer that to one player having a 14 or higher in everything and another only having one 14 and 4 stats below 10.

>>51617349
Being good at the things that a fighter wants to be good at like say fighting. Making INT more powerful just makes wizards and mystics more powerful, because everyone else becomes more MAD while they become more SAD. Besides it makes next to no sense to penalize someone for not hamstringing themselves. I will give you however that Eldritch Knights should use intelligence more, but that is more a problem with how spells scale.

>>51617425
Yeah, it's better than that

But I'm angry
ANGRY ABOUT ROLLED STATS

>>51617389

>>51617389

In other words, the archfey is more powerful than other fey, the same way a train is more powerful than a car

The stronger one gets, the stronger are the rules over where one can get using that power. Powerful as she is in some aspects, she is actually less free than the PC's in others.

If she'd just Geas'ed their asses, then she'd owe the PCs reparations for injuries to their free will, something the party, let alone her many rivals could eventually easily use against her.

She could just wipe them all from the plane if they fought her, but then she'd still be stuck with the problem she needs solved, and now with no strike team to solve it.

>>51617499

ok, well, I'm saying that it's a flaw of the system that a more intelligent fighter is not a more deadly combatant than a stupid one, is all.

When have wizards ever been balanced?

>>51617571
Why should he be a more deadly combatant?
Int in a fighter to me is less about actual fighting and more about tactics and strategy.
Like, Tywin Lannister is a fighter with good Int and bad Str. He's good at tactics, but not brilliant at actual fighting. Jaime Lannister is a fighter with good Str and bad Int. He's bad at tactics, but peerless in actual fighting.

>>51617571
>it's a flaw of the system that a more intelligent fighter is not a more deadly combatant than a stupid one
>Yeah, Kilrog the Destroyer is 10 feet tall, can lift a house on his own, and has trained by personally tearing a hydra's head.
>But man, have you seen Dennis's college degree? He's got this.

>>51617616
Shouldn't that make INT relevant for, say, Battlemaster fighters, for whom the fluff is all about "tactics and strategy"? I mean, it's all just dirty tricks, but it makes a lot of sense: it would mean you could build a clever fighter who compensates for his relative lack of strength by fighting dirty, or something, which is cool.

>>51617571
5e keeps them pretty in line damage wise, the problem is utility and Intelligence pretty much go hand in hand. The best way to make int more useful is to not make it the worst save in the game and to add more archetypes that benefit from it.

>>51617370
Nah, we're about halfway to level 2.
Other game is two sessions in and still level 1

>>51617516
I think the damage to the party would be less if they just Geas'd all of their asses than if she level drained some of them.
I mean, if you could sell or buy levels, the cost would be pretty tremendous.
Otherwise you're saying 'Your temporary free will is worth too much money for me, but your power isn't worth anything.'

>>51617631
it's more like "Kilrog the destroyer is all right and all, but this one time we hired him to kill the serpent that was menacing our village. The next day he came back carrying a garden hose he'd torn to shreds."

I mean, clever fighters have been a staple of fantasy since, what, Odysseus?

>>51617616

I don't follow GoT much but I thought Jaime had average or above average INT. And Tywin is an extreme example. I'm not saying a fighter should sacrifice all STR for INT, just that INT should do more than absolutely nothing on a fighter. Or in other words, if you took Tywin's INT and gave it to the mountain, the result would be a much scarier man than the Mountain currently is.

>>51617690
Yeah that's pretty infuriating, I agree.
In my opinion first level up, make it take like 2 hours to achieve. Then 3-4ish hours for the next one. So only 6 hours to hit level 3. Then it might take 2 or more sessions to get your level ups from there on depending on what you achieve.

Of course, this is assuming you do milestones. Which is the superior system. Exp sucks dick and often encourages murder hobo behavior.

>>51617648
I agree, it would be thematically fitting if Battlemaster built off of Int. I guess they felt the balance would be thrown off if Battlemaster Fighter needed both Str, Int, Con and Dex, though.

>>51617709
I still fail to see see how that makes Dennis the College Graduate more deadly than Kilrog the Destroyer.

>>51615866
If it were me I'd just do the elemental circle opposed. Djinni and Dao then Marid and Efreeti

>>51617516

Also, I think it worked rather well for the "illusion of choice" deal.

>One of my players decided to refuse her deal right at the get go, for what I assumed was to see what happened.
>He got escorted back to his cell and was forced to re roll a character
>Players got the opportunity to negotiate terms with the Archfey. From "the mere oportunity to see open sky" to "eventually reduced sentence" to "total freedom after the service was rendered due"
>The mission was in Hell, and in the end, they realized they didn't barter with the Archfey for safe passage out of there, and so had to petition that to her in exchange to return to her service.
>Ranger got the choice to directly betray the Archfey.
>He suffered the costs, but learned that the Archfey is just as subject to that level of punishment if she pulls something like that on them

I'm telling you, I apreciate all your points, but considering the context of the game, it went well

>>51617727
Yeah, Jaime has decent int, he just has bad wis.
A better example would have been something like Stannis vs Mountain.

>>51617745
Well, Kilrog can fell a giant by chopping at its shins for an hour and a half, or Dennis can go "that's not a giant, that's a Cyclops," lob a rock in its eye, and be back before lunch.

>>51617631

>Hey man Kilrog the Destroyer is 10 feet tall, can lift a house on his own, and has trained by personally tearing a Hydra's head

>meanwhile Bargog the Pummeler is 9.5 feet tall, can lift a small cottage on his own, and is also smart enough to spell his own name

>>51617349
I'm trying to say that dump stats are good since they keep people from feeling the crushing despair of maximum MAD. You don't want every attribute to be of great importance to every character.

On the other hand, I do want more attributes to be a potentially important attribute to more classes. Like a fighter that benefits from high int. Or a sorcerer that can benefit from high str.

>>51617701

Ah, but it's not so much a "she level drained them" as much as "he level drained himself by virtue of his choice within the context of this world"
Its just how the laws of magic works here.

If he had found a way to get back at her without directly breaking their arrangement, (and indirectly going off my amateur rails too much) I would have done something different.

But I think the fact that most every one at that table has some sort of background in law or diplomatic relations, they apreciated the weight of a magical non-compete clause.

>>51617764

ok, Stannis had tons of men following him, and was a...leader of some sort, I think, (like I said I'm not a GoT expert), whereas the mountain was just some guy the Lannisters occasionally told to go fuck someone up. In terms of personal power Stannis is a much more threatening presence in the setting even if the Mountain can bench more.

>>51617780
So, what you're saying is, in a fight against a Cyclops that does nothing to defend itself from the tiny man and is instantly killed by a single rock in its eye, Dennis is more dangerous?

>>51617727
Honestly, all stats should benefit. Like, Robert Baratheon had huge Str, good Con, good Int and huge Cha. Before he got fat he was a formidable fighter, a good tactician, and so charismatic that he convinced his enemies to join him instead.
Thing is, this is already modeled. That huge Cha? Helps him make skill checks to persuade people to help him. His good Con? Helps him stay relatively healthy despite being a drunk, and in his youth recover from a nearly fatal wound. His huge Str? Helped him kill Rhaegar.
Why should his Cha have helped him in the fight with Rhaegar?

>>51617790

i'm not saying don't have dump stats, i'm saying when you dump a stat there should be a mechanical difference. If a fighter has low INT, it should be felt, and if EVERY fighter in the setting is required to have low int, then something's wrong.

>>51617735
Gold=EXP superiorest type if you're playing a campaign and/or characters that suit the goal.

>>51617847

but Fighters with high INT are deadly, in ways that fighters with high str aren't

They're called "Eldritch Knights"

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>>51614755
>New sorceror bloodlines arcana
My dick is bowenite

>>51617826
Who said it wouldn't do anything to defend itself? This is just ridiculous.

Look, playing a fighter as Chunk Beefsteak the Dipshit is good and fun, but if Chunk happened to get hit on the head with a smart-rock it doesn't seem hugely unreasonable that he might get a bit better at hitting shit, for example in bits that are more tender when you hit them. This isn't rocket surgery.

>>51617817
Isn't this basically Geas, then?

'Do what I say or bad thing happens.'
... Because that's Geas.

>>51617870

>INT is literally only used for magic

that is exactly what I'm complaining about

>>51617878
That's the point of skills dude. If you have nature proficiency you have a +1 to nature checks even after dumping INT.

>>51617909
>even after dumping INT
I'm not certain that you're following this conversation very well. If skills operate independently of Intelligence, what's the point of being Intelligent for a fighter? That's what I'm asking.

>>51617858
I can dig it if the DM know what they're doing in regards of adequate reward.

>>51617901
Psionics resistance, sanity due to knowledge fuckery (GOO shit), investigation, knowledge rolls (crafting, indentification, skinning a creature, activating an item)... You could also have items that require a certain int to understand how to use and use properly.

But, yeah, most of this shit won't come into play, and knowledge you can sometimes metagame anyway.

>>51617909
The skills aren't valuable enough to make it worth not dumping int.

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>>51614755
>All spellcasters use Sorcery points instead of spell slots
>Sorcerers gain additional Sorcery points equal to their class level, starting at level 2
>Warlocks recover Sorcery points when they take a Short Rest, Mystic Arcanum lets them cast 6th+ level spells without spending Sorcery Points but still on a long rest recharge
>All non-spellcasters gain Stamina points which fuel certain class features and martial maneuvers
>Stamina points are regained after a long rest, unless otherwise specified
>Barbarians spend Stamina to enter Rage, and gain maneuvers centred around increased damage, terrifying foes, sweeping strikes, and deadly charges
>Fighters spend Stamina for Action Surge and Second Wind (with max uses per short rest), gain access to the most and widest variety of combat maneuvers, and regain a small amount of Stamina when they take a short rest. They also uniquely have access to maneuvers that heal or bolster allies, and a Warlord-style Fighter is quite viable
>Monks spend Stamina as they would spend Ki, and their chosen Way gives them either a suite of maneuvers or a list of spells they can cast using Stamina. Their maneuvers centre around debilitating strikes, throws, flurries of blows, and parries.
>Rogues spend Stamina for maneuvers centred around increased mobility, evading or counterattacking, precision strikes, and making enemies more vulnerable to follow-up strikes. They can also spend Stamina to gain a portion of Sneak Attack damage even when they wouldn't normally qualify for it
>Stamina can be spent when a character uses a Skill or Tool they are proficient in to enable more dramatic successes, based on their proficiency modifier. For example, a Monk proficient in Athletics with a +4 or higher Proficiency could attempt to vault a 30-foot high gate or rip a steel gate from its hinges by spending Stamina. This represents inhuman effort combined with training and expertise honed through adventuring.

>>51617879

The difference is that

A) You can cure someone from a Geas
B) It adds story telling
C) It lets me keep doing it until I come up with a better way to do something else
D) Geas doesn't make for a terribly compelling plot hook

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>>51617010
>>51616792
It's pretty good. It's a sorcerer with cleric spells. You can take Bless early on, or twincast Shield of Faith. Guiding Bolt is a better Chromatic Sphere, and can be twincast. Healing on an arcane caster is always good. You can Silence enemy casters, or use Restorations to cure status effects. You can gain 1d8+casting damage per round with Spiritual Weapon not requiring concentration. You can cast, or twincast Warding Bond people without requiring concentration. You can Animate Dead 6 targets using twincast, and converting sorcery points at 5th level, or just revive people.

Combined with normal Sorcerer spells you could Warding Bond two Fighters, cast Spiritual Weapon, then Haste them both the next round.

Or start each day with 6 skeletons.

Or keep your slots ready for Revivify/Gentle Repose/Healing Word/Lesser Restoration, and play the emergency healer while efficiently twincasting Guiding Bolt with lesser spell slots.

>>51617957
>But, yeah, most of this shit won't come into play, and knowledge you can sometimes metagame anyway.

yeah, exactly, it doesn't actually fucking matter if your character is a drooling retard. The difference between being a drooling retard and not being one should be significant no matter what class you are.

>>51617986
That's an interesting sounding system, but it honestly sounds like an entirely different edition more than it does a set of houserules

>>51617901

Well, if I were in a world of magic, using it feels like it would be pretty inteligent

Also, in my adventure we've used Investigation Arcana and History a hell of a lot more than we've done Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Survival or Performance.

I'll grant you that there ought to be more ways to use INT, in the game I DM, I allow it to speed up development and training during downtime day activities, like researching the schematics for magic items, or learning skills and shit

One of my players wants to challenge the boss of the theives guild to a 1v1 duel. Except if he actually does it its not going to be a 1v1 duel, it'll be a 1v3 duel with the theives guild boss having 2 trickery clerics hidden in the crowd pulling shenanigans...

Should I tell him its a bad idea out of character before the session or should I just let him kill himself.

>>51618034

50/50

Have him roll a really low DC Insight check

Lizardfolk Monk. It's the first character I've been this excited about for a long time but I can't decide subclass.

Should I go Longdeath, Open Hand, Kensai or Shadow monk?

>>51618072

Or better yet, have another one of the players do that for you, and see if they work together to save their friend from their stupidity

>>51618110
The others all think he is stupid for wanting to do this which makes me want to kill him more to be honest.

>>51618034
How about this? The first couple rounds of combat the boss seems invincible, your PC's attacks seemingly bouncing off or his injuries seemingly vanishing. Then, a party member in the crowd spots the clerics doing some sneaky spellcasting, so they get a chance to intervene and help your PC. Or better yet, the clerics ends up getting quietly smacked in the back of the head with saps and dragged off by other thieves, because it turns out a higher-up in the thieves' guild is using the duel as an excuse to get his boss killed or thrown out. He knows the guild leader is overconfident so when the clerics get taken out the guild leader starts freaking out, making mistakes and thus revealing that he's really rusty at fighting without backup.

Basically, instead of telling the player "Don't Do That Thing", let them do it and make it more interesting. Introduce a path to success, maybe at a cost or twist to the story. It's the "Yes, and..." strategy of GMing.

>>51618012
Well, if all the other stats didn't matter either then it'd be fine, because the player can choose if they want their character to be charismatic but dumb but also have good instincts or if they want their character to be smart with good instincts or bad with people or.. Whatever. It doesn't have to add complexity to player's builds.
.. But the problem is, con, dex and wis are too strong no matter what your class's main stats are, so str/int/cha are left behind somewhat.

>>51617987
Yeah,
A) it would give players more options (which are apparently bad) in how to deal with their situation since it can be removed
B) It could be just as good at storytelling if you fluffed the geas up to be part of the magical contract or whatever.
C) Again it gives players another way of dealing with it, which is supposedly bad because they might go off-rails!
and
D), see B), you could fluff it and it'd be pretty much the same. Just cast geas with a bit of fluff, extend the spell duration and make it resistant to anti-magic and give a penalty instead of damage and then suddenly it's the same thing.

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Are there any good settings based on India or Indian mythology?

>>51618143

"With your insight check, you realize Wilson Fisk is toying with the Rogue. There was an eagerness behind his eyes, almost like he *wants* to be challenged for a duel"

>>51618149
What's better is to give the players the rope they need, then seeing if they'll hang. A Gather Information check might find out that the boss has done this before, and that he's got a style of fighting with backup like that. So it's up to the player to set up some intra-thieves' guild interruption or use his other teammates to stop the cheating - Or, better yet, cheat better by redirecting spells or taking the place of said clerics and replacing heals with curses.

Don't just do it on your own, the players have to have a chance of failure - Even if in this situation it's weighted far against him, due to having less experience and fighting an opponent who's not playing fair. It shouldn't come down to good rolls and then the universe parting for the players' good fortunes.

>>51618034
Have some brave knight intervene to either:
A) Stop the clerics
B) Stop the fight
C) Fucking smash the thieves' guild boss's face in because it's the fucking thieves' guild
D) Cover the player's escape after yelling that the fight is rigged
E) Have the knight and/or guards end up scaring the guys off because the thieves' boss doesn't want to be caught fighting.

It's plausible such a fight would attract guard attention, and make sure it's clear there might be guards who might intervene before the fight so it doesn't look like 'DM just fudged it and summoned guards out of nowhere to save your ass'.

>>51618034
He should probably already know that's a bad idea. If he doesn't plan to cheat as well then shame on him.

>>51618182

Dude, I need those rails.

And they can get out of a deal with her, next adventure is going to be ostentatiously about that, but I want them to get out of it through role play, not "the wizard waves his fingers, the end, well, good night you guys"

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>>51618108
Not stopping you, but it's a disappointing concept if you look deeper into it.
Basically, every benefit your lizardfolkiness gives you gets replaced and overshadowed by monk features. At mere lvl 5 your fists are going to deal the same amount of damage as your bites. And at a certain point you're definitely going to use the monk AC as well. Going lizarfolk doesn't really give you anything aside from a very minor early game power spike, which is nothing compared to the monster that is moon druid.
>Should I go Longdeath, Open Hand, Kensai or Shadow monk?
Sun Soul for aztec flavour.

>>51618239
>>51618034
Actually, yeah, I think the best approach is to have it one-sided to begin with with the clerics supporting the guy, but then some guard or something stops the clerics and it becomes clear the fight was rigged, and then the rogue has to realize 'Okay, do I keep fighting because so far I've done very little or run?'

So they have a chance, but the start of the fight is rigged and if they can last a few rounds and cause enough of a commotion they still have a chance once the clerics go.
Or they could be fucking sensible and have the teammates back him up.

>>51618292
Well, yeah, but there's roleplay in finding a way to get a wizard to wave it off, because chances are they might not have a suitable thing for it yet.

It opens up options, but the options aren't easy.
And the rails.. I'm afraid to say, but if you can't play without rails then you're not going to be a good DM, and a good DM should be able to keep players roughly on the rails anyway without anything cheap if they need to.

I've been thinking about trying to make a Monk/Beserker but I'm not sure if I'd be basically a useless unit or if it's actually viable. Anyone ever tried multiclassing these two classes?

>>51618319
I don't mind the lack of staying power. It's got some cool stuff early on and it's just a cool character, I already play to many optimised builds.

Isn't Sun Soul really bad? Like gets shitty ranged punches bad?

>>51618377
>Isn't Sun Soul really bad?
Didn't you say you don't care about optimization?
But no, it's at the very keast not Way of the Four Elements bad. It's okayish in my opinion. Scales the same way your ordinary punches do, if I'm not mistaken.

Sup assholes, are all the UA ranger archetypes compatible with the revised ranger?

>>51618427
Read the PDF.

>>51618437
I'm illiterate

So the difference between the Phoenix rebirth and Relentless Endurance is the Half-Orc can still get doubled and die, but the Phoenix (if available) will negate that fact?

>>51618441
Then you wouldn't understand our answer anyway.

>>51618424
Alright I might do that because I've never made one. It actually isn't as bad as I remember, plus refluffing thos ranged attacks into some kind of breath weapon is pretty sweet.

I was hoping this would happen when he brought up dueling him, but the party wants to just get out of town, move on with the story, and keep their relations with the thieves guild neutral.

>>51618223
I'm not a big fan of that kind of adversarial GMing. The GM should absolutely reward player creativity but should not require brilliant plans or thorough preparation for success to be possible. The objective of a GM is not to let the players 'hang themselves'.

>>51618355

>Well, yeah, but there's roleplay in finding a way to get a wizard to wave it off, because chances are they might not have a suitable thing for it yet.

At the level of play this is at, I'm kind of happier of having to have them solve this problem this way, than just getting a 100 gp Greater Restoration done to them.
While you do have a point regarding option like this, I just think this way fits better. I want promises between these entities and weight of their exact words to be something my players think over and over, and I want the consequences to be just as serious for both sides of the equation.

It's not a Geas, it's a bargain, with the upside of if the Archfey broke her bargain to them, she'd get the back end of the punishment too. It'd loose that weight if all it did was a "refluffed Geas" curse.

I want her to offer things to them, and I want them to think "whatever happens we know for a fact this explicit wording will happen or else this entity can also get hit with a level drain, and consequences might be global"

>And the rails.. I'm afraid to say, but if you can't play without rails then you're not going to be a good DM, and a good DM should be able to keep players roughly on the rails anyway without anything cheap if they need to.

Man, I'm learning to do this. I got combat encounters and loot and shit down pretty good, but the rest is something I need practice wheels to get it done with

>>51618262
Eh, it depends. One of my players would be stacking so many tricks in such a fight there's no way he wouldn't lose, another would fervently believe "honour amongst thieves" and show up with just a dagger for honourable combat.
The second guy plays paladins and rogues, and he plays them the exact same way.

>>51617986
Points for using feature might make players use all their points on the same feature. X/day makes player use all their features.

For example Action surge. Unless you make the cost is prohibitive fighters will spend all their stamina on surges. I don't think this can be balanced by fine tuning the point cost.

Making the class features compete in this manner also makes them very hard to balance. And they are definitely not balance as is for this point system. So you would need to rewrite a big chunk of many classes.

>>51614868
Go Paladin instead

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Hey, I was inspired by this thread: >>51597197 and made an existential paladin Oath. It's nothing too special, but I'd appreciate it if you let me know what you think.

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if i wanted to multiclass stone sorcerer and paladin, what would be the best way to do it?

I was thinking sorc 18/paladin 2 for more of a damage/spellcaster focused build and maybe sorc 14/paladin 6 for something more defensive.

if it matters, the party i'm joining is a goliath fighter, drow cleric, and dragonborn sorcerer.

>>51618608
also what would be the best paladin oath to take for this build? the evil oaths are an option

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>>51618570
I really like the synergy between the tenets and Oath Spells!
>Evard’s Black Tentacles

>Fill the Emptiness
>spread pleasure

>>51618515
Well, I'll admit, I had a GM myself with something incredibly railroadsey. Do something to derail the plot, bad or just generally avoid the rails and chances are you'll get fucked over by generic railroad item.
The premise was though that it'd be removed after a while, and they kept their promise, so finally everything's off-rails.

Honestly the main concern is stuff like losing levels, because not only is that more paperwork to lose and unlose the levels, it also leaves one player with a lot less they can do, possibly less utility and feeling as if they're not making progress, especially if you haven't already promised that they'd get the levels back later. It's more flavourful and doesn't ruin the fun to give certain sorts of curses that don't limit what the player can do and add to the story like having nightmares haunting them in the night or feeling weaker out of combat (Some curse that makes their daily life more painful, but still allows them to do combat) and they maybe get a negative to physical out of combat rolls. Or.. Whatever.

And it's fair enough if you tell the players that it's too powerful for a 100gp spell to remove it off of them, as long as you hint 'well, there are people in the world who you could bargain with to help get rid of it but certain factions might hate you' but leave it kinda vague and not awfully tantalizing so they don't run off to try something stupid.

>>51618570

I like the idea of a "warlocky/space paladin" but nihilism feels weird to me.

Also, Blank Speech is poorly built. If you want a Turn the Faithless with Aberrations instead of Fey, go for it.

I don't know what to think about One With The Void, but since it's a L20 feature, it doesn't matter anyway

>>51618648
Oath of ancients for dat anti-magic defense.

How do I get into roleplaying more?

I always feel to like shy to do or say anything when outside of combat because I don't want to fuck the group over. Like if I go up to a bartender and try and intimidate him, that could fuck the group over if I fail.

I am also horrible at getting "into character". I have a hard time roleplaying more negative characters too. Like if I wanted to be a rogue or something. I find that difficult to roleplay.

How would I improve my roleplaying skills? I feel like my characters aren't characters at all but instead just a facet of myself. Like all my characters have had the same temperament and behavior as myself.

How do I get out of that box?

In SKT, does Harshnag know how the magic rune archway works?
If not, how are players meant to know how to use it? I can see how they might get that each weapon corresponds to a rune but how would they know to turn into a giant to use them?
And what do they even do if they don't have Harshnag with them? (Unlikely but possible)

>>51618486

At a certain point, you're basically removing all possible consequences of player actions. The way this was proposed, it sounds like it was already a predetermined thing that the thieves guild guy cheats at 1v1 duels using hidden clerics to help him. If the DM just makes an exception, well this time a player is dueling him so coincidentally the clerics will be taken out by a third party, he's just altering the world to make the players invincible.

If the other party members give enough of a shit to watch the fight, give them opportunities to see what's really going on and stop it. If not, I guess this guy hung himself.

>>51618679

For what its worth, you really did give me a lot to think about. I just have to find a way to get them into the conflict engine that drives the adventure.

Which is kind of hard, considering the way we have to run the game, (one shots with over arching story rather than a campaign). If I just let them sandbox around, it might be a year before any more shit gets and by then every one will be sick of the game.

>>51618711
Start small - make a couple changes from your regular character types at a time.
And you don't really need to play asshole characters, there's more than one way to play a non-evil character.

>>51618711
Is everyone else also not roleplaying? This is a difficult to break cycle of people refusing to roleplay because the majority refuses.

Is everyone else roleplaying? Then why would they be upset that you take a non optimal path and intimidate the bartender? You have to temper your in-character desires with being cohesive with the party. If you can't do anything non optimal it turns into a wargame where everyone needs to do what they're told. If you go against the party too much you become that guy.

tl;dr not enough information.

>>51618541
Good point, some abilities might reasonably need to be on a short rest / long rest cooldown. The idea is more to (1) remove spell slots and (2) give martial characters a resource comparable to Sorcery points, so they have more interesting options in and out of combat. Some features might have to be disconnected from Stamina just for balance's sake.

>>51618797
Here's how you should do it. Either really push the party's motivations with the villains or just let them sandbox around but make it so that every couple of missions the BBEG starts fucking with them in mission. After a while, if they don't naturally get angry about having their easy gold and murderboners sated, then nothing will motivate them.

does anyone have the complete list of class archetypes, races and all that stuff from base, scag and UA, while also listing the sources? i had one of those but it's horribly out of date

>>51618797
I'll admit, if you're not careful with sandboxing it can actually end up more obnoxious than railroading.

There's a certain balance of 'Okay, it's recommended you go to one of these places' so players aren't forced to go to certain places but are heavily encouraged by the fact they know there'll be good stuff there since they were given leads, and they'll have multiple options and ways of approach. But, of course, if they don't know where each path leads then you might as well say 'there are three paths, but they all lead to the same place'.

Hmm..I dunno, but at least you should do something to make it clear 'There isn't anything too interesting if you just wander randomly, it won't help you achieve your goals'. So I guess that's part of it - making sure players actually have relevant goals that don't make them think 'actually I don't know what I want to do with my life, let's become bakers'

I'm probably not the absolute best person to talk about this, and I don't quite understand how that campaign is running, but as long as the players are happy enough for now it should be fine. Just do your best to be able to say 'yes' or 'yes, but / yes, and' to as many non-standard, unexpected things.

>>51618825
>>51618711
My personal issue is that I'm very much into roleplaying by text in the chatbox, but I find doing the whole voices thing incredibly cringeworthy, no matter who is doing it, me, the players or the DM.

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>>51618897
Stop roleplaying online.

>>51618897
You don't alway have to do an accent, and definitely not a silly one.
Your vocabulary is a powerful tool - the words a character uses can tell you just as much about them as their voice.

>>51618677
Pfahaha, yeah, I think it was a toss up between that and Invisibility and Major Image. I thought the tentacle thing worked better with the theme and invisible Paladins is a bit too much.
I'll probably rewrite the tenets to be less philosophy and more actual tenets.

>>51618680
Think I should just go whole hog with it being a turn? Honestly I was trying to think of something cool to put in instead. Would controlling aberrations be too OP?

>>51618711

When you're just starting out, a nice way to ease into is by describing what you'd want to do instead of actually saying it all out. So instead of roleplaying it all out, just think about what your character would do in that situation and then say '[my character] is going to try to strongarm the innkeeper' or something along those lines. It'll feel less awkward at first, and when you get more comfortable with your character's 'voice' you can start actually saying dialog and such from their perspective.

Another way to give yourself an easier time just to play a character similar to yourself, either in personality or morality. Don't worry about being a badass chaotic neutral rogue just yet, instead focus on a character you'd be able to relate to personally. That'll make it a lot easier to step into their shoes and speak from their perspective. Once you're comfortable enough you can move onto more varied characters, or introduce some character development into your original one to make him/her unique in his/her own right.

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>crank out a bunch of shit for homebrew campaign
>a town for the players to visit, some social encounters, shops, NPCs, intrigue, etc
>look over what I've done just today
>realize my players could possibly clear the place and be on their way in twenty minutes or less

why bother

>>51618999
Are they murderhobos or just hive mind mentality?

>>51618897

Are you playing with a new group? Or in person for the first time? I've found when you're not as comfortable around people it can be hard to speak in a character's voice because you're self-conscious about sounding silly. Once you get to know them better it'll be a lot easier. In the meantime you can always use the narrative voice (ie: "My character will do blahblahblah") instead of the character voice ("I will do blahblahblah").

Dice Camera Action is now live. They have an actual former porn star as a guest.

>>51618894
>'There isn't anything too interesting if you just wander randomly, it won't help you achieve your goals'

Actually had this going on for the beggining of the second adventure

>First game has them bargain with Mab to go take care of a problem in a dungeon in hell
>Finishes with them defeating the boss of said dungeon, only for them to realize at the time that Archfey are explicit to a fault and they didn't barter for a safe passage out of hell
>They agree to once again become her retinue in exchange for an extraction
>For the second adventure, a month later I decide that the first twenty or so minutes are going to be a free pass for to have the run of the city, until the PLOT strikes. About fifteen downtime days, for them to do as they please.
>Plan out the capital city of the Winter Counter with bakers, inns, temples, carpenters, the castle and shit, all ready for their delight
>Lots of expo dumps about specific aspects of the story waiting to be told
>"Okay guys, after *RECAP* Mab has given you the run of the city to live as you please
>First thing the Ranger wants is to go to the woods
>"What?"
>"Yeah the woods. I go to the woods. What's in there?"
>"Uh.. Wood. Like lots. Pine trees mostly"
>"What to do you mean just woods"
>"Just woods man, woods."
>He's looking at me incredulous
>Remember that once the plot strikes there's actually an encounter with the woods
>Roll survival for me real quick
>Rolls decently
>You are not surprised as one of the treants smacks you in the face
> Man I spent all my ten days here and that's what I get?
>"Uh .. You learn lots of sweet safe spaces? It's the woods"

He was pretty miffed at me for half an hour, but I think having the opportunity later to set a couple of fireballs on them made it up for the rail road, but yeah, sandboxes man...

>>51618999
Have you considered giving your players incentive to participate?
Add in elements of their backstory, have a long lost lover show up, set something on fire, have a random bigot punch one of the party in the face, etc.
Make it interesting for them, not just you.

>>51619034

Neither, just EXTREMELY inconsistent. They're close friends and I've known them for a long time, but its bizarre what they'll steamroll through and what they'll decide to take their time doing.

It took them three ~3hr sessions to clear the haunted murder mansion sidequest in Curse of Strahd, for example.

>>51615966
>She's a brick...HOUSE!

>>51615966

It's actually rather surprising that there's no genasi with bonus to charisma

Human variant barbarian, what feat should I pick?

Was thinking Mobile so I could just run around and fuck shit up, maybe going elk or eagle totem too. Use reckless attack to get advantage then run the fuck away or something

Either that or GWM probably but gwm is boring

>>51619217
Shield Master. Be a shirtless romance novel viking

>>51619217

>human variant
MIN MAXING TURD!!!

>>51618768
You're either misunderstanding or misrepresenting my point. I am not saying "Let your players win all the time without consequences." I am saying "Don't make an encounter impossible because they didn't do X, Y, or Z that you expected them to do but that was not immediately obvious." Consider a mystery adventure, or a puzzle room. Should an adventure come to a screeching halt because the party didn't find the brass key hidden in the canopic jar? Should the party die because they couldn't solve the riddle on the door? Does an encounter or adventure hinge upon a single dice roll or decision, without which failure is all but assured? If you say yes, you're being adversarial, and I think that's a bad thing.

Players will miss clues, they'll forget to check or plan for certain things, it's just going to happen and you need to plan for such eventualities. If your response to such a mis-step is "You're dead, shoulda planned better" then you're going to see a lot of dead characters and frustrated players. If your response is instead "Okay, things get harder or more complicated for you, here's how..." the adventure keeps moving and the players are punished but not, you know, obliterated.

It's a shift in tone, in how you approach the game. Are challenges impossible without proper planning and ingenuity, or are they possible by default but made easier with cunning and foresight?

Guys, I have a problem. I want to play a typical dwarf with scottish accent. However, I'm a russian and I'll be playing in russian. I have no clue what scottish accent would sound like in russian.
So, what are the main features of the scottish accent anyway?

>>51615766
>their characters are and will always be several levels of power above the rest.
lol it's just a couple of +1 differences dude
Bounded Accuracy doesn't make it so that some characters can steal the spotlight, it makes it so that every character is a fucking joke no matter how high their scores are and everybody get to look like a dunce all the time
refer to the common scenario of the barbarian failing his roll to break down a door followed by the wizard succeeding

>>51619090
I mean, to be fair, what exactly was he expecting out in the woods near a population center? Just bundles of owlbears. The owlbearberg that's just floating in the sky of "Phuk Yhu"?

>>51619251
>If your response is instead "Okay, things get harder or more complicated for you, here's how..."

yeah I said make it possible for the other players to notice and fuck over the clerics. If the one guy goes lone though it should be impossible.

>>51619260

you could inject english in ocasionaly sparse sentences though that sometimes can be obnoxious

>>51619298
My group did it back in Shadowrun campaign, and by the end of it even they started finding it cringeworthy. Not an option.

>>51619281

idk, maybe the "solve my problems with the Queen of Air and Darkness" fairy

>>51619260
>So, what are the main features of the scottish accent anyway?
Incomprehensibility to the rest of the english speaking world.

>>51619260
Does russian have a northen accent?

So, if I were to give sorcerers an extended spell list, up to level 5, how many should should I give them such that limited spell selection still remains a defining part of them and should I give it to them for the archtype of gish or master blaster?

>>51619090
The odd thing is that too much information never really helps, only information in the places you expect people to want to do. So I suppose it might be fair to expect a Cleric to try finding a church or fellow followers of their religion, or something like that...

But in the end the best way to handle it is to usually improvise and sometimes accept that you have to just shove events in out of nowhere or where they don't make 100% sense and try to justify why it makes sense later. But the idea of just putting something in 'for the sake of making thing interesting' bothers me plot-wise.

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>want to play this game
>buy books
>visit LGS, talk up some DMs, post some fliers that I'll DM
>unable to find any groups or players up to game in the northern Houston to Huntsville area

>>51619490
I find this hard to believe... how far is your FLGS from you that no one wants to drive?

>>51619247
I wanted to be a Human and variant human is the normal human for this GM

>>51619236
Thought about that too but felt like not using a greataxe would be a waste

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>>51619490
Stop playing offline.

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Is it fixed?

>>51619217
PAM.

>>51619151
So they get distracted by potentially dangerous stuff, then? Throw a really simple dungeon in front of them with one or two traps, make them be paranoid and then just drop hints of there being future traps when in fact it's just tricks of the mind.

>>51619279
>refer to the common scenario of the barbarian failing his roll to break down a door followed by the wizard succeeding
The thing about that scenario is that if the door doesn't give way on the first kick, the next one to kick the door should be the barbarian again. Unless you're in turn order and everyone is frantically trying to break down the door to get away, in which case, zombie horde rules. It's everyone's fault.

>>51614755
My opinion is it is solely an offhand bonus mechanic for DMs to reward players for roleplaying well; if it weren't mentioned in the book, no one would ever even bring up the concept; the DM has no obligation to ever give it to players ever if they choose not to; and players are not entitled to it, you fucking baby.

>>51619587
That... Actually yeah that looks fine. I was expecting 40 abilities that make it into a super weeaboo fightan guy but that seems like a very smooth and easy fix.

>>51619647
k cool

I mostly just wanted something pretty to give my DM. Figured I might as well un-fuck it a bit while I'm making the effort.

>>51618905
>>51619534

so what do we do? Just stop playing?

>>51619813
>Just stop playing?
online

>>51619522
>>51619534
There are multiple LGS I've gone too. About 5~ all within about 45 minute drive. All the groups/tables are full on some, and others I can't find any players. There are tons. I just can't get into a clique.

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>>51619813
>>51619837
Stop

>>51619960
playing

>>51619981
games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXqxg3FpuDA

>>51619587
I swear to god Anon if I open this and I see
>kensei weapons are also monk weapons lol
I'm gonna fuckin' cut you

>>51620039
Why's that a bad thing?

>>51620083
Because the archetype is a straight upgrade over normal Monks to an extent that no other archetype is.
>yeah okay you can use a 1d12 weapon while your fists are still dinky 1d4s
>also you gain +2 AC
>also they're magic
>also you don't miss
Kensei was already MECHANICALLY GOOD in its original implementation. Everyone clamoring for Kensei weapons as Monk weapons not only wanted their cake and to be able to eat it too, they wanted a pie and a fucking stollen on top of it.

Stat roller are min-maxing faggot. They should stay in 3.pf.

>>51620136

Point buy is way more of a minmaxer thing than rolling or stat array.

Point buy is when you get those shitter munchkins who drop any nonnecessary stats to 8.

>>51618711
> Like if I go up to a bartender and try and intimidate him, that could fuck the group over if I fail.

Ask the group first. Don't do stupid stuff alone without the group consent. You'll be stepping into that guy territory otherwise.

>>51620171
funny. because I never see stat roller put their low stat on CON or their main stat, ever.

Pretty much the only reason you guys roll for stat is because you want a super hero who is good at everything.

You all cry and beg your dm for a reroll if you ever get a 3 or 4.

The only good way to roll for stat is to roll in order, so munchkin faggot like you can't min-max their stat.

>>51620219
I don't even know how to begin to respond to this kind of retardation. What a fucking stupid thing to get mad over. Who hurt you?

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>>51620219

>"x is bad"

>"yeah but z is worse"

>FUCKING SHITTER MUNCHKIN GO CRY MORE TO YOUR DM STOP MINMAXING

>>51620136
>>51620171
At least you both agree that a 15/14/13/12/10/8 array is the best.

>>51620299
But Z is worse.

Obviously I'd rather not get punched OR stabbed, but if those are my only options I think punching is manageable.

>>51620128
>yeah okay you can use a 1d12 weapon while your fists are still dinky 1d4s
If you use a quarterstaff it isn't so bad. 1d12+1d4 vs 1d8+1d4 plus whatever features your subclass has. I was really tempted to say no heavy melee weapons (narrowing the gap to 1d10 vs 1d8), but people flip shit every time it's suggested so I left it out.
>also you gain +2 AC
Sure, but you sacrifice a weapon attack to do it which is the whole focus of the subclass
>also they're magic
Unarmed monk attacks become magical at the same level, it's a wash
>also you don't miss
Just once a turn. Shadow monks get a free attack with their reaction if their friends are around, and Open Hand monks get one of the most powerful save or suck (well, suck or die) abilities in the game.

Kensei sacrifices all of the utility of the other archetypes for just a straight up fighter-monk that's arguably worse than just going pure fighter. It might be strong early on but I'm not sure it breaks anything.

There's also this https://twitter.com/mikemearls/status/808904018265341952 so I took it as a green light.
I do appreciate the criticism though.

>>51620456
>Shadow monks get a free attack with their reaction if their friends are around, and Open Hand monks get one of the most powerful save or suck (well, suck or die) abilities in the game.
Let's not discuss class features beyond level 9 because they may as well not exist.

>Roll for stats
>Achieve demigod stats at level 1
>Whole table of 5 does the same thing

No, rolling for stats isn't minmaxing despite the massive buffs you get from it compared to point buy, nope. Dunno what you're talking about.

>>51620506
just use point array you fucking autist jesus christ

>>51618034
Drop hints in-character. Habe NPCs inform the PC of what happened to everyone else who challenged this guy, maybe hinting that he receives magical aid.

>>51617370
>So long as before the end of the session you are at least level 2
Dude, that's like 3 deadly encounters for a party of 4. If you're somehow able to get in 3 deadly encounters as well as character intros in a single 4 hour session my hats off to you.

>>51617744
>primary:Str or Dex
>secondary:Int, various maneuvers contribute to defense
>tertiary:Con
Conversely you can make them a tanky CC/buff machine and make Con primary then use int to add to their versatility in fights. I mean, lets be real here, leaders and heroic unit leaders aren't supposed to be high casualty machines but hard chargin' and keeping the rest of the team going.

why is way of the four elements never allowed to be good in any system or edition ever

>>51620533
You should also get XP from quests or something to fill in, but it's one full adventuring day. So if you have a full day, you should level when you long rest. Same for going from 2 to 3, really.

>>51620620
I just assign XP values to encounters as a whole, so super efficient usage of monsters and traps jumps up the XP value and you'd still get full shit for talking your way through it. Didn't think about XP for turning shit in but then again, this is a PnP rpg, not a video game one. There's no promise they'll even go back to where they first got the quest instead of just solving the problem.

>>51617088

What should they start at instead? 2, 3?

>>51620593
Sure, but that's still more than, say, Rogue (Dex&Con) or Wizard (Int&Con).

Displacement (Recharges after the l/lusionist Casts an Illusion
Spell of 1st Level or Higher). As a bonus action, the illusionist
projects an illusion that makes the illusionist appear to be
standing in a place a few inches from its actual location, causing
any creature to have disadvantage on attack rolls against
the illusionist. The effect ends if the illusionist takes damage, it
is incapacitated, or its speed becomes 0.


How do I tell players they have disadvantage for things like this?

so what's the general consensus on the new UA?

Hey /5eg/, after talking to some friends at work I'm surprise DMing and we 'decided' on 5e.

What are the suggested tools/essentials that I will need for at least a one shot in 5e? None of us have ever played a tabletop game, although I've been around /tg/ for a while and know more of the rules (having played Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights PC games, and just browsing a collection of pdfs of rpgs I never thought I'd have a group to play with).

>>51621078
Favored Soul OP

>>51621047
You mean if they attack the illusionist?
Just tell them to roll with disadvantage, no explanation for why.

>>51621108
Oh, and I should mention that players will expect combat to be a focus, downplaying the actual roleplaying aspect. They essentially want Dark Souls/TES on paper, with a plot including heavily suggested options (ie railroading with the illusion of choices). I think a pregenerated module would work for first timers?

>>51621078
Favored soul STILL too good. Phoenix sorcerer underpowered and has stupid fluff.

This is most likely more of a general /tg/ question but I might as well ask you guys.

I've played rpgs for a while and about 2 sessions with 5e. I moved and I've got some old friends who'd be willing to give online a go.

Is there any tips for playing online people can give?

>>51621333
> Use roll20
> Use handouts with pictures, use them often
> Use music

>>51621354
I'm planning to use Roll20 once I figure out how to use it smoothly and handouts are something I've always done.

Is music really necessary? Just some ambient fantasy crap playing in the background?

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>>51621333
When using Roll20 keep in mind that allowing people to draw can either lead to the best events in a session or a complete trainwreck.
Also, try to find a balance between 'theatre of the mind' and set-in-stone maps

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>>51621371
Music is absolutely necessary for setting the mood. Combat music, music for traveling, music for towns, Toccata and Fugue for when Strahd von Zarovich appears.
But music isn't the only sounds you should use. A sudden clap of thunder can be really dramatic and unexpected (especially when followed by Toccata and Fugue), raven's cry, a sudden screamer when a seemingly innocent statue turns out to be a vrock...

Oh, and do you like Darkest Dungeon? Then you should port the narrator's sound files into roll20. Let the players hear him say "How quickly the tide turns!" whenever they suffer a critical strike.

That's what I did, and my players LOVED it.

>>51621470
Oh shit that narrator idea's good. He has the most dramatic voice for it.

I actually have a few good ideas for combat music and that now so I will try that out. Thank you anon.

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>>51621470
>How quickly the tide turns!
Sometimes I wish I had a voice like the narrator.

can heroism be cast on yourself?

>>51621470

I kinda want to use music when I DM, but...I am not musically inclined, I don't know literally anything about music, since I don't listen to the stuff. I wouldn't even know where to begin with it.

>>51621582

Yes.

>>51621602
youtube is a great place to start, for my campaign i just search "fantasy town music" or "ambient cave sounds" and youll get some neat mood/sound asmr shit to play softly in the background

>>51621470
Any suggestions for battle music? Obviously not hard pumping action stuff, no matter how much I want it, since all they're doing is rolling dice and strategizing.

>>51621703
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1pCxXrorKM&t=102s [Embed]
You have mislead me.

>>51621744
i mean you need to comb through the glaringly obvious shit, my guy

>>51621742
baten kaitos: eternal wings and the lost ocean is a more obscure rpg that had an incredible ost

>>51615324
>there are people who unironically play with SCAG cantrips

>>51621818

New thread.

>>51621795
gr8 b8 m8

>>51621146
>You mean if they attack the illusionist?
>Just tell them to roll with disadvantage, no explanation for why.

Fuck this. Tell them why, or at least give an indication. Reading the spell's fluff verbatim is fine.

Doing otherwise is retarded, and is how you get players asking to roll perception every five feet and examing every surface via ten thousand questions like Will Smith as they try to figure out which question is the right question to get you to tell them something.

If you say nothing, they're going to ask why, and then you're either going to tell them; or you're going to shrug, they're going to ask if anything seems out of the ordinary, and THEN you'll tell them.

You're trying to make the fight seem cool, not engage the players in twenty questions.

>>51621470
>Toccata and Fugue for Strahd
>not the Danse Macabre or Mendelssohn's first violin concerto, or even something by Tschaikovski (something worth listening, not the pile of noise that is 1812)
Strahd gets the full romantic proto-emo treatment

>>51622369

Danse macabre seems too upbeat.for Strahd. How about Wagners Faust? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMw0EjLFPXw