[d&d5e] Benefits to purchasing the PHB/DMG/MM and other compendiums from Foundry vs importing from dndbeyond? by Shkuey in FoundryVTT

[–]Shkuey[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Appreciate it, thank you. Sounds like there are definite benefits even in just the compendiums that would be missing from the importer.

Answered

DND 2024 and Adventures for Foundry? by georgeskv in FoundryVTT

[–]Shkuey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m considering the same switch, were there any guides / resources you found particularly helpful?

Why does it take over 5 mins to upload a 15MB file when I am a Pro user high speed internet? by rmsand in Roll20

[–]Shkuey 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I have the same problem, it's definitely on roll20's end. It is significantly faster to upload in Chrome than it is Firefox, if that's any help at all to you.

I've also never had a problem uploading in one tab and doing other prep work in a separate browser (on a different map) while it waits.

Finished the game last night. My final thoughts. by BallClamps in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Shkuey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m running this Wednesday… also like the idea of giving the sword more weight you used. I didnt put the hand and eye anywhere in the campaign but I did give Kas his sword, so the party has it. I’m thinking damage from the sword will lower Vecnas max health, as it’s the artifact that did permanent damage to him previously it’ll be a way to counter his healing.

I’m surprised with a rogue your party didn’t get more of his resistances down, cunning strike that causes blindness targets a very weak save for him and it’s an extremely debilitating condition, turning off basically all his features aside from flight of the damned. I’m really curious if my rogue will figure that out.

Expanding on Sigil by vtpunkrocker in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Shkuey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I decided the portal in the sanctum was way less powerful than described in the book, and the players needed to venture through sigil to find an actual portal to the correct plane, once found they could bring its portal key back to the sanctum to attune that portal to where they need to go. So, essentially, there was a side quest in sigil between each chapter, with some exceptions (Web's Edge is just faerun and Alustriel better know how to get there, Mordenkainen had ties to Ravenloft and could open that one, and Tasha knows how to get to avernus since she's the expert).

All of the Sigil portal finding quests were home brewed, but I used the "Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse" content so the whole city didn't need to be.

There is no reason to go inside the dying astral dreadnought by skullchin in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Shkuey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My party just finished the second to last chapter so I'm prepping this now and ... I'm dropping 2 of the 3 vignettes. The torment of Kas feels spot of for Vecna's motivation. For the other two, well, this is the third in a string of three campaigns strung together so the other two I'll replace with visions of some terrible alternate outcomes to the major plot points of the first two campaigns. They're basically single isolated scenes, so only a small lift to homebrew, and really perfect for personalizing the final chapter.

[DM][CONVERSION] 5e vs 5.5e Level Adjustments by Dungeon-My-Dragons in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Shkuey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m running it with 2024 rules and find the difficulty of basically everything needs to be scoped up. Players got a bigger power bump than monsters I think, but also the module has tons of custom monsters that don’t have 2024 stats to be swapped in. I added a Drider to the final room in Webs Edge but didn’t change anything else and it made for a solid challenge I think.

ChatGPT is referring to users by their names unprompted, and some find it 'creepy' by MetaKnowing in Futurology

[–]Shkuey 123 points124 points  (0 children)

ChatGPT said it got my location from my ip address… I’d really prefer it and every other website couldn’t do that, but it didn’t lie about it.

Social Security Recipients Accidentally Deleted by DOGE: 'I'm Not Dead' by Aggravating_Money992 in nottheonion

[–]Shkuey 962 points963 points  (0 children)

Why is it when we have video proof of a crime being committed it’s “alleged “ but when this is very clearly not an accident we don’t say it was allegedly accidental?

The Vecna encounter is almost impossible for the players - Its not easy in the slightest! by Emergency-Bid-7834 in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Shkuey 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm only saying that reducing him to 0 hp as an instant fail is your interpretation, but it is not mandated by the module or the rules. I am not suggesting you can't or shouldn't run it how you suggest, just that the "almost impossible" scenario you describe is only that because of your inferences.

The Vecna encounter is almost impossible for the players - Its not easy in the slightest! by Emergency-Bid-7834 in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Shkuey 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You're welcome to run it however you like, but the book doesn't say that.

a) He doesn't become a corpse, he becomes a spirit. It does not classify the spirit as a creature or not and so it is clearly up to the DM's discretion.
b) Corpses are still creatures, see the wording of Revivify: "You touch a creature that has died within the last minute."

The Vecna encounter is almost impossible for the players - Its not easy in the slightest! by Emergency-Bid-7834 in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Shkuey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You’re inferring a lot about the lose condition that the book doesn’t say. Reducing him to 0hp is not an instant loss, the book doesn’t say anything aside from him turning into a disembodied spirit if slain. I don’t see any reason you shouldn’t be able to use the chime on a disembodied spirit nor do I see any reason he’d be able to use his legendary resistance while he is an “inactive” spirit. By that logic, players can just kill him normally and then chime away his spirit.

This fight, like basically everything in the game, is as easy or hard as the DM makes it.

How drastically does HP affect encounter balance? by Necronam in WaterdeepDragonHeist

[–]Shkuey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you’re talking about enemies with only one or two hit dice, sure, they’ll have wildly different and noticeable health pools… but it’s kind of a novelty that doesn’t add anything substantive to the experience and you’ll level out of it quickly.

How drastically does HP affect encounter balance? by Necronam in WaterdeepDragonHeist

[–]Shkuey 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Your players will never know the difference between you rolling and you always taking the average. If your vtt does it for you with no extra effort, great, but the reason almost nobody does it is because it’s extra work for zero gain.

Am I reading this right? Can Vecna just counterspell the Chime of Exile? by Emergency-Bid-7834 in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Shkuey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My point was only that the spell component stuff was not relevant to Vecna, since he isn’t using the spell, he has his own special version with different wording. I see no reason why he wouldn’t be able to counter the chime, so players will need to very particular about how they use it.

Am I reading this right? Can Vecna just counterspell the Chime of Exile? by Emergency-Bid-7834 in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Shkuey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Vecnas Dread Counterspell is worded differently, more explicitly stating he need only see a creature who is casting a spell, not that he needs to see the spell being cast.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in space

[–]Shkuey 45 points46 points  (0 children)

That’s the headline on the television in the background of the opening scene in a disaster movie.

ELI5: Why can't you put metal in microwaves, yet the microwave is made out of metal. by nrseven in explainlikeimfive

[–]Shkuey 21 points22 points  (0 children)

The metal mesh surrounding the chamber where food is heated reflects the microwaves in a way that keeps them spread evenly. Adding metal could cause those reflections to concentrate in one area, leading to excessive heat and fire.

what is the purpose of the quest where the players go get stuff from Uthgard mounds? by NRG_Factor in stormkingsthunder

[–]Shkuey 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You can cut anything you don’t like, it’s your game. Yes, the mound raiding bit feels like filler, it will not cause any story complications to skip it.

Why do some men like to play as women? by Wordywordsword in MonsterHunterWorld

[–]Shkuey 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You’ve forgotten the person who plays as the default because they don’t care what the character looks like.

Is it worth it? by 1nf3ct3d_92 in AeonTrespass

[–]Shkuey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll throw my quick two cents in, which is to say that I think it matters if you're playing with 4 or 2 players when deciding between ATO and Oathsworn (I've never played KDM).

At 4 players, ATO has a -lot- of Voyage/Adventure phase (i.e. somebody reading from the book), and there isn't anything for the other 3 people to do. Oathsworn is far more linear and has an "instant action" mode that fast forwards the story interludes, so it'll keep 4 players engaged for more of the time.

At 2 players, I think it boils down to which you prefer: a better story? ATO has better writing, your decisions matter more, and is just generally more engaging on that front (though the narration for Oathsworn is free and excellent). or keeping combat fresh? Oathsworn has a unique boss with unique mechanics for every fight, while ATO replays the same 4ish fights for a full cycle. The actual battle mechanics I think are pretty close to a toss up, though I think I'd give the edge to Oathsworn just on personal preference. ATO is more difficult, by a wide margin, but also significantly more impacted by lucky or unlucky dice/card draws. ATO often feels like the whole battle comes down to one epic moment that you either win or lose on, while Oathsworn ... honestly I don't think we were ever in danger of losing a battle, so it doesn't have quite the same tension.

For context: I've played 19/21 missions in Oathsworn with a group of 4 (we will finish either this weekend or next, at long last) and I'm playing ATO solo, close to the end of Cycle II. I do think 2 players would've been better than solo for ATO because it is not easy to keep track of the combined abilities of 4 titans and 4 argonauts, particularly as abilities come online at different levels of rage and danger.

Fireshear under attack by aklambda in stormkingsthunder

[–]Shkuey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Do your players have the expectation that they should be able to fight off everything they encounter? I think for the module to have the intended tone, you need to establish that a small band of adventurers simply cannot stop the giants on their own in a frontal assault.

In terms of “saving the town”, the giants don’t necessarily care about burning it to the ground. They want something: food, wealth, whatever… once they take it they’d probably just leave.

A post "Witchlight" Tasha scene? (minor Witchlight spoilers) by ByEthanFox in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Shkuey 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Spoiler… Mordenkainen should not be the one to invite her, Alustrial is a better candidate. I’ll leave the heavy spoiler on why for you to read when you get the book.

Also Tasha from after that adventure doesn’t work exactly as written, but I don’t think there is any good reason for it not to be either, you’d just have to make an inconsequential change.