D&D 5E Discussion

[Rean]

Good.

 

[Thac0]

1 - Is this video right when mentions that enemies grows 10 hp for each point of damage that a blaster gets right??

Treatmonk is good, imo he is the contentmaker with the best grasp on the rules.
He has a point that the damage scaling per level is retarded. Fireballs do more damage than any level 4 spell. In general there are a lot of blast spells which are not worth taking because everyone only uses the best damage spells.
Overall this video is a bit of autism tho. He complains that blasting spells with aoe effects are bad against single huge enemies? Yes that is kinda the point.
Almost no fights are against singular bosses, and those are usually very very easy due to the action economy. Blasters are extremely strong in the context that they are able to throw a fireball against 5 targets, and usually kill half off them on the spot.
Martial classes being better at single target DPS than mages is a feature, not a bug.
Also that is not to feature in that there are a lot of enemies on high CR which have very low HP, and damage resistances, high offensive potential or high Ac to counteract that. Let's take the CR15 Mummy Lord. https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/mummy_lord/

I don't agree with the video overall, it feels more like lying with statistics. Blasters are clearly not the optimal way to play a Wizard compared to a controller, but that is intentional as they have a much lower skill floor. And with most challenging encounters featuring multiple enemies, threatening enemies with low hp existing and the additional utility that a blaster brings to the party even through his rare damage types I have never heard of someone calling a blaster underpowered compared to martials and halfcasters.

The 5E version of "domains of dread", on original Domains of Dread(2E), commiting evil deeds could draw attemtion from the Dark Powers, and many necromantic spells are strengthened to the point that are a huge risk for the caster. Those mechanics are present on 5E version of Ravenloft/Domains of Dread?

In the adventure there is nothing of those sorts, there is a standalone guide to Barovia which I never checked, but I would suppose there neither.

 

[Larianshill]

I didn't read the new book regarding Ravenloft, but in the standalone adventure the Dark Powers are a complete joke. Here, I've made this long ago.

The only impressive thing about the Dark Powers is the fact that you can't actually make any positive change in Barovia, no matter what you do. After you kill Strahd and make the mists disappear, after a while he comes back to life, and so do the mists, because Strahd is the face of the setting, and WotC can't allow him to die permanently the Dark Powers make it happen.

 

[Cryomancer]

He complains that blasting spells with aoe effects are bad against single huge enemies

Yep. On 5E seems like a Wizard till lv 6 is better as a blaster. After it, as a controller,

because Strahd is the face of the setting, and WotC can't allow him to die permanently the Dark Powers make it happen.

I explained before, (here : https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/d-d-5e-discussion.88595/page-122#post-7292994 ) the mechanics which he comes back to (un)life after defeated and how any idea on how to permanently kill him that I can think would't work due the Dark Powers and even if could work, is extremely unlikely to work(on 2E, even if control undead could work vs him, he would need to roll 1 as a 16th level necromancer)

But Dark Powers being reduced to "vestiges" and beatable is by far the worst BS ever. The Dark Powers are mysterious quasi sentient powers controlling the fog, attracted to evil which traps evil forces with a lot of innocent people and the plane are close to the negative energy plane. Only Ao or other overdeity could wipe a plane out of existence. Merely escaping the Dark Powers is a insanely hard task and only one Dark Lord managed to do that. Vecna. Which was one of the strongest demigods who ever existed and had to do crazy plans to escape.

Doesn't matter how powerful even the Dark Lords are. They are mere toys for the Dark Powers amusement. If it can be banished or destroyed, the horror of being a mere toy of a mysterious power dies. And part of the Horror of Ravenloft, is that doesn't matter how strong you are. Even if you could against all odds beat the Dark Lord, you still a mere pawn in the hands of the dark powers.

 

[Larianshill]

Oh, right, speaking of that - I'll actually be DMing Curse of Strahd. I already have enough applications to form a group, although my eventual ambition is, of course, four groups. Maybe five.

 

[Mortmal]

Oh, right, speaking of that - I'll actually be DMing Curse of Strahd. I already have enough applications to form a group, although my eventual ambition is, of course, four groups. Maybe five.

Excellent module but not advised as beginner DM . Be carefull to adjust the death house encounters , if you start by death house. It's an horrible character grinder the ghouls are way too powerful for such low levels and the perfect exemple of CR anomaly .Then for the end encounter make it clear they have to run, the difficulty curve makes it not obvious to understand, it's quite possible for experienced player to take down the shambler but its likely your new group wont. They have no way to know if they must do it or run away . Then escape the house itself is a nightmare, as i remember every doors turns into some sort of guillotines, they may not have so much fun with all those saves or die at every steps . Also there's a risk of ghosts possessing players so they have to roleplay it accordingly . One of my old player got possessed, she had to roleplay in such way she was driven to go down deper without care of safety. One of the player got butthurt she was not listening to him and his advices , had a meltdown, by the simple fact she was just roleplaying . So the guy left before i could expel him, he doesnt play rpg anymore, or shitty one shot from DM who dont know him yet.
Later on, dont be too generous with levels if you play by milestones , 1 levels every 2 locations . Cheat the tarot reading, it's supposed to be dynamic and randomized each play they must not have the sun sword and artefacts too early, it could trivialize things . Also when playing strahd think of how they are doing it in solasta with vampires . Hit and run, carpet bombing with spells, get out of reach most of the time AND most powerful ability he can just phase through walls , ground and celing and escape. Make him appears during other encounters , skirmish all the time, appears behind the weak casters and bite.

I think this progession will fit well Power Score: Dungeons & Dragons - A Guide to Curse of Strahd (thecampaign20xx.blogspot.com)
(Level 3) Village of Barovia: Flavor page 33 (the heroes will likely hit A, B and C before arriving at Barovia),
(Level 4) Town of Vallaki: Page 95
(Level 4) Old Bonegrinder: Page 125
(Level 5) Village of Krezk: Page 143
(Level 5) Wizard of Wines Winery: Page 173
(Level 6) Van Richten's Tower: Page 167
(Level 6) Yester Hill: Page 197
(Level 7) Argynvostholt: Page 129
(Level 7) Werewolf Den: Page 201
(Level 8) Tsolenka Pass: Page 157
(Level 8) The Ruins of Berez: Page 161
(Level 9) Castle Ravenloft: Page 49
(Level 9) The Amber Temple: Page 181

 

[Larianshill]

Thanks for the help, but I'm not really a beginner. I DMed for more than 10 years now, and I've DMed this specific module before, and I've also read this guide. I think I'll do fine.

 

[Rean]

Thanks for the help, but I'm not really a beginner. I DMed for more than 10 years now, and I've DMed this specific module before, and I've also read this guide. I think I'll do fine.

Stop being rude.
He took the time to try to help you.
Say 'thank you sir'.
I'll fucking beat your ass black and blue if you keep being ungrateful to Mortmal.

 

[Larianshill]

I am not intimidated by transsexuals, no matter how horrifying their appearance is.

 

[Rean]

I don't doubt it. You're definitely attracted to trannies, considering you play games chock-full of them.

 

[Larianshill]

Oh no, I don't play any of the japanese trash, where every pink-haired underage girl secretly has a cock. I wouldn't dare to intrude on your territory.

 

[Rean]

Keep digging that grave deeper, liar.

 

[Larianshill]

I don't see the contradiction.

 

[Mortmal]

well "playing official means not loving yourself" was your motto . Suddenly you announce you whore yourself for money ,a first sign of losing self respect, then last nail in the coffin its for curse of strahd. I thought you were going through rough times and asking for help....

 

[Rean]

There are some posters who like to use threads as their personal blogs/diaries for attention purposes, but anytime anyone tries to either add to or debate anything they say, they become instantly dismissive.
Going back a page you can see that's exactly what Larianshill has been doing. It's all ME, ME, ME, I DID THIS, LOOK AT ME! BUT DON'T YOU DARE ADDRESS ME!

I don't have to agree with everything Mortmal says but I appreciate his decades-old experience and if he took the time to offer his personal advice I would take a step back and respond with either a legitimate acknowledgement and gratitude or debate point-by-point. Zoomer lizard here thought he should instead flex on him.

In short, Larianshill is a piece of shit of the highest caliber.

 

[Larianshill]

Incredible character analysis, I do not give a shit.

 

[Rean]

Incredible character analysis, I do not give a shit.

Good.


And now everyone can see and appreciate all your posts with some newfound context.

Now.
Do go on.
Tell us more about your paid GM gig.

 

[Bara]

I don't see the contradiction.

That's true there is no contradiction but I'm sorry that you hate yourself.

May you one day be able to become a paid DM that is able to sell his own homebrew settings and not rely on adventures in official settings. One day soon I'm sure you'll be able to love yourself once more.

 

[deuxhero]

He complains that blasting spells with aoe effects are bad against single huge enemies

Yep. On 5E seems like a Wizard till lv 6 is better as a blaster. After it, as a controller,

because Strahd is the face of the setting, and WotC can't allow him to die permanently the Dark Powers make it happen.

I explained before, (here : https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/d-d-5e-discussion.88595/page-122#post-7292994 ) the mechanics which he comes back to (un)life after defeated and how any idea on how to permanently kill him that I can think would't work due the Dark Powers and even if could work, is extremely unlikely to work(on 2E, even if control undead could work vs him, he would need to roll 1 as a 16th level necromancer)

But Dark Powers being reduced to "vestiges" and beatable is by far the worst BS ever. The Dark Powers are mysterious quasi sentient powers controlling the fog, attracted to evil which traps evil forces with a lot of innocent people and the plane are close to the negative energy plane. Only Ao or other overdeity could wipe a plane out of existence. Merely escaping the Dark Powers is a insanely hard task and only one Dark Lord managed to do that. Vecna. Which was one of the strongest demigods who ever existed and had to do crazy plans to escape.

Doesn't matter how powerful even the Dark Lords are. They are mere toys for the Dark Powers amusement. If it can be banished or destroyed, the horror of being a mere toy of a mysterious power dies. And part of the Horror of Ravenloft, is that doesn't matter how strong you are. Even if you could against all odds beat the Dark Lord, you still a mere pawn in the hands of the dark powers.

Living Death (RPGA Masque of the Red Death campaign, which I'd really like to find all the modules for since I only have those from the last few years) ends with banishing a single, exiled, Dark Power. That was a result of literally millennia of planning by various secret societies, all the right pieces lining up, and it costs the player characters their lives to power the ritual (not to mention all those that died in the campaign). Even then, the Red Death isn't even explicitly said to be a Dark Power within the setting itself, just an early preview and dev interviews.

 

[Alex]

You know, the more time passes, the more I think Deities & Demigods had the right idea for a D&D game. If something is an acting being in the game world, especially if it is some kind of foe or adversary; it should have stats. It should have capacities and limits; and well defined means of destruction. Then it would be up to the players, if the game indeed turns this way, to find a way to beat those things and then do it. No matter if we are talking about gods, "dark powers", "ladies of pain" or what have you. Make those things into actual characters rather than plot devices; and let your players run wild trying to beat them if so they want and can.

 

[Rean]

You know, the more time passes, the more I think Deities & Demigods had the right idea for a D&D game. If something is an acting being in the game world, especially if it is some kind of foe or adversary; it should have stats. It should have capacities and limits; and well defined means of destruction. Then it would be up to the players, if the game indeed turns this way, to find a way to beat those things and then do it. No matter if we are talking about gods, "dark powers", "ladies of pain" or what have you. Make those things into actual characters rather than plot devices; and let your players run wild trying to beat them if so they want and can.

Unfathomably bad idea, perhaps one of the worst ever.
Even with epic level rules this was only supposed to happen with lower or weakened divines. Gods are supposed to represent the world itself and giving the players the capacity to eradicate them both destroys any sense of grandiosity and mystery and shits on the world itself in about a billion different ways. It also promotes this disgusting nu-age idea that the world is a player sandbox where they can do absolutely anything if they put their mind to it.
Events like the Spellplague and deities like Ao the Overgod were only created to give the players of Greenwood's and Schend's campaigns a sense of everyone being bound by strict rules.

'Hey Bob, I want you to feel empowered in our Sigil game. I know you've been playing for about a couple months now, but enjoy fighting and killing the Lady of Pain, who's the only reason this place exists. Other gods didn't manage to do it, but I'm sure you can, because you're a player and you're oh so special!'

 

[Mortmal]

It's not a nu age idea, its as old as D&D . Basic rules had 36 levels , thats huge and require considerable amount of time, hardly anyone was playing that long but it has immortal rules. You are challenging the gods in the end and become one. Those books are DM porn well worth reading of course hardly anyone reach that part, and thats why nowaday you only see BX in retroclone as they were the most fun parts for most people, no champion, no master no immortal...Then in 2E it was even better with stat blocks , even some crpg were covering that. Pool of radiance, curse of the azure bonds gateway to savage frontier , secret of the silverblades end with the pool of darkness module where you challenge bane itself. Krynn trilogy end up fighting tarkhisis too. Damn SSI disappearing was a huge blow to the crpg hobby.
D&d was always a powertrip, and in my opinion DMing is to make it fun for the players, if they want to play it sandbox and ascend in the end, as a DM i make it possible..to try.

 

[Cryomancer]

Anyone here used 5E to play settings completely different than D&D? Like this Harry Potter 5E adaptation > https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LsXE64qLDdLgBczM2kA

 

[Larianshill]

https://media.wizards.com/2021/dnd/downloads/UA2021_06_08_MagesStrixhaven.pdf

Here, at Wizards of the Coast, every day is caster day.

Spoiler

The design is unusual, though. A multiclass subclass. In fact, it's so unusual, I'd call it lazy.

 

[Reinhardt]

well "playing official means not loving yourself" was your motto . Suddenly you announce you whore yourself for money

"but 20$ is 20$"