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[Deified Data]

Eh, DP but you guys need to post more!

5e monk question. When you gain additional attacks at level up, can you attach bonus unarmed strikes to each attack or only once?

Also how is damage determined for ranged weapons you've caught and thrown back at your attacker?

 

[FlowersisBritish]

How is 5e in general? I tried it once but didn't really get a feel for how it was different from 3.5

 

[Megalosaro]

It's great. There are rules for rewarding roleplaying now.
I kind of want to take it a step further and punish bad roleplaying.

 

[AkelisRain]

.

 

[Deified Data]

It's great. There are rules for rewarding roleplaying now.
I kind of want to take it a step further and punish bad roleplaying.

How so? That sounds awesome.

 

[Megalosaro]

Basically the players include two personality traits, an ideal, something they are attached to(called a bond) and a personality flaw.

If a player does well in role playing, the dm can award a player something called an inspiration. The player can use that inspiration to get something called an adavantage.

When the player has advantage, the role the d20 twice during an attack roll, saving throw or ability check. They then select the higher roll.

That is how they handle situational modifers now too.

One of the things I worry about is that I was going too soft on my pcs. I would purposely attack characters with higher ac or hp if I thought an attack could down a character.

How do you get around that.

 

[Mike M]

Roll a d6 to randomly decide who a creature will attack?

 

[Jest Chillin]

The way that I've seen it done is... Enemies usually attack the nearest threat that isn't already being attacked. If all targets are being attacked, they'll attack the nearest threat anyways. If there's more than one threat an equal distance to the enemy, then the DM rolls to see which threat the enemy will attack.

 

[KittenMaster]

If your DM allows it, usually being able to resurrect a character is a costly (but after a certain point, affordable) service temples can provide.

And yes. Enemies usually do attack the closest target, though if you're running enemies that are smart enough, then they can have reasons to gang up on a player (for example a barbarian with lighter, less-protective armor, a character that is enlarged, or an easily identifiable spellcaster on the field, characters that might have less cover, etc).

 

[Deified Data]

Basically the players include two personality traits, an ideal, something they are attached to(called a bond) and a personality flaw.

If a player does well in role playing, the dm can award a player something called an inspiration. The player can use that inspiration to get something called an adavantage.

When the player has advantage, the role the d20 twice during an attack roll, saving throw or ability check. They then select the higher roll.

That is how they handle situational modifers now too.

One of the things I worry about is that I was going too soft on my pcs. I would purposely attack characters with higher ac or hp if I thought an attack could down a character.

How do you get around that.

Oh, I was curious about how you plan to punish bad roleplaying actually.

 

[Megalosaro]

Oh, basically do something similar, but with disadvantages instead

 

[Deified Data]

Anyone want to help with a 5e question?

How many magic stat-raising items can one character equip at one time? Say you have a ring of dex+1 and an amulet of dex+1 - does this amount to having dex+2 or can you only apply that bonus once?

I had a friend more experienced with D&D say that you can only count it once so stats don't exceed 20, but in the campaign I'm currently playing in I've got magic items out the wazoo. Does it really matter if they stack so long as they don't exceed 20?

 

[Keru_Shiri]

Anyone want to help with a 5e question?

How many magic stat-raising items can one character equip at one time? Say you have a ring of dex+1 and an amulet of dex+1 - does this amount to having dex+2 or can you only apply that bonus once?

I had a friend more experienced with D&D say that you can only count it once so stats don't exceed 20, but in the campaign I'm currently playing in I've got magic items out the wazoo. Does it really matter if they stack so long as they don't exceed 20?

Most such Magic items require attunement, and you're limited to having 3 items attuned to you at a time.

 

[Mike M]

Anyone want to help with a 5e question?

How many magic stat-raising items can one character equip at one time? Say you have a ring of dex+1 and an amulet of dex+1 - does this amount to having dex+2 or can you only apply that bonus once?

I had a friend more experienced with D&D say that you can only count it once so stats don't exceed 20, but in the campaign I'm currently playing in I've got magic items out the wazoo. Does it really matter if they stack so long as they don't exceed 20?

Bonuses don't stack, but I'm almost certain it allows you to exceed 20 (Your base stat can't exceed 20, however). Furthermore, you can only be attuned to three wondrous items at a time in 5e, but I don't know if stuff that only has a +1 bonus would require attunement.

 

[Deified Data]

Bonuses don't stack, but I'm almost certain it allows you to exceed 20 (Your base stat can't exceed 20, however). Furthermore, you can only be attuned to three wondrous items at a time in 5e, but I don't know if stuff that only has a +1 bonus would require attunement.

Yeah, most of the "magic items" we've received so far have been the equivalent of baubles, nothing I'd call "wondrous". I can see this is sort of a grey area. I just don't want to be unbalanced.

So stats can exceed 20 with the use of items, but you can only attune 3.

 

[Megalosaro]

I was at my parents house today and i was going through my old core rule books for 3e. Specifically the Monster Manuals.

God damn does 5e blow them out of the water. The artwork in general is much better in 5e (and definitely better than 4e), but also the monster descriptions and lore is MUCH better written in 5e. It's just an all around better product.

 

[Deified Data]

Note to self: three seven-hour gaming sessions a week is a tad too much. But the friend who introduces you to D&D doesn't roll back into town every week. Not burnt out but I'd still rather take it a bit slower. It was funny to see that I knew more about the game than him at this point.

I was at my parents house today and i was going through my old core rule books for 3e. Specifically the Monster Manuals.

God damn does 5e blow them out of the water. The artwork in general is much better in 5e (and definitely better than 4e), but also the monster descriptions and lore is MUCH better written in 5e. It's just an all around better product.

Haven't played any edition before 5th but I agree that it's extremely intuitive.

 

[Kieli]

Anyone know what's the minimum recommended players for a session of D&D/Pathfinder, etc.

I heard 1 DM + 4 PCs, but I can't assemble such a big group on a reliable basis.

 

[KittenMaster]

Technically the absolute bare minimum is 1 DM and 1 Player.

If you can't get more than two players, you can have them control more than one character to allow them to play in encounters meant for 4 players, or nerf the encounters to be doable with two or one character(s).

 

[Jackben]

1 person minimum: they can be the DM and a solo player.

Spoiler

 

[KittenMaster]

1 person minimum: they can be the DM and a solo player.

Spoiler

I wonder if there's anyone that actually did that. I'd watch a YouTube series of it if so.

 

[Deified Data]

I wonder if there's anyone that actually did that. I'd watch a YouTube series of it if so.

WASD20 did a series of tutorial videos in which he did just this, but that was clearly just so he could explain the action from both sides.

 

[Megalosaro]

Oh hey, Wizards just released unearthed arcana for psionics.

http://dnd.wizards.com/sites/default/files/media/upload/articles/Psionics.pdf

 

[embalm]

Reaper Miniatures just started their Bones 3 Kickstarter. It always ends up being a great deal, so I'm in for another couple hundred miniatures.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1513061270/reaper-miniatures-bones-3-the-search-for-mr-bones/

 

[Keasar]

Reaper Miniatures just started their Bones 3 Kickstarter. It always ends up being a great deal, so I'm in for another couple hundred miniatures.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1513061270/reaper-miniatures-bones-3-the-search-for-mr-bones/

Only 18 days? That's a very short time. Wasn't the earlier ones 30 days each?

 

[Mistouze]

When your GM sends you an in-fiction mail for your Shadowrun campaign.

 

[embalm]

Only 18 days? That's a very short time. Wasn't the earlier ones 30 days each?

It is shorter, but holy crap are they loading up some good stuff in the basic package.

• An army of Lizardmen
• 3 of the most badass lycanthrop minis I've ever seen
• Invisible Heroes (these are crazy expensive anywhere else
• 3 totally kickass ogres
• Orcs, Goblins, and Yetis for all your basic encounters

I'm probably down for the Frost Giants & Viridius also.

 

[Deified Data]

Current DM is getting burnt out and someone else is taking the reins for a session or two, and everyone's hitting the wikis for the most twinked out build they can find. I feel like I'm the only one who enjoys playing with more balanced, grounded characters and I'd feel like a dick saying anything about it.

We'll see how it goes. Maybe my only choice is to adapt.

 

[embalm]

Current DM is getting burnt out and someone else is taking the reins for a session or two, and everyone's hitting the wikis for the most twinked out build they can find. I feel like I'm the only one who enjoys playing with more balanced, grounded characters and I'd feel like a dick saying anything about it.

We'll see how it goes. Maybe my only choice is to adapt.

You may want to mention it to the new DM. If he hasn't DMed before it can be really hard to prepare something for powered out characters. Even an email to the other players suggesting you try out some classic or pure classes for the new guy could go a long way in grounding everyone.

 

[Deified Data]

Devising a one-shot adventure for our group's main campaign.

Basically our band of adventurers, who have been contracted by a merchants' guild for the past few sessions, are instructed to enter the sewer that was the site of their first dungeon crawl (quelling a crocagator infestation, FYI) - this time, however, they're tasked with clearing a blockage that threatens to flood the surrounding lowlands if it's not resolved before the next tidal event.

The blockage is a colossal Dragon Turtle that has been lodged in the sewers for years, with a small community of semi-peaceful Sahuagin growing around it, worshiping and tending it in the darkest, most ancient reaches of the sewer. I plan for the party's first encounter with the dragon to be a damp, clammy wall that suddenly starts heaving with life when investigated.

If anyone happens to know Draconic, they might speak to the Dragon to find that it's seething with hate and will likely wreak devastation on the Sahuagin and the city above if freed, The party will be faced with the dilemma of flooding the surrounding lowlands or letting a dangerous monster run free.

That's a pretty bare-bones summary, I plan on adding a couple more hooks.

 

[Jackben]

That sounds like an awesome plot. I'm curious about how the dragon turtle got there in the first place.

And I dislike twinking. To be honest the actual combat mechanics and dice play often bore me beyond determining the relative success or failure of a character's actions. I don't see PnP games as something to "win".

 

[embalm]

Some people in the Reaper Bones 3 Kickstarter comments have posted some links to miniature that will probably be released as later stretch goals. They were previewed at Reapercon this year and most of the miniatures in the pictures are already part of the kickstarter.

http://imgur.com/a/vofW6/noscript

 

[Deified Data]

Any good D&D or general RPG podcasts you guys would recommend?

 

[Megalosaro]

Critical Role is pretty great

 

[Jest Chillin]

Any good D&D or general RPG podcasts you guys would recommend?

I've just started delving into the world of D&D Podcasts myself and so far I've tried:

Nerd Poker
Drunks and Dragons
Crit Juice
The Adventure Zone
Godsfall

For all of these shows I started at the very first episode, so they could very well have changed later on.

Nerd Poker is Brian Posehn's DnD podcast. Him and a few friends that are mostly comedians/comedic writers. It was.. ok. Only got through 1 or 2 episodes. Didn't grab me.

Drunks and Dragons is another that only lasted about an ep. Don't remember much of it despite only trying it a couple weeks ago. Though it didn't grab me, I should give it another shot.

Crit Juice features a huge party of actors and comedians and they drink everytime they crit roll. Was very loud, lots of talking over each other and was hard for me to get into. Another one that lasted one episode for me.

The Adventure Zone is a "family" game of DnD and by "family" I mean the players and DM are all related, not that it's family friendly at all. Very casual application of the rules, focused more on having fun than anything else and very light approach. Just started this one today and only listened to 2 eps but it's hilarious and I'm sticking with it.

Godsfall is a homebrew 5e campaign whose world is an original one rather than a DnD one. The first episode was extremely dry as it's entirely world description starting from "In the beginning, there were Two Gods and they created the Universe..." I mean it seriously was like the opening to The Silmarillion for like 45 minutes. BUT the second episode picked up quite nicely introducing the first of the 4 party members and having him play through a solo introduction quest/story. Really liked this one despite the drawl that was the first ep. Sticking with it.

Not-Podcasts:

Critical Role
The Heroes of Awesome
Various ItmeJP Campaigns (RollPlay)
Acquisitions Inc


Critical Role is a who's who of VA Talent. Seriously, the members of the cast on this show have been in or Directed like.. everything animated or video game. The DM, Matt Mercer's very first VA role was in the English Dub of Akira. Yeah, they go that deep. Very good mix of drama and light heartedness and Mercer as a DM does an incredible job both behind the screen as well as narrating, creating an incredible atmosphere. The one downside is due to the large party (8 players) they can take a lot of table talk time up in deciding how they're going to approach certain encounters. My favorite DnD gameplay-media at the moment.

The Heroes of Awesome is a somewhat short 4e campaign with a party of completely new players to the game. This one actually is safe for the family (one of the players is like 11 or 12 so the rest of the group keeps things PG for her sake) and is fairly entertaining. Really good at look at how completely new players approach the various problems presented to them. I watch it occasionally.

RollPlay ItmeJP is a Twitch streamer/Youtube personality who has been hosting/recording DnD and various other PnP RPG games for a few years now. His guests are primarily other Twitch Streamers and Twitch Staff and he has about 3 different DM's for the various shows he does. The shows are hit and miss for me personally but a lot of people enjoy them.

Acquisitions Inc is probably the most famous game of DnD on the internet. It's been running since around 2008 and is a collaboration between Penny Arcade and Wizards of the Coast. DM'd by Chris Perkins, starring Jerry "Tycho" Holkins, Mike "Gabe" Krahulik, Scott Kurtz, and a rotating cast of "interns" (Wil Wheaton, Patrick Rothfuss, and Morgan Webb thus far). This one is actually a mix of Podcasts and Twitch/Youtube sessions and is incredibly entertaining.

Edit:

Actually forgot about a Non-DnD show that I've really enjoyed thus far....

Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana: TitansGrave was Co-Created by Wil Wheaton and Green Ronin Publishing and uses Green Ronin's Fantasy AGE system, which is similar to it's Dragon Age system. The show itself stars Wil Wheaton as DM with Hank Green, Alison Haislip, Yuri Lowenthal, and Laura Bailey as players. Really fun and mostly light-hearted show that focuses on story and roleplaying rather than mechanics. The players really get into the game and Wil does a great job of adapting to the players to co-create the story. It's heavily edited so there isn't a lot of table talk or downtime and as a result the show flows really well. The show is in progress now and I believe it will end up being about 8 episodes total.

 

[Mike M]

Nerd Poker kinda fell off a cliff when half the cast bailed due to other obligations. Dan and Steve are okay, but everything definitely got cruder and courser. Plus Blaine kinda sucks as a DM.

It's a sad affair that I like their off topic riffs more than the actual game : /

 

[Megalosaro]

Oh man.

So I was in a bit of a pickle tonight. Last minute two of my players cancelled.

Not wanting to continue our main story without the two, I threw together a quick side Quest for my sole player to do tonight. Worked out perfectly. Nothing too serious. Entered a demons lair. Made a pact to free it that tied with our main story.

 

[Deified Data]

The Heroes of Awesome is a somewhat short 4e campaign with a party of completely new players to the game. This one actually is safe for the family (one of the players is like 11 or 12 so the rest of the group keeps things PG for her sake) and is fairly entertaining. Really good at look at how completely new players approach the various problems presented to them. I watch it occasionally.

These guys are still going, right? They switched from 4e to 5e about halfway through. Their latest video came out on the 27th of June.

 

[Jest Chillin]

These guys are still going, right? They switched from 4e to 5e about halfway through. Their latest video came out on the 27th of June.

I thought it had finished just from looking at the dates of the early videos and the small amount of videos overall but I guess they haven't. I haven't gotten to the 5e switch yet.

 

[Deified Data]

I thought it had finished just from looking at the dates of the early videos and the small amount of videos overall but I guess they haven't. I haven't gotten to the 5e switch yet.

Keep watching! Great group.

 

[Jackben]

Oh man.

So I was in a bit of a pickle tonight. Last minute two of my players cancelled.

Not wanting to continue our main story without the two, I threw together a quick side Quest for my sole player to do tonight. Worked out perfectly. Nothing too serious. Entered a demons lair. Made a pact to free it that tied with our main story.

Nice improvisation! I bet your players appreciate a DM who can think on his feet and make things fun even when the unexpected happens.

 

[Reishiki]

Oh hey, a PnP OT, I'll have to sub to this.

I'm not huge on D&D-style fantasy, but I do love me some GIANT ROBOTS PnP.

 

[Gazoinks]

Any good D&D or general RPG podcasts you guys would recommend?

Friend of mine got me really into The Drunk and The Ugly, who do actual plays of all kinds of systems, generally more indie stuff, no D&D. Their Mrs. Frieda's campaign is as great as it is ridiculously long.

SEGUE

Anyone here into indie RPGs? I've played enough D&D/Pathfinder that I'm a bit bored of it. Been playing a lot of Monsters and Other Childish things, along with some Little Fears, Wild Talents, Maid, and Fate. I've really come to love systems like Monsters and LF that are pretty rules light, and very roleplay-centered.

Current ongoing games with my Skype group:
-South Coast Academy: Our main Monsters and Other Childish Things game about several kids at a government-run school for kids with powers getting up to a bunch of supernatural drama.
-Road Trip: A lengthy Monsters and Other Childish Things module I'm running. Great way of getting introduced to the system, by the way. One of the best modules I've read.
-Beyond the Clouds: Eastern fantasy-inspired Pathfinder campaign about a world of floating islands and searching for life after our home was destroyed. My character in this game is anti-minmaxed to be nearly useless and it's great. No really.
-Little Fears: I don't think this one has a name. Just started it. Me, another player, and some NPCs get trapped in a hotel. Little Fears things happen.

...we play a lot of games.

 

[Megalosaro]

Oh hey, a PnP OT, I'll have to sub to this.

I'm not huge on D&D-style fantasy, but I do love me some GIANT ROBOTS PnP.

Oh man. You gotta tell me what the fuck that is. I love me some mecha.

 

[Gazoinks]

Oh man. You gotta tell me what the fuck that is. I love me some mecha.

One of these days I'm going to play Cthulhu Tech and it will be glorious.

 

[Reishiki]

Oh man. You gotta tell me what the fuck that is. I love me some mecha.

I've run two successful Mekton Zeta campaigns using my own settings, the first a more "classic" Gundam/SRW-esque real robot affair, the second was something closer to Vision of Escaflowne.

Mekton Zeta as a system is Byzantine in complexity, and tended to drive me up the wall as a GM. I stuck with it for quite a while as I couldn't find anything to replace it, and my players were familiar with Cyberpunk 2020 (done by the same writers), and used some of the same mechanics.

My current giant robots game is using the Battle Century G ruleset, adapted from the 4chan homebrew system Giant Guardian Generation. It's a heck of a lot more simple than Mekton, so less GM headaches.

 

[Deified Data]

I'm doing a quick mock-up of my interpretation of a Lizardfolk player race for 5e and I'm stuck on balancing his traits.

• Slow Metabolism: The Lizardfolk's slow metabolism enables it to hold its breath and still its heart for 15 minutes.
• Swamp Dweller: Born to hunt in the jungles and swamps, Lizardfolk do not suffer difficult terrain penalties in swamp or jungle terrain.
• Territorial: Xenophobic and territorial to a fault, Lizardfolk never miss a chance to defend their claim, gaining an advantage to attacks of opportunity.
• Scaly Hide: The tough scales of a Lizardfolk's hide deflect blades, granting resistance to slash damage.
• Bite: The Lizardfolk engages its prey the first way it learned how, with bared fangs. Use an action to employ a 1d6 bite attack that segues into a chance to grapple.
• Cold Blooded: The cold-blooded metabolism of the Lizardfolk slows in frigid temperatures. When exposed to bitterly cold temperatures for 5 hours or more, Lizardfolk speed is halved.

...now obviously I don't intend to use them all, but I was hoping one of you could give your input on which ones you'd select or perhaps how to balance certain traits. For example I was thinking of adding cold vulnerability to Cold Blooded.

 

[Tzeentch]

One of these days I'm going to play Cthulhu Tech and it will be glorious.

The rules are pretty damn garbage, but the overall setting is awesome. Great art, too. Damn shame they got jerked around by publishers pretty bad.

 

[dude]

Anyone here into indie RPGs? I've played enough D&D/Pathfinder that I'm a bit bored of it. Been playing a lot of Monsters and Other Childish things, along with some Little Fears, Wild Talents, Maid, and Fate. I've really come to love systems like Monsters and LF that are pretty rules light, and very roleplay-centered.

Our group is really into indie games. We've played a lot of them. Right now we're setting up a new Burning Wheel campaign. We're a very role-play centered group.
I'm really with you in the rules-light department. But I've come to realize not all system should be rules light. Light weight system tend to cause too much abstraction, and to hurt player-character connection and immersion. This is not always bad, but they have a very different feel and play style. Stuff like Primetime Adventures can't be run with the same immersion as a grim dungeon crawl.

 

[Deified Data]

Oh boy, the regular D&D group can't get together this weekend so someone wants to try out Shadowrun. What am I in for?