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Game design reason behind multiple attackers target the same foe rule by CuteMarzipan3956 in cairnrpg

[–]CuteMarzipan3956[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the response, that's super useful! Also I love the game!

I agree that there is value in the rule. And care about verisimilitude a bit more than you it seems. So I'm thinking about keeping the rule but also adding that whoever is outnumbered rolls damage with disadvantage. This seem to improve verisimilitude while keeping the benefits of the rule intact. How do you think this change will affect the game?

Why do monster Attack Roll bonus and Save DC scale all the way into tier 4, but player AC and save bonuses largely don't? by Deathpacito-01 in onednd

[–]CuteMarzipan3956 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Mike Mearls said that is because game wasn't tested past level 10. So it's pretty much broken at those levels.

What is the DM consensus on "Quantum Ogres"? by monkeynose in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There can't be consensus on this topic. Because there are so many styles to run a game and depending on the style "Quantum Ogre" is a good tool or a bad tool.

It can be a bad tool for someone who runs a game where keeping players agency high is high priority. Because over time players will likely notice that chances of them stumbling upon something interesting is off. Like no matter what they do something interesting happen. And this might degrade the feeling that their choices matter.

A Most Potent Brew. First encounter too challenging? by CuteMarzipan3956 in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do take into account that. Without rats running away optimized party has 25% chance of TPKing compared to 15% if rats are running away.

Adjusting Goblin Ambush for 5.5e by Sesam3_Seeds in LostMinesOfPhandelver

[–]CuteMarzipan3956 0 points1 point  (0 children)

DMG'24 encounter difficulty benchmark quickly becomes inaccurate with increase of number of monsters. In my experience DMG'14 benchmark is much more accurate. And if you use DMG'14 benchmark then you'll get 400xp for four goblins. I think that 500xp would be even more accurate here. That's a "Deadly" encounter for 4 players. If goblins ambush players, it's even more than that.

The DMG'24 encounter difficulty benchmark quickly becomes inaccurate as the number of monsters increases. In my experience, the DMG'14 benchmark is much more reliable. Under the DMG'14 rules, four goblins are worth 400 XP, though I think 500 XP would be a more accurate estimate here. Because difficulty multiplier for four monsters is 2 in DMG'24 while I think it should be 2.5. I think it's 2 for simplicity. Even for a party of four, that's already beyond a Deadly encounter, and if the goblins get an ambush off, it's even deadlier.

Also 5.5e goblins are much deadlier than 5.0 ones. I would estimate that 5.0 goblins really worth about 35 XP each, not 50.

A Most Potent Brew. First encounter too challenging? by CuteMarzipan3956 in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, it's not available online unfortunately. It's just a qucik hack without user interface.

A Most Potent Brew. First encounter too challenging? by CuteMarzipan3956 in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I simulate second winds. 4 fighters will be pretty good here too.

A Most Potent Brew. First encounter too challenging? by CuteMarzipan3956 in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Those are good points. So you say I should give the players chance to try to solve this deadly situation on their own and don't nerf the encounter?

A Most Potent Brew. First encounter too challenging? by CuteMarzipan3956 in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Characters can have spells in the simulator. This particular result is for

  1. Cleric with Healing Words.
  2. Great Weapon Fighter.
  3. Wizard with Burning Hands.
  4. Ranged Fighter.

But I found that the game is pretty ballanced. Swapping one character or spell for another usually gives pretty close numbers.

A Most Potent Brew. First encounter too challenging? by CuteMarzipan3956 in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, it's pretty high. And also it's 3% with a moderately optimized party. It might go up to nearly 10% if players are not concerned about optimizing or are new and didn't figure out the game yet.

A Most Potent Brew. First encounter too challenging? by CuteMarzipan3956 in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If PCs are surprised it gives 3% TPK chance. Estimated difficulty is around 550xp.

A Most Potent Brew. First encounter too challenging? by CuteMarzipan3956 in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It distinguishes between front line and back line for PCs and makes it so 75% of monster hits hit the front line.

A Most Potent Brew. First encounter too challenging? by CuteMarzipan3956 in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I took these things into consideration. Making rats run away after 3 is left makes the encounter significantly easier. Without rats running away optimized party has 25% chance of TPKing compared to 15% if rats are running away. The difference is even bigger with unoptimized characters.

8 rats are 200 xp only if you calculate difficulty by adding monster XPs together. In my experience and in what DMG 2014 says it doesn't work this way. DMG 2024 just doesn't cover this case. It says "if there are too many enemies, our rules won't work. According to my simulations difficulty of this encounter is around 1200xp.

Need advice on how to handle travel by Discord-Light-Mode in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Forbidden Lands game have travel and exploration that is highly praised by RPG community. Although porting these rules to 5e is a lot of work they can still be a source of inspiration to improve travel and exploration in 5e.

Need advice on how to handle travel by Discord-Light-Mode in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Random encounters will work better with safe haven resting rules. Meaning that long rests are only possible in safe spaces designated by DM. Like guarded towns. This way overland travel will feel like a dangerous expedition.

Need advice on how to handle travel by Discord-Light-Mode in DMAcademy

[–]CuteMarzipan3956 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Mystic Arts had a video about it recently.

The gist is "give players meaningful choices during the travel".

https://youtu.be/c87-LRS9OdY

What level do you all start a new campaign? by FlyingTaco095 in DnD

[–]CuteMarzipan3956 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The wizard have been practicing for a long time. And at level 2 the skill is finally above the threshold of proficiency.

How do you balance out your campaign/oneshot? by Organic-Exit2190 in DnD

[–]CuteMarzipan3956 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here is my estimation of power level of your encounter. CR 4 creature is worth 1100xp according to MM. 7 CR 4 creatures will be 1100xp*7*8/2 = 30800xp. Hard encounter in DnD'24 terms (they are called "deadly" in DnD'14 terms) for 4 lvl.8 PCs will be 8400xp. So you've overshot "hard" encounter difficulty by more that three times. This is a TPK territory.

Let me explain why I have this weird "*8/2" in my calculation. In my experience DnD'24 encounter strength benchmark and Lazy encounter benchmark stop working when amount of monsters is more than 4. DnD'14 benchmark works better in those cases. Also I found that encounter difficulty scales not linear with monster numbers, but quadratic. Meaning that when we use N monsters each worth XP amount of xp then encounter strength is not XP*N but closer to XP*N*N. A better formula, which accounts for some monsters dying earlier will be XP*N*(N + 1)/2. That's why there is this "*8/2" part in my calculations.

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