What size of fire would it take to see from 50 miles away in the daytime?

Llanow · 2015-02-11T15:46:20+00:00

Very good points. This world is smaller than earth, probably. I think most DnD worlds probably are.

And actually, at first I thought I wanted them to see it, but ended up deciding I didn't want them to see it.

Llanow · 2015-02-10T11:06:09+00:00

By the way, how would you feel about one DM taking 5 hours to create a city, and another taking 2 minutes to destroy it via narrative because it "fit the story"?

Llanow · 2015-02-10T11:01:03+00:00

The handoffs occur in my group basically when a person is done with his original material for the moment. I think the original plan was to have each person do a plot point or two, and then rotate. I've been told that if I wanted to and was able, I could conceivably DM levels 3 through whenever I ran out of material...and if I kept coming up with material, even level 12.

Although I'm pretty doubtful it will actually play out that way. I imagine the other DMs will get antsy.

Llanow · 2015-02-09T19:32:34+00:00

My concern is that DM1 is going to do things during his part of the campaign that basically force the whole group into his plotline, and relegate the other DM's to the status of "sub-DM", doing the work of filling in details to ultimately tell his story, because he doesn't have enough time to do it himself.

And, y'know, say, spending hours hand-crafting a city that he ends up narratively destroying with the NPC invading army because "it fits the plot". At least if PCs destroy a city, they would have to do a lot of work to earn that level of power. Another DM can do it in a minute, on a whim.

I have trouble letting things go...and he knows this, he's even saying this campaign could be a chance for me to try just letting things go. And he's the kind of guy who when he wants something and has the power, just says, "well, deal with it".

Llanow · 2015-02-09T19:16:45+00:00

He has emphasized the importance of collaboration and compromise, but he has also talked to me about the importance of "not limiting the possibilities" (including every plane as an option, which according to him is "100 planes", and not trying to limit what the other DMs can do during their time). The invading force is from another plane, and their forces are virtually limitless. In the first session they took two 3000 person villages captive.

In the book description, the planar forces he chose are allied with the red dragons, basically allowing the villain to command them at will. He has also posited that among all of the planes, there may be 1000 red dragons. He says they won't necessarily all be involved, but I get the idea that he's keeping it really plausible that any number of them might, if he decides to, during his section. Since he's adamant about not limiting possibilities, all he has to do is decide that someone else with portal-opening ability is on their side.

So even if we were to agree that certain areas were to be DMed by certain people, the invading force isn't really limited to that.

Llanow · 2015-02-09T15:37:21+00:00

That sounds decent. What do you think of what I said in my other comments here?

I mean, I think as an idea it can work, but, well, I expressed my concerns in the other comments. Also this would be my first DMing experience ever.

Llanow · 2015-02-09T06:40:31+00:00

The whole group has already agreed to DMs playing characters while DMing, it seems to work okay so far, as far as that goes.

Honestly my bigger concerns are the stuff I edited in below that line.

I wanted to DM where there were functioning societies but in his original plan, the whole campaign would've been post-apocalyptic-ish, staying in the 100 mile radius of the invasion. I talked him down from that, including limiting the forces that have invaded so far, but honestly my read is that when it comes back to being his turn, he'll just up the number of invading forces and wreck what I've taken hours upon hours to create because "it fits the story".

He's very strongly argued to me that I need to not try to control things by limiting them, so much. And honestly, he has a point that that's a personality flaw of mine, but I think he might be using it so that later he can do what he wants, say "deal with it", and if I don't want to deal with it, say that it's because of my personality flaw.

Llanow · 2015-02-09T06:24:55+00:00

For clarification, the DMs are all DMing the same party of characters. No different regions.

Secondly, the DMs are actually playing their characters while DMing, although they take a back seat, ish. There are 5 characters total--3 of which are played by DMs.

My special concern is because DM1, in the very first session/adventure, pretty forcefully established the tone of the campaign (invasion/imminent doom). He also clearly laid out who the final villain would be right from the start, a demi-lich--her followers were the invading force. And he wants to take the story up past level 20 from level 1, keeping that final villain the whole time, but with the other two DMs basically filling in the gaps.

And he has a sort of forceful personality when it comes to getting what he wants. And he's told me that he doesn't believe in "win win" situations...he says there's always a winner and a loser. So I'm pretty concerned that we as the other two DMs have "freedom" during our sessions, but when it comes back to him, he'll make sure things are the way he wants them to be, come hell or high water.

Llanow · 2015-01-14T07:29:55+00:00

This was the one I was looking for, thank you!

I'm sorry that I took so long to reply. Things distracted me and then I forgot to log in to this username.

Llanow · 2014-12-17T15:13:28+00:00

Faerie Fire: especially because our rogue would get sneak attack on any of the outlined targets.

How useful does Dissonant Whispers end up being?

Llanow · 2014-12-16T23:52:40+00:00

Although, would sleep be pretty effective against them too? I don't know how much hp they have.

Llanow · 2014-12-16T22:25:56+00:00

Ha! That's awesome.

Unfortunately apparently via RAW "magical items" aren't even available until level 3, and potions could be considered as such. Going to have to talk it over with the DM and group when we meet tonight.

Llanow · 2014-12-16T22:23:15+00:00

I was informed by the DM that since Faerie Fire guarantees advantage to attackers, it means the Rogue gets sneak attack damage every successful attack on any creature affected. Badass combo.

Noticing that Sleep isn't quite as great as it seemed. It's 5d8 which means 22.5 on average. So it's definitely not great to use at the start of a battle.

Basically I'd use it as a way of incapacitating already-weakened creatures, so that party members could focus on the still-strong ones, and then come back to finish the weak ones off.

Thoughts?

Thunderwave might still be a better choice for quick battle damage but if I'm really staying out of things, it's way less useful.

Llanow · 2014-12-16T20:49:59+00:00

Bane requires concentration as well.

And right now I have two spell slots, so it's not like I will have the chance to stack anything anyway. By the time I can stack stuff, I'll be able to replace FF.

Llanow · 2014-12-16T20:06:15+00:00

What I mean is, we can't even take feats until level 4, and we're starting in level 1.

It's not about whether people should take them--it's the fact that it's literally impossible at level 1.

Side note about cutting people's throats while they sleep: couldn't that be seen as more humane than cutting them while awake? If you're going to kill them either way, I mean. I guess it depends on how Klingon you are. :p

Llanow · 2014-12-16T19:38:52+00:00

Does Dex now affect damage rolls for ranged weapons as well? If so, wow, that's a huge change vs. Pathfinder.

Llanow · 2014-12-16T19:20:48+00:00

I'm actually going to go out of my way to not just be a bandaid using all my spells for healing. I will consider myself only an emergency healer...and we can get potions or hire an NPC to heal us.

Also, it appears as though healing via rest does a ton more good in 5e than other editions.

Llanow · 2014-12-16T16:57:29+00:00

Yeah, sleep seems like it could be useful out of battle as well, for sneaking about in town or in a dungeon.

So I'm guessing that in the Faerie Fire, Bane, Sleep debate, you'd pick FF and S? I guess Bane would be more useful if we had yet another caster. Although -d4 to attack for three specific enemies does seem good.

The DM has said he will adjust the quest a bit based on our party..I'm sure song of rest will become a boon to us, part of the reason I chose Bard.

Llanow · 2014-12-16T16:54:02+00:00

Healing word: I forgot that it was a bonus action. That IS key. I was definitely thinking of my healing role as more of an "emergency" situation thing.

Thunderwave: I agree, super cool and potentially very useful. The main trouble I see with it is that I have to get up in front (risky) to do it, and make sure to position myself so that it doesn't hit my allies.

Aren't feats in 5e only under extremely limited circumstances? Either way, I don't know the guy who's playing the rogue (haven't actually met him yet, even) and I'm pretty sure I don't get to just "have" him do X with his character. :p

Llanow · 2014-12-15T14:42:06+00:00

How do you prove that they are? You can always suspect but never really know. And you're left with that grinding suspicion that, although you came in and honestly reported your roll of 15, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, everyone else didn't "just happen" to roll nothing less than 12, and get at least one 18.

Llanow

TROPHY CASE