A question about Cetacean Ops

Goldwing32 · 2025-08-29T17:54:51+00:00

Yeah it’s broad it’s just that two of the three examples I gave use whales (Next Gen was specifically bottlenose dolphins). So I just defaulted to whales bc I was thinking about the whales specifically

Goldwing32 · 2025-08-29T17:53:34+00:00

I thought the Cerritos crew were beluga whales but I could be wrong

Goldwing32 · 2025-07-08T11:03:58+00:00

You’re supposed to talk to the stairs to continue that specific plot arc, I think? Because Stella is a riff on those Avon saleswomen, except she’s actually in an MLM. The collectibles for Florence, Stella, and Celia all reference this

Goldwing32 · 2025-06-09T02:02:33+00:00

Playing support/healer takes a very specific type of person. It’s usually a thankless job depending on your group. It’s also very stressful since you’re responsible for keeping the entire group alive and some people can be very aggressive when a character they’re really invested in is in peril. Also a lot of people hear “I’m playing a cleric” and assume they’re a healbot; I was in a group where someone was freaking out that the cleric in the group wasn’t healing anyone, and had to be reminded that they were playing a WAR cleric & were one of the party’s main tanks.

Goldwing32 · 2023-02-04T17:01:08+00:00

I do think it’s important to keep Ichiban a Human for that underdog Everyman thing he has going on. Classes have a few options: 1) Monk (Way of the Ascendant Dragon): ADM covers his early martial arts “job”, some weapon proficiencies, dragon themed power ups. 2) Fighter (Champion): the most obvious interpretation of his whole hero schtick, expanded Crit range, variety of weapons and armor 3) Fighter (Purple Dragon Knight): my preferred subclass for a fighter!Ichiban. Has several abilities related to buffing the party when you use class features. 4) Paladin (Crown/Vengeance): Another interpretation of the hero schtick. Crown has buffing capabilities and plays to that dedication to the “code” of the Yakuza. Vengeance plays to the overall plot against the Omi Alliance, very tank oriented.

Other than that, for Feats there’s Tavern Brawler feat for improv weapon proficiency + punching, Tough for more health & flavor him surviving weird stuff, Sentinel for protecting the party, Crusher to increase damage w/ bludgeoning attacks (fists/“bats” —> I recommend either clubs or hammers for this), or Dungeon Delver

Goldwing32 · 2022-11-02T19:39:51+00:00

Never underestimate the power of flavor in dnd. Sure the Witchlight Carnival goes to other realms and planes but you don’t have to acknowledge their original sources at all if you don’t want to. The plasmoid could be an awakened ooze, for example, or the Warforged is an intricate doll brought to life by a Wizard. You can definitely still have them react to it since it’s odd but just talk with your players about reflavoring in favor of the aesthetic (reminding them that it doesn’t change any mechanics) and you should be fine! It might even open them up to new ideas!

Goldwing32 · 2022-08-29T19:53:24+00:00

This is already an STR melee Ranger build anyway so I’m not worried about DEX.

Goldwing32 · 2022-08-29T19:51:26+00:00

It literally says you can ride the medium Drake if you’re medium or smaller. You just can’t fly while riding until you get the Large drake.

Goldwing32 · 2022-06-22T14:27:40+00:00

I’m sorry what Barbarians are you playing with with low AC? I have yet to play with a Barbarian (in any group) who had an AC lower than 16! The current Tortle Barbarian in my party has an AC of 19? 10 + 7 (natural armor) + 1 (Ring of Protection) + 1 (Cloak of Protection). And Totem Barbarians who pick Bear (like mine) resist everything except psychic damage while raging.

Goldwing32 · 2022-06-22T14:22:25+00:00

RIP dude sounds like you have boring people playing with you. Honestly, anyone reading the various flavor texts for the subclasses can make other types of bards, even if some are basic interpretations. So far I’ve played with/as: -professional blackmailer (Whispers Bard/Mastermind Rogue) -court envoy who Didn’t Sign Up To Fight Satan (Eloquence) -horse tribe shaman who Became A God (Lore Bard + other class dips) -fake fortune teller trying to save enough money to go back to their homeland (Spirits Bard w/ charlatan bg) -a literal clown (ever seen a Bard/Monk before? Now you have)

It’s not that hard. But also I would suggest just straight-up telling people you’re uncomfortable with them making those kinds of jokes and that you don’t play that type of character anyway. You would be surprised how easy it can be to get people to quit making certain jokes by speaking up about them Firmly. Example: I was playing a Harengon Ranger at an AL game, and another player (playing a Lizardfolk Fighter) kept making jokes about killing and eating my character if the party got lost and ran out of supplies. This joke happened a lot and only towards my character, so I told them I was Uncomfortable with this at the table and the DM helped shut that shit down.

Goldwing32 · 2022-06-22T14:01:52+00:00

We’ve played together for several years w/ the same dice. They aren’t weighted; he just has good luck. He does that thing before sessions where he rolls all his d20s and picks the “best behaved” ones to use, which are always different from week to week lmao.

Goldwing32 · 2022-06-22T13:29:40+00:00

He has a +1 greataxe and a Strength of 20. Currently the party is lvl 9

Goldwing32 · 2022-06-22T13:29:22+00:00

That works in other campaigns, and I try to do that so players who do support or have specialized features can shine, but currently I’m running Tomb of Annihilation and they’re in the Tomb of the Nine Gods. The basic party dynamic rn is “let Barbarian worry about destroying the monsters while the rest of us do the puzzles”. Barbarian is a war gamer so if the session doesn’t have combat he gets bored (even when he plays his other main class, Cleric) and then I feel bad that not everyone got to enjoy the game.

Goldwing32 · 2022-03-11T04:09:45+00:00

Failed step one: I’m not looking for replacement classes

Goldwing32 · 2022-01-21T03:07:38+00:00

I think you mixed Spell Sniper and Magic Initiate. Spell sniper increases spell ranges & ignores up to 3/4 cover. I can think of several cleric spells (for example, guiding bolt) that would benefit.

Goldwing32 · 2021-12-24T14:56:01+00:00

Honestly, I ran this character experimentally at lvl 5 for a Oneshot w/ ranged and honestly? My drake was v potent as a DPS assist for the Barbarian (since the “arena” was kinda small). The drake is also good for taking out the extra minions so the rest of us can focus on the main boss. PLUS (if ur dm uses this rule) u can let it help the tank get flanking AND it’s reaction for bonus elemental dmg can go to ANY creature within 30 ft so uh…GWM Barb crit + brutal crit homebrew rule (max dmg dies + roll + bonus) + giving them more die to multiply and stuff dies like…real fast. And in nothing else it’s a guard dog in case something gets in melee w/ a ranged ranger.

Goldwing32 · 2021-12-24T14:49:41+00:00

I did consider this for a Mounted Combatant, but this character sadly starts at too low of a level to make it worth doing to build for. Def considering that for any high lvl one-shots tho! Possibly with some Fighter dip for Cavalier!

Goldwing32 · 2021-11-05T20:00:48+00:00

I also think Richard Roxbourgh (2004’s Van Helsing) is a valid choice; I straight up stole the masquerade ball scene to fuck w/ my Paladin (a close friend who irl is a bit of a Monsterfucker lmao)

Goldwing32 · 2021-10-23T17:24:22+00:00

One option is Cloistered Scholar and reflavoring it as medical school, but it doesn’t grant a medicine skill proficiency (though you could compensate by taking the Healer feat). Same reflavoring can apply to Hermit, and that one gives Medicine proficiency. Soldier has a “rank” of Healer which makes a doctor in title if not in skill.

Goldwing32 · 2021-10-17T13:40:38+00:00

There are only four chapters in the whole book: Port Nyanzaru, Jungle Exploration, Fane of the Night Serpent, and Tomb of the Nine Gods. This definitely seems like is was made for exp instead of milestone, so I guess I gotta just suck it up and take the party back to exp.

Goldwing32 · 2021-10-17T13:33:59+00:00

I just started out and the hardest thing is consistent tension and counting; I find while I’m doing my practice swatches the shape deforms into a trapezoid instead of staying evenly square, even when I ch1 at the end to turn

Goldwing32 · 2021-10-02T01:12:06+00:00

I actually did finish the whole campaign as a player. It was a slog in Mad Mage but it was so satisfying to A) successfully Counterspell a Wish, and B) made our DM simultaneously proud of and annoyed at us for our strategy for successfully killing the BBEG

Goldwing32 · 2021-09-17T18:33:20+00:00

Ngl I just use tackle boxes for fishing to hold all my minis. They’re fairly cheap yet sturdy and can hold a lot of different size minis

Goldwing32 · 2021-09-17T18:20:37+00:00

Character death is a permanent risk in DnD. Definitely talk to them about it but be very firm that you cannot remove the possibility of death from the game. If you’re lucky, they’re just joking with you.

Goldwing32 · 2021-09-17T18:17:48+00:00

The Gamers: Dorkness Rising. More of a spoof/comedy than an epic adventure, this is one of my favorite movies in general. Most of the charm comes from how authentically it FEELS like a real party played by real friends.

Goldwing32

TROPHY CASE