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dailyadventureprompts · 7 months

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So I made the mistake of letting myself get sucked down a youtube shorts rabbithole (hell) and I ended up on a series of videos that were ostensibly poking fun at players who get into d&d through Baldur's gate 3 are: Haha, they're so dumb, they think they'll be able to quicksave and reload in ACTUAL d&d. LOL, BG3 players can't roleplay unless the options are presented for them, despite how obsessed they are with seducing npcs.

One of these things stood out to me though: The DM describes them entering a new room and the BG3 player ostensibly asks what they can interact with.. to which the DM responds " Oh you can't do that immediately, you'll have to roll me an investigation check"... which just gave me pause because it's a roadblock that I've run into again and again with oldschool DM after oldschool DM.

As a DM you spend so much time making interesting things for your players to interact with WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU GATE IT ALL BEHIND A ROLL? It risks the players walking into a space, all failing the check, and then having to mime through the actions until they stumble upon the material you wanted them to find 20 minutes after they got into the room. Repeat that for every chamber and you've wasted a good portion of your session effectively waiting for the level to load in because you arbitrarily decided they didn't deserve it.

Like, there is a necessity for some stuff to be hidden some times, which yes would require a check to uncover, but there's a difference between "you toss the room searching for the hidden switch that opens the trapdoor before the guards arrive" (which would require the roll) and " you can't perceive the body lying on the floor because you didn't actively tell me you were looking for one" (which is pedantry).

#dapper digresses #d&d mechanics #bg3 #baldurs gate 3

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utilitycaster · 7 months

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Well now im curious, what are your top 10 etiquette violations

I'm not actually sure there are 10 tbh in that these are relatively broad - you could split them up more finely if you wanted but they cover a wide range of behavior. Also this is...a bit stream of consciousness. I do stand by 1 as the absolute Golden Rule of D&D in that it's really just so Me Me Me (more so than main character syndrome) that it's inexcusable, but like...rules 2- 6 are kind of all in the same nebulous position in my mind as are rules 7-10. 2-6 are "really bad, have a talk and be prepared to kick this person out if they don't shape up and honestly I would probably not want to hang out with them irl much if they don't shape up" and 7-10 are "maybe don't invite them to game nights but they could be okay otherwise."

Deliberately going against the general vibe of the table. This is the broadest but also obviously worst trait. If everyone else is here to play a serious playthrough of Curse of Strahd and they're all vampire hunters and whatnot and you're playing a clown in a hawaiian shirt named Jeff you are not funny; you are an asshole. I think that person who made the post of like "I'm playing D&D with my dad's friends and they're all fighters with tragic backstory and I'm a neon firbolg who resurrects our enemies and runs therapy sessions" should be beaten with hammers. Like, be unique, but if everyone else is going for a lighthearted vibe it's not time to bust out your darkest PC and vice versa. (This also goes deeper, like, if your table has decided PC death in-game is okay, you can request a change, but if you've never spoken up about this and then your character dies and you pitch a fit, that's on you.)

"Um actually my rich family solves this" and similar circumventing of obstacles in a way that cuts off all story avenues. It's fine to offer your services to help - sometimes the party will want it! But the worst player I've played with (who still did not violate Item 1) did this and short-circuited like 75% of the plot by being like "well my wealthy merchant family can probably smooth this over" and I wanted to, well, beat them with hammers. Brian Murphy of Naddpod calls this "showing up and trying not to play D&D" and he's right.

Closely related to/overlapping with item 2 but Main Character Syndrome. If you're a wizard and there's a nonurgent trial of strength? that is for the barbarian. If they ask for help, go for it, but don't just do everything. Share the table. Self-explanatory but man do some people not get it. I'm also grouping this with "my character wouldn't help" behaviors. Like to be clear, forgoing your turn as a roleplay thing is fine, but another Naddpod D&D Court regular topic is like "the player for whatever reason would not join combat bc their character wouldn't, and we nearly had a tpk because the encounter assumed our fucking cleric would be there".

Actually violating player agency. Closely relating to 2-3. Conflict is great and good. I think it's fine to lie, cheat, and steal from your party members if your table agrees on that. There are spells or abilities that lead to possession which is also valid if your table has talked through that. But you do not get to otherwise like, force another player character to do your bidding (unless your table has, again, decided this is okay). You cannot persuasion check other PCs into going against their desires unless that's a very specific conversation you've had out of character as a table. Even in game, like, the DC on persuasion checks can be arbitrarily high - even impossible - if someone would simply never do it.

Noncombat/non-violent D&D. There are other TTRPGs that are not heavily based on war games with character classes that aren't like 90% battle abilities and you should check those out. Anyone who plays noncombat/nonviolent D&D and is proud of it is dumb as the bag of hammers I'm beating the people of items 1 and 2 for and I don't respect them. I guess this isn't so much an etiquette violation in that if your entire table wants this you can all be terrible together, but it is kind of a dick move, especially since I both love D&D and find the anti-D&D crowd to largely be the most sour grapes-ass losers of all time, but also believe passionately that there are many things D&D does not achieve well because it is in fact a specific game with specific objectives. You should, if you want to play a game that is all social encounters and skill checks and no fighting, play the many indie games that would love your patronage and suit you admirably, not the most neutered, milquetoast, unsalted margarine version of D&D. I genuinely believe that people playing murderhobos or hardcore metagamers are VASTLY preferable.

Not making a good faith effort to know the rules. You do not have to be good at D&D. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting for not knowing every rule of D&D. You only have to let the soft animal of your body have at least read the rules of your character's class, subclass, and race, and show up prepared, instead of being like "tee hee I listened to 5 episodes of TAZ Balance and am going to twirl my hair at the DM and hope they help little old me." The DM is BUSY and has SHIT TO DO. Read the fucking manual. It's okay to be wrong! It's not okay to be clueless on purpose.

Rules for Thee and Not For Me. Mostly a DM thing, and to be clear, the DM does have special rules bc they are the special one and this is obviously not about that. There are also rules that apply to NPCs/stat blocks and not PCs, and those are inherent to the balance of the game and are fine because NPCs have different abilities. But if, for example, you are requiring an athletics check of PCs to climb up on a ledge and don't permit acrobatics, your rogue NPC villain can't do acrobatics either unless they have some specific pre-written ability.

Metagaming pt 1: excessive metagaming: Part 2 will reveal the "excessive" but like. If you know trolls regenerate because you've been playing D&D for years but you are a level 4 INT 8 sorcerer in-game? you do not know trolls regenerate.

Metagaming pt 2: refusal to engage with the fact that this is a game: Sometimes you get the reverse, when people are like "well my character wouldn't realize that this magic item was important to your character" despite the other person RP-ing everything or "would I notice you were knocked out directly in front of me? It's a pitched battle!" Like. don't cheat but come on bro. This is, ultimately, a game. I will once again bring up Naddpod both because D&D Court exists AND they will do rule of funny shit (as Murph once pointed out, if you want to say you go to Ruby Tuesday's as a joke, great, if you try to use it mechanically, no, which is a healthy attitude towards immersion) AND Murph understands the concept of kayfabe.

Really extensive indecision that doesn't involve the whole party. This is mostly me but like. it's not fun, and I am impatient. If you're not an actual play livestream, you should take a break and in fact talk out of game and resume because god this drags. If everyone's on board obviously go for it but if it's one person's choice...babe the spotlight is on you, sing your solo or leave.

Basically: remember you are at a table with other people and you are telling a collaborative story in a system that is combat-heavy. I'm not bothered by (for example) someone stealing another character's item so long as they understand that this may lead to consequences for them! If you can dish it out but you're prepared to take it and your table trusts each other? Great! The problem is when people try to win against the other players, ask for special treatment they do not grant others, waste everyone's time unnecessarily, or skip to the end of the story; that's against the fundamental nature of the game. It's inconsiderate AND it misses the point.

#answered #oddswayout #d&d mechanics #i guess?

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rollforimagination · 4 months

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Mechanic/Feat Idea

Silliest worshipper

Description: You have the ability to use Divine Intervention and all the other “Ask to your God” spells any times you want with an instant recharge only if you use it for something silly (DM’s decision) and if your God is Chaotic-Neutral/Good aligned.

Functionality: You use the spell to ask something silly to your God (another of the same meal you just had, to win a low/no reward slug race, have a nice silly hat, find a good pun on the spot, etc etc) and the God does it, then you feel a pat on your head and hear an astral voice say “Yes, sure darling, no need to use your precious spells for this” you feel warm and then everything turns back to normal, with your wish granted.

This can also work for warlocks only if your patron is Chaotic-Neutral/Good aligned.

In general, this can take effects if your deity is a momma type, even if it’s Lawful/Good but if it is Lawful/Good sometimes it will say things like “But next time use it for good alright sweetie?” making you feel slightly guilty, the more you use it for sillies without using it for something good.

Inspiration: the BG3 playthrough of @dare-to-dm (silly paladins are my favourite, use this so you can have fun in D&D sweetie ❤️)

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luckthebard · 4 months

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I see your tags about which DnD gays winning and I hear you and I bring you: stunning strike. Wizards aren't exactly known for their con saves. I think beau could just stunlock them until they're out of health points.

Caleb, with his transmuter’s stone, has a +8 on CON saves before he turns into an ancient dragon. And that’s just base, it’s +9 if he also has the Stone of Good Luck equipped, and a +10 if he instead has a Staff of Power like he did at the close of C2.

Also of note: the Convergent Future and Chronal Shift Dunamancy wizard abilities. One allows the caster to just decide a roll succeeds or fails, and the other allows a reroll as a reaction.

#convergent future is particularly bonkers because using it once doesn’t even really incur that much of a penalty #and once is all you need #replies #wizards #D&D mechanics #stunning strike is a core monk ability I did indeed remember it

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12pt-times-new-roman · 1 month

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Ruidian Glass

(weapon material)

Keen: Weapons made with Ruidian glass score a critical hit on a roll of 18, 19, or 20.

Brittle: Whenever you score a critical hit with a weapon made of this material, roll 1d6. If you roll a 6, the weapon shatters and is irreparable.

Psychic Resonance: This weapon gets a +1 bonus to attack and damage if there is a Ruidusborn creature or a creature with psychic abilities within 30 feet of the wielder.

Psychic Disruption: When you hit a Ruidusborn or psychic creature with this material for the first time on your turn, choose Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. Until the start of your next turn, the creature has disadvantage on the next saving throw of that type that it makes.

#critical role #note watches c3 #critical role spoilers #critical role campaign 3 #critical role meta #d&d mechanics

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wispynador · 1 year

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Business and Crime revisited (d&d 5e)

I recently posted a set of guidelines for using 5e running a business mechanics as a means of bootstrapping player owned criminal enterprises.

My players requested a campaign with gameplay and adventures centered around owning businesses, building a home, and running a criminal enterprise. So, I started looking into the RAW mechanics and found it kind of lacking. So, I’ve taken it upon myself to expand business ownership mechanics to better suit being the main focus of their downtime gameplay, as well as tying in mechanics for criminal enterprises.

These mechanics include:

Buying businesses from previous owners.

Running businesses in cycles of 30 days, with 6 intervals of 5 days.

Using businesses as fronts for criminal enterprises.

Running multiple businesses as a conglomerate.

Side quest plot hook table (complications)

#dungeons and dragons #d&d #dnd #d&d homebrew #dnd homebrew #d&d 5e #dnd 5e #d&d house rules #dnd house rules #d&d mechanics #dnd mechanics #d&d crime #d&d crime boss #dnd crime #d&d businesses #dnd businesses

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zeroar · 1 year

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Worlds Beyond Number Child Player Character Ability Scores

I got it right!

Well, 99% right. WBN revealed in today's podcast the mechanics they used for child ability scores. They described it a little more succinctly so I'll break it down using how they described it for everyone here:

◙ Generate four groups of 3d6 drop 1; record the dropped die along with the score

◙ Generate two groups of 4d6 drop 2; record the highest dropped die along with the score

Note: The recorded dropped die represents future potential for the PC to grow into.

◙ Assign each group to one of the six ability scores (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA).

◙ Through play, characters are given the chance to roll again to replace the future potential score (dropped die). Two chances for each of the 3d6 groups and only one chance each for the 4d6 groups. (GM-indicated milestone, player-chosen score).

Note: Characters are also given the option to grow into some or all of their potential when they finalize an individual score.

◙ Through play, characters are given the option to switch two ability scores after all scores are finalized.

Note: Basically, each score becomes 5d6 drop 2 by the end, but as pointed out in the podcast, this is a little less optimal than traditional 5d6 drop 2 (because only the dropped die/future-potential can be replaced).

The only thing I super got wrong was guessing they did three groups of 3d6 drop 1 and three groups of 4d6 drop 2, so I was pretty happy with that!

If I were using this, I'd also go the route of generating six groups of 3d6 drop 1 and then choosing two of those to become 4d6 drop 2, but it's debatable whether a GM would be opposed to that or consider it different than the above.

Note: technically it is different, but I still suspect they did the six groups of 3d6 drop 1 before turning two of those into 4d6 drop 2.

The characters also had no skill proficiencies to start and any proficiencies gained were player-chosen at GM-indicated milestones/downtime. They also had limited species/ancestry bonuses that depended on the individual.

#worlds beyond number #the wizard the witch and the wild one #dnd5e #dnd5e homebrew #d&d #d&d mechanics #WBN #homebrew #character creation

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thisisnotthenerd · 8 months

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there are some people in bell's hells who just are who they are, and fearne is one of them.

her consistent spell choices and that dip into rogue have really made fearne a solid offensive caster with a variety of damage types (mostly fire of course) as well as a range of proficiencies and expertise that leads to moments like that 30 persuasion with teven.

but what i want to see is the monkey. she's out here walking around with a wildfire spirit monkey who is so goddamn cute. and yet pate is the familiar that gets the screen time. we saw more of him in exu--i want more of little mister! he was in every exu episode, but only appears fully in 36/68 episodes of c3 (mentioned in two additional episodes). by contrast pate has been in like 21, but that's every episode since laudna cast find familiar!

he really is a critical part of the subclass. every circle feature revolves around him! he's not always effective just doing attacks, but he has other skills than just shooting flame seed! send the monkey on a scouting mission! let him add to damage! let him commit arson! he can teleport fearne! i feel like i only see him in combat or humorous moments.

i want to see this lovely fey have her child/monkey with her because the concept was so fun in exu. matt makes great monkey noises. i know the assumption is that he's there. she has the plush mister as a proxy for in game mister. i just want him to get the same recognition.

EDIT: she's all about the chaos of wildfire. i want to see fearne communing with mister by burning in a bonfire. controlled burn. facing danger and death with the calm of a being who is sure of what needs to be done.

#critical role #fearne calloway #cr fearne #d&d mechanics #Wildfire Druid Fearne #bell's hells what if classes #cr little mister

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evilterabyte · 1 year

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I absolutely love my paradigm shift characters. By that I mean characters who, when put into a situation, can consistently not just respond effectively to that situation, but do so in a manner that turn its parameters on their head entirely.

For some this can be messing with the rules of reality, for others it can be introducing an element of chaos into play that puts everyone on equally uncertain footing, and for others still I can just be taking advantage of what's in front of them to stop their foes' plans in their tracks and force them to change their objectives significantly.

This comes up in combat a lot because I do a lot of combat, but it can also be a social situation thing, or even something on a larger scale that impacts the setting as a whole.

This I think ties in with the genre conventions of D&D and other RPGs that encourage similar stories through their design, as the players often end up a walking, collective paradigm shift. I don't think this is usually quite so intentional (it certainly wasn't for me individually until I realized the pattern recently) but when you do have a character or player in the group who does it on purpose, I think it feeds into the effects of the group as a whole and vice versa, creating a paradigm shift feedback loop[1] that results in wild shit happening.

The risk, of course, comes when the paradigm shifting happens at a cost to the collaborative nature of the game. I know I've in the past had to reign myself in or be reigned in by others, because my love for flipping the rules of what's happening on their head can at times trivialize any struggle. It's fine if this happens occasionally, but if it becomes too constant, it can make other players feel like their contributions matter less than those of the person who's constantly shifting the paradigm.

Let me give an example of a situation that could've exhibited this problem, but was prevented from doing so by solid encounter design. A few months ago in one of my games, the city we were in got assaulted by a horde of beats and monstrosities that had been driven mad and pushed in a specific direction by a magical plague. The first couple encounters weren't especially noteworthy, but the antepenultimate [2] one was largely nullified by my use of a well-placed spell. No problems there, everyone still got to contribute, all was fine and dandy.

The penultimate encounter came a little bit after, when a party member who'd been separated from the group came riding back to us at the head of a pride of lions they'd freed from the plague, while being chased by a collosal worm that could burrow through solid stone.

I had the clever idea to post up on a building in its path (with a party member who could teleport us out of its path if I failed because this character of mine likes to have redundancies) and, once it got within range, attempt to apply a fear effect, which would have left it unable to move closer to me. I made my attack, landed it, forced a saving throw, got really excited as it failed--oops! Legendary Resistance [3]! I was very melodramatic about this but I immediately understood the why of it and wasn't actually upset.

If I'd been able to apply the fear effect, I would have instantly nullified a major threat that had been seeded for an entire session, and had left another player with no recourse but to run away and try desperately to slow it down. I would've thus overshadowed them and also prevented the rest of the party from doing much at all besides wailing on an HP sponge until it died or ran away instead of us getting the really cool and dynamic combat we did end up getting (it got impaled on a 5 foot tall 60 foot diameter summoned tree and also swallowed our Druid. it's okay though I rescued them [4]).

Conversely, yesterday during a special dream arc, the half of our party that was present was being pursued by a Giant Red Dragon From Nowhere (tis the nature of dreams and random rolls). One of our number had done some clever stuff to get us a headstart, but the dragon had reached us again because Adult Reds go real fast.

Luckily, my character was mostly lucid, is a wielder of dream magic, and specializes in Inversion magic because of the whole paradigm shift obsession I have. As such, she proceeded to warp space around the dragon to Invert how directions worked, so as the dragon tried to move forward, its momentum carried it backward, far enough from us that we were able to hide in the alleyways of the city we were in and escape further trouble.

This situation had me successfully nullifying a major threat (this time one we couldn't hope to beat with only three people and had to run from) in one fell swoop, ending prematurely an encounter that might've multiple additional rounds for us to escape (and would've been Uh Bad if the dragon's fire breath had recharged).

However, this time, the encounter was not so important, had not been foreshadowed, did not involve an enemy that had been insurmountable for another player being potentially nullified by me, and had already involved the other characters contributing by the time I finished it.

All that [7] to say, as if I ever had an overarching point to this post to begin with, paradigm shifting to some extent needs to happen in moderation imo. I think nearly every game can benefit from someone who regularly flips the entire situation they're in on its head, but as in all things moderation is... a word I just used. I'm getting redundant which must be a sign I need to wrap things up.

Back to the point, if one person is nullifying encounters to regularly to the point that they overshadow everyone else, then there's a problem--just like how I wouldn't roll up to a game with my casual friends who enjoy light combat and pull out Grognard the Bugbear Ranger/Fighter who can output 24d6+5d8+30 damage on the first turn of combat at level 7.

I don't have a good way to end this and I really should eat. Bye [8]!

--

[1] Which feels like such a pretentious phrase* but listen. I'm in class presentations week, I'm running on four hours of sleep, and part of the thing that kept me up so late was incorporating into my project a paper I read about epistemological injustice in both testimonial and hermeneutic forms regarding Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Y'all are lucky I'm not worse rn. Also tbh I'm just a pretentious bitch in general so why not own it.

[2] Jesus fucking christ

[3] On the off chance the post gets even moderately big I'm sure someone will divert into criticizing the design of Legendary Resistances as a "lol no ur thing just fails" method of preventing encounters from being nullified, which I think is entirely fair but in this case I feel the LR served its intended purpose well and bear no ill will toward it.

[4] They later died due from complications though**

[5] I need y'all to know I came onto Tumblr to write and post literally the first sentence of what this became. Now it's an hour and a half later and I haven't napped or eaten. Help me.

[6] After I put a readmore on this and break up some of these paragraphs jesus christ.

* I'm now near the end of this thing and wow nevermind "paradigm shift feedback loop" is honestly pretty tame.

** It's fine they got resurrected thanks to an NPC sacrificing himself.

#d&d meta #ttrpg meta #d&d mechanics #original #this took so long #how could this happen to me i made my mistakes got nowhere to run etc

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elphael · 2 years

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I’m doing what I call a “I’m not trapped in here with you, you’re trapped with me” build. Campaign is 5th level, so I picked up 3 levels conquest paladin, 2 levels undead warlock. By the time I get paladin up to 7 they won’t be able to move, but already I have 3 spells and 2 features to give someone the frightened condition. Plus compelled dual they can get farther than 30, but can’t get closer. Took up defense FS to umph my ac, fire genasi heritage. Any notes?

oh i love conquest paladin's mechanics. the themes not so much but by god are the mechanics So Fun. this sounds like a great multiclass and there's so much you can do with like. death-fire and black flames and etc that could be super fun with the genasi angle.

i don't really have any notes on how to make this better beyond this reminds me (and you're halfway to doing it) of one of my FAVORITE gimmicks that i would Kill to use in actual play and haven't gotten the chance to yet.

eldritch invocation: devil's sight

2nd level spell: darkness

feat: sentinel

bonus: two levels of fighter for *points at my url* action surge

step one: cast darkness

step two: you can see in magical darkness

step three: presumably, most things will be blind. they will have disadvantage to hit you. you will have advantage to hit them.

step four: sentinel to Trap Them In The Darkness With You

step five: action surge or quicken spell so you can do this in one turn

step six: profit.

#asks #d&d mechanical information #d&d mechanics #d&d asks #idk what the fuck to tag this sort of stuff #d&d gimmicks #i need a gimmick tag tbh #bonus is if u plan with ur party u can have all ur martials on this and fucking annihilate

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aterabyte · 2 years

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The Euphorion's build is so buck wild and it gets even worse the more you look at my plans for his level gains.

Like. Sorcerer 1/Hexblade Warlock 3/Bard 1 is insane enough. But then I'm taking Bard 2 before I Warlock 4 and 5 because I need Jack of All Trades or I'll die. And then at level 9 I need to pick between going for Sorcerer 2 to power my Metamagic Adept with Warlock slots vs Bard 3 for Expertise and a subclass feature (a decision that will depend probably on what's more relevant in the actual campaign when we play it) and also I wanna get up to Bard 5 and Sorcerer 3, and then I wanna fit more Warlock levels in there eventually and and and

Like. Genuinely. If someone else brought this character build to me and asked for advice on how to make it work my advice would just be Don't. Just Play Something Else.

But I'm insane so I have fun with this sort of thing lmfao I've been grinning the entire time as I've written this post because this man's build is just SO dumb and spicy. I WILL have melee attacks and ranged attacks and counterspelling and debuffing and buffing and teleportation and tanking and area control and utility and I will be at least okay at ALL of it[1] and NO ONE can stop me

[1] Hubris? what hubris

#d&d ramblings #the euphorion #d&d mechanics

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dailyadventureprompts · 5 months

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Homebrew Mechanic: Meaningful Research

Being careful about when you deliver information to your party is one of the most difficult challenges a dungeonmaster may face, a balancing act that we constantly have to tweak as it affects the pacing of our campaigns.

That said, unlike a novel or movie or videogame where the writers can carefully mete out exposition at just the right time, we dungeonmasters have to deal with the fact that at any time (though usually not without prompting) our players are going to want answers about what's ACTUALLY going on, and they're going to take steps to find out.

To that end I'm going to offer up a few solutions to a problem I've seen pop up time and time again, where the heroes have gone to all the trouble to get themselves into a great repository of knowledge and end up rolling what seems like endless knowledge checks to find out what they probably already know. This has been largely inspired by my own experience but may have been influenced by watching what felt like several episodes worth of the critical role gang hitting the books and getting nothing in return.

I've got a whole write up on loredumps, and the best way to dripfeed information to the party, but this post is specifically for the point where a party has gained access to a supposed repository of lore and are then left twiddling their thumbs while the dm decides how much of the metaplot they're going to parcel out.

When the party gets to the library you need to ask yourself: Is the information there to be found?

No, I don't want them to know yet: Welcome them into the library and then save everyone some time by saying that after a few days of searching it’s become obvious the answers they seek aren’t here. Most vitally, you then either need to give them a new lead on where the information might be found, or present the development of another plot thread (new or old) so they can jump on something else without losing momentum.

No, I want them to have to work for it: your players have suddenly given you a free “insert plothook here” opportunity. Send them in whichever direction you like, so long as they have to overcome great challenge to get there. This is technically just kicking the can down the road, but you can use that time to have important plot/character beats happen.

Yes, but I don’t want to give away the whole picture just yet: The great thing about libraries is that they’re full of books, which are written by people, who are famously bad at keeping their facts straight. Today we live in a world of objective or at least peer reviewed information but the facts in any texts your party are going to stumble across are going to be distorted by bias. This gives you the chance to give them the awnsers they want mixed in with a bunch of red herrings and misdirections. ( See the section below for ideas)

Yes, they just need to dig for it: This is the option to pick if you're willing to give your party information upfront while at the same time making it SEEM like they're overcoming the odds . Consider having an encounter, or using my minigame system to represent their efforts at looking for needles in the lithographic haystack. Failure at this system results in one of the previous two options ( mixed information, or the need to go elsewhere), where as success gets them the info dump they so clearly crave.

The Art of obscuring knowledge AKA Plato’s allegory of the cave, but in reverse

One of the handiest tools in learning to deliver the right information at the right time is a sort of “slow release exposition” where you wrap a fragment lore the party vitally needs to know in a coating of irrelevant information, which forces them to conjecture on possibilities and draw their own conclusions. Once they have two or more pieces on the same subject they can begin to compare and contrast, forming an understanding that is merely the shadow of the truth but strong enough to operate off of.

As someone who majored in history let me share some of my favourite ways I’ve had to dig for information, in the hopes that you’ll be able to use it to function your players.

A highly personal record in the relevant information is interpreted through a personal lens to the point where they can only see the information in question

Important information cameos in the background of an unrelated historical account

The information can only be inferred from dry as hell accounts or census information. Cross reference with accounts of major historical events to get a better picture, but everything we need to know has been flattened into datapoints useful to the bureaucracy and needs to be re-extrapolated.

The original work was lost, and we only have this work alluding to it. Bonus points if the existent work is notably parodying the original, or is an attempt to discredit it.

Part of a larger chain of correspondence, referring to something the writers both experienced first hand and so had no reason to describe in detail.

The storage medium (scroll, tablet, arcane data crystal) is damaged in some way, leading to only bits of information being known.

Original witnesses Didn’t have the words to describe the thing or events in question and so used references from their own environment and culture. Alternatively, they had specific words but those have been bastardized by rough translations.

Tremendously based towards a historical figure/ideology/religion to the point that all facts in the piece are questionable. Bonus points if its part of a treatise on an observably untrue fact IE the flatness of earth

#homebrew mechanic #d&d mechanics #research #tableskills #tabletop inspiration #dm tip #dm advice #exposition

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utilitycaster · 4 months

Note

is it possible to play a medium/low int wizard?

It is possible in the sense that you could, physically, come to a table with a character sheet with a wizard with low or medium intelligence, but it is a fucking awful idea and your character will swiftly die and they'll deserve it. It's an intelligence-based class; one should play it either with high intelligence or not at all.

#answered #Anonymous #d&d mechanics

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mmeveronica · 1 year

Text

So a level 6 Circle of the Moon Druid can just beat an Immovable Rod

A circle of the moon druid, with the powerful build race feature can get a pushing/dragging limit greater than the immovable rod's weight limit.

Step 1: Be an Orc, Goliath, or Firbolg so you have a powerful build and count as one size larger when determing carrying capacity, and thus pushing, dragging, or lifting capacity.

Step 2: Be a Level 6 Circle of the Moon Druid with Enhance Ability prepared and a 2nd level spell slot to use.

Step 3: Cast Enhance Ability using Bull's Strength to double your Carrying Capacity and thus psuhing, dragging, and lifting capacity.

Step 4: Transform into a Giant Elk (or Giant Constrictor Snake) and push.

You now count as a Gargantuan creature with a Strength Score of 19 when determining your Carrying Capacity, which is doubled due to the Bull's Strength from Enhance Ability. You can carry, without encumbrance, 4 560lbs and you can push drag or lift twice that which is 9 120lbs.

Congratulations you are capable of applying more force than an Immovable Rod can handle, which is 8 000lbs of weight, (because weight is just force) and thus if you push, drag, or lift an active Immovable Rod it will deactivate from your sheer might.

#dnd #dnd 5e #dnd 5e mechanics #dnd druid #dnd 5e magic items #dungeons and dragons #d&d #d&d 5e #d&d mechanics

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longawkwardpause · 7 months

Text

Yo,I'm on my Bullshit again with TTRPG's

I just wanna know how you guys feel about advancing qualities of weapons and if it seems a tad too strong?

Example: the longsword.

Shoddy Longsword: 1D4 Damage

Longsword: 1D8 Damage

Fine Longsword: 1D8 Damage with a +2 To Hit

Remarkable Longsword:2D8 Damage with a +2 to Hit

Superior Longsword: 2D8 Damage with a +4 To Hit.