Topic: The Dungeon and Dragons Thread

@Tasuki Our group is basically on hiatus as well. A little of it has to do with my schedule for the next while since it's haunted house season - I act, help out with advertising, and builds/takedowns when my normal schedule allows and the chore pile isn't high - which mostly leaves us with Sundays. We also don't technically have a solid place to play right now since the married couple who usually host us are mid-move. Their last day in their current apartment is this Saturday. I would not blame your group at all for starting a new campaign, but it wouldn't hurt to see what everyone else thinks first.

I'm very glad more of your D&D stuff survived your fire than you thought. I vaguely recall you posting in the forums when that happened.

@Tyranexx there are rules for it, but they are considered optional. Each class has a minimum ability score that has to be met to multi class into it. My character could have gone Fighter, Thief or Wizard with his ability scores.

Mechanics-wise you get a limited selection of starting proficiencies and skills. And you get the HP and abilities of the class. If they are casters your total caster level gets calculated to figure out spell slots, but you are still limited to you class(es) max spell level for learning.

So as an Artificer 7/Wizard 1 my spell level will be 3.5 (rounded down) + 1. So I will have some level three slots but no level three spells (can upcast though). I will gain three cantrips and six level one wizards spells, arcane recovery (1 level), ritual casting from the spell book.

My plan is leaning towards an order of scribes Wizard. I will infuse a ruby of the war mage to let me use my infused glaive as a focus. That would net me a larger pool of spells slots. Plus one feature of order of scribes is swapping damage types with another spell of the level. Turning an Ice Spike into a Force or Fire Spike has some potential in my book. Overall it will be a 3-4 level dip so I will get 2 extra spell slot levels over a straight artificer at the cost of level 5 artificer spells.

@Tasuki Sad to hear that about your campaign, but happy to hear you found some of your old stuff. Hopefully you will be able to get a new campaign going sooner rather than later. We missed about a month and it was hard to get back into the rhythm of everything again, so I cannot imagine going months without playing.

@HenryKibble I think they are still in the realm of home-brew.

@Darknyht Multiclassing does seem quite fun, though I suppose risk vs. reward will need weighed. Definitely something I should research sometime. In your character's case I think it works very well with all the Wizard spells and utility you gain. Swapping damage types sounds very useful too depending on the situation.

Is there a certain design for the glaive your character is using out there, or is this a custom one? I'm imagining a cool looking weapon once it's infused with that ruby.

@Darknyht sorry for the late response, but I hope your group has been going good. I have not caught up on this thread I been terribly busy. @Tyranexx That bow of warning sounds awesome. My group got to play and we played two sessions. In the first session they faced a Medusa and was able to beat it after a long fight. Now they are sneaking into a tower after bluffing the guards into thinking they are reinforcements.

@Tyranexx it is a standard glaive infused with the radiant weapon infusion. As far as looks it is probably close to a Naginata with a red rope tied by the blade to pull blood away from the pole and the ruby in the end of the pole. Nothing fancy, and my character forged it from scrap.

I gave thought to just using a wizards staff as a quarterstaff, but couldn’t get past the visual of a quarterstaff and medium armor. I also thought about using a spear but with cantrips I don’t need the throwing versatility. At least with the glaive I get reach.

@Themagusx1 Glad you managed to get in a couple sessions. Does a Medusa in D&D function a lot like the Greek original, or are there some changes? Ah, bluffing....Our group has done plenty of that with the Cult of the Dragon.

@Darknyht Ah, a naginata....Mentioning that alone sets my mind alight. I think the red rope adds a simple yet practical touch. Which also means the ruby goes well with the overall look. With the other choices you laid out, I'd probably opt for a glaive/polearm as well.

So I have come up with an idea that may better fit my schedule and let me play some D&D. I basically have came up with maybe just stringing a bunch of one shots together. Basically I have been looking into the Epic Ecounters https://steamforged.com/collections/epic-encounters sets and doing like a Dungeon of the week kinda of set up. Not necessary a huge over arching campaign but just a Series of one shots.
The heroes are an already established group that know each other and basically this week they are commissioned to take on this Dungeon.

I think that may work out now I just need to find some one shot adventures.

@Tasuki If you are not opposed to Wizards created stuff, Tales from the Yawning Portal, Candlekeep Mysteries, Ghosts of the Saltmarsh and Keys from the Golden Vault are basically a bunch of one-shot dungeons tied together through a paper-thin narrative. Each centered around a specific theme (Popular Adventures, Mysteries, Sea Themed, and Heist-themed respectively). There are also a ton of one-shots available over in the Adventure's league portion of Drive-Thru RPG (https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/44/wizards-of-t...) .

If I was in your place, I would use the Yawning Portal Inn (or something similar) and play it as a riff on Restaurant to Another World. The players are seasoned patrons to the place and are hired to go and collect various things needed by the establishment. Gives you a hub for some local NPC flavor and a mechanic to have them constantly appearing in other settings for adventure.

As for my own campaign, we haven't been able to play for various reasons. Have got a few rounds of Left 4 Dead 2 in with those of us that could gather, but hopefully next week we can get a good session in. My other campaign starts Saturday and we will be playing new Phandelver and Below campaign.

@Darknyht Yeah I thought about those as well. I did run my group through one of the adventure tunes from the Yawning Portal awhile back. I do have Ghosts of Saltmarsh as well was trying to figure out where to fit that into my campaign.

Thanks for the tip on Drive Thru RPG, I always forget about that site.

@Tasuki Honestly, I had to look up the name of the place again. I use them to purchase old RPG stuff from time to time, but always forget they carry current stuff also.

I've always wanted to do a campaign where the players exist on the nexus or gateway to worlds, like the Yawning Portal Inn, Babylon 5 Space Station, or even the ship from Stargate Universe. It would be a place where they need to explore/repair/expand but also have to deal with either visiting or being visited by the unknown.

The other variation of that was playing the SWRPG in a world where Luke sides with Vader at the end of The Empire Strikes Back and the Rebellion is reduced to little fleets on the run while Vader and Luke's faction wars with the Emperor. There was an awesome online sourcebook for the idea online during the first edition of Wizard's SWRPG that incorporated a lot of the expanded universe and how it would shift that made it sound just interesting. Unfortunately, my copy was on a Zip drive (doesn't that tell you how long ago that was) that corrupted and I have never been able to find it again.

So I love video game RPGs but I've never played a tabletop/pen & paper one before. But I really think my 11 year old son would like it because him and his best friend are always making up scenarios like D&D and the like. I am thinking of trying to get something for Christmas for him/all of us. What would be a good place to start for a family who has never played before, including my 8-year-old daughter who I think would probably enjoy it, too? There are so many different books and things out there I'm not sure where to look. Thanks.

@Xyphon22 I would start with The D&D Essentials Kit

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Essentials-Kit-Boxed/...

It has everything you need to start and it's designed to be an introduction for D&D for those that never played before. You can get that to gage their interest in it. If they do seem to enjoy it and want more, then I suggest getting the Players Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual to start.

But begin with the Essentials Kit first and maybe a few sets of dice.

@Tasuki Awesome, thanks. That looks really good, so hopefully we will all enjoy it.

@Xyphon22 Also see if you have any Comic/Hobby stores where you live, they may have a night where they have open games that anyone can join. You can sit in on them as well and see how to play and ask questions.

@Xyphon22 I will echo the Essentials Kit or even the old Beginner's Kit (if you can find it) which is geared towards the idea that no one knows what they are doing. I am not sure about the new Beginner's Kit as I haven't looked at it.

You can also download the Basic Rules for free in PDF form that covers the Fighter, Rouge, Cleric and Wizard with the most standard sub-class for level 1-20 along with enough DM guidance to run a game. If you get the DND Beyond version it covers the basic sub-class for all classes except Artificer. That should make it possible for you to join a local Adventurer's League Game. I wouldn't recommend trying to run a home-brew game if you have zero experience, but if you want to go that route I would recommend listening to actual play podcasts first. Sneak Attack Season 1, High Rollers, Critical Role, and a few other good ones are out there to help you understand DM'ing flow.

I've suggested it before, but Sly Flourish's site is a great resource for beginning DMs. It also has some good suggestions on how to run both the Beginner's and Essential's kit for the first time.

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. The Curse of Strahd campaign has stalled due to schedules, but I did finally have our first session with my kids and their friends. We have seven players at the table, ranging between the age of 9-16, running the expanded Phandelver campaign.

So we have a Paladin, Ranger, Rouge, Bard, Cleric, Wizard, and Sorcerer of various races that was hired to escort two wagons to the town of Phandalin. The dwarf that hired them along with his body guard left on horseback ahead of them to make preparations with the store they were delivering to. After about three days travel, the party came upon two dead horses blocking the trail. As the party tried to figure out what they were doing (the sorcerer decided he was sleeping in the wagon), the party found themselves in an ambush.

On the surprise round, the attackers managed to critical strike the Thri-kreen Wizard, instantly downing him. They also shot the rouge but missed the other shots. The party attempted to fight back, with the rouge killing his attacker and notifying them that it was a goblin attack. However, the goblins being smart stayed in the trees, moving between prepared sniper spots about 30' - 70' feet back in the woods. They fired their bows and then moved into a new hiding spot (Attack, Move, Bonus Action Hide). The battle lasted only a minute, but eventually they overcame the four attackers.

The party realized that the horses belonged to their boss and decided to pursue. When they got to the cave, I switched up goblin locations since one of the players was attempting to use prior knowledge to game the game. They moved into the cave with lit torches and killed another goblin lookout, but not before he signaled further into the cave. At this point, the party couldn't decide what to do and fell into a trap as the goblins further up released a dam holding back a massive amount of water.

All but the rouge saved and he went down from the damage of being slammed into the walls on his way out of the cave. The party then decided to split as everyone but the Cleric and Ranger went back to help the rouge. The two lit torches and moved back into the cave up the path where they started by shot at by goblins from 60' - 80' outside of their light source. The ranger attempted to throw his torch forward, but only succeeded on throwing it into the stream of water (natural 1 roll). After being shot twice each, they retreated back down the path.

The rest of the party sent a familiar in to investigate the other path only to have it run into the wolves being fed by the goblins from outside (that I had moved). Thankfully everyone passed their stealth check and wisely retreated to take a short rest and rethink their strategies.

Since this was a young group, I wrote them an email Monday sharing that at their rest spot they found a copy of R. Sneed's Famous Adventurer's Correspondence School: How to Be an Adventurer. In it R. Sneed detailed the importance of a party leader and each member fulfilling a role to work together. Hopefully they take some time to figure out how to better work together before we play again. Otherwise, they are going to have characters die to goblins before they finish the starter dungeon.

Overall, everyone had a good time and they are all eager to play again. But with 8 of us, trying to coordinate schedules for in person play is hard. Hopefully around Thanksgiving we can get another session going.

@Darknyht I belive The Startes Kit was replaced by tbe Essentials Kit. You might be able to find the Startes Kit in used section of stores, heck I saw two at my local Goodwill the other day.

I am interested in that Phandelver campaign let me know how that goes. Is it a bunch of short adventures that can be tied together to form a campaign?

@Tasuki That's right it became the Beginner's Kit. Has artwork that features the old D&D Cartoon characters on it. The Phandelver and Below campaign takes the Lost Mine of Phandelver campaign from the Starter's Kit and expands it to a full 1-13 level campaign. The first four chapters mostly follow along with the original version, but with some hooks that reach into the new material.

The transition as written between old and new isn't done well, but it is easy enough to adjust. The new thread is that the town is being twisted by dark forces that are mutating and changing everyone and everything. As the campaign progresses it turns into a race against time as it can start effecting the players themselves.

@Darknyht Epic beginnings for that group IMo; sounds like everyone had a lot of fun! Though I do commend you for stressing the importance of grpup organization. For one, I wouldn't have split the party like that! Lol

Our campaign is also stagnant. Schedules just haven't aligned. It's partially my fault due to my haunted house activities, but that's finally done with for awhile.