Topic: The Dungeon and Dragons Thread

@Darknyht Green hags sound a lot like what I had in mind then, namely the Hansel & Gretel and Baba Yaga sort. All three of those hag types do indeed sound nasty together; no wonder your character has issues. I've not read or watched Needful Things, though it's a novel I'd like to get to at some point since it does feature a character in from King's The Body.

Seems that I was correct in assuming that Curse of Strahd is a difficult campaign setting. Your homebrew rules even more so, though I can certainly understand the appeal of that method since it's something different and more high stakes. A lack of compassion from enemies is how we lost our Tiefling paladin more recently and why her Kobold warlock servant is now the PC....Though she's still pulling the strings in a sense. I and another player are still on our first characters. Another player is on their second (our current bard), and the last is on their fourth (Kobold warlock).

In our Grim Hollow setting, our party hit level 2 last time; we were all level 1 trying to take care of a nest of pickpockets in the large city of Morencia. I play a Tabaxi Rogue. There's also a Loxodon Cleric, Human Druid, and a Dreamer (race in this setting) Monk. My rogue wouldn't have been able to revive any of the party - I bought some healing potions for insurance after the fact should this happen again - but thankfully the two characters that could heal had some foresight to help out in advance. No more than two characters were down at given points, but it became pretty harrowing for awhile. My character was reduced to sniping with a shortbow on an abandoned building's roof for safety.

@Tasuki Best wishes for the player getting open heart surgery. I hope everything goes well. You certainly have some feasible options, but I'd certainly discuss them with your group. Worst comes to worst, you'll have to go on a hiatus for a bit.

@Tasuki have you considered using temp sidekicks? There are rules for them in Tasha’s and in the Essentials Kit (although they are more basic and only cover the first 5 levels). You could explain the absence as they were called away. Just level them to be equal upon return. The sidekicks are not as good as a player character, but also not as complex so someone can manage them in combat while you (or they) can manage the RP aspects. At the least it is worth talking to everyone and see how they feel.

We used them in the past to get a four person party. However, our issue was that with a three players we were losing someone in the middle of combat at times. Trying to wait on him meant waiting weeks between sessions. So we ended up having the hard conversation just stating the obvious that the game wasn’t his priority and that was okay, but he need to be honest with himself.

Regardless, I will pray all goes well for your friend. I hope he has a speedy recovery.

@Darknyht If I was going that route I might as well just make some NPCs, and to be honest Inreally don't like when DMs do that so they can play as well. Thanks for the thought for our player both from you and @Tyranexx.

So it looks like, my campaign will be put hold after talking it over with my players. One of my players has decided to take a crack at DMing and is looking into putting together a Ravenloft campaign. I am thinking of doing an Artificer from Falkovnia. Not sure what the other players will be doing but I am excited of the thought of playing Ravenloft again.

@Tasuki I hope you enjoy the artificer. We just played last night and my Battle Smith finally clicked. Part of the problem was technical as we realized the VTT was not calculating bonuses correctly (was applying a -5 instead of a +5 to my attack rolls), the other was finding the character’s groove.

In character, I have started ribbing the party’s Battle Master as I have killed more enemies than him. (The count is 10-3). So we are having an unofficial competition in killing blights. It has gotten my friend to start thinking more seriously about how to make his fighter more effective (he frequently forgets to use his bonus action and maneuvers) as his competitive streak is coming out.

Story wise we completed a milestone and are now working towards the second. Hopefully we can complete this campaign before my DND Beyond expires, as I am frustrated by WotC’s recent actions and plans to bring the worse of DLC to. the game.

@Darknyht What VTT do you use out of curiosity? Like you I am a bit annoyed by what Hasbro is doing now (won't get into it here because I am not about to start drama but I am pretty sure everyone who plays knows what I am talking about) and have D&D Beyond but I want to start looking for a new VTT. Problem is for me though I have already spent allt of money on D&D Beyond and really don't want to have to buy the books I own again to use on another digital system (This is why I hate digital media of any kind). But if Hasbro keeps being stupid I just might have too.

@Tasuki my friend is hosting a FoundryVTT session. Currently using the SRD with imports from DNDBeyond to pull in characters. Most of us use HeroForge to make our avatars.

The bad is that WotC’s moves has me nervous as I pay for the Master tier and own most of the digital books we use on dndbeyond. I fear that the APIs will be disabled that allows easy import. The good is Foundry can easily switch to many different systems if needed. Been reading the basics of Pathfinder 2E lately, and that is probably where I will jump if necessary. Already registered in demiplane to look at the basic material.

It seems my group may resume our quest this weekend, though we're still waiting to hear on final schedules. Some group members have other goings on. We might end up playing things by ear and scheduling last minute.

@Tasuki Under the circumstances, I don't blame you for putting your campaign on hold and am glad that the other players appear to be in agreement. I hope that Ravenloft campaign does materialize and that it's a fun one!

@Darknyht I will have to check that out, thanks for the info. I have been contemplating Pathfinder if ***** goes south, but I am not sure which edition. I have the 1st Edition Pathfinder Players Handbook that I bought a few years ago at a used bookstore but I don't know the difference between 1st and 2nd Edition like how compatible are they etc.

@Tyranexx Oh I do to if it does this will be the first time I get to play since the beginning of CoVID, so about 3 years. Before CoVID my local Comic book store would have D&D meet-up once a month, but like everything else when CoVID hit they stopped it and haven't brought it back since.

@Tasuki I am not sure other than 1st Edition is pretty much 3.5 from what I understand. There is some interesting things I’ve seen with 2nd edition like initial stats being based on species, background and class. You start at 10 for all stats and then each of the above gives some you stat boosts or penalties to a selection of ability scores. The other thing interesting is how they handle critical success or failure.

@Tasuki Been awhile since you've been in a normal player's shoes then? Might be a good chance of pace. Someone runs a D&D campaign out of a local card shop on Sundays here. Last time I was in, the group was a decent size. Unfortunately, their starting time doesn't suit me as there's usually no way I'd be able to make the game in time. One campaign is enough for now lol.

@Darknyht @Tyranexx Well after talking to the DM about their campaign, sadly the idea I had behind my Artificer won't work, so thats another character idea to be filed away for another time. However, staying with the caster Idea I settled on a Shadow Sorcerer. Not quite sure what race I will be, either Dragonborne cause I think the idea of a shadow dragon would be cool or Drow.

@Tasuki Sorry to hear your idea will not work out. There is always another campaign that hopefully he will work for. I've never played Sorcerers (or most full casters) because I struggle with them, but the shadow sorcerer looked interesting when they were added. My personal goal is to make an aged grandmother Tortle Rouge that is a healer/cook that fights with a rolling pin (mace) and Knitting Needles (Daggers) as my next character. The alternative would be a Circle of Shepherd Druid or Beastmaster Ranger so I can add cat-lady to the mix.

We lost our Battle Master on Monday to a double Crit against him. He rolled poorly on the Homebrew death rules and instantly died. But we completed our second week of moving through a location, clearing the rooms while searching for our goal. Thankfully the player's backup character (Eldritch Knight) was already prepped and there was a place to slot him in so by the end of the session he was playing again.

The only other thing of note was a amazing moment where we had to face a lot of druids and their minions, and the DM conveniently forgot that I had access to a Lightening Bolt spell through a magic item found a few weeks ago. So I managed to take out half the encounter with one action due to them standing in a 100'x5' line. There is nothing like a player derailing an encounter through unexpected spell or item usage.

Seems like our Tyranny of Dragons campaign will resume this weekend. It's been just under two months at this point. Thankfully one of the other players is great at taking notes. Plus my updates in this thread will help refresh my memory too.

@Tasuki Bummer that your Artificer idea didn't pan out this time. I quite like the idea of a Dragonborn Shadow Sorcerer since I like dragons in general, but you should go with any race you want.

@Darknyht Looks like your campaign is going pretty well too. Lightning nukes are always the best.

@Darknyht @Tyranexx Yeah it's a shame that my artificier didn't work out but it happens. As I said I am looking forward to trying my hand with a caster. Last time I played on was 2nd Edition, like 30 years ago lol.

We didn't end up playing last weekend - sick DM - and now might be shooting for this weekend. Likely Sunday since I already have Saturday plans.

@Tyranexx Well my group was able to play. We we able to wrap up my campaign at a good point. The party just found a Vestige of Divergence and are preparing to leave town to trek to a another town where hopefully they will get more information on the item. I figured it was a good stopping point before anything else gets crazy in the adventure.

Now I just need to switch gears from DM to player. For this adventure it looks like the party will consist of, a Shadow Socerer, a Minotaur Barbarian , a Half Orc Paladin, and a Werebear Bloodhunter. There are a few players that haven't said what they would be playing yet.

@Tasuki Sounds like a good stopping point indeed. Hopefully someone takes notes for reference the next time your group does play since it sounds like it'll be awhile. That party for the other adventure sounds like an interesting composition. I'm curious to hear about the final group results.

Sunday looks like a definite go for our group until further notice. Turns out I'm not the only one who already has plans Saturday.

@Tasuki Sounds like an interesting group so far. Hope you have a good campaign.

So out of curiosity, how do you guys handle Perception vs Investigation? We play it that Perception is noticing something with your five senses and investigation is putting the pieces together. i.e You perceive a trap, need to investigate to figure out how it works, need tinker/thieves tools to disable it. I feel like Wizards of the Coast official modules seem to use Perception for everything, and mostly ignore investigation.

@Darknyht I use investigation if the PC is actively trying to find something i.e. I want to see how this door opens or trying to figure out the cryptic message on a note.

Perception I use if I want them to see, hear something. Does the PC hear the bandits rustling in the bushes or see the shark swimming about in the flooded room. Do they spot the hidden door.

I use sleight of hand for removing traps or picking locks since that would be more of a dexterity skill more then intelligence. Now if the PC uses investigation or another party member does to see how it works I would give the one picking the lock an advantage

Of course if the are using their tools I give them an advantage unless they are non-proficient with that skill then they just get the bonus. Of course if they are proficient they get an advantage when using tools. Now if they are proficient and using tool plus they investigated the lock I just lower the DC since you can't get double advantage.

@Tasuki Interesting approach. I just know that Perception is abused as if it is some sort of magical power in the official campaign books. I am starting to fall into agreement with halting hobbies's description that "Perception is the player’s ability to spot and detect people or items, it has nothing to do with making intelligent decisions about those people or items. Investigation is the player’s ability to put together clues and making deductions the others wouldn’t make."

Anyways, that is one of the ways we are trying to give spotlight roles to characters in our campaign. We want to stop having the ritual of running into a room and just perception check for treasure, secret doors, or traps. So while my character is great in investigation (Investigation +8), he is somewhat oblivious to things around him (low perception). Our Druid however is very perceptive and insightful (+6 in each) and we want to start letting him shine in that way. So I am starting to back off of searching the room type perception checks and instead have been "piecing the clues together" with Investigation after they search.