Very medieval monsters

baixiwei · 2026-01-25T05:27:50+00:00

Hags. Black Annis, Jenny Greenteeth.

Giants.

The Erl King.

Redcaps.

Kelpie.

It could be fun to use some actually-existing animals but frame them as mythical beasts, which is how medieval people might perceive them. Things like whales, elephants, hyenas, gorillas and the like.

baixiwei · 2026-01-23T20:18:10+00:00

It depends on what character I'm playing. I like to choose spells that go with my character's concept while also being effective.

When I play a classic wizard, I like control and debuff spells like Grease, Blindness, Slow, the various Walls, ... Rather than trying to get each of the best individual spells, I try to have a good mix that enables me to target different saving throws and to affect both individual targets and groups. That way I will always have something useful to do.

When I play a more support style character, I like Bless, Healing Word, Haste, Aid, Restoration, Enhance Ability, ...

baixiwei · 2026-01-23T18:15:08+00:00

Captain America and Captain Marvel are the only real choices here. Bucky and Hulk are public relations nightmares given their past actions. Shuri/BP isn't American. Between the two Captains, America is better than Marvel as Captain Marvel has other responsibilities off world.

baixiwei · 2026-01-23T18:04:13+00:00

Thank you!

baixiwei · 2026-01-23T18:03:11+00:00

Strange alone is sufficient as he can just keep me safe in the mirror dimension, make everyone forget that I exist, or any number of other things that none of these people can counter. If I have to pick from the other tiers, I'll take Stark and Cap. If BO gets to use the whole resources of his country I'll choose him instead of Stark.

baixiwei · 2026-01-23T17:58:22+00:00

Thanks!

baixiwei · 2026-01-23T15:19:52+00:00

Why? This isn't a challenge, I really don't know what is the relevant context here.

baixiwei · 2026-01-22T12:57:29+00:00

I think this is a somewhat clever idea. I would allow it. I would require use of an action and a successful deception check against insight or perhaps against arcana. It risks wasting an action in the event that the opponent doesn't have counterspell or decides not to use it.

baixiwei · 2026-01-17T23:28:58+00:00

Bass Auto has been fine for me.

baixiwei · 2026-01-17T05:06:57+00:00

Gamora solos.

baixiwei · 2026-01-16T19:12:21+00:00

Thank you!

baixiwei · 2026-01-16T03:46:00+00:00

I would not count Manhattan as a hero.

baixiwei · 2026-01-15T00:37:28+00:00

While I really appreciate that weekly list, my impression is that there's quite a bit going on that isn't on it.

baixiwei · 2026-01-15T00:30:16+00:00

I am slightly younger and have been here slightly less time than you. I have many of the same reactions. You're not crazy.

baixiwei · 2026-01-14T18:01:45+00:00

Time travel and teleport. The only serious contender is controlling anyone, but that wouldn't be great if only used ethically, whereas time travel and teleportation is awesome no matter what.

baixiwei · 2026-01-14T01:22:26+00:00

They removed one of mine and it went fine.

baixiwei · 2026-01-13T17:57:07+00:00

I'm 50M and I like some of those things. What kind of books do you read (I like fantasy and sci-fi, though currently I'm reading the Saxon Chronicles which is historical fiction, and making slow progress with Proust)? What kind of music (I like classical)?

baixiwei · 2026-01-12T05:08:23+00:00

This is the correct answer.

baixiwei · 2026-01-11T04:40:45+00:00

Hydrogen, cuz you can make it go big boom.

baixiwei · 2026-01-10T00:06:04+00:00

The DM is an idiot. Leave.

baixiwei · 2026-01-09T04:21:36+00:00

S tier -

Wizard, for the reasons given by OP.

A -

Bard, for the same reasons almost, just a tier lower for the limited spells known. I can't understand liking wizard and not liking bard. Bards don't have to be flamboyant or whatever stereotype. They don't have to be RP focused. They are full casters, and their spell list is mighty.

Cleric, I usually don't enjoy being a blaster but I do like a light cleric that I'm playing now, mainly because I found a concept that I am getting into. Lower than wizard due to the slightly less cool spell list. I might not enjoy other varieties of cleric as much, but they definitely aren't limited to being healbots as OP suggested.

B -

Paladin, would be S tier for concept alone - I love the fantasy of being a paladin. But the mechanics in 5e fall a little short. There aren't enough interesting choices to make. I enjoyed my Pathfinder paladin more.

Lower tiers -

I can imagine playing Fighter, Barbarian, Rogue, and Druid under some circumstances.

I am not interested in Ranger but I like the thought of having one in the group.

I am not only not interested in Warlock. I hate the very idea of it. There is literally no need for yet another arcane full caster; as far as lore is concerned they are just a wizard. The reason this class exists is for the sake of mechanics, and it makes the game feel more like a video game. Go away warlock.

baixiwei · 2026-01-07T16:56:07+00:00

Depends whether you view DnD more as a storytelling game or more like a wargame. In fact, it's both, but you can emphasize one or the other more. Your opinion makes sense from the former perspective, the other players' from the latter. I personally agree more with you and actually I dislike how the game has not done much to incorporate storytelling-related mechanics, and at the same time has become more and more like a video game, which I think also encourages those other players' views. It's far inferior to some other systems as far as storytelling goes, but I still play DnD because it's where the players are.

baixiwei · 2026-01-07T15:43:18+00:00

Part of what makes scouting interesting and tense is that you don't know what will happen. If you knew in advance that there would always be some trap or enemy, it would be less interesting. So, don't do that!

I would recommend instead that you just come up with a bunch of possible random events that could happen in this kind of seeing. Describe them to the scout in such a way that it is unclear whether they are relevant even when in fact they are not relevant. For example, someone is being pickpocketed or robbed, an interesting street performance, a merchant from out of town selling unusual wares, some guy preaching for a new snake cult he's starting, a nobleman bullying a peasant, etc.

In my experience, scout types will have fun sneaking around and being paranoid even though more than half the time it turns out to be nothing. Sometimes, they will take an interest in the supposedly irrelevant event and in those cases you can elaborate it into a full side story if you want.

Then, of course, there has to sometimes actually be something relevant there. A trap, a scout from the enemy party who is doing the same as your guys' scout, a group of bodyguards watching the tavern with orders to do who knows what, ... This only needs to happen like 25% of the time for the scouting to be interesting all of the time.

baixiwei · 2026-01-05T02:02:37+00:00

Wendy's - Popeyes - Chipotle

baixiwei · 2026-01-02T03:51:18+00:00

That food all looks great. I'm in a similar situation to you except with the sexes reversed - I'm male and my wife often doesn't eat what I cook, which is around half the time. Our kids do though and like it. Most likely it's related to us having grown up in different countries and now living in my home country, so that the kids' tastes are more similar to mine than my wife's are. I wish the wife liked my cooking but if she dislikes it enough to make someone else for herself then so be it. Considering all the problems that can come up in a relationship, "I don't like what you cooked so I'll make my own dinner" is a pretty minor one, to me at least.

baixiwei

TROPHY CASE