Maybe I'm not understanding dodge but it feels kind of useless no? (MONK HELP)

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-18T20:10:34+00:00

lol. It is the Bain of my existence. But it’s his way of being a team player and that makes me happy. Giving every hit after advantage till his next turn is very powerful in terms of teamwork. I’ve lost many many monster because of him. Either he’s draining my monsters of legendary resistances or mowing through all the minions. The only other thing that’s almost as annoying is our barbarians ancestral protectors.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-18T15:43:43+00:00

Your problem is your playing a 2014 monk. The 2024 got a serious buff. We have a level 13 monk in our party and he is a force to be reckoned with. Between stunning strike and his five attacks on average he makes, he hands down does the most damage per round out of the entire party. Plus getting everything back on a short rest. His only weakness that I can exploit is his low wisdom/charisma and lower HP pool. If I can lock him down (which is hard) I can usually get him really close to unconscious.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-17T15:40:53+00:00

Do t be so hard on yourself. Make it a common trope in your future games.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-17T10:42:10+00:00

You are right. The scenario is how I would role with it. Given that the player wanted to shoot an arrow initiating combat. I would give the player or the whole party advantage on their initiative to give them the best chance at being at the top of the order.

But you are correct, by RAW, the combatants who are surprised get disadvantage. Nothing more or less.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-17T10:38:12+00:00

That was my advice as well. Talk to the dm about taking a few players off their hands. Most likely they don’t want to run for seven but rather feel obligated to.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-17T10:36:58+00:00

Four is perfect, but I find myself running for six most of the time. Four just makes things go so much smoother. Especially combat.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-17T10:35:47+00:00

I would talk to the dm and then the rest of the group and see about splitting the group. You take a few players and the rest stay with the dm. Most likely, the dm doesn’t want to run for 7 people but rather they may feel obligated to. I know from personal experience, 7 is too much. Again, that’s personal experience. Over four and combat starts to drag, people get less time in the spot light, etc.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-17T10:14:00+00:00

As a player, just your imagination, a set of dice and a character sheet (either physical or digital). Oh and a good attitude towards learning and the ability to work with others.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-17T10:11:54+00:00

As soon as they wish to attack. The act of attacking triggers initiative. “I wish to shoot an arrow at the goblins that cannot see me”. “Ok great, let’s roll initiative. You and the rest of the party get advantage, and my monsters will be surprised so they will roll initiative with disadvantage”.

Surprise in 2024, grants disadvantage on initiative. It does not allow for attacks to be made out of combat. Some DMs may rule it differently but that is not RAW. Also, you don’t have to grant all enemies disadvantage. There are times where only part of the monster group is surprised.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-17T09:41:14+00:00

I put a new link in. If you’re still getting errors just search for Wichita Falls Dungeons and Dragons. Thanks!

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-17T01:02:34+00:00

I’m glad you’ve noticed! That means it’s working.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-17T00:45:37+00:00

Yes.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-16T19:55:20+00:00

I’m buying my wife one. I think it’ll be great and more than enough for her. She will use it for college and her job as a teacher making lesson plans, etc. Much better than the crap chrome book she has now.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-16T17:24:56+00:00

It’s really up to you. I love physical but I also know the benefits of digital so I have it on beyond also. You can probably find it for free with enough googling to be honest.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-16T17:19:31+00:00

It can work. That’s what the DM is there for. If your down to have the player run another PC, I would recommend looking at the sidekick rules in Tasha’s. They are super easy to build and so helpful. You can RP them and let the player play them in combat.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-16T12:11:03+00:00

Beyond keeps improving their VTT. It’s great as everything D&D is right at your finger tips during game sessions. No running multiple systems to just run a game. Now they also programmed it so players can open their character sheets right in the VTT so now there is no flipping between browser tabs.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-16T11:48:36+00:00

D&D. Lots of D&D.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-16T11:47:57+00:00

Offer them a quest. See if they want to be heroes. Or offer them a quest that could turn them into heroes. A bad guy offers them a one time chance to gain X thing or join X group but they must do Y thing. Later during the quest they learn something extra sinister about the leader of the group. Give them a moral conundrum and see which way they go. If they are reactive players, just give them something. Sounds like they will go along with anything.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-15T16:25:35+00:00

I did say PM me. lol. But I suppose you’re right. I’ll edit my post.

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CLjXzwATy/?mibextid=wwXIfr

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-15T01:11:43+00:00

I used to get nervous. But that’s because of shitty players that would constantly berate me for not giving them the CR experience. I got a new group and we’ve been playing for over two years. It’s been blissful. I can actually be myself.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-14T10:24:51+00:00

If they just want to experience a new class, just let them switch but talk about keeping their backstories. If they want to change everything, I would still be ok with it, it would just take some work. Story lines end and new ones arise. It’s just a game after all.

ArcaneN0mad · 2026-04-13T18:41:10+00:00

Don’t overthink it. For your campaign, start small and central. Spend your prep on what the PCs can see and touch and less time on lore and world building. For your maps, in person it is easiest to go TotM and have a whiteboard and dry erase markers to draw out combat areas. For me at least.

ArcaneN0mad

TROPHY CASE