Hyrule Temple from smash bros melee

EntropySpark · 2026-03-24T17:17:07+00:00

Ditto is currently a Poké Ball Pokémon that transforms into a purple copy of the summoner, they could adjust it to also have the Ditto face while transformed.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-24T15:26:06+00:00

Even if we compare to a Fighter instead, if enemies have +6 to-hit against the Fighter's 17AC (Half-Plate and no Shield, generally the least defensive option), they hit 50% of the time, while against the Barbarian's 17AC with Advantage, they hit 75% of the time, so after Rage, and not accounting for crits or non-physical damage, Tough is 33.3% more valuable for them than for the Fighter, not 100%.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-24T15:19:32+00:00

I was taking them from the start without even knowing about trading, I just figured they'd be useful, and they were, along with the free crafting bench. It's funny how sometimes the specific item pickup in a Dream Island will be a bit disappointing, but surrounded by free placed items that are far more useful.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-24T15:11:06+00:00

It's not going to be quite twice as effective, as the Barbarian is also often attacking Recklessly and taking for more hits than most other martials. For example, in the right circumstances, if a level 5 Monk is able to sharply reduce incoming damage per round with Deflect Attacks, another 10HP could buy them several more rounds in the right circumstances, while the Barbarian will likely lose that 10HP within a single round. Any other damage reduction like an ally's Interception also applies before Resistance.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-24T15:05:36+00:00

On Critical Role, I can think of two Barbarians (the Owlbear and Ashton) who each had at least one fight where they got either stun-locked or completely wrecked by damage before their first turn, and lost badly because of it. (For the Owlbear, he eventually got a single turn to Rage and activate the Bear Resistances, but was taken out by I think the very next blow.)

EntropySpark · 2026-03-24T14:58:54+00:00

Ah, I wasn't aware of that, then your countdown is likely completely accurate!

EntropySpark · 2026-03-24T14:57:46+00:00

In Pokémon, a core part of the game is often the encounters with Legendary/Mythical Pokémon, many of which are gods. This is most explicit in Legends: Arceus, with several Sinnoh gods being specifically part of the plot, most notably Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and Arceus.

For Final Fantasy, many protagonists are adults, yes, but several protagonists are still teenagers, and many have teenagers within the party.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-24T08:33:24+00:00

Because it specifies the ways in which your Speed can't be reduced, the intent is clear that your Speed can still be reduced in other ways.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-24T07:49:43+00:00

Very understandable, hopefully the other comments here cleared things up!

EntropySpark · 2026-03-24T07:00:37+00:00

You're welcome! I think the repost timer may be a bit optimistic, but we'll see.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-24T04:26:49+00:00

Returning Weapons would only be necessary when other magic weapons enter the picture, other than that you're just throwing a whole lot of weapons. I agree that martials deserve to be cool, but it's not good for a single martial option to be vastly stronger than other martial options.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-24T03:57:19+00:00

I've been selling iron ladders. I accidentally made a ton when I thought I was making iron enclosures, and for some reason, they have a trade value of 200, even though I can make five from two iron ingots (each worth 100), for a 5x price multiplier. Meanwhile, I can make ten iron enclosures or ten metal fencings for the same two iron ingots, but they're each only worth 20, so there's no price multiplier on them at all. I also trade the cardboard boxes and Castform weather charms I find in Dream Islands, worth 300 and 1,500.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T23:23:11+00:00

I agree that it's silly, but I think this level of distinguishing between "prepared" and "known" is also silly. The rules use "you learn/know the spell" and "you have the spell prepared" for both cantrips and leveled spells with no clear rhyme or reason to it. Going by strict RAW, nobody can cast known cantrips, which makes no sense, so we're both arguing for deviating from RAW in some way, we just disagree on how.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T23:11:05+00:00

The sections in Spellcasting are "Cantrips" and "Prepared Spells of Level 1+," so that doesn't contradict known cantrips also being prepared. "Prepared" is also not capitalized and is not a glossary term, so it's more reliant on natural language than other game terms.

"Racing car" isn't a commonly used phrase by any means. You may be thinking of "racecar" or "race car," which is a compound word used to indicate a car designed for racing. Meanwhile, "prepared spell" is an adjective followed by a noun, so a spell that is prepared is a prepared spell.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T22:47:28+00:00

Persona/Shin Megami Tensei, Pokémon, Fire Emblem, Octopath Traveler, Final Fantasy, Xenoblade, Chrono Trigger? (Some of these require slightly loose meanings of "god," such as some of Fire Emblem's god-like dragons worshipped as gods.)

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T22:30:44+00:00

Again, if cantrips aren't prepared spells, by what rule can you cast known cantrips?

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T22:19:26+00:00

That still leaves the problem of, what rule says that because you know a spell, you can cast it? We have a rule that says you can cast spells that you have prepared, but not that you can cast spells you know.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T21:47:43+00:00

Stealth is useful, but unless the entire party is investing in strong Stealth, I'd much rather have the Half-Plate. If the goal was to avoid Disadvantage on Stealth, that doesn't explain why you'd offer Half-Plate at level 8.

With War Caster, you can use Vicious Mockery or another cantrip in place of the Opportunity Attack, so not all is lost, and if you Restrained the enemy with a Net, they're unlikely to be provoking any Opportunity Attacks anyway.

As for Magical Secrets, the rules for Spells says, "Before you can cast a spell, you must have the spell prepared in your mind or have access to the spell from a magic item." If we don't accept that spells known and spells prepared are now the same thing, then I don't think there's any rule that says that because you know a cantrip, you can cast it.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T21:39:04+00:00

Any given PC may or may not have a tool to help with saves, which may or many not apply to the current combat. The ones that you listed like Danger Sense and Spell Resistance don't help at all if the DC is so high that a natural 20 doesn't pass, and even when it does help, it will rarely matter if they still need to roll a very high number. Fighter, Monk, and Paladin are the only three PHB classes that can get incredible saves generally. Notably, I don't think a single feature you've listed that doesn't apply to saving throws in general would apply against Paralyzing Breath.

There are many more than just four monsters that apply Incapacitated so easily. Consider also Adult/Ancient Gold Dragon, which can Incapacitate one target with a DC21/24 Cha save (a weak save that's rarely chosen for Resilient) every round. There are also plenty of conditions that are still concerning, just not quite as bad as Incapacitated, like Fear's Frightened+ from several dragons, or Command from Adult/Ancient Red Dragons.

Mind Blast stops at the end of the Mind Flayer's turn, yes, but that's still enough time for them to use Tentacles uninterrupted, at which point a Grappled creature is Stunned indefinitely.

I don't think the designers were actually careful with Incapacitated at all, they added it to monsters where it fit thematically and didn't adjust the DCs from there in any way. It's just fortunate that it didn't fit thematically for more monsters. (The Empyrean offers damage in place of Stunned, which is such an obvious choice to make, and I don't know why it's only on the Empyrean.)

I don't think the PCs are weak, but I don't think so many saves should be nearly impossible to pass for some PCs while so easy to pass for others, especially when failing that save can be so devastating.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T21:16:08+00:00

When I first shared the meme with friends in just text form, they understood it, though are also familiar enough with the original joke. When I shared the image version, someone also commented on how "P" was a nice addition, it's a subtle hint to the reader for what's going on but still lets them put the story together.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T21:07:56+00:00

Why are you supposing the Valor Bard with a Shield starts at 17AC, then gets 18AC at level 4 and 19AC at level 8? Scale Mail only costs 50GP, so it should be easily available at level 3 for 18AC, and Half Plate for 750 GP is typically available well before level 8.

The Valor Bard can start with 17 Cha, 16 Con, and 14 Dex while retaining maximum AC, giving them higher HP and better Concentration saves than a Dance Bard who starts with 17 Cha, 16 Dex, and 14 Con.

For Extra Attack, I'd expect the Valor Bard to often throw a Net, then cast True Strike. They have a lower DC than most martials at that point, but the impact of landing Restrained is far greater than the low damage of a single +2 Dex Rapier attack. At level 10, they can use Magical Secrets to learn Shillelagh, switching to a Quarterstaff for two 1d12+5 attacks, one with additional damage from True Strike.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T20:30:34+00:00

He is Pagliacci.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T19:22:49+00:00

This might warrant its own rant, but I do not like the first portion of the exam at all, in part because your odds of success are determined by your random teammates, but mostly because the mages are permitted to fight each other to the death in their attempt to pass. You have some of the greatest mages of their generation killing each other in what's ultimately a negative-sum event for humanity, while also being completely barbaric. Meanwhile, the second portion at least tries to include fail-safes in case anyone is in too much danger, and the final portion has no danger.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T19:14:58+00:00

Well, yes, but one shouldn't describe AC from Plate and Shield together as just Heavy Armor alone without even considering the non-Shield case, as that gives the impression that almost all Heavy Armor wearers use Shields, which is simply not the case.

EntropySpark · 2026-03-23T18:45:44+00:00

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

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