Dungeons and Dragons Megathread

Because I do like uncertainty for purposes of tension. I'm not trying to minimize randomness in abstract, I'm just trying to move it over to the place where I actually find it interesting.
You can decide to not ask for skill rolls unless the results would actually be interesting without also needing to remove proficiency bonuses. One is reducing the players' opportunities to fail, the other is taking away the players' ability to succeed and the meaning of their character choices.
 
The difference between automatically failing on a 1 and bounded accuracy is splitting hairs the vast majority of the time, so he's mostly not wrong on that point.
 

EDIT: Oh god. I just realized how that can be construed.

DM wanted us to passionately hate Strahd, so he had him mind control us into essentially torturing someone to death and remembering it afterwards. A while after we learned what we had been up to for the past twelve hours we realized, oh yeah...that was really rapey. GM is gonna retcon it to us 'just' killing her.

Honestly we killed someone, that's more then enough.
 
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How bad is Curse of Strahd (for 5E)?

A friend asked if I wanted to join in if she were to run it, and the quick elevator pitch didn't exactly drag me in (phrases like "Gothic horror" and "awesomely creepy atmosphere" isn't exactly what I'm looking for in RPGs, quite the opposite even). That said, it would be nice to get another game in, and get to try out 5E, and I suspect she just gave me the back of the box blurb, which may or may not be what it actually offer, so...

How enjoyable can it be, how prevalent are those "gothic horror" and "creepy atmosphere" bits?
 
Curse of Strahd... I've never played it myself but it is a 5e conversion of what is considered one of the greatest dnd modules of all time.
 
I've yet to finish Curse of Strahd but I haven't liked it much. Maybe more a case of the other players doing stupid shit that screw over the party and the DM just not being that great at running it than the actual module itself for me though.

Legitmiately believe that the party ended up worse off because the DM fudged the dice to not outright kill one of the party than if he hadn't because of the stupid shit he pulled.
 
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Oh then that's not CoS fault, that's just your group being shit.

Pretty much an actual moment if the campaign:

"I want to to kill the Mad Mage since he almost killed me outright".

As we encounter him for the first time. And his ch character has never killed anyone and freaked out at seeing mine kill people.

Me: :facepalm:
 
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Okay need a good substitute for Shadow Sorcerer's 6th Level Hound of Ill Omen.

Thematically the Character in question is supposed to have grown up isolated due to accessing their Sorcerer Powers at a young age, and removing the possibility of them having a "companion" in the form of the Hound is going to be important to that.

So what would be a good Shadow Themed alternative?

I am thinking an "Evil Eye" which gives the target Disadvantage on Saving Throws. The Shadow Sorcerer can also change which Attribute a Saving Throw is, like for example a Wisdom Throw could be changed to a a Strength Throw. This would require 3 Sorcery Points and in either form can only be used a number of times per day equal to the Sorcerer's Charisma Modifier. Range however is limited to 30 feet so as not to be to OP.

I think that is a pretty good tradeoff, but what are some good alternatives?
 
Advantage is nice in that it reduced the odds of a low roll screwing you over, but it doesn't actually increase the average result by that much (from 10.5 to 13.825)
Ahh, you're right - I've been thinking of the middle section of the distribution as twice the size of the others, completely without realizing. Whoops! That does indeed decrease it's value.
You can decide to not ask for skill rolls unless the results would actually be interesting without also needing to remove proficiency bonuses. One is reducing the players' opportunities to fail, the other is taking away the players' ability to succeed and the meaning of their character choices.
Ability to succeed due to their build choices, you mean? There's definitely still some of that, although it is reduced.
Okay need a good substitute for Shadow Sorcerer's 6th Level Hound of Ill Omen.

Thematically the Character in question is supposed to have grown up isolated due to accessing their Sorcerer Powers at a young age, and removing the possibility of them having a "companion" in the form of the Hound is going to be important to that.

So what would be a good Shadow Themed alternative?

I am thinking an "Evil Eye" which gives the target Disadvantage on Saving Throws. The Shadow Sorcerer can also change which Attribute a Saving Throw is, like for example a Wisdom Throw could be changed to a a Strength Throw. This would require 3 Sorcery Points and in either form can only be used a number of times per day equal to the Sorcerer's Charisma Modifier. Range however is limited to 30 feet so as not to be to OP.

I think that is a pretty good tradeoff, but what are some good alternatives?
Well, obvious options are earlier teleportation - the monk version, for example - or maybe something else from the Shadow Monk subclass.
Alternately, you could refluff the Hound as this character's prehensile shadow, physically animated but not independently intelligent. I take it they never summoned a Familiar, either?
 
The Character's Magical Education is extremely limited, they had to figure things out for themselves and due to personal issues never realized taking a Familiar was a possibility.

Magic for Sorcerers seems more "personal choice" in universe as to what they develop combined with Bloodline/Archetype Inclinations, so since no one ever explained things to them early on they basically "figured things out as they went" through experimentation and they again never thought of Familiars as they did not realize it was a possibility for them.

This left them Vulnerable when they did eventually meet another Sorcerer who took them in as a Mentor, and that soured their disposition even further as said Mentor used them as a proxy for quick money making schemes alongside the local Thieves Guild. By the time the party meets them they have become very withdrawn, but the party still needs their help. The Mentor died during one of his schemes to steal something from an old ruin and the Shadow Sorcerer is needed as they inherited the Mentor's stuff by default, including half completed maps and knowledge of said ruin which the Party needs to get something from.

The Shadow Sorcerer demands to go with them and get a share of the treasure, and the Thieves Guild showing up claiming "debts" from the Mentor is what drives them to join the party after they save the Shadow Sorcerer. It's a take on classic tropes, but with some surprises down the road in terms of character development.
 
Sounds good. Do you need any more help?

Well on the subject of how a Sorcerer "develops" their Spells what are people's opinions?

There was an alternate rule that they can at times "learn" Arcane Spells from Scrolls and Spellbooks in place of their Normal List by studying them or a time before Leveling Up, but I don't think much has been done with that.

But how does training, their bloodline, and their own personal desires match up with what Spells they learn how to cast? And going by Pathfinder Rules of "forgetting an learning new Spells" for 2 Days per level of Meditation how do they go about choosing what Spells they get when they "reroll"?

Do they have to see a Spell in Action or learn of it from another source if it is not easily tied into their Bloodline/Archetype? How much of "what they want" goes into the spell or is it random?

Lore questions like these would be very fun to explore when playing a Sorcerer.

Also here are some little items I made for Sorcerers in regards to this brainstorming and previous stuff.

Ring of Sorcerers:

A Magic Ring that can only be made by Sorcerers. Once attuned it functions much like a Rune Staff in allowing the Spellcaster to expend a Spell Slot to cast the spell held in the ring.

Lesser: stores one Level 1 Spell.
Ring of Sorcerers: stores a number of Spells whose levels total to 3.
Greater: stores a number of Spells whose levels total to 5.

Rings of Sorcerers are often exchanged among Sorcerers friendly with each other to expand their spell repertoire.

Ring of Cantrips: developed from the Ring of Sorcerers it allows Spellcasters who attune it to have one extra Cantrip. However due to the inherent versatility this represents such Rings are even more expensive then Rings of Greater Sorcery, easily reaching a price of 7000 GP in most cases. It is said the Gods of Magic intervened directly to prevent abuse of such power.

Especially since it effectively gives Magic Users who don't normally gain access to Cantrips, such as Paladins, access to them.

Due to the high price of such rings they are considered "expensive novelties" at best to mot Mages who despite the possibilities gaining an extra Cantrip would provide are generally more willing to spend their money on more powerful magic endeavors then a mere Cantrip.

Ring of Sorcery: like the Ring of Cantrips it was developed from the Ring of Sorcerers, and many joke that the original maker while brilliant in Magical Theory was very poor at naming things.

It allows a Sorcerer to store up to 7 Sorcery Points in the Ring once it is attuned, effectively increasing the number of Sorcery Points beyond their normal limit.

However as a downside it requires 2 Sorcery Points to create a single "Charge" for this Ring, so careful planning and preparation is needed for it's use. If a Sorcerer were to focus on charging this ring they might be caught unawares. Furthermore the Ring cannot hold Charges for long, losing one every 2 days. So while a valuable tool if used properly it is quite dangerous to rely on in practice.
 
Well on the subject of how a Sorcerer "develops" their Spells what are people's opinions?

There was an alternate rule that they can at times "learn" Arcane Spells from Scrolls and Spellbooks in place of their Normal List by studying them or a time before Leveling Up, but I don't think much has been done with that.

But how does training, their bloodline, and their own personal desires match up with what Spells they learn how to cast? And going by Pathfinder Rules of "forgetting an learning new Spells" for 2 Days per level of Meditation how do they go about choosing what Spells they get when they "reroll"?

Do they have to see a Spell in Action or learn of it from another source if it is not easily tied into their Bloodline/Archetype? How much of "what they want" goes into the spell or is it random?

Lore questions like these would be very fun to explore when playing a Sorcerer.

Also here are some little items I made for Sorcerers in regards to this brainstorming and previous stuff.

Ring of Sorcerers:

A Magic Ring that can only be made by Sorcerers. Once attuned it functions much like a Rune Staff in allowing the Spellcaster to expend a Spell Slot to cast the spell held in the ring.

Lesser: stores one Level 1 Spell.
Ring of Sorcerers: stores a number of Spells whose levels total to 3.
Greater: stores a number of Spells whose levels total to 5.

Rings of Sorcerers are often exchanged among Sorcerers friendly with each other to expand their spell repertoire.

Ring of Cantrips: developed from the Ring of Sorcerers it allows Spellcasters who attune it to have one extra Cantrip. However due to the inherent versatility this represents such Rings are even more expensive then Rings of Greater Sorcery, easily reaching a price of 7000 GP in most cases. It is said the Gods of Magic intervened directly to prevent abuse of such power.

Especially since it effectively gives Magic Users who don't normally gain access to Cantrips, such as Paladins, access to them.

Due to the high price of such rings they are considered "expensive novelties" at best to mot Mages who despite the possibilities gaining an extra Cantrip would provide are generally more willing to spend their money on more powerful magic endeavors then a mere Cantrip.

Ring of Sorcery: like the Ring of Cantrips it was developed from the Ring of Sorcerers, and many joke that the original maker while brilliant in Magical Theory was very poor at naming things.

It allows a Sorcerer to store up to 7 Sorcery Points in the Ring once it is attuned, effectively increasing the number of Sorcery Points beyond their normal limit.

However as a downside it requires 2 Sorcery Points to create a single "Charge" for this Ring, so careful planning and preparation is needed for it's use. If a Sorcerer were to focus on charging this ring they might be caught unawares. Furthermore the Ring cannot hold Charges for long, losing one every 2 days. So while a valuable tool if used properly it is quite dangerous to rely on in practice.
Ring of Sorcerers is redundant, since the Ring of Spell-Storing exists.
 
Ring of Sorcerers is redundant, since the Ring of Spell-Storing exists.

I think the Ring of Sorcerers is meant to have spell permanently infused into it, so it allows a Sorc to effectively expand their spells known list by one. That's different from Rings of Spell-Sorting (or at least the PF1E version), AFAIK.

I've got no clue how balanced the proposed rings are though. Is 7000 GP a lot of gold in 5E?
 
Perhaps the Sorcerer can gain the semi-incorporeal powers of a shadow?

Or spend Sorcery Points in place of Ki Points for the Shadow Monk's shadow step ability?
 
I think the Ring of Sorcerers is meant to have spell permanently infused into it, so it allows a Sorc to effectively expand their spells known list by one. That's different from Rings of Spell-Sorting (or at least the PF1E version), AFAIK.

I've got no clue how balanced the proposed rings are though. Is 7000 GP a lot of gold in 5E?
That's already an item in PF1E. The Ring of Spell Knowledge. Price depends on max level of spell to be stored (you can swap it with a scroll or another caster helping you)
 
That's already an item in PF1E. The Ring of Spell Knowledge. Price depends on max level of spell to be stored (you can swap it with a scroll or another caster helping you)

This is meant to be a "relatively" cheaper Ring made by Sorcerers only.

The idea is to have Sorcerers give them to other Sorcerers as a sign of friendship and helping each other, but in practice many abuse this trust when recruiting young Sorcerers as it is easier for a Sorcerer to make these rings then make a Ring of Spell Knowledge.

Furthermore they work a little differently in that barring the Lesser Version which only stores a single Level 1 Spell the other Versiosn hold a a single Spell or multiple Spells equal to the Rings "level".

So a Ring of Sorcery can hold 3 Level 1 Spells, a Level 1 and Level 2 Spell or a single Level 3 Spell. A Greater Ring of Sorcery increase this to 5. A such while cheaper and easier to make then a Ring of Spell Knowledge it can only hold up to a Level 5 Spell at best. This prevents the Sorcerer from having to many extra "heavy hitter" higher level Spells. So it is mean to be grant Sorcerers more spells but not break Balance to much. Remember there is a limit to how many Magic Items you can have attuned, and a few extra Lower Level Spells might not always be the best use of this.

The Ring of Cantrips developed from this had the Gods say "nope that is to OP, hit it with a Nerf" because given how Cantrips now increase with power according to Caster Level in 5E handing out extra ones, and giving them to Classes that normally don't have Cantrips can be rather Game Breaking. So they decided to make it expensive enough to make that lower level Adventurers can't easily get their hands on it.
 
This is meant to be a "relatively" cheaper Ring made by Sorcerers only.

The idea is to have Sorcerers give them to other Sorcerers as a sign of friendship and helping each other, but in practice many abuse this trust when recruiting young Sorcerers as it is easier for a Sorcerer to make these rings then make a Ring of Spell Knowledge.

Furthermore they work a little differently in that barring the Lesser Version which only stores a single Level 1 Spell the other Versiosn hold a a single Spell or multiple Spells equal to the Rings "level".

So a Ring of Sorcery can hold 3 Level 1 Spells, a Level 1 and Level 2 Spell or a single Level 3 Spell. A Greater Ring of Sorcery increase this to 5. A such while cheaper and easier to make then a Ring of Spell Knowledge it can only hold up to a Level 5 Spell at best. This prevents the Sorcerer from having to many extra "heavy hitter" higher level Spells. So it is mean to be grant Sorcerers more spells but not break Balance to much. Remember there is a limit to how many Magic Items you can have attuned, and a few extra Lower Level Spells might not always be the best use of this.

The Ring of Cantrips developed from this had the Gods say "nope that is to OP, hit it with a Nerf" because given how Cantrips now increase with power according to Caster Level in 5E handing out extra ones, and giving them to Classes that normally don't have Cantrips can be rather Game Breaking. So they decided to make it expensive enough to make that lower level Adventurers can't easily get their hands on it.

Your proposed Ring of Sorcerers is actually strong than PF1E's Ring of Spell Knowledge, so it shouldn't be relatively cheaper. The higher level Rings of Sorcerers can store multiple spells and the Greater Ring goes up to 5th level spells, while the Rings of Spell Knowledge can only store one spell each and max out at 4th level spells. I'm not seeing a 5E version of the Ring of Spell Knowledge, so all I've got to compare are the PF1E versions.

If you think the Ring of Cantrips is so powerful it would merit divine intervention, it's probably too strong to be a normal magic item (IMO). I'd suggest giving it some restriction, for example: only being usable by wearers of classes with access to the cantrip, having a maximum level it can cast the cantrip at, or having limited charges like wands. The other option is to leave its power intact, but make it a minor artifact (or something similar) so it can't be crafted by normal means.
 
PF1E question. Does anyone have favorite classes/archetypes for villains? I'm making several notable badies for some flashbacks, including two where the main GM is playing DMPC's on the party's side, so it's just me and the other assistant GM running the show.

Currently I've only got two new major villains planned: a mad scientist type (probably a wizard) and a half-dragon gargoyle bloodrager, who is the mad scientist's greatest creation & one of his favorite "children". A couple more of his creations could be cool, but I'm not sure what to make.
 
PF1E question. Does anyone have favorite classes/archetypes for villains? I'm making several notable badies for some flashbacks, including two where the main GM is playing DMPC's on the party's side, so it's just me and the other assistant GM running the show.

Currently I've only got two new major villains planned: a mad scientist type (probably a wizard) and a half-dragon gargoyle bloodrager, who is the mad scientist's greatest creation & one of his favorite "children". A couple more of his creations could be cool, but I'm not sure what to make.
For mad scientist type villains, I usually favor alchemist, since they do actual chemistry and throw bombs and drink mutagen and the like, which gives them more of a science flavor.

Beyond that it really depends on what the flavor of the baddie is supposed to be. You might check if they have a race-specific archetype in the Advanced Race Guide; when else are you going to get a chance to use those?

As a GM, I also personally prefer it when the BBEGs aren't primary spellcasters, because it means a lot more stuff I have to keep track of in the moment.
 
For mad scientist type villains, I usually favor alchemist, since they do actual chemistry and throw bombs and drink mutagen and the like, which gives them more of a science flavor.

Beyond that it really depends on what the flavor of the baddie is supposed to be. You might check if they have a race-specific archetype in the Advanced Race Guide; when else are you going to get a chance to use those?

As a GM, I also personally prefer it when the BBEGs aren't primary spellcasters, because it means a lot more stuff I have to keep track of in the moment.

Bomb chucking just doesn't fit the character I have in mind. The discovery or archetype, I forget which, that lets an alchemist give mutagens to others would fit, so I'll see if there's something I can do off of that.

Right now I'm looking for ideas for lesser villains. None of the characters I'm working on for this are big bads. All but one of the major villains for this campaign have their sheets mostly or completely done, AFAIK. The only one that isn't mostly done (AFAIK) has his classes, ability scores, and levels already set, I just haven't filled out his class features and such. Also the main villain is a primary caster, I think, but that's the main GM's problem, not mine.

I don't even have races for any of these minor villains beyond the gargoyle figured out. I'm back and forth on the race of the mad scientist. Only races that give -int and drow are off the table.
 
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