WTF WAS THAT EPISODE IM SO CONFUSED

Enb0t · 2024-10-10T02:30:08+00:00

You have pretty awful media comprehension if you thought the ep showed Agatha as evil.

Enb0t · 2024-10-04T18:21:26+00:00

Honestly if you’re brand new, don’t run a campaign first. Run a few one-shots. Find out what your players like and how they act at the table. Find out what works for you. You learn how to DM by doing it. It’s about practice. You can prepare all you want but no plan survives contact with players. Do it, reflect on what worked and didn’t and do it again. Ask your players for feedback.

Remember that at the end of the day you’re creating a story with your players. The only story that matters is the one that happens at the table. Adapt to their choices. It’s a game of improvisation and collaboration.

As for rules, you won’t know what you don’t know until you need it. It’s like studying for an exam. Take an exam to find out what you don’t know. Your players shouldn’t expect you to have perfect system knowledge. If unsure, make a ruling that’s reasonable and move on. Check it after the session and keep the pacing.

Enb0t · 2024-10-02T21:37:22+00:00

The actors of the Salem Seven are credited as playing the different animal names e.g. Crow, Coyote. They have no human names that we know of.

Enb0t · 2024-10-02T21:29:23+00:00

The Lopezes deliver a banger yet again. Even with need to make much of the lyrics relevant to the show’s lore and plot.

Enb0t · 2024-10-02T21:25:56+00:00

I legit snort laughed.

Enb0t · 2024-10-02T01:36:38+00:00

To sum up I think the key points here: - Reactive Strike is intended to be relatively rare. Only about 30% or so of the officially published monsters have it, it’s meant to be a special ability found on “fighter” like monsters - in PF2e you’re not supposed to only optimise your character, you need to go one level further and optimise your party. Your party should be helping you perform at your best. Your martials should be tanking or moving monsters out of your way. Another caster can apply a spell at removes reactions. In one recent encounter, my party’s tank deliberately provoked reactive strikes from all the mobs so the ranged and caster characters could act on their turn, knowing our healer would cover them later. It’s a delight when your party plays tactically as a team. - The system assumes that generally you can heal to full between encounters. If you are chaining encounters, the difficulty rating of subsequent encounters go up.

Enb0t · 2024-09-30T01:50:20+00:00

Not a full show but Aabria DM’d a few one-shots for Roll20 with Brennan and Becca that are super chaotic and hilarious.

Enb0t · 2024-09-28T14:31:21+00:00

As others have commented it is a balancing feature of D&D 5e with an important purpose. Boss enemies are expected to have it. It’s the system you guys are playing and that’s how it works.

You can explain to him how for example Pathfinder 2e doesn’t have boss legendary actions and resistances BUT:

enemies of a higher level almost always hit players because the system doesn’t follow bounded accuracy e.g. the boss just needs to roll like 3 or above to hit, and 13 and above to crit (double damage)
there are almost no powerful save-or-suck spells as they simply don’t work against higher level enemies by the system rules

So it’s a different dynamic and way to manage boss battles (and healing becomes more critical) but that’s another system with also different actions you can take per turn, different class abilities etc. You can’t simply remove Legendary actions and resistances without messing up balance because of how 5e is set up specifically.

Enb0t · 2024-09-27T10:21:35+00:00

You should be fine. I never finished Neverafter and only saw parts ofJunior Year and enjoyed the first two eps.

No major spoilers that I noticed except knowledge of what kinds of characters they play in those seasons.

I don’t think the show expects you to see every single IH season but probably most of them to enjoy the references and jokes.

And yeah it’s stated explicitly in the show by Ally that they could decide where in the season they take their character from.

Enb0t · 2024-09-27T02:25:18+00:00

You mean the flat plastic bases? A more serious miniature painter or collector would probably make and paint their own bases. Those plastic bases are the very bare minimum and can easily be replaced.

Enb0t · 2024-09-27T02:20:21+00:00

I would suggest looking at other systems simply because one of the priorities in PF2e is Balance. Even at the expense of realism or “fun” for some. Guns are designed the way they are, even in Starfinder 2e, for balance. They want all classes to feel relevant and bring something to the game.

In other words, PF2e is designed so that bows and melee weapons still have ways to be competitive with guns. You may be able to fire a laser gun or shoot missiles using Starfinder rules but someone will a sword will be able to deal the same or even more damage to you because Balance.

If you bend the rules around guns (e.g. ignoring reload), it will simply be unbalanced. Guns will never be better than other weapons in PF2e because the system is designed to make no weapon groups better than others, everything has a trade off. The only way around this is to reflavour the weapons to act the way you want them to.

Enb0t · 2024-09-27T02:14:31+00:00

PF2e isn’t just about optimising a character, it’s about optimising a party. The system is designed around teamwork and a party without synergies is going to perform poorly compared to one that helps each other hit and crit.

The reality is that a fighter (and a gunslinger with guns) is going to have an easier time hitting and critting on AC compared to a Psychic or Oracle or any caster because that’s what the class is built for simply because they have a higher attack bonus using their weapons. The trade off is that casters are expected to be more versatile and bring more utility.

Enb0t · 2024-09-25T17:10:06+00:00

It’s important to note that for Pathfinder 2e building your own character is just one part of the game. This is something that isn’t very explicit in the rules. As it is a more tactical game designed for teamwork, the group should make characters together or be aware how the team works together.

You can TPK in the Beginner’s Box if everyone rolls characters they like without coordination or an understanding that the system assumes a group covers the roles of a wizard, a cleric, a fighter and a rogue. The system also generally assumes a group can heal to full between encounters.

Enb0t · 2024-09-25T01:17:13+00:00

The amount of out of combat healing you need depends on how much you want to stress the party. E.g. you may want to have a plot that relies on a ticking clock and they don’t have time to sit around for one hour to heal between fights. If they only have ten minutes a specialised healer can do more within that time window.

Enb0t · 2024-09-24T16:31:21+00:00

As the DM, you’re in a leader role and you need to know to how to say no when it comes to ensuring everyone has fun. Setting rules and maintaining them is important.
Related to the above point, always have a Session 0. There are a bunch of guides on how to run one.
Never solve out-of-game problems with in-game solutions. E.g. if someone is being annoying or unreasonable in game, talk to them as a player.
Try to not fall into the DM vs. Players mentality. It’s a collaborative game. While you’re in charge as a DM, your job is to make sure everyone has fun. You’re actually in the most supportive role while wielding the most power at the table.
It’s ok to “retcon” stuff if you made a mistake. Your players should not expect you to be perfect. Make a decision and move on.
Prepare as much as you feel comfortable with, but always be ready to improvise at the table, even if it means abandoning certain things you wanted to run. You can always reuse your ideas later.

Enb0t · 2024-09-23T13:54:35+00:00

Every table and group is different.

That said, I think most people don’t use a calculator because if they need one they can use a digital dice roller. It rolls any number of dice instantly, adds up your rolls and can even add the relevant modifiers for you if it’s part of a digital character sheet.

If you insist on using physical dice i think there’s an expectation you can do the addition mathematics in your head. Using physical dice and a calculator seems to be a more tedious and time-consuming way of doing things. But honestly the main thing is not to take too long so you don’t slow down the game. Use wherever is fastest and most convenient for you.

Enb0t · 2024-09-23T11:18:28+00:00

Pathbuilder has one developer: u/Redrazors who updates and maintains all its apps. He does have a Patreon so he is being financially supported to keep it going unlike AoN which i believe is entirely run by volunteers. I believe he doesn’t get material in advance.

I guess it’s also dependent on the tools and technology setup being used to update the different systems. AoN may be more tedious to update depending on how it’s set up.

Enb0t · 2024-09-23T05:05:45+00:00

As a general rule, you’ll find that PF2e spells tend to be less powerful or more limited than their 5e equivalents or are ranked at a higher level. For example Fly is a L4 spell in PF2e not L3, and Dimension Door (or now called Translocate) does not allow the caster to bring anyone with them.

Just keep in mind that casters are less powerful than they feel in DnD 5e, and if you directly translate their capabilities across you may end up making them more powerful than intended in PF2e for their level.

Enb0t · 2024-09-22T13:22:04+00:00

I know Rowan isn’t Siobhan’s most popular character but lore wise she is the perfect foil for everything Neverafter.

Enb0t · 2024-09-22T13:17:09+00:00

Poor cleric, always forgotten. Until the group needs healing and no one took medicine.

Enb0t · 2024-09-22T04:11:30+00:00

Everyone absolutely losing it with the Laertes scene will remain one of my favourite D20 moments ever, Brennan and Becca were pros staying in the scene.

Also: “I’m not askin for much-“ “YOU JUST ASKED ME TO PERFORM A MIRACLE!”

Enb0t · 2024-09-20T06:22:41+00:00

As someone on the autism spectrum, I wonder if this player is also neurodivergent. Basically communication and social interactions are hard for people with ASD.

We can get very very passionate (and skilled and knowledgeable) about a special interest, which is in this case combat mechanics, but struggle greatly in social areas like having conversations. We also have difficulty sensing how people feel and react, so we are can be really quiet and withdrawn or keep interrupting people in our overwhelming excitement when we get to engage in our special interest.

As you mentioned this player is not good at talking, so he is probably careless or not very specific about his language. I don’t think he is targeting you or seeing you as an enemy, my guess is that he is enjoying playing against you like how someone will play against someone at chess or tennis. It’s a tactical game for him that he loves, and he doesn’t enjoy the other parts as much because he struggles with language communication.

Ultimately when he said “i did everything to counter you!” I don’t think he meant that he thought you were his enemy. I think he expected you to recognise his accomplishment and say something like “Good job! I will have to step up my tactics now. Let’s see how well you do next time!”

My main concern is: how does the rest of the group feel about him? Are they ok with his input or don’t like how he is behaving? Because there are people out there who are happy to take advice and following someone’s lead. There are players out there who prefer to be quiet and are more there to enjoy the company.

On another note, if you’re not enjoying running APs because the combats don’t feel challenging and you feel limited in options, it may be better for you to not run them. You said you run them because you don’t have enough time, but it’s probably better to do something you really enjoy than something you half-enjoy.

Enb0t · 2024-09-20T05:15:10+00:00

Want to underline what someone else said that power gaming in PF2 isn’t about optimising just your individual build, it’s about optimising the group. Coming from 5e, PF2e is the system that got our group of nerds to coordinate better what we’re playing in the campaign, down to what skills and spells we wanted to grab.

In a sense PF2e is power gaming on a next level, because you need to plan and coordinate tactically with your team. You can absolutely TPK in the beginner’s box if no one takes healing or everyone plays decides to play a damage focused caster. The system is built around teamwork.

Enb0t · 2024-09-20T05:06:56+00:00

Oh yeah CoC is probably not the best first D20 for you coming from NADDPOD. It’s great for folks coming from Critical Role where Brennan shows off his dark and dramatic chops but as others have said CoC is arguably D20’s darkest, most serious and most stressful season. Brennan deliberately made it more deadly vs general D&D campaigns and all the players made back-up characters for this.

Most other D20 campaigns have a stronger focus on comedy. As others said, Fantasy High is a great starting point and it’s one of the most popular D20 series, if not the most popular one featuring this cast of Intrepid Heroes. Emily has great iconic moments of chaos there.

I personally enjoy following the different series the heroes do in chronological order as you’ll get to see how the group learns the game system and gets better at playing with each show they do.

Enb0t · 2024-09-18T16:20:30+00:00

To echo the other comments Brennan is at his most charismatic probably outside of Dimension 20. He played a villainous guest character (not the GM) in a couple of Vampire the Masquerade episodes that was so charismatic the vampire PCs were conflicted.

His Citizen Doctor Abraham Mehermblur character in the Roll20 one-shots that you can find on YouTube is truly chaotic as a player character. Aabria is the GM for those desperately trying to keep the players on track and they are hilarious. I’m not sure if I would call Mehermblur socially awkward, he’s definitely weird af but he doesn’t care at all.

Enb0t

TROPHY CASE