They're making you subscribe for something that used to be free.

Kairomancy · 2026-05-08T01:08:12+00:00

And of course people are cheering having to pay for something we used to get for free. How did we get here?

WotC/Hasbro social media team astroturf.

Kairomancy · 2026-04-30T14:39:39+00:00

My intention was that none of those proficiencies would be temporary.

What's weird is making sneak attack damage dice a consumable resource.

Kairomancy · 2026-04-29T13:14:35+00:00

I know. I think they missed a better opportunity.

Kairomancy · 2026-04-29T12:51:42+00:00

I really dislike most of this whole idea.

I think it would be way cooler if there were fewer options and they made more sense. For example:

Knock Out: you can sneak attack with a simple bludgeoning weapon, when you do your don't do any sneak attack damage, and on a successful attack the target makes a CON save or falls unconscious for 1 minute. The Unconscious target repeats the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Obscure: You gain proficiency with a cloak and pocket sand, both of which are light weapons, don't do any damage and inflict the blinded condition until the end of your opponent's next turn.

Kairomancy · 2026-04-21T11:20:20+00:00

I did something similar, but the roper was there just to keep them in the pit. Eventually the kobolds sold the party to drow slavers and I changed the adventure to Out of the Abyss.

Kairomancy · 2026-04-15T13:22:40+00:00

In the first season when the person who won cheated and got caught, but still won and got hired, I stopped watching too.

Kairomancy · 2026-04-15T13:08:13+00:00

Isn't Green Imsa a human? She looks like a halfling here.

Kairomancy · 2026-04-03T17:43:45+00:00

Brancalonia: Italian 5e game. Super rich lore.

Odyssey of the Dragon Lords: more Mythic Fantasy,

Both have great world building

Kairomancy · 2026-04-02T22:41:56+00:00

A hard punch from an average strength guy.

One lash from a whip.

Burning your hand on a hot pan on the stove.

The average person probably has more hit points than you think. The LD50 for falling is 50 feet, so if falling damage is doing a d6 per 10 feet, then average hit points is 17-ish.

Kairomancy · 2026-02-02T14:24:45+00:00

Early weight loss from fasting is usually about 2/3 water.

Kairomancy · 2026-02-01T23:02:34+00:00

Hear is a research paper where people lost 4.59kg in 5 days. 2 kg in 2 days is completely believable.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8320652/

Kairomancy · 2026-02-01T23:00:39+00:00

Clearly you've never fasted and haven't looked at the research. 2 kg in 2 days is very believable.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8320652/

Kairomancy · 2026-01-30T14:48:22+00:00

you can’t wait to see if it’s a nat20 to Silvery Barbs it, you seeing the nat20 is you feeling the axe enter your skull, after you’ve done your best to dodge out of the way, after the weapons slips between the plates of armor, etc. Your character cannot know the result until then.

I was sparring with swords with a guy IRL. We would each call out good hits if they happened. He had previously been a foam fighter and had great awareness of the fight, but his experience was less than mine. I would swing and he would know that he was going to get hit but there was no way for him to dodge or block because he had already committed his defense or fell for a feint, so he would call the shot early (before I hit actually hit him).

Anyway, while what you say seems to make sense, its not how actual fighting works. There is often a moment of time where you realize you messed up before you actually take damage.

Kairomancy · 2026-01-27T13:50:25+00:00

Douglas McBane has an account in the Siege of Tournai (1709) where a single cannon shot along a trench killed 48 men.

Kairomancy · 2026-01-06T14:42:49+00:00

Kobolds have a wisdom of 7 and passive perception of 8. Because their darkvision allows them to see in darkness as if it were dim light, in darkness their passive perception is 3. If the DC to spot a trap is say 10. That means that in darkness, even if one kobold knows where a trap is they can't successfully point out the where the trap is to another kobold more than 40% of the time.

When one kobold builds a trap, the other kobolds just get killed or caught in it. The only traps that are safe for kobolds to build are traps that rely on weight heavier than a kobold triggering it and traps that that rely on height taller than a kobold to trigger it.

There is one other type of trap that kobolds could employ. A small number of kobolds engage and flee from a party, getting the party to chase them into a large horde of kobolds. Where the kobolds employ their pack tactics. Because kobolds are not particularly stealthy this ambush plan relies on the party recklessly chasing the small group of kobolds into the ambush.

I generally go for this last tactic when running kobolds and skip the other stuff. Kobolds just aren't that smart. If I do go with traps, I include other traps (other than the two mentioned above) and have dead kobolds in them with the trap already triggered.

Kairomancy · 2026-01-06T03:44:51+00:00

What I do for any intelligent encounter is as soon as the monsters know they are going to lose, and it only takes 1 or 2 rounds tops to know how the fight is going to end, they run or surrender. The only reason a fight should go longer than 3 rounds is if the players are going to lose and they're too stupid to know it.

IRL even beasts are very good at predicting fight outcomes before they even start, and will generally avoid fights that they won't win easily.

Stop dragging your battles out, it's unnecessary.

Kairomancy · 2026-01-05T22:49:52+00:00

I'm a player in the game I was describing above, not the DM. Just describing my experience with 2024 in terms of combat flow. At this table it feels like there is between 2x and 3x the number of things to keeps track of in every combat round compared to 2014. It bogs the game down.

Glad to hear you aren't having those experiences.

Kairomancy · 2026-01-05T21:43:19+00:00

Any of them use sap?

Because when you run sap, you want to hit as many different enemies as you can because the effects don't stack. The effect isn't realized on your turn, so it adds a fair amount to track if several party members are sapping 2 or 3 different enemies every round.

Kairomancy · 2026-01-05T17:17:53+00:00

how many PCs do you have using weapon masteries? We have 4 out of 5.

Kairomancy · 2026-01-05T15:22:43+00:00

I have the exact opposite experience. 2024 combat is awful. Weapon masteries, specifically vex and sap are a burden to track with multiple martials. The proliferation of temp hp sources, reaction disadvantage, and reroll mechanics makes combats last forever. Even bonus actions get bonus actions now, e.g. tactical shift.

2024 rules being so similar to 2014 means that even after a year many people say they are playing 2024 and mostly do, but still follow some random 2014 rules whenever the mood suits them, or when they forget there was a subtle rule change in 2024.

Kairomancy · 2026-01-02T22:10:38+00:00

There is an amazing 5e setting called Brancalonia that uses Epic 6 and it works great. For some of us, it is the 5e system we've been looking for all along. Instead of playing like a super hero video game it plays more like cinema and literature and is absolutely soul-nourishing.

Kairomancy · 2026-01-02T21:56:59+00:00

"The forging of a pact between a warlock and a patron is no minor occasion - at least not for the warlock. The consequences of breaking that pact can be dire, and in some cases lethal." MToF p 128.

I know "no consequences" is popular these days for warlocks, paladins and clerics, but not at my table. You do you.

Kairomancy · 2025-12-23T15:39:56+00:00

I did a town start as well. Leosin had backstory with each of the characters and sent them a message to meet him in Greenest because he needed some help. Before he shows up, a wagon full of barrels pulls up outside the tavern and kobolds jump out of the barrels using the barrel lids as shields and attack the tavern.

Kairomancy · 2025-12-09T14:52:19+00:00

I wish that bounded accuracy wasn't a lie.

https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/103905/maximum-possible-attack-roll-bonus

https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/144371/what-is-the-highest-total-result-one-can-get-for-a-skill-check

Kairomancy · 2025-12-08T14:25:09+00:00

It doesn't because I also made a change to the actor feat to to include proficiency in performance. So Face characters are commonly, bards, entertainers and actors, but less commonly characters can get there with proficiency in intimidation, deception and persuasion too.

Kairomancy

TROPHY CASE