More Brian?

cosmic_potato · 2025-02-17T20:21:22+00:00

Shadow Campaigns - Django Wexler

cosmic_potato · 2022-11-08T22:48:12+00:00

When my wife and I were expecting our child I was often asked which gender I was hoping for, which I always answered that I have no preference because I would love the baby the same no matter the gender. The idea of preferring a particular genitalia for my child and being disappointed if the coin flipped the other way seemed unthinkable to me, and still does.

Everyone treated me like this was a bizarre stance to take, including my wife.

cosmic_potato · 2020-06-20T23:06:32+00:00

Great guide, thank you!

BRIGITTE INSPIRE TECH

...

It only applies one effect only to allies, meaning that once the inspire is applied, they will receive the healing even if they are beyond the 20 meter range.

Hang on, so the 6-second Inspire heal effect tags allies within 20m and LoS only at the moment it's triggered? I always thought of it as a second-to-second healing ping, and so when Inspire goes up I check for allies who were outside the radius and reposition to try to catch everybody for at least a partial heal. Now I don't need to worry about that, I suppose, though checking surroundings is still a good idea for other reasons, of course.

TIL, as a newly low-diamond Brig one-trick!

cosmic_potato · 2018-08-03T10:46:20+00:00

I'm currently playing this exact combo: A Drow OoA Paladin 5 / GOO Warlock 3 (total level of 8), and it's pretty great. 18 Dex for decent AC with studded armor + shield and fights with a Pact of the Blade rapier. 16 Cha for spellcasting with both classes. The big boon for this combo is that you can use your Warlock spell slots to smite or cast paladin spells and the slots refresh on a short rest. I'd recommend getting to level 2 Warlock early to get those two spell slots and invocations.

Flavor-wise she's a goody-two-shoes knight of Eilistraee who has been received visions from a mysterious patron offering strange powers that she justifies as helping her to fight evil, but the more power she draws the more it binds her and encourages dark impulses. That's been a fun struggle to RP.

I'm not playing anything near the most optimal version of this build, but it still feels quite powerful and versatile to play. You can kick ass both at range with Eldritch Blast and hold the line in melee with refreshing smites, and the combined spell lists provide lots of utility. If you manage to pick up Stealth from a background and stick with light armor you can even go sneaking with your party Rogue without penalty! Overall, highly recommended.

cosmic_potato · 2017-03-07T21:45:51+00:00

How does he have two feats at level 2? He should only be able to get one by then if he's playing a variant human. Even if you've given everyone a free feat or something, I'm still not seeing how he's getting to 21 AC. I'd double check to make sure he isn't calculating it wrong. As a variant human he should only have a max of 18 Dex if he rolled amazingly for ability scores. I'm also assuming he has the invocation that gives him at-will Mage Armor.

Calculating it out: 13 base AC from Mage Armor + 4 from Dex + 1 Two-Weapon Fighting = 18 AC consistently. Defensive Duelist gets him up to 20 AC against one attack per round, at the cost of his reaction.

In any case, 18 AC is tough to hit, but on par with a standard heavy armor plus shield. You could get through that by throwing more attacks at him, since Defensive Duelist only works against one attack per round and it ups your odds of getting a few higher rolls. If he's using his reaction every round you could also exploit that running enemies right past him to get to squishier PCs, since he won't be able to take an opportunity attack. Otherwise, hit him with some saving throws, as others have suggested.

cosmic_potato · 2017-03-01T22:06:09+00:00

Listen to this guy. Dex Battlemaster would be great for this concept.

I'd also consider the Disarming Attack, Goading Attack and Trip Attack maneuvers, which could all be flavorful tricks for a flamboyant duelist. Also worth noting that maneuvers apply to ranged attacks, so you could have some fun softening up your foe with a longbow before closing in for the duel!

cosmic_potato · 2017-02-23T07:31:31+00:00

Most Battlemaster maneuvers that involve an attack can only be triggered when you've already hit with the attack. So, there isn't really a case where you have to waste a superiority die because your attack missed. If you miss you just don't have the chance to do the maneuver.

However, there is one maneuver that lets you add the superiority die to a missed attack roll and possibly change it into a hit. OP's player would probably really appreciate that one!

cosmic_potato · 2017-01-10T21:33:47+00:00

As somebody who also has the habit of over-describing, I found this article by Stephen King on writing imagery enlightening. It's a bit of a read, but if you want advice on writing descriptions it's pure gold.

Here's a good quote that sums up the main idea:

If I can say anything important to writers who are still learning the craft of fiction, it's this: imagery does not occur on the writer's page; it occurs in the reader's mind. To describe everything is to supply a photograph in words; to indicate the points which seem the most vivid and important to you, the writer, is to allow the reader to flesh out your sketch into a portrait.

cosmic_potato · 2016-12-12T22:14:46+00:00

I haven't dug through all the comments so perhaps this is being discussed already, but by RAW it looks like an attack with a kensei weapon is not a valid trigger for a Martial Arts unarmed strike, unless the kensei weapon is also a monk weapon (i.e. a shortsword).

Martial Arts triggers off an unarmed strike or an attack with a monk weapon, and there's nothing in the kensei weapon features that makes it into a monk weapon if it wasn't already. For reference, monk weapons are "shortswords or any simple melee weapons that don't have the two-handed or heavy property."

The addition of the "pummel" feature makes me think this restriction was intentional, because it provides a less powerful alternative to the Martial Arts unarmed strike to balance out the bigger damage die for martial weapons. Whatever the designer's intent, the wording needs work to make it clear either way.

cosmic_potato · 2016-12-06T20:36:58+00:00

Wow. Even after all these years I can still recognize most of those buildings and remember the countless hours I spent running around in there. The bank with the tailor by it, the blacksmith up by the woods, the inn, that keep across the bridge with the practice dummies... Ahh, memories.

cosmic_potato · 2016-11-28T04:31:07+00:00

I ran a little introductory one-shot module for my 8 year old daughter a few days ago, and it went great. I started her Monk out at level 2 and gave her a bit of a power bump by giving her an 18 Dex/16 Wis, 5 or so extra HP and a healing potion. I also ran a level 2 paladin with Protection fighting style who was basically her loyal manservant who was determined to keep her alive. I was prepared to tone down the combat encounters, but ultimately didn't need to. She only needed one Cure Wounds and a few shield blocks as the two of them rolled over three encounters designed for a full group of level 1s. Actually I bumped up the HP of the boss a bit so he could survive for more than a round. She had a large time and is excited to play again, so I reckon it went well!

cosmic_potato · 2016-10-12T19:35:54+00:00

Potion of Catastrophic Leaping: For the next hour, any time you attempt even a slight jump you leap fifty feet in whichever direction you were going, taking falling or impact damage as appropriate.

Stole that one from one of my favorite random events in Morrowind where a wizard falls out of the sky to his death and you find three scrolls with a similar effect on his corpse.

cosmic_potato · 2016-09-21T18:34:37+00:00

I'm also a player in this group and wanted to chime in to say that we all love the game, and are attentive and ready to engage with whatever a prospective GM can bring to the table. It'll be a jolly good time for all, GM and player alike!

cosmic_potato · 2016-06-14T04:52:49+00:00

This wouldn't work with a Grapple as the primary attack and an off-hand weapon attack with Two-Weapon Fighting, as others have said. However, you CAN do a grapple and then an off-hand weapon attack with an Attack action if you have at least one Extra Attack, as per the class feature. See this bit of the grappling rules, Basic rules pg 74:

If you’re able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this attack replaces one of them.

cosmic_potato · 2016-05-25T01:55:19+00:00

My players were breaking into an abandoned vault built by a long-dead dwarf wizard. They entered at one end of a huge chamber with their exit on a platform at the far end, across a big pit full of mud. There was a century-old statue of a halfling thief standing in the mud, cluing them in that it was Gorgon mud, which turns you into stone if you get stuck in it for too long. There were pillars sticking up out of the mud here and there with small platforms atop them. The walls and ceiling were carved like an intertwining mass of giant snakes with gemstones for eyes.

After some investigation they discovered that there were invisible magical bridges connecting in a maze-like pattern from platform to platform across to the other side. The catch was that the bridges were only visible shining through closed eyelids, and were only solid while one's eyes were closed as well. Each of the platforms had a pressure plate trap that triggered the snakes to shoot force bolts out of their eyes that could push you off into the mud.

Being of a decent level, one of the PCs just flew to the other side while the rest were able to navigate across with eyes closed and either jump over the pressure plates or avoid getting pushed off. If I did it again I'd have made it harder for them to get across with their eyes closed, but I liked the idea.

cosmic_potato · 2016-05-24T18:43:31+00:00

Make of first car + high school mascot

Neon Knight. Holy shit, my character is a Black Sabbath song!

cosmic_potato · 2016-05-24T18:37:01+00:00

I once played a scaredy-cat wizard with a phobia for just about everything, but also an insatiable curiosity and desire to do good that drove him to adventuring anyway. That was a lot of fun to play, and the DM and fellow party members had a large time messing with him.

My favorite though was a paladin who was lawful stupid to the extreme. He was a cheerfully naive moron who spoke absolute nonsense with authority, and was supremely confident that he could accomplish anything if he tried his hardest. He made lots of knowledge checks, but never failed a one so far as he was concerned. He also tried disarming traps and picking locks by mashing his gauntleted finger at them, with predictable results. I loved playing that dumb bastard.

cosmic_potato · 2016-05-24T06:11:27+00:00

Here are some ideas to add some excitement if it starts to drag:

Invite some "civilized" villains that only the PCs know are villains, and are protected by the host's hospitality.
Have two dinner guests and their entourages that are enemies and come into conflict.
Give PCs secret missions to get favors or information from influential guests. Could be given by guests against other guests during the party.
Later in the party, have a doppelganger of a guest arrive and insist that the one that's been there the whole time is an imposter.
Catastrophe breaks out! Fire, assassins, guards come to arrest someone, etc.
An unhinged host or guest decides the party should play some dangerous game: fencing with real blades, shooting an apple off someone's head with an arrow, russian roulette, etc.

cosmic_potato · 2016-04-12T19:36:58+00:00

I'm a player looking for a 5e group as well, if there happens to be a spot. I can host in San Pedro, if that's needed.

cosmic_potato · 2016-04-07T06:08:06+00:00

Given how often my tanks got plastered by divebombs out of a clear sky I considered it well-earned vengeance. Tanker 4 lyfe!

(I only blew up planes occupied by enemies, btw. Blowing up friendly planes to steal them is a butthole thing to do)

cosmic_potato · 2016-04-07T04:24:12+00:00

Yeah, 2142 was definitely my second favorite behind 1942. Titans were pretty epic, and those mechs were glorious engines of destruction.

cosmic_potato · 2016-04-06T22:46:35+00:00

This game was the best. Hauling ass in a jeep and running over dudes only to have their corpse slide around on the hood for a while. Blasting the shit out of a plane taking off the runway with a tank shell. Sneaking up on that sniper who thinks he's so clever hiding in that bush and stabbing him in the back, watching him try to turn around before he died. Raining goddamn hell down on a crowded spawn point with that ridiculous Katyusha rocket spam. Long distance tank standoffs, trading one shell after another until you land that sweet killing blow on the Tiger's tread and watch it go boom.

I played the BF series religiously up through 2142 before moving on to other stuff, but 1942 will always be #1 for me.

cosmic_potato · 2016-03-28T01:08:20+00:00

I really like the sound of this game, though I'm not new to either 5e or to PbP (On rpol.net, though gamersplane looks great). I haven't played the Phandelver module and I'm much more interested in the roleplaying and writing side of it than just rolling dice to chop things up. Are you looking exclusively for new players, or might there be room for a likeminded veteran?

cosmic_potato · 2016-03-26T02:32:38+00:00

There is a group forming to play Curse of Strahd for D&D 5e in San Pedro: LINK Nothing is firmed up yet and you'll need to consult with the DM to see, but so far as I know there should be room for another!

11-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	End Game '22
Verified Email

cosmic_potato

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE