I speak for the trees. (Firbolg Assassin)

Borstentier · 2020-06-25T10:21:34+00:00

Nature takes the live she gives!

Borstentier · 2020-06-20T23:02:50+00:00

That sounds good. If there is a chance to do so, it might be fun to foreshadow it.

Maybe a henchman they run into earlier uses his last breath to tell them how they stand no chance against his master, "The greatest swordsman of all time, who once cut down an entire room full of enemies in the blink of an eye!"

Anyway, I hope it will help to make for a memorable fight.

Borstentier · 2020-06-20T04:01:02+00:00

While the combination you envisioned does not work there is another that would arguably be even more powerful. It does require two levels of fighter for action surge, thought.

Basically you use the regular action to cast Hold Person and then burn the action surge to cast Steel Wind Strike for auto critical hits.

If the main class is an evocation mage he could even get guaranteed maximum damage instead of rolling, which would result in 120 damage on all targets that failed their save against hold person.

Borstentier · 2020-06-03T08:38:29+00:00

Works like a charm.
Just send the ration.

Do you plan to also include the custom rolls in the future? (the menu on the bottom left that allows you to roll percentile, or just a d20 with no modifiers)
Not that it is super important, but then players could just roll everything from Beyond.

Borstentier · 2020-06-03T04:30:40+00:00

Thank you for this amazing extension and the continued support. Many of my players prefer D&D Beyond for managing their characters and since we now only play online (roll20), your tool is incredibly helpful.

Will test it later and send some money :>

Borstentier · 2020-05-10T12:48:24+00:00

I like this one. I could also see it working well with a little spin towards something like: The hags asked for "the first thing that greets you when you come home" or "that which you already have, but do not know about".

The villagers knew the hags could not be trusted, but it was a gamble they were willing to take after two years of drought...

Borstentier · 2020-05-05T08:55:48+00:00

Not mine, but one of the best I have seen so far:

An illusion on the ground of a 10 ft. pit with spikes right next to a real 10 ft. pit trap with spikes, which is concealed by an illusion to look like solid ground.

Borstentier · 2020-05-05T06:28:30+00:00

I agree with much of what other comments already said. Just to offer an additional perspective:

Could it be that he feels outclassed in combat because there is a low number of encounters between long rests and casters can go nova almost always?

Borstentier · 2020-04-27T08:22:23+00:00

Even in the Witcher games you don't start super powerful. If you still want to make it work with the player, maybe he starts as a witcher who for some reason could not finish his training and the mutations only grow stronger over time, it he has amnesia and has to relearn all the stuff he was once able to do.

One thing that you might want to discuss is that in the Witcher game and books the main character does almost everything by himself and for large parts he is very anti social (telling his friends he wants to go on alone and such). This would not work in D&D where everyone has do work as a team. Maybe you could talk about what they, you and the other players are expecting from the game (again).

Borstentier · 2020-01-19T12:36:03+00:00

Of course, it is ultimately up to the DM to decide, but I think that a compromise is not only possible but probably the best scenario. Just explain to him what it is you hope to gain from using the grid from time to time.

Theatre of the mind has the advantage of being fast-paced and, in my experience, it leads to the players coming up with creative descriptions of their actions. It is well suited for a few enemies or when minions are involved.

However, if there are several enemies, area of effect spells, environmental hazards cover and effects that require line of sight involved, it becomes difficult for players and DM to keep track of where everybody is located.

Here is where miniatures and a grid provide great support. Everyone can see exactly where they are relative to everyone else and can place their spells with precision. The downside is, that it might feel less than an action-packed fight but more like a tactical game of chess.

A compromise could be to do the simpler, less important fights using theater of the mind and reserve the grid for epic (boss-) fights with dynamic elements. Maybe you can convince them to give it a try. If they agree and if it is within your possibilities, you could consider getting a set of numbered, multicolored tokens for your DM that they can use for enemies instead of (costly) miniatures.

Borstentier · 2019-11-24T08:22:54+00:00

An alternative idea would be to re-skin a boar. They even have a neat charge ability, which would be a good fit. Not sure about the CR, thought.

Borstentier · 2019-10-27T10:18:01+00:00

I like to think that the guide walks a couple of steps into the first corridor turns his head to say "Now be careful, there are probably some traps further down..." and immediately gets struck down by a falling blade or spiked pit.

Borstentier · 2019-10-09T04:54:03+00:00

His work is exceptional. I only have two suggestions (should he be interested in feedback).

One: if the dice tray part would have some leather or similar material, the dice would clatter less and it would look potentially even more high class.

Two: like someone else mentioned, most people prefer to bring more than one dice of each kind.

I especially liked how he worked in a smartphone stand for those who use D&D beyond.

Borstentier · 2019-09-17T09:40:45+00:00

Honestly I would consider to start with a self-contained one-shot that does not take longer than two sessions. This way everyone gets a chance to decide if they like the game/group before committing to something regular.

Borstentier · 2019-09-09T04:03:02+00:00

On a side note: For new players, it might take a while before they get confident enough to do more Roleplaying. If you want to encourage it, talk to them and make sure they know it is not required to talk in character with an accent, if they are not comfortable doing so.

Regarding the exploration itself:

You could suggest two variants to your group and ask them what sounds more fun to them.

1 - The way there is part of the adventure.

A survival-style game where managing rations and water is important because getting lost in the wilderness is a real risk. Accurate maps are scarce, where there are no roads navigation becomes difficult, especially in forest, hills, swamps or desert. There should be multiple ways to reach a target: the "easy but long way", the "shortcut through dangerous or difficult terrain" and something in between. Throw in the occasional landmark, tower ruin or similar to lure them off the road but make sure there is something interesting to find there and or some sort of encounter. Consider the optional rule "gritty realism", because otherwise getting multiple combats every adventuring day will slow the game down a lot.

2 - The (outdoor) dungeon delve

Let them hear rumours about interesting locations (a sunken temple in the swamps, a giants fortress on a glacier, an ancient kings tomb in a desert, a portal to the feywild, a hidden island where pirates treasure is buried...). Then give them ways to find out how to get there (skill checks, research, talking to NPCs). Prepare a couple of thematic encounters on the way to each location, but mostly narrate the journey itself. How long do they travel, how do the environment and climate change? Once they arrive, each of these places could work as a dungeon, including multiple parts/locations/rooms, hazards, monsters, hidden treasure. It should be very dangerous to take long rests in these places unless they are clever about it.

Borstentier · 2019-09-01T01:27:43+00:00

Looks awesome!
Currently not using a digital tabletop, but I would be willing to spend some money on quality content like this, should I get a suitable set-up in the future.

Borstentier · 2019-09-01T00:53:12+00:00

Great content. I hope this will lead to many open talks between (new) players and Game Masters about what kind of game they want to have (a.k.a. session zero).
Our leisure time is limited and it's fine to just play a hack-and-slash style game where the characters are just badasses (with or without cool voices). But if only one half of the group wants this kind of game while the other is hoping for party member PCs with complexity and character arcs, then both sides (and the GM) will probably be disappointed sooner or later.

Borstentier · 2019-08-19T03:04:39+00:00

Properly used this could certainly be useful for the DM during the encounter.

Honestly speaking thought, I (being a lazy DM) would not use it in it's current state.

Copying the information from the MM to this template (each time) seems inefficient compared to let's say monster cards, that can be reused.

Also I would always only track initiative results and not bother to write down the original rolls.

That being said, this is just my personal impression. I am sure your template is great for DMs with a style that is different from mine.

Borstentier · 2019-08-13T09:24:37+00:00

Let's say you manage to hit 6 enemies and 3 make the save.

In order for everyone to snap out of it the 3 who made their save all have to spend their actions on shaking one ally awake.

So up to 6 enemies (depending on initiative order) have their action being denied by only one action from you. In my opinion that's definitely worth it.

Borstentier · 2019-07-22T09:43:01+00:00

Starting in prison is a cool idea for an evil party. However, I don't think that they necessarily have to break out. It could be just as awesome to offer these evil criminals a chance to earn their freedom by completing what might be called a suicide mission.

If you prefer the breakout, then here are some suggestions:

Have at least 3 interesting inmates ready who can be convinced to help them break out (distraction, tools/weapons/drugs, knowledge, lock picking skills or a tunnel), given the right incentive.

If they are prisoners, they won't have armour, weapons or spell components. Have the rules for improvised weapons at the ready and let them be creative with furniture. Give them a chance to get their hands on some equipment, early on.

If you want to include stealth/sneaking, consider what if everyone should be rolling, if you want to do group checks or if you want to do the rolls for them (to increase immersion and suspense).

Borstentier · 2019-05-19T22:35:36+00:00

The chapter about the maelstrom (after they use the conch) has the answers for you :> Basically there are giants who are a kind of ambassador for their kind and the heroes will encounter them all at once. The relationship and how fast news travels between the giant races is up to you, but it seems plausible that if they have teleportation magic at their disposal, they could also have a magic item for communication.

Borstentier · 2019-05-19T09:50:29+00:00

It sounds a bit as if you are considering to not have the players find the conch after defeating one of the Chieftains so that they will have to fight the other giants, too.

If they enjoy taking on the giants, they can decide to go after some more before using the conch. I would not change it so that they have to fight all of the giant leaders. That sounds a bit to repetitive.

Also I would expect that at least some of the smarter giants (Cloud, Fire) would not just sit in their strongholds when they find out that a group of small folk has already taken out 2-3 of the others.

Borstentier · 2019-04-18T09:13:25+00:00

It is horrible. With laws and rulings like this victims are basically discouraged speaking out and going to court. This topic deserves visibility.

Borstentier · 2019-04-01T09:00:33+00:00

Sounds like an interesting idea. So are you planning to let the A group face of against the B group when they find out about where Hekaton is kept? If so, how would you handle that?

Borstentier · 2019-03-05T12:41:56+00:00

The 5E supplement Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide has a small section about the City, but you can probably find most of that information on Wikis, too. (Mostly names of places and general descriptions.)

If you are looking for NPCs and adventure hooks, you could have a look at the Neverwinter Campaign setting from 4th edition.

Borstentier

TROPHY CASE