- Joined
- Dec 28, 2014
Just avoiding the fucking slimeballs who play 5e will save you a lot of trouble.
Tabletop Roleplaying Games (D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, ETC.)
- Thread starter Surtur
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- Joined
- Jun 4, 2018
The worst part of 5E is that there are some excellent components. I fucking love advantage/disadvantage as a fast and dirty way to simulate an easy shot or a tough one (regardless of the action). Concentration means less steamrolling when casters start spamming buffs (though I think they could've opted to not make almost every good buff/debuff a concentration spell, sheesh).
But god DAMN we got some real tards riding the Critical Role / Dimension20 coattails, and WotC isn't any better between poor class balance (hello 5E ranger!) and shitty wokeist garbage getting shoehorned in.
But god DAMN we got some real tards riding the Critical Role / Dimension20 coattails, and WotC isn't any better between poor class balance (hello 5E ranger!) and shitty wokeist garbage getting shoehorned in.
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2017
Advantage is a great system I now bolt on to most systems. Hit Dice and healing are also pretty nice and improvement on 4e's by making a long rest not just a full reset and performance batter.
Also, daily reminder for everyone who missed my Advantage autism post & youtube:
Advantage: +3 (+3.5 if you're getting exact)
Double Advantage : +5
Triple Advantage: +6
Quadruple Advantage: +7
This scales backwards (negative instead of plus for disadvantage) and you can mix & match advantage or flat bonus (Roll 2, pick highest and then +3 is about the same odds-wise as +5)
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2019
Speaking of 5e, I decided to take a look at the new adventure just released, Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk (thanks for already having it up, 5e.tools). It seems alright, though it also puts their replacement of the old Starter Set in a new light.
The first half is more or less a straight reprint of the original Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure, albeit with some additional maps and imagery, as well as some slight rewrites that assume the DM knows more about the basics of the game and doesn't need as much handholding. If I had previously purchased the original Starter Set and then bought this, I would feel ripped off, so it now makes more sense that they swapped in a different adventure for their basic set. Up to you if you feel this is still a raw deal.
The second half is where things get more interesting. The book does say that you're free to cut the adventure short after the first half's done if you don't want to get into the weirdness, but you really wouldn't be getting your money's worth if you did. When the party gets back to town after clearing out the mine, things start to get weird; the sky goes gray, citizens are uneasy, and goblins have been running around stealing chunks of rock from various locations. Naturally, it's up to the intrepid group of adventurers to investigate the problems.
All in all, it seems like a decent adventure to run; it's got a different flavor from most 5e content, and I always enjoy mind flayer shenanigans. It's definitely more complete than some of their more recent adventure offerings (fucking Spelljammer), and I prefer a full adventure to the "one-shots" collections (fucking Radiant Citadel). Some people would be put off by the eldritch direction the adventure takes in the second half, but I'd personally enjoy that sort of thing.
The biggest issue I have, bad enough to not recommend regardless of my feelings, is the price: $60 is absolutely ridiculous when nearly half of it is basically a reprint, not to mention it doesn't even come with the free dice or character sheets from the Starter Set. Amazon's got it for less than $40 at the moment which is better, but still pretty crazy. Luckily, 5e.tools remains free if you actually want to run it or just have a read through.
The first half is more or less a straight reprint of the original Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure, albeit with some additional maps and imagery, as well as some slight rewrites that assume the DM knows more about the basics of the game and doesn't need as much handholding. If I had previously purchased the original Starter Set and then bought this, I would feel ripped off, so it now makes more sense that they swapped in a different adventure for their basic set. Up to you if you feel this is still a raw deal.
The second half is where things get more interesting. The book does say that you're free to cut the adventure short after the first half's done if you don't want to get into the weirdness, but you really wouldn't be getting your money's worth if you did. When the party gets back to town after clearing out the mine, things start to get weird; the sky goes gray, citizens are uneasy, and goblins have been running around stealing chunks of rock from various locations. Naturally, it's up to the intrepid group of adventurers to investigate the problems.
It turns out that the rocks the goblins have stolen are part of an ancient Netherese obelisk, and the goblins in turn are under the sway of a group of mind flayers that seek to rebuild the obelisk for their purposes. The party has to traverse the region to attempt to recover the remaining shards before the mind flayers can get their hands on them.
All the while, the effects on the region get progressively weirder, with bizarre creatures appearing, townspeople attacking each other, and strange mutations on plants and animals alike. The mind flayers, who worship a Far Realm godlet, are using the obelisk to conduct a ritual to turn the entire populace of Phandalin (or possibly farther) into mind flayers, hence the weirdness. The party then has to descend into an ancient mind flayer stronghold to confront them, but the flayers escape through a Far Realm portal that the party has to follow through.
The Far Realm section is comprised of two parts. The first involves traversing a fleshy brain-shaped maze with a variety of personalities, some friendly but many not. The party must then dive through a miles-deep pool of brine (breathable, thankfully) to end up in the heart of the godlet's realm, a collection of islands floating in the void that they'll need to traverse to reach the ritual site. Depending on how many shards they were successful in recovering, the showdown with the mind flayers will be easier or harder; you might face one at a time or all three together, plus two extras if they really fucked up.
If they're successful in defeating the mind flayers and destroying the obelisk, they'll have one final boss fight in the form of an aspect of the godlet waiting for them when they get back to the flesh maze. If they succeed, the town is saved and goes back to normal, and the party is rewarded for their bravery. If they fail, the players can roll new characters and attempt the ending again, potentially saving the original party.
The book ends with plot hooks for further Far Realm adventures, such as a giant nematode raining havoc on Phandalin or the party returning through the portal to explore the plane further, all while being beset by more of the godlet's forces.
All the while, the effects on the region get progressively weirder, with bizarre creatures appearing, townspeople attacking each other, and strange mutations on plants and animals alike. The mind flayers, who worship a Far Realm godlet, are using the obelisk to conduct a ritual to turn the entire populace of Phandalin (or possibly farther) into mind flayers, hence the weirdness. The party then has to descend into an ancient mind flayer stronghold to confront them, but the flayers escape through a Far Realm portal that the party has to follow through.
The Far Realm section is comprised of two parts. The first involves traversing a fleshy brain-shaped maze with a variety of personalities, some friendly but many not. The party must then dive through a miles-deep pool of brine (breathable, thankfully) to end up in the heart of the godlet's realm, a collection of islands floating in the void that they'll need to traverse to reach the ritual site. Depending on how many shards they were successful in recovering, the showdown with the mind flayers will be easier or harder; you might face one at a time or all three together, plus two extras if they really fucked up.
If they're successful in defeating the mind flayers and destroying the obelisk, they'll have one final boss fight in the form of an aspect of the godlet waiting for them when they get back to the flesh maze. If they succeed, the town is saved and goes back to normal, and the party is rewarded for their bravery. If they fail, the players can roll new characters and attempt the ending again, potentially saving the original party.
The book ends with plot hooks for further Far Realm adventures, such as a giant nematode raining havoc on Phandalin or the party returning through the portal to explore the plane further, all while being beset by more of the godlet's forces.
The biggest issue I have, bad enough to not recommend regardless of my feelings, is the price: $60 is absolutely ridiculous when nearly half of it is basically a reprint, not to mention it doesn't even come with the free dice or character sheets from the Starter Set. Amazon's got it for less than $40 at the moment which is better, but still pretty crazy. Luckily, 5e.tools remains free if you actually want to run it or just have a read through.
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2020
I just treat it like the Deep Umbra from WoD with the Astral Plane acting as a "border" (basically the space between an inner planet's atmosphere to a conveniently located asteroid belt) with the Shadowfell, Feywild, and Ethereal acting as layers of reality overlapping the world.
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2022
Currently planning to combine Mouse Guard and either Savage Worlds or Spirit of the Century to create a The Rescuers game.
derpherp2
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2020
I'd love it if it was actually lovecraftian. Like actual "far realms" where the rules make no sense normally - instead of OMG TENTACLES TRANSHUMANS PSIONICS.
Like I'd imagine it to be Tomb of Horrors but an entire plane (where you actively get punished for seeking too hard, advantages won't save you, even rolling too high might be less advantages now) - or more like the space inbetween planes , coalescing into a web - or a weave.
Where psionics comes from. But this entire plane is sentient, and it either doesn't care about you or absolutely hates you if it even notices you.
The Far Gods, the Cthulus, the aberrants? Mere cells of the Far Realm.
Also of course WoTC is going to start shilling mind flayer shit, they knew BG3 was going to be a success, someone's creeaming their pants trying to make a Cthulu Extended Universe. Or CEU. Maybe with their dick too. So a DCEU.
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2021
It's not linear like that. Depending on the value you need to succeed, the effective bonus is different. If you need a 17-18, it's like +3, but if you need an 8-14, which is a much more typical roll for 5e, it's like +5.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2017
In my experience you'd be surprised how adaptable and accommodating friends can be if you say, hey we're going to do a different system but I (mostly) know the rules inside and out and will guide us on this magical journey. Maybe they're bored of being leashed to 5E too!
I'm worried that BG3's success is going to have Wizards lean the fuck into Illithids so hard they become the Borg of the D&D universe: on paper terrifying, in reality used and abused by creators until you're bored by them.
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2020
I still can't believe you can fuck a mind flayer in BG3.
That aside, aberrations have always been my favorite creature type. I like weird alien shit. I'm not concerned about the mutants running WotC ruining anything lorewise because you can always just pirate the old shit for inspiration. Lords of Madness from the 3.5 era was fucking great and I recommend anything in that over the pablum that gets published now.
Loose Goose
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2019
That already happened in 2e with beholders and the drow. Cool monsters that were both original to D&D, but they turned lame thanks to constant overuse in shit tier splatbooks.
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2017
Its exactly linear, as counter intuitive as it might seem.
I think what you're thinking of is Roll Two, Take Average. When you do that, there is a slight probability skew - things that a 50% or greater chance to happen, will happen ~5% more often.
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2021
It is not.
You'll get the same result if you do this analytically.
EDIT:
The math is pretty easy. The probability of rolling < N on 1d20 is just (N-1) / 20. Therefore, the probability of failing to meet or exceed a target of N when rolling 2d20, pick one, is ((N-1)/20)^2, and so the problem of succeeding with advantage is
1 - ( (N-1) / 20 )^2, which is quadratic, not linear. Here's a table, all percentages rounded to whole numbers:
| Target | P(Success), Adv | P(Success), d20 | Difference | Equivalent bonus |
| 1 | 100% | 100% | 0% | 0 |
| 2 | 100% | 95% | 5% | 1 |
| 3 | 99% | 90% | 9% | 2 |
| 4 | 98% | 85% | 13% | 3 |
| 5 | 96% | 80% | 16% | 3 |
| 6 | 94% | 75% | 19% | 4 |
| 7 | 91% | 70% | 21% | 4 |
| 8 | 88% | 65% | 23% | 5 |
| 9 | 84% | 60% | 24% | 5 |
| 10 | 80% | 55% | 25% | 5 |
| 11 | 75% | 50% | 25% | 5 |
| 12 | 70% | 45% | 25% | 5 |
| 13 | 64% | 40% | 24% | 5 |
| 14 | 58% | 35% | 23% | 5 |
| 15 | 51% | 30% | 21% | 4 |
| 16 | 44% | 25% | 19% | 4 |
| 17 | 36% | 20% | 16% | 3 |
| 18 | 28% | 15% | 13% | 3 |
| 19 | 19% | 10% | 9% | 2 |
| 20 | 10% | 5% | 5% | 1 |
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- Joined
- Dec 28, 2014
I generally used the "roll multiple dice, throw out the bad ones" for character generation, because I generally believed heroes should be substantially above average. I'd also generally give max HP to first level characters because the 1 hit point wizard getting killed by a housecat was ridiculous.
It would also depend on the toughness of the general world, and I'd range from throwing 4d6 for stats and dropping the lowest to 6d6. Sometimes 6d6 just for the main stat for the class. I was generally pretty generous for starter characters because it got silly and annoying to reroll to level up yet another first level character to the point of being even remotely useful.
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2019
A while back, I found an interesting proposal while browsing a thread that was discussing the best way to roll character stats.
Roll 4d6-1 like usual for all your stats, then order from highest to lowest. Then place the standard array next to it and compare values. If any of your stats are lower than the equivalent row in the standard array, swap in the standard value. So for example, if you rolled 16, 14, 12, 12, 11, and 7, you'd change it to 16, 14, 13, 12, 11, and 8. This lets you roll stats to potentially have a strong character, while also ensuring that you won't be any weaker than standard array, effectively putting a floor on your character's stats.
If you enjoy roleplaying a character with particularly low dump stats or you want your players to be challenged by the risk of low stat rolls, obviously this wouldn't be up your alley, but I think it's a decent idea.
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2019
So I need some help:
I have a nephew that is interested in trying tabletop. I have no interest in wasting a lot of money on dice and other garbage. Are there any good starter sets you guys could recommend? It doesn't have to be DnD specifically. I see that Numenara has a starter set for $25 that I'm tempted to get.
Also interested in any recommendations for any of those more 'hardcore' boardgames.
I have a nephew that is interested in trying tabletop. I have no interest in wasting a lot of money on dice and other garbage. Are there any good starter sets you guys could recommend? It doesn't have to be DnD specifically. I see that Numenara has a starter set for $25 that I'm tempted to get.
Also interested in any recommendations for any of those more 'hardcore' boardgames.
Atlictoal
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2023
Savage Worlds is cheap, easy, and (most likely) gives him a chance to use all the funny gaming dice. You have to buy dice separately, but one set plus SW (if I remember correctly) should run you about $30
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2014
I generally wanted the member of a party to be roughly comparable and actually need each other, so I didn't really want hopeless characters. I'd also throw in mechanics like fighter-types would get a protect move, and players got to pick or even make up some special skill their character had (to avoid that endlessly annoying situation of every spellcaster being first level because the last one died of a mosquito bite). So maybe a barbarian picked up a couple cantrips while serving a wizard, or a thief was really good at cheating at cards.
I'd also usually throw in a minor magic item for the starter kit, nothing major, like a +1 Ring of Protection or an Orcrist-type weapon that glowed around orcs.
Generally I wanted to get out of the realm of totally feeble characters and into the heroism stuff, so bonus XP on the first mission, basically ensuring that after your initial fetch quest with fighting some gobbos everyone would level up and everyone would have a couple cool items.
Personally I like percentile-based systems, and for those, you need a few 10-sided dice and nothing else.
If it's D&D though you generally want all the Platonic solid dice, i.e. d4, d6, d8, d12, d20 and a number of them.
I used to be obsessed with dice and would even throw them thousands of times to do a chi-square test on whether they were biased and just throw out biased dice.
By the end of my TTRPG career often an entire session would go by without a single roll of the dice.
Atlictoal
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2023
Pretty much every RPG rulebook ever has the whole "only roll when yada yada" clause, but I believe there must be a gene prevalent in nerds that makes randomly generated numbers fascinating