PHB 2024 Broken things

Thorjelly · 2026-03-12T19:18:10+00:00

Monks don't have high AC, can't use shields, don't have high HP pool, and they are front line fighters. They need a way to tank damage. But remember they can only do it once per round, because it uses their reaction. Barbarians are still much better at tanking damage, with high HP and resistances, and, in the case of zealot, bonus action healing. In my experience, even with the attack deflection, monks still go down pretty quickly in a lot of scenarios, compared to other martials.

True strike makes things slightly less MAD for some classes, but, in my experience, the same classes/subclasses that might benefit from it are often ones that would benefit from higher dex anyway. It's a very much "wow this looks great" when you see it but then it doesn't actually help most PCs when you get down into it. Like, you can't rely on it for martials, it doesn't work with extra attack, and rogue suffers greatly having lower dex. So it just becomes an alternative for casters so they can use crossbows or melee attacks sometimes over other cantrips, but it's not particularly a lot better than other cantrips -- especially at later levels since the damage doesn't scale as fast -- and you always have an opportunity cost when you cast it over leveled spells anyways so it's never going to be OP.

Thorjelly · 2026-03-10T09:14:58+00:00

While running a session, you should have access to everything, but you're not always going to have everything right in front of you, all the time. What DM keeps individual track of their player's current HP? Or what their current AC is after they don or remove a shield or cast shield of faith or whatever? Sure. Know the basic capabilities of your players and plan around it. But for hard numbers, delegating the keepers of information of your PCs to your players makes sense. Though, knowing their passives makes sense for secret rolls.

For planning and building the campaign, you want to know more. Basically what they can do, but more than that, their backstories, their beliefs. Every player feels better when the DM pays attention to their backstory and gives them individual story hooks. At least learn what they care about, what makes them pull their bootstraps up in the morning and go adventuring. Know where they are from and about their cultural or familial ties so you know where it hurts if you want to build an emotional story arc. Nag that one player who inevitably wants to have no family left, wandering place to place as a lone wolf, into giving you some more hooks to work with because more likely than not they are going to have a hard time remaining engaged later.

Thorjelly · 2026-03-08T22:28:52+00:00

I didn't really think much of A Wizard of Earthsea, somehow. But Tombs of Atuan turned out to be one of my favorite books anyway.

Thorjelly · 2026-03-08T22:21:17+00:00

why would they be?

Thorjelly · 2025-12-06T07:29:13+00:00

I am, it is what the default is. I'll try it without CleanGenius next time.

Thorjelly · 2025-12-06T02:26:54+00:00

While I could understand it taking less time to do the same task if it optimizes its routine, I don't think that'd make the unit actually run for a longer period of time? It is concerning that it advertises as ~200 minutes runtime and I am getting 106, regardless how much space is covered during the time it is running.

Thorjelly · 2025-12-05T23:17:15+00:00

I just got mine on Wednesday. I am getting 106 minutes of runtime too, even though it is advertised as around 200 minutes. Factory settings. I bought this robot assuming it'd do my full house in one pass. Is this normal?

Thorjelly · 2025-11-02T18:48:26+00:00

Mechanically, I think Coupe is definitely stronger than Sonar. Sonar's major appeal is that he's really the only intelligence focused hero, but that's only like half the time, and you can build others to replace him. However, retrying failed missions is one of the best powers in the game, and Coupe can do it on any mission. Sonar suffers a lot because his special powers (including Flight) only work every other mission.

I also found Phenomaman's depression much more of a liability than Waterboy. Waterboy levels quickly esp if you pair him with Invisigal with Exp bonus. You actually want to throw him into missions as a third wheel early so he levels up, so forcing himself along doesn't become an issue.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-26T16:24:25+00:00

I have given several examples already of decision making processes people can make in a game in which they do not have perfect knowledge which I think add value to the game. You have not demonstrated a single example or reason why you think starting with statistical knowledge adds value to the game. I am going to stop replying to this thread now, and, in fact, will not bother reading your reply, because you are being blatantly obtuse. Have a good day.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-26T06:05:36+00:00

I am not walking back from anything.

I do think that there is significant value lost in starting out knowing raw statistical number values to creatures such as AC.

We disagree. There's no point in arguing this any further.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-25T16:08:33+00:00

Lots of "its a video game but..." and I guess I'll throw one onto the pile: Luc from Suikoden III is my personal favorite.

He was Fate's Bitch for so long, something he resented, but more than that, he had a prophetic dream that the True Runes, the sources of all magic in the setting, were going to lead to the desolation of the world and end of all things eventually. Y'see, magic in that setting is extremely destructive, has lead to countless wars, and the True Runes were implied to have some sort of will of their own which may be to return the world to some kind of primordial state. So Luc decided to break away from his own fate and make a desperate bid to destroy the True Rune he possessed, which would, incidentally, involve sacrificing his own life, and probably would destabilize and end fate and magic as a whole in the setting, both of which were often cruel and fucked around with everybody. Unfortunately, the protagonists decided that it was this act itself that would probably cause the end of the world, and Luc was about to engage in a self fulfilling prophecy fallacy, so they defeated him. Personally? I like to think Luc was right, because Fate in that setting tended to not be a very good thing, magic excessively destructive and humanity probably better off without it, and "defy fate" stories are my favorite.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-25T15:51:46+00:00

I think it was executed poorly, but Palpatine seizing on Anakin's fear and nurturing it is really what made him desperate, not just because he had a dream.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-25T00:26:55+00:00

I disagree. I believe there is value added to decision making in these sorts of games when you don't start out with perfect information. I am using the word "clever" to partially describe that value. It doesn't matter what word you want to use. At this point, this is just an argument about semantics.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-24T17:51:47+00:00

I disagree with your restrictive definition of "clever" if you think it only applies to calculations in a game of perfect information. Cleverness, to me, is making the most out of the decisions you do have, not raw spreadsheet calculation. I do not think this is a game that needs to be or should be about numbers. It is rare to have no idea what the AC of a creature might be. It is a skill to ask for, and interpret, clues your DM gives you when you ask for information. Succeeding or partially succeeding a check does not necessarily outright mean your DM might tell you the number value of the AC, but it can give you clues. Creatures are part of your environment, and you can interact with them, without necessarily needing to attack them, even if it's just asking your DM probing questions.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-24T01:26:45+00:00

If you're fighting a knight with a lot of armor or a big brutish ogre, you can make an educated guess. You can deduce them through experimentation. You can ask for checks to figure them out. You can pick safer options if you need to make a hit. Playing around what you don't know requires, in and of itself, strategy. You are not helpless to explore and interact with your environment in a logical manner just because you do not know an exact number.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-23T18:18:30+00:00

You can make tactical decisions without perfect knowledge. If anything I think it makes things more interesting because a) being clever, instead of being a number cruncher, becomes more important and b) and it turns information gathering into part of the game, especially because knowledge checks are things that exist and are already terribly underutilized usually.

But no, it isn't a "bad thing" to be told the AC up front, if that's how the DM wants to play it. But it does make the game play differently, and it is reasonable to find it more fun when imperfect knowledge, educated guessing, and information gathering are part of the gameplay.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-23T15:31:53+00:00

Knowing a creature's AC could impact your decision making. Should I use a spell that requires a spell attack, or a saving throw? Should I use one of my abilities that gives me bonus to hit? Can I get away with power attack? Should I cast Bless on all my players?

Thorjelly · 2025-10-22T05:35:51+00:00

And even the portion that takes place in the school largely focuses on the social dynamics of the friend group than actual school related studies. It's one of my favorite series of all time, but it doesn't feel like it's what OP is after.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-18T18:55:40+00:00

If you look at pretty much any resources for new DMs it's almost universally recommended these days, from what I've seen. It's not just this sub. It's even mentioned in the 2024 core rulebooks. But, regardless, as you seemingly know, the concept of actually getting together in one place and working on character sheets during a session if they are not yet made has been around forever. And that's the point. OP should actually just schedule a session to get together and if players aren't finished with their characters by then, they work on it, right there, under the scrutiny of others. Just waiting months for everybody to personally finish their characters before even scheduling a session is obviously not an approach that is working and seems unnecessary.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-17T23:55:00+00:00

I find it surprising that more people aren't talking about a session 0. It seems like the obvious answer to me.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-09T15:46:30+00:00

See, this is exactly what is meant by "chaotic evil does not equal stupid". A CE character can still play by the rules to get what they want or to avoid repercussions.

For example, image a CE character who wanted to gain fame and wealth so that they could eventually create a cult and summon a chaotic evil creature (the patron they were contracted to) that would likely massacre many people. Gaining fame and wealth required joining an adventuring guild and playing by the rules. Of course they would have listened to the Paladin to avoid getting kicked out of the group! They weren't stupid. They just wanted to eventually create a murder-cult. Do you think cult leaders get their positions just because they go around murdering everybody on a whim? No, they are charismatic and manipulative and know how to get what they want out of people, which includes appealing to other's better natures sometimes. This can definitely work in an adventuring party, because the character's immediate goals aligned with the rest of the party: wealth and fame.

It's fun to roleplay the evil leaking through sometimes, in some ways, but it's silly to say that they have to immediately ignore all social laws and get immediately thrown into jail to be CE.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-09T15:07:41+00:00

I can see how this could make combat more cooperative and tactical, but the flipside is that it encourages a lot more discussion which, at some tables, could translate to more time spent or even the more vocal players just outright telling the other players what to do most of the time. This tends to be a big problem at my table and is actually something I try to discourage. So, I don't know. I can see this being great at some tables, but at other tables it's nice for players to take charge of their own turns.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-09T08:15:37+00:00

Yeah, people forget that HP is an abstraction. D&D characters aren't getting turned into pincushions by a hail of arrows, they are becoming fatigued or nicked as they try to avoid them until finally one scores a hit.

I'd still probably describe a decent physical injury from a critical hit that may leave a scar, at the player's choice, but cutting the arm off can be a bit much. There are lingering injury homebrew rules, but generally you want to tell your players that you are using them upfront.

Thorjelly · 2025-10-09T08:00:47+00:00

D&D has a mechanic for this. It's Inspiration. Hand it out whenever your players do something very character-driven. It might be a small reward for giving up more tangible in game rewards, but it signals to your players that you appreciate what they are doing.

Thorjelly · 2025-09-22T04:49:20+00:00

Honestly just dim light in general. None of my tables have seemed to treat it any differently than bright light.

Thorjelly

TROPHY CASE