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Dungeons and Dragons Megathread

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Morphic Tide said:
You know, I was going to make a table of hit rates for consecutive iteratives based on the relative numbers of attack bonus and target AC, then give the needed percentile damage advantage to break even on actual damage dealt. Guess I'll do that in a few hours, when I have access to my graphing calculator.

Also, did they remove crit confirmation in PF and make a nat 20 automatically crit? Because I distinctly recall critical confirmation being a thing.
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Congratulations, you found the mistake. I didn't include crit confirmation, even though it's pretty easy:
You take your normal damage (say, 40), take 5% of that (so, 2), then multiply your extra critical damage (say, another 40) and multiply that by the full chance to hit (including another rolled 20), so up to 95% and add that (so with, say, 70%, you add 28).
Then you do the thing for your normal hit chance (each one on a D20 is 5%, add that together for every number that sufficies for a hit, remember to substract 5% for that natural 20 which you already calculated). If you want it easy, you already calculated what 5% of your average damage is, simply multiply that by the amount of numbers-1 that suffice for a hit.

I left crit-confirmation out for now because I was lazy, because it doesn't affect DPR that much unless you go crit-fishing, and because for the purpose of showing that full attacks do more average damage it just doesn't affect the outcome much.
 
Alright so I have been going over a lot of Dragon information recently.

Two ideas have occurred to me.

1. How would one go about making Eastern Dragons that are not "Spirits" like the Lung Dragons, but True Dragons instead?

I am thinking that they could still become spirits bound to the Land they live in, but that would be a path that can only be taken by Ancient and older Dragons.

These Dragons would be based on the landscape in which they dwell. Since five seems to be the standard number of Dragons Races to start with other then River/Ocean Dragons what other four landscapes would be best used for this new breed?

2. Gem Dragons are always some form of Neutral and would serve as a good counterbalance to the Metallics and Chromatics.

But I don't want to bring the whole Psionics thing into the story, especially since the rules for Psionics are still being worked on in 5E.

Thankfully Non Psionic Gem Dragons do exist, and were in fact the original form introduced in Mystara.

What sets the Mystaran Gem Dragons apart aside from lacking Psionics and using Arcane Spells is that their Breath Weapons are Two Stage, with a Primary Effect, and a Secondary Effect.

Like how Ruby Dragons breathe a wave of heat, and if you fail a saving throw all of your items catch on Magical Fire.

So I am considering doing an expanded "Mystic Gem Dragons" Revamp.

I am thinking of going with Emerald, Sapphire, Ruby (Mystaran Inspired), Amethyst and Topaz.

The Neutral Dragon God would be a Unique Diamond Dragon.

What bits from the 3.5 Gem Dragons should I keep and what shouldn't I?
 
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Responding to some older stuff!

Q99 said:
Pathfinder has two books on the Darklands, their Underdark.

Into the Darklands is the general guide, Darklands Revisited covers a variety of the species there. I can't provide much detail since I don't have them yet.

Mystic Realms has, among its multiple areas, some underground ones. I'll post more on those later.
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I have Into the Darklands now and I haven't read through the whole thing, but even from what I've read it seems a pretty good one. Especially in the upper areas the Darklands is split up into a variety of realms, so it's huge but there's also not exactly a 'one underdark'. One part of the Darklands can be very different from another.


Q99 said:
Speaking of Paizo forums, there's two games I've applied to in the not-yet-ready-to-start stage.

One had a couple weeks of an interest check/seeing what people would want from it, then a month long recruitment thread, and now recruitment is closed but people still have time to actually make the sheets and such, and then once that's done it'll be looking at characters one-by-one time.

The other, the DM looked to find potential players on their own for an AP game (Strange Aeons), got them into the thread, asked people to submit characters, and is now at "ok, whenever everyone's ready polishing things off." One week.

My experience says the first one is either going to be awesome because of all the effort put into it or get slogged down with slow pacing and not really go anywhere. The second one is probably going to start shortly and run reliably.
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The first one is *finally* getting started (and I got in the character select process, obviously.

Another game which starts with me doing no less ^^
 
Yeah, I rather like the Pathfinder Darklands. Though to be fair, the Underdark in FR is actually split into multiple layers as well its just not generally brought up when people talk about. Still, the very different environments you can find in the Dark Lands, especially in the very lowest levels in the small pocket dimension 'vaults' sound rather interesting to read about.

So far the Darklands books IIRC are

* Inner Sea World Guide has a few pages on them
* Into the Darklands
* Darklands Revisited
* Heroes of the Darkland (Player Companion. Some interesting stuff here)
 
Does anyone remember the name of that RPG Setting wherein the moon was destroyed?

I don't think it was DnD, and I can't remember much about it.

But since Speculation on Post Apocalyptic DnD settings is a fun thing to do I think that would be a good place to start.

So here is the idea.

And Elder Evil awakens and causes widespread damage to the surrounding area, and the Goddess of the Moon descends to stop it.

She succeeds and utterly removes all trace of the Elder Evil from the Plane, but dies in the process.

The Moon is thus nearly destroyed, leaving only 35% of it's mass in orbit forming a crescent shape with what looks like the broken remains of a jaw clinging to the bottom.

A rain of debris and Lunar Magical Energy causes Arcane, Divine and Primal Magic to run out of control, and unleash storms of Wild Magic for a century, which combined with the rain of orbital debris and the effects of the Moon's near destruction cause a catastrophe which basically ends most civilizations on the Surface.

After the chaos has subsided a century later rumors abound of a "Moon Child" the reincarnation of the dead Moon Goddess who can restore the Moon and the World to what it once was.

The Major Villain would be a mad would be God of Wild Magic who lives in the "Weird Storm" the last remaining Wild Magic Storm, which is anchored over a site where large amounts of debris from the Moon's core fell and dot the land as silver crystals.

So how does that sound for Post Apocalyptic DnD?
 
Bel said:
Yeah, I rather like the Pathfinder Darklands. Though to be fair, the Underdark in FR is actually split into multiple layers as well its just not generally brought up when people talk about. Still, the very different environments you can find in the Dark Lands, especially in the very lowest levels in the small pocket dimension 'vaults' sound rather interesting to read about.
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I assume the FR Underdark is pretty interesting but I never got that into it beyond reading a Drizzit book or two, so mostly just the Dark Elf parts.

Into the Darklands, it pretty much starts specifically with this and then begins outlining the different entrances to the place/how to get there (including a now-orc controlled dwarf made fortress that has had no problems from beneath their gate for some times so they assume it's safe and the occasional tremor they get is keeping underground inhabitants away... not realizing a colony of Rust Monsters is eating away at it's metal foundations and that's what the tremors are, yikes!).

Mythic Realms covers a particular high-level Darklands realm. Dragon Empires has an elven kingdom who's people just traveled through the darklands all the way to another continent (and losing people along the way who became the Drow). Most of the mentions of the Darklands are specific realms and paths and stuff rather than just 'the darklands,' which is neat.
 
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The Imperator said:
Are these spells all balanced against each other? CR doesn't matter, I can just moderate encounters more.

How balanced are all those compared to each other?
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Repulsion/antilife shell are zoning spells, and as such really useful in games where the DM likes clever tactics, and not so much in games where the DM likes slugfests.

Overall, I'm okay with rating repulsion about par with blade Barrier. I'd actually put ALS above them, as it is a fiat effect, but it's close enough that id consider it being acceptable as an equivalent.

Dust form is a useful mobility/puzzle bypassig tool and not quite as good as ethereal jaunt. Putting it par with repulsion seems okay.

Particulate for actually kinds sucks for a ~6th level effect. Its healing is minor, and it's a situational defense against sneak attack or bleed using foes. It's definitely down a level from the other stuff.

Holy Aura is also vastly overcosted. It;s bonuses tend to overlap rather than stack with most easy sources of bonuses to the same stats, it's SR is basically "on rare occasion you might get lucky and avoid something" at the level you can access this effect and basically not worth reckoning on in a general assessment. The blind effect is not terrible, but again, by the level you'd even remotely have any access to this effect, it's kinda meh even without being as situational as it is.

So yeah, most of these are decently balanced against each other, but Holy Aura just sucks in general and Particulate is basically only good as a prebuff against sneak attacks and bleed.


Morphic Tide said:
...and was not brought up at all in the conversation I had on this thread outside me working it out. Several people started that Full Attacks are just better than Vital Strike, while I was pointing out things I thought represented edge cases where it's better than Full Attacks. And then I got numbers shown to me and countered with numbers of my own.
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Except if you push optimization for damage, it's not even hard for you to get average per round damage to "more damage than 98% of things have HP."

So I think @AuraTwilight has the right of it. Who cares?

Also, there are a lot of riders (status inflicts, marking, push) you can append to attacks, and those are generally per hit, so FA wins out on that. Those are actually tactical and fun-adding, and thus more interesting than just damage.
 
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"Random Tea Generator?"
Tea Generator

Well, this could be useful, maybe.
More so in an Eberron campaign, or with a somewhat more "modern" setting.
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Random Plant Generator
Random Poison and Drug Generator
Random Food Generator
Random Disease and Cure Generator
Disease Cross-Infection Generator
How Was Your Day Generator
Cowboypunk's Random Generators!
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"What makes a Knight?"

Huh.
Okay, this might be slightly more useful than the Tea Generator.
Although they look like they could be used in the same setting.
 
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What are some Ex abilities that go well with a Dex-based melee combatant?

I was going to allow them the ability to roll their perform dance (they're a bard) as a parry action, but their Dex is high enough that when combined with the feats they've taken even rolling a 20 their perform dance isn't high enough to matter.

So I'm trying to think of another Ex-type ability, doesn't have to be an existing one, that allows them to do something thematic with movement and constant motion.
 
The Imperator said:
What are some Ex abilities that go well with a Dex-based melee combatant?
I was going to allow them the ability to roll their perform dance (they're a bard) as a parry action, but their Dex is high enough that when combined with the feats they've taken even rolling a 20 their perform dance isn't high enough to matter.
So I'm trying to think of another Ex-type ability, doesn't have to be an existing one, that allows them to do something thematic with movement and constant motion.
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Uncanny Dodge( and Improved) is the first thing that comes to mind.
As well as Evasion( and Improved).
 
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Take a look at the Devoted Muse. Now technically those abilities are all (Su), but there's zero reason they couldn't be (Ex) instead.

Generally, if you're making up rules, you could also do some other stuff:
- free combat maneuver/feint when moving around an opponent/through their space
- free Dazzling Display when taking a move action (or if you're using Panache or some-such resource, spend that instead). Possibly swift-action instead.
- as part of a full attack, circle around the opponent, ending your movement in any adjacent square without provoking AoOs, and give yourself flanking-bonuses
- move in an erratic manner, giving an enemies attacks a miss chance against you and your allies because you're just confusing them so much
 
Serafina said:
Take a look at the Devoted Muse. Now technically those abilities are all (Su), but there's zero reason they couldn't be (Ex) instead.

Generally, if you're making up rules, you could also do some other stuff:
- free combat maneuver/feint when moving around an opponent/through their space
- free Dazzling Display when taking a move action (or if you're using Panache or some-such resource, spend that instead). Possibly swift-action instead.
- as part of a full attack, circle around the opponent, ending your movement in any adjacent square without provoking AoOs, and give yourself flanking-bonuses
- move in an erratic manner, giving an enemies attacks a miss chance against you and your allies because you're just confusing them so much
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I really like the third idea. I'll have it be that as a Full-round action, they can make one attack at their highest BaB after rearranging where they are in relation to the target, as long as both places threaten the target.
 
The Imperator said:
I really like the third idea. I'll have it be that as a Full-round action, they can make one attack at their highest BaB after rearranging where they are in relation to the target, as long as both places threaten the target.
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Eeeh, that's basically just an auto-passed athletics-check. Even with flanking that's only +2 to attack unless the character also has sneak attack or other such abilities. Consider that you already have to be in melee range anyway, so you could instead just full-attack which is likely to be superior.

Instead, I'd just go with a full-round action that allows you to attack, move to any adjacent square, attack again, and get flanking on both attacks. Mabye a -2 penalty to the attacks, like from rapid shot or two-weapon fighting, but that's going to get canceled out by the +2 from flanking anyway.
That's two sneak attacks or similar effects, which is pretty decent.
Depending on what you want this for, you could also add a clause that allows a third attack if you're fighting with two weapons.
 
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Muhkat Lomorki Homebrew: Accelerator
  • Threadmarks
    • Idea for Class: Accelerator

    Traits
    Starting HP: 6+Constitution Bonus
    HD:d6+Constitutin Bonus
    Saving Throws: Dexterity, Wisdom
    Skills: Choose two from Acrobatics, Atheletics, Bluff, Deception, Perception, Stealth, or Sleight of Hand
    Weapon Proficiencies: Simple, Martial
    Armor: None
    Other Proficiencies and Languages: None
    Increased Speed: For every level in Accelerator, your land speed is increased by 5 feet.
    Blurry Dash: When dashing, enemies have disadvantage on hitting you.
    Unarmored Defense: Dexterity bonus for Armor Class is doubled when wearing no armor.
    Starting Equipment
    One martial weapon
    Dungeoneer's Kit
    2 daggers

    Any other ideas? Also, I hope this isn't OP for a character to have at first level as a class.
     
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    • Does anyone know a source for Old Castilian Spanish words? I'm trying to figure out what the Spanish title of the real world book the Picatrix would be, given it was written in southern Spain during the Reconquista and Spanish translations were known to exist. This is for my Pathfinder Strange Aeons game.
     
    The Imperator said:
    Does anyone know a source for Old Castilian Spanish words? I'm trying to figure out what the Spanish title of the real world book the Picatrix would be, given it was written in southern Spain during the Reconquista and Spanish translations were known to exist. This is for my Pathfinder Strange Aeons game.
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    What kind of campaign alteration needs you to know this? Or are you just trying to be fancy with your details?
     
    Morphic Tide said:
    What kind of campaign alteration needs you to know this? Or are you just trying to be fancy with your details?
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    The post-campaign Call of Cthulhu stuff. I'm also trying extra hard to tie stuff together through the AP, Call of Cthulhu post-campaign stuff, and then Pathfinder post-campaign stuff.

    So I wanted to drop this book's name, off hand, so when it came up in the CoC part of the Campaign, using the rules in the AP for a CoC/Pathfinder campaign, the players would be like "Oh, I know that name from somewhere."

    EDIT: I didn't want to use Latin, that's over done, and Arabic is already tied to the Necronomicon. Old Castilian sounded like a cool language no one uses. If I have to I'll use Catalan, simply because it's just different enough from French and Spanish that my players will think it's an old weird name.
     
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    Newbie DM, running his first D&D/Pathfinder game ever. (Prior experiences; Shitty Scion campaign, shitty Part Time Gods campaign, Short VTM campaign, short Werewolf the Apocalypse campaign, one shot All Flesh Must Be Eaten game.)

    Got a few questions for y'all;

    Making an undersea dungeon for my upcoming campaign.

    Closest thing to mobs i have is Deep Ones & their Hybrids vs Skum.

    The dungeon is a Halfling palace that sank to the bottom of the ocean as part of a curse apon the King and his subjects. However, most of the palace is air pockets due to luck and magic. Think BioShock but medieval.

    Aside from Deep Ones and Skum having a turf war. What would be a good set of monsters to throw at my players and their band of Level 10s?

    Whats the opinion of having bosses and sub bosses in dungeons? Too vidya?

    What do you guys think about underwater dungeons and such?

    Thanks in advance.
     
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