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PnP RPGs OT || Come play the REAL RPGs
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krypt0nian
Banned
Again you play how you like and I will too. Welcome to ignore. You cannot stop being an asshole.
CornBurrito
Member
So that's a yes then.
The premise of my post was that the two styles of play aren't incompatible at all. Oh and I like story driven play. Why else would I bother with fate core?
I'm for the first time really trying to play some P&P RPGs. So I now have Fiasco, InSpectres and the D&D 5th Edition Player's Handbook is on it's way. #ve been wondering, is the DM book for D&D worth getting as a beginner? Or would I be fine just using the basic rules for that online?
JetBlackPanda
Member
The basic rules are good to learn the game and play a basic game (you will need an adventure) I would recommend the starter set. You get Dice and a decent adventure, pre-made characters to play with friends and then use the basic rules + the players handbook to get things going a little more.
the DMG is awesome but if you are just starting to try the game you don't need it.
He can just create his own.
I must say I never entirely understood pre-made adventures, because making stories up is half the fun of DMing...
Anyway, good luck. I would recommend starting with as few books as possible. I agree you shouldn't but the DMG if you're just starting.
WhirlwindMonk
Banned
While I agree, I can easily see it being overwhelming to someone new to the game. I would still recommend they give it a shot, since you'll never learn if you never try, but gaming with a pre-made is better than no gaming at all.
more details on Force and Destiny finally coming out... they sure are taking their sweet time releasing this.
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=5359
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=5359
Yeah I'm not getting the starter box. That thing has no value to me because I will most likely not play with any of my IRL friends. I'm just going to play on Roll20 I think.
So it looks like I'll be sticking to just the Player's handbook for now. First I will probably try to get my DM feet wet with inSpectres.
Can someone tell me though where I can find out more about the "official" worlds of D&D? My knowledge is basically just Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment. There are not any current source books or anything.
So it looks like I'll be sticking to just the Player's handbook for now. First I will probably try to get my DM feet wet with inSpectres.
Can someone tell me though where I can find out more about the "official" worlds of D&D? My knowledge is basically just Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment. There are not any current source books or anything.
It has some benefits depending on your situation. I like running games but just don't have the time or creativity to write up a campaign full of stories. I can throw some encounters together or sketch out a dungeon but I don't have the foresight to put together a big overarching tale with foreshadowing and all that stuff.
Even though I'm running my group through a huge published campaign there is still plenty of room to improvise and create events, stories, and characters on the fly. It is just nice to have an existing framework and general plot sequence in place already that I don't have to worry about.
These worlds are usually called "Campaign Setting" in D&D lingo, and are published as books containing various information. usually there is a main Campaign Setting book that outlines the setting, and more books are published for specific areas, time periods, cultures etc. For examine, There is the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, and then there's the Unapproachable East book for the Rashemen area inside Forgotten Realms.
But, I'd say don't be a purist. Most of the established world are too complicated to know entirely. There are various wikis for most settings, that and basic knowledge from BG2 should be enough to run a game in Athkatla for example.
It's not just to create stuff, I also just like reading lore. When I played Warhammer 40k I enjoyed all the lore stuff in the rules and the codex. I think there is some in the Player's Handbook but it doesn't look like there is anything yet for the 5th edition to scratch that itch. At least as far as I am aware.
In that case, here's info about the current metaplot and here's a rundown of some of the newer pieces of fiction. All are concerning Forgotten Realms, since that's obviously the main one for now.
Since you already have familiarity with Baldur's Gate, I think the current comic, Legends of Baldurs Gate, may be a good thing to check out. It takes place in the city during the current stuff, so it'll be a good way to catch you up as to what things are like in that particular part of the setting.
Also Minsc and Boo return from whereever they disappeared to
Since you already have familiarity with Baldur's Gate, I think the current comic, Legends of Baldurs Gate, may be a good thing to check out. It takes place in the city during the current stuff, so it'll be a good way to catch you up as to what things are like in that particular part of the setting.
Also Minsc and Boo return from whereever they disappeared to
In that case, here's info about the current metaplot and here's a rundown of some of the newer pieces of fiction. All are concerning Forgotten Realms, since that's obviously the main one for now.
Since you already have familiarity with Baldur's Gate, I think the current comic, Legends of Baldurs Gate, may be a good thing to check out. It takes place in the city during the current stuff, so it'll be a good way to catch you up as to what things are like in that particular part of the setting.
Also Minsc and Boo return from whereever they disappeared to
Ah the metaplot thing is interesting. Thanks for that. I already knew about the comic and wanted to read it but I am waiting for the trade.
SolidSnakeUS
Member
We finally got back to doing a bit more with Shadowrun this week. I hope we do more again this weekend. That'd be fun 
.
.ElectricThunder
Member
Symbaroum's Core Book finally making their bid to try to get translated and available in English...at least much faster and whatnot than otherwise:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/symbaroum-core-rulebook
Flex funding, good art, nothing weird on the tiers, non-crazy stretch goals---I reckon it at least has a shot.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/symbaroum-core-rulebook
Flex funding, good art, nothing weird on the tiers, non-crazy stretch goals---I reckon it at least has a shot.
Tonfa...? Can't find one from Pathfinder equipment list:
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/weapons
Figures it was on another list.
But... Ninja-druid? Or is that Eastern Martial Arts Druid?
Sounds really odd character.
No idea if D20 system will feel like a shock (i have no idea how old DnDs (pre-3.0) actually played, what dice they used etc.), but i'd say just treat it as a system and don't compare them.
But... Ninja-druid? Or is that Eastern Martial Arts Druid?
Sounds really odd character.
No idea if D20 system will feel like a shock (i have no idea how old DnDs (pre-3.0) actually played, what dice they used etc.), but i'd say just treat it as a system and don't compare them.
DeadPhoenix
Member
I've yet to play a druid in PF but from what i've heard they are really good. good spell list and wildshape(imo pick up the natural spell feat as soon as you can after getting wildshape, it lets you cast in wildshape form).
as for the tonfa, it doesn't look like an amazing weapon or anything, and that's fine, but keep in mind that only works while fighting defensively which lowers you attack... which may be a problem since I don't think druids are proficient with tonfa's so you already have a -4 on attacks. if you don't already have a racial ability or something to take care of that, you can just pick up a weapon proficiency feat. of course if you later focus on wildshape and natural attacks, you may end up not even using the tonfa that much later on.
as for getting shocked... i barely played d&d before 3.5 so most of my experience with thaco is BG2.
Red Mage
Member
Sort of a martial-druid to start with, until they gain enough power on their own.
Oh, I imagine it won't be used much after Level 5 or so, but it's surviving until then that is my concern. My brother is the GM, and playing with him can be similar to playing Dark Souls in terms of difficulty.
KittenMaster
Member
Not much. THAC0 is replaced by BAB (Base Attack Bonus), and AC counts towards higher positive numbers the better it is. It's basically more like the common way of determining hit rate most video game RPGs use.
SolidSnakeUS
Member
In our 1st mission, and thank god he hasn't shown back up... yet... is that we kind of fucked over Renraku in Shadowrun lol.
ThLunarian
Member
I can't speak much about tonfas, but Druids are great, even after getting nerfed as compared to 3.5.
If your DM is ruthless then I would advise being ruthless right back. There is a variant option for Druids to be particularly attuned to a certain type of animal. It lets you Wildshape into better versions of that animal faster, and it makes summoning that type of animal more potent (letting you summon as a standard action to have the animals appear immediately, rather than having them appear the following round).
I played as a Wolf Shaman; from what I understand, that's one of the crappier versions and it was still awesome. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/archetypes/paizo---druid-archetypes Here is a list of archetypes; check out the Bear Shaman first (all the other animal shamans refer to that one when describing abilities).
The only real drawback is that you become worse at changing into other types of animals, but that never impeded me much.
As a bonus, it even gives you some great roleplaying guidance, if that's your thing. My character started life as a wolf, and was given druidic powers by a goddess. Whenever I was faced with a decision, I thought to myself "How would an actual wolf respond to this?" and did that. It was a TON of fun.
I can give you some feat advice if you're interested. Have fun!
If your DM is ruthless then I would advise being ruthless right back. There is a variant option for Druids to be particularly attuned to a certain type of animal. It lets you Wildshape into better versions of that animal faster, and it makes summoning that type of animal more potent (letting you summon as a standard action to have the animals appear immediately, rather than having them appear the following round).
I played as a Wolf Shaman; from what I understand, that's one of the crappier versions and it was still awesome. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/archetypes/paizo---druid-archetypes Here is a list of archetypes; check out the Bear Shaman first (all the other animal shamans refer to that one when describing abilities).
The only real drawback is that you become worse at changing into other types of animals, but that never impeded me much.
As a bonus, it even gives you some great roleplaying guidance, if that's your thing. My character started life as a wolf, and was given druidic powers by a goddess. Whenever I was faced with a decision, I thought to myself "How would an actual wolf respond to this?" and did that. It was a TON of fun.
I can give you some feat advice if you're interested. Have fun!
Red Mage
Member
Sure. I'd like that. As for weapons. I think I'm going with a bo-staff and dress him similar to a monk since one of the things he does is have enemies target spell casters first.
ThLunarian
Member
If you're going for a monk-like druid, I recommend Feral Combat Training. It lets you use the Monk's flurry of blows in conjunction with a natural attack (including one you have while Wildshaped). Gives you extra attacks and some nice damage output.
Fast Wildshape is also valuable. Check with the DM on how that would interact with an Animal Shaman's improved wildshaping ability; I would rule that they'd cancel each other out when you're using the fast version, but you never know.
Augment Summoning is also a great feat if you want to go the summoning route. Summoning is a powerful ability but it also requires a lot of bookkeeping and some find it tedious, so keep that in mind.
DeadPhoenix's Natural Spell suggestion is also a very good one.
That should keep you busy for a while. Let me know if you would like any other tips.
Fast Wildshape is also valuable. Check with the DM on how that would interact with an Animal Shaman's improved wildshaping ability; I would rule that they'd cancel each other out when you're using the fast version, but you never know.
Augment Summoning is also a great feat if you want to go the summoning route. Summoning is a powerful ability but it also requires a lot of bookkeeping and some find it tedious, so keep that in mind.
DeadPhoenix's Natural Spell suggestion is also a very good one.
That should keep you busy for a while. Let me know if you would like any other tips.
Armoured Priest
Member
My players defeated Strahd in the 5th Edition adaption of the original Ravenloft adventure. The did a good job of very nearly bee lining through the castle, getting where then needed to go and get the items they needed.
They got some lucky rolls and (as one of my players would put it) "thugatized" Strahd.
They saved some of their power goodies, the fighter had the sun blade, they got the full 10 rounds out of the icon and multiple crits were rolled (and I rolled crappy). Dropped him in one round with nowhere for him to go, whilst being doused in the Icon's sunlight power. On top of that the Warlock and sorcerer opened up like the laser platforms they are (Scorching ray boosted to 3rd and twined, and the warlock doing his consistent ray damage like a machine with some more crits in there).
They got some lucky rolls and (as one of my players would put it) "thugatized" Strahd.
They saved some of their power goodies, the fighter had the sun blade, they got the full 10 rounds out of the icon and multiple crits were rolled (and I rolled crappy). Dropped him in one round with nowhere for him to go, whilst being doused in the Icon's sunlight power. On top of that the Warlock and sorcerer opened up like the laser platforms they are (Scorching ray boosted to 3rd and twined, and the warlock doing his consistent ray damage like a machine with some more crits in there).
krypt0nian
Banned
Active link for the conversion? I own the 1st Ravenloft module a few times over. Cheers!
So in an unexpected turn of events, Palladium has licensed Rifts out to Pinnacle Games to make a Rifts supplement for Savage Worlds. Not only is it neat because Rifts being ported to a modern
system, but Palladium has historically been really protective of its licenses despite them spending the past decade in poor financial situations.
Since Palladium is one of the last of the old guard of publishing houses still kicking around, it's nice to see that they've managed to work out a situation that will keep them afloat while reinventing Rifts (which is a really cool setting despite the craziness of the system) for a new generation. Doubly glad because I really dig Savage Worlds.
and playable :V
Since Palladium is one of the last of the old guard of publishing houses still kicking around, it's nice to see that they've managed to work out a situation that will keep them afloat while reinventing Rifts (which is a really cool setting despite the craziness of the system) for a new generation. Doubly glad because I really dig Savage Worlds.
D&D 5th edition books are over 50% off on amazon right now
http://www.amazon.com/Wizards-RPG-Team/e/B009KAKQIC/
http://www.amazon.com/Wizards-RPG-Team/e/B009KAKQIC/
krypt0nian
Banned
HOLY SHIT! I wonder how long this goes for!
CornBurrito
Member
Nice.
If you guys have iOS devices, this seems like a pretty "holy shit" development:
Lion's Den has a suite of iOS apps for 5e, 4e, 3.5, and Pathfinder. They're pretty bare bones on content (as might be expected), but the interface is slick as shit, intuitive, and it has a really robust feature to add content to the apps. So of course, some guys went nuts and added absolutely everything to the 5e version (haven't found 3.5 or PF equivalents yet.). Not gonna post links since it's probably the PnP equivalent of posting links to pirate sites, but the ability to incorporate all your source books into a single app that also manages HP, encounter order, rolls, etc. is exactly what I've been wanting out of a GM app for ages, and this just knocks it out of the park...
Lion's Den has a suite of iOS apps for 5e, 4e, 3.5, and Pathfinder. They're pretty bare bones on content (as might be expected), but the interface is slick as shit, intuitive, and it has a really robust feature to add content to the apps. So of course, some guys went nuts and added absolutely everything to the 5e version (haven't found 3.5 or PF equivalents yet.). Not gonna post links since it's probably the PnP equivalent of posting links to pirate sites, but the ability to incorporate all your source books into a single app that also manages HP, encounter order, rolls, etc. is exactly what I've been wanting out of a GM app for ages, and this just knocks it out of the park...
CornBurrito
Member
Damn the Pathfinder/3.5 one is really barebones if you actually want to use it for pathfinder. It's fine for core 3.5e though. Idk why they combined 3.5 and pathfinder into one app though given the differences between the base classes.
Edit: I am dumb there is an option to switch between versions lol.
Red Mage
Member
My Druid ended up being a spear wielder, since I didn't realize they could use those. I ended up pretty good on my rolls, too:
STR: 10
DEX: 14
CON: 15
INT: 14
WIS: 15
CHA: 14
I'm playing a gnome, and I rolled 2 12's, 13, 2 14's, and a 15. Our first battle wasn't hard, but mostly because my brother did not take into account the sorcerer's Color Spray. xD
So, I figure that'll be figured in for future fights.
STR: 10
DEX: 14
CON: 15
INT: 14
WIS: 15
CHA: 14
I'm playing a gnome, and I rolled 2 12's, 13, 2 14's, and a 15. Our first battle wasn't hard, but mostly because my brother did not take into account the sorcerer's Color Spray. xD
So, I figure that'll be figured in for future fights.
CornBurrito
Member
Are you playing 5e or 3.5?
Red Mage
Member
This is pending GM approval, and based on my limited understanding of the Pathfinder Lore. When he was younger, Popoi lived in Tolguth, in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords. He, a gnome girl named Puri, and a human friend named Randil would explore near the border with the World Wound, despite being warned repeatedly not to. One night, demonic forces attacked the city, with the gates being thrown open for them. Although the defenders repelled the attack, many innocents were killed, including Popoi's mother and Puri.
It was later discovered that Randil had been the one who had opened the gates for the enemy, as he had apparently came under their influence during one of their trips. Since he had ran away during the attack, Popoi was left to take the blame. Many wanted him executed, but as he was a child, he was simply banished to the wild instead.
With no where to go, he wandered the wild until he met an elven druid whom he would call "Old Man" "Gramps" or "Grand Pa." He taught Popoi to let go of his hatred for Randil and embrace the life of a druid, protecting the land from the demonic influence that came from the East. Eventually, this led the duo into Randil, who had dedicated his life to a demon lord and was seeking to become such a creature in his own right.
The druids withdrew, but not before "Gramps" was mortally wounded. Knowing that Randil was travelling south in the pursuit of his 'dream,' the Old Man told Popoi to stop him, as whatever they were up to would be more damaging to nature in the long run than fighting their present influence. As he traveled, Popoi found a young Ankylosaurus whose parents were killed by a predator. Bonding with it as his animal companion, they have come south into Varisia on their quest.
Kind of cliche'd, but I had to figure it out with only limited info on the setting.
3.5/Pathfinder. Rolling for stats.
Deified Data
Banned
Playing my first game of DnD tonight with some friends - one who'll be DM and 2 others who are just as clueless as I am. Despite watching a couple sample games on YT and some tutorials on character building, I still have no idea what I'm doing.
I want to play a Half-Orc Monk, which I know isn't ideal but I'm not interested in min-maxing. Any tips for a beginner?
I want to play a Half-Orc Monk, which I know isn't ideal but I'm not interested in min-maxing. Any tips for a beginner?
Riposte
Member
D&D can be a very different game depending on the DM. Sometimes it's pretty much like a dungeon crawler videogame without a computer rolling the numbers for you, other times it's like you a bunch theater geeks, although it probably falls in between (more so the former with new players I've found). Hard to say what you are in for without that kind of information, let alone the version of the game you'll be playing. I'll just say make sure you are friendly to your Cleric.
For the first time my biggest suggestion is that you shouldn't feel restricted by whatever list of actions your DM gives you. You can try anything that your character could reasonably do, and it's up to your DM to fit that into the rules.
But with that said, don't be a jerk to the DM. It's like yes, your characters have ultimate freedom to theoretically do anything and go anywhere, but don't be a jerk and totally ignore the quest NPC to go start a theater troupe or something equally nonsense filled. You're playing Dungeons and Dragons, so try and follow the "Dungeons and/or Dragons are this way" signs.
But with that said, don't be a jerk to the DM. It's like yes, your characters have ultimate freedom to theoretically do anything and go anywhere, but don't be a jerk and totally ignore the quest NPC to go start a theater troupe or something equally nonsense filled. You're playing Dungeons and Dragons, so try and follow the "Dungeons and/or Dragons are this way" signs.
Deified Data
Banned
Yeah, I'm a colossal fluff nerd for just about anything I get into, spend hours thinking of and writing detailed character bios, their dreams, motivations, how they interact with the world...and I have no idea how anyone else plays. If they treat it like a straight dungeon crawler I'll be a little disappointed as that's never what I imagined DnD to be like, but I'll go along with it and see if I can convince them to be a bit more imaginative.
Jest Chillin
Member
As someone who is new to PnP Roleplaying (just got in my first game a few weeks ago) the only thing I can offer that I think may be helpful is to accept and expect your Roleplaying to be a bit wonky at first. You or others might struggle for how to phrase statements or how to accomplish your ideas but that's fine. You'll start to get a feel for your character eventually and it will get easier. And definitely focus on having fun with it.
krypt0nian
Banned
Just to add, give others at the table a chance to shine, and lift them up too. You'll find that those character connections can be the very best thing about the game.