Dungeons and Dragons Megathread

Which, btw, I've gotten feedback saying it's one of the better APs.

I will fully admit I'm not so much into PF for the rules, but the setting and cool APs.
Yes, I don't necessarily love the rules (I prefer skill based systems like FF RPG's Star Wars game), but the setting is great IMO and I love the APs.

My friends that are running Skull and Shackles say it's really fun.
 
Yes, I don't necessarily love the rules (I prefer skill based systems like FF RPG's Star Wars game), but the setting is great IMO and I love the APs.

My friends that are running Skull and Shackles say it's really fun.

Skull & Shackles definitely seems to be among the best, along with Iron Gods, Wrath of the Righteous and Rise of the Runelords.

Serpent's Skull is widely considered the worst.

And Kingmaker & Curse of the Crimson Throne are both 'great concept and some parts, but then some fail-to-live-up-to-premise parts later on.'
 
Last edited:
I got some PF bestiaries for cheap ^^ inspired me to look at some other MMs.

It's interesting how the 3.X Monstrous Manuals went downhill (MM IV. Such trash. A third of the space spent on crap dragonspawn!), while the Pathfinder ones gained more fluff with time, and got creative after the first two. 3's probably my favorite.
 
Last edited:
I got some PF bestiaries for cheap ^^ inspired me to look at some other MMs.

It's interesting how the 3.X Monstrous Manuals went downhill (MM IV. Such trash. A third of the space spent on crap dragonspawn!), while the Pathfinder ones gained more fluff with time, and got creative after the first two. 3's probably my favorite.
Fluff was something PF was always better at.

But since I've never used official fluff when running, it's never been much of a selling point for me.
 
I got some PF bestiaries for cheap ^^ inspired me to look at some other MMs.

It's interesting how the 3.X Monstrous Manuals went downhill (MM IV. Such trash. A third of the space spent on crap dragonspawn!), while the Pathfinder ones gained more fluff with time, and got creative after the first two. 3's probably my favorite.
It's worth noting, though, that MM5 has a lot of genuinely interesting experiments with monster mechanics, like multi-mode boss monsters and pseudo-classed monsters with lightweight versions of class abilities, that PF has never bothered learning anything from.

It's similar to how PF took ages just to release a Duskblade equivalent and still hasn't bothered to even try and copy classes like beguiler or warblade.
 
It's worth noting, though, that MM5 has a lot of genuinely interesting experiments with monster mechanics, like multi-mode boss monsters and pseudo-classed monsters with lightweight versions of class abilities, that PF has never bothered learning anything from.

It's similar to how PF took ages just to release a Duskblade equivalent and still hasn't bothered to even try and copy classes like beguiler or warblade.
The Magus honestly feels more like "hey this is what AD&D grogs want in a fighter mage" than a Duskblade conversion.

But then, I never liked playing arcane damage dealers in 3.X, always felt like a waste of my precious slots that could be going to Haste or Gliterdust.
 
It's worth noting, though, that MM5 has a lot of genuinely interesting experiments with monster mechanics, like multi-mode boss monsters and pseudo-classed monsters with lightweight versions of class abilities, that PF has never bothered learning anything from.

Oh, huh, I never even picked up 5 I don't think.
 
Yea, MM4 was kind of a weird fluke but other than that the 3.5 Monster Manuals are all pretty good.

....Even IF MM2's CR and LA calculations are absolutely fucked and worthless.
 
Dear DMs, please stop having me play through adventures in the Underdark. I have been playing D&D for more than half my life by this point and I've been to the Underdark more times than I can count. Sure, demon-spider worshiping psycho-Elves and insane Dwarves are cool the first few times, but please stop. The Underdark is more than just those things but I've come to the conclusion that you don't realize that, I've never played a game where I got to to explore vast underground seas which the last remaining city of the Aboleth Empire resides or bio-luminescent fungal forests. Instead I get to trek through the same boring cave systems I have on a dozen different adventures.
 
What? Seriously?

Why even have an underdark then?
I don't even know, but it seems like the people who write adventures for D&D and every DM I've ever run into are under the same delusion that the only thing of worth in the underdark are Drow and endless, featureless caves.
Wrath of the Righteous
Depends, Wrath has the problem that even without Mythic it's pretty easy and Mythic is pretty easy to break, our 2-H Fighter is carrying around a Nodachi and with a Mythic Vital Strike does an average of 67 damage with a 30% crit chance with a x3 multiplier, if she decides to splurge her Mythic Points she can do this three times a round with one of those ignoring DR. To top it all off with that insanely high crit rate and damage one of the Mythic Path abilities causes her crits to automatically do max damage so assuming only one of those three hits is a crit she's averaging 201+67+67/round. This is assuming I don't use my Marshal Path ability to give her a fourth attack that ignores DR or pop my Clarion Call ability that gives her the benefits of my Smite Evil (+6 Attack, +6 Deflection Bonus, and +9 damage or +18 against evil outsiders, evil dragons, and undead; these are the vast majority of foes you will fight in Wrath) and because Smite Evil isn't precision damage it gets multiplied by both Mythic Vital Strike and her Crit Multiplier, or do both those things at once. Don't get me wrong it's fun, but the players and DM need to approach it from the idea that Wrath is supposed to make your players (especially Paladins*) to look like Demigods.
If you took the Touched by Divinity campaign trait then that's literally true.
 
Last edited:
I don't even know, but it seems like the people who write adventures for D&D and every DM I've ever run into are under the same delusion that the only thing of worth in the underdark are Drow and endless, featureless caves.

The drow are the LEAST interesting thing about the underdark, in my estimation. Partly because you really don't need to go into the underdark to participate in Game of Thrones style political dickery or sectarian violence, so the drow don't add anything to the game that you can't more conveniently do on the surface. Partly because RA Salvatore turned them into his magical realm, and everyone since then ran with it.

BTW, if you ever DM, I strongly recommend reading through the 4E "Underdark" supplement. Even if you hate fourth edition, the fluff it has for the underdark and its contents is batshit in all the best ways. It almost makes the underdark more like another plane of existence in how weird it is.

MM2 was technically a 3.0 product.

I think they released a 3.5 conversion, but it was incomplete and mostly went with "when in doubt, nerf."

Ahahahahahaha, seriously? That was their proposed fix?

The third edition MM2 had waaaaaaay bigger problems than that. I'm not even sure where to begin pointing out everything wrong with that book.
 
Last edited:
Btw, earlier conversation had me going, "Aww, I was planning on doing a MM/bestiary ranking, but I'm missing one and online MMVs are so expensi-ohwait there's one for reasonable price. Snagged!"

Don't get me wrong it's fun, but the players and DM need to approach it from the idea that Wrath is supposed to make your players (especially Paladins*) to look like Demigods.
If you took the Touched by Divinity campaign trait then that's literally true.

Oh, definitely. I mean, as things go, you're going to fight at least one, but perhaps as many as three Demon Lords during the path.


The drow are the LEAST interesting thing about the underdark, in my estimation. Partly because you really don't need to go into the underdark to participate in Game of Thrones style political dickery or sectarian violence, so the drow don't add anything to the game that you can't more conveniently do on the surface. Partly because RA Salvatore turned them into his magical realm, and everyone since then ran with it.

BTW, if you ever DM, I strongly recommend reading through the 4E "Underdark" supplement. Even if you hate fourth edition, the fluff it has for the underdark and its contents is batshit in all the best ways. It almost makes the underdark more like another plane of existence in how weird it is.

Good to know :)
 
Oh, definitely. I mean, as things go, you're going to fight at least one, but perhaps as many as three Demon Lords during the path.
Yeah, but my campaign in it got stalled because the DM felt it was "unbalanced" in favor of playing 5th Ed and he was the one who first suggested Wrath. Like I don't know how you read the intros in Worldwound Incursion and the Player's Handbook and not realize the players are going to be powerful, especially after the game literally opens up with an advanced Balor Lord exploding out of thin air into a city enjoying a festival to engage in combat with an Ancient Silver Dragon.
 
Last edited:
That sounds so metal, I'd love to play that campaign. Not GM it, mind you, but I'd love to play it. I would finally get a chance to build an old school PLaneswalker style mage from Magic: The Gathering in a DnD world.
 
My favorite game opener started with us on a raft flowing down an underground river complete with stalagmites, fighting Slaad. I laughed at all the fools who didn't put 5 ranks in balance like sensible folk.

once the fight ended, so did the flash forward and we were at a festival. Good times.


RE: MM2. i gotta love the warbeast template becaue at least now we have pricing rules for animals not in the equipment list. also, warbeast is just a pretty darn good template, and you can train it.
 
That sounds so metal, I'd love to play that campaign. Not GM it, mind you, but I'd love to play it. I would finally get a chance to build an old school PLaneswalker style mage from Magic: The Gathering in a DnD world.
Dude it totally is.

This is the official art use for the cover of the AP and those are supposed to be 1st level PCs you see falling there. The AP gets progressively cooler from there.
 
That sounds so metal, I'd love to play that campaign. Not GM it, mind you, but I'd love to play it. I would finally get a chance to build an old school PLaneswalker style mage from Magic: The Gathering in a DnD world.

It is! I mean, if I can get 'em cheap, some of 'em are simply good reads.

Most get pretty epic by part 6- Iron Gods ends with a fight inside a spaceship against an AI trying to become a god over the entire world, who has both robots and advanced worshipers to send against you.

But Wrath? Obviously the end is epic, but part 3 has you picking up a mythic ally and confronting a high-level Worm that Walks, something that'd normally be a part six boss, *maybe* 5 in a normal path. By the time the actual part 5 is going on, you're talking on the corrupted personal champion of a goddess, a freakin' Runelord (just the like boss of the first AP) is in the part, and you're up again first optional demon-lord rumble (well, you meet a Lord in 4, but you'd have to actively look to pick a fight with that one).


And despite this, it's not just 'beat high level foes after high level foe.' Redemption plays a huge role in the path, lotsa personal stuff. Good story.
 
Last edited:
And despite this, it's not just 'beat high level foes after high level foe.' Redemption plays a huge role in the path, lotsa personal stuff. Good story.
The theme of the game is don't trust your preconceptions and first impressions. I think the very first part of the 1st module makes this clear with a certain NPCs I won't name, but no one trusted.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top