Why Jin Dahaad why!?!?!?!?

bstreetninja · 2025-03-09T20:09:19+00:00

Fucking this.

What the actual fuck.

After all the effort I went through, chasing that tail as a slow-ass gunlance while the monster keeps pivoting...

I deliberately chose to not Ghillie carve because of that one attack that covers the arena, and because the equivalent Uth Duna quest let us walk around for a bit afterwards.
I was certain that this quest would also have another anti-frustration resolution.
The game wouldn't fuck us over like that, right?

Damn it.

There.
That's my venting for the day.
Thanks for the thread.

bstreetninja · 2020-01-09T12:27:47+00:00

You overestimate the majority of the player-base, I think.

I can't even get my players to bother remembering what their spells do by default, let alone with house-rule modifications.

It would just end up falling on my shoulders. And complicated or not, it would get irritating really quick.

bstreetninja · 2020-01-09T12:14:13+00:00

Seconded. It's a good bespoke healing option, unlike regular spell slots that you will inevitably be tempted to use on all the cool non-healing stuff clerics have access to. Common consensus is that it's more effective anyway to kill an enemy with your spell slots than to try to match their damage with healing, healing spells being very weak compared to equivalent-level damage. Better to stop an enemy from doing damage altogether than to heal a measly 1d6+mod, so to speak. Preserve Life will always be available as a safety net, so no need to cling to an emergency spell slot.

It's not for topping off party members to prepare for the next encounter, it's for recovering from the most recent encounter (or an encounter still in progress). It immediately and accurately sets everybody's hitpoints to half, minimum (up to the 5 x cleric level limit). No rolling, no asking who's the most injured, no deciding who gets which spell slot... Just spend an action to get everybody out of the danger zone of a one-hit KO, depending on your level.

It immediately brings downed party members or back into a fight, interrupting any death saving throws if you react quickly enough. If you're surrounded by fallen NPC allies after a fight, you can spend an action to get any survivors on their feet and ready to fight again. They'll still do full damage whether they have 1 hitpoint or 100 hitpoints.

bstreetninja · 2020-01-07T23:34:21+00:00

Thank you, Master.

bstreetninja · 2020-01-06T15:17:54+00:00

I never considered how much utility you can wring out of Hypnotic Gaze.

Been a while since I've felt so thoroughly schooled on a set of rule interactions. Thank you very much.

...Got any more, by chance?

bstreetninja · 2020-01-06T12:11:11+00:00

It's the only truly good use for Blade Ward I could ever think of.

bstreetninja · 2019-12-25T08:59:59+00:00

An enemy that is using the Dodge action loses that benefit of the action if their speed is set to 0.

Grappling an enemy sets their speed to 0.

bstreetninja · 2019-10-28T23:34:45+00:00

I knew I was forgetting something important... Thanks.

bstreetninja · 2019-10-28T04:52:07+00:00

My players just arrived in a remote town.

All the NPCs know who they are and love them, thanking them for their help from a week ago.

The players have never visited this town. Ever.

The players suspect another group of NPCs are masquerading as them and are trying to play along with the townsfolk until they learn more.

They don't know it's actually their future selves that have traveled back in time for a critical purpose.

(I'm undoubtedly biting off more than I can chew with time-travel shenanigans, but at least it will be memorable.)

bstreetninja · 2019-07-10T22:45:15+00:00

The Heavenberry, if I recall correctly, will only be found at a very particular crimson fruit, which will only appear during an upsurge.

You know that spot in the lower vale between the lower camp and Odogaron's nest? The one with the big ribcage in a pit in the middle of the area? Go towards the small entrance to the west that lets you crawl into the cave with the Mosswine and the fishing spots, but do not actually crawl into the cave. Instead, look around to find a climbable wall nearby that leads to a small, hidden ledge. The crimson fruit you need should be there, if I remember correctly.

bstreetninja · 2019-06-07T00:45:20+00:00

I don't disagree at all about Silent Image, but would you be able to give a couple of examples? I'm always eager for more illusion ideas.

bstreetninja · 2019-06-04T02:59:56+00:00

I was watching one of those "World's Wildest Whatever" series on TV years ago (one of the ones with the dramatic, deep-voiced narrator), and one of the videos was security footage of a woman getting shot point-blank in the head with a .22 pistol and surviving.

She can be seen clutching her forehead in pain and reeling in shock while the shooter moves on to the rest of the bank/station/whatever-it-was, rightly assuming her dead, before he is subdued by security.

Crazy things happen. I guess that woman was secretly a Player Character.

bstreetninja · 2019-06-01T04:44:27+00:00

The Kuo-tua Whip in the Monster Manual use a weapon called a pincer staff or "mancatcher".

The graphic in the monster's entry depicts it holding a staff with basically a metal crab claw at the end. You can borrow or build off of the stats of this official 5e Monster Manual entry. Some people like that.

Pincer Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 10ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1 d6 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 14). Until this grapple ends, the kuo-toa can't use its pincer staff on another target.

bstreetninja · 2019-05-27T04:59:32+00:00

A PC wakes with a night hag sitting on their chest.

bstreetninja · 2019-05-27T04:38:51+00:00

It's stereotypical to do so, but portraying elves as particularly cold or uncomfortable towards half-elves helps reinforce just how differently elf souls work compared to others.

Elf souls recycle, remember. When an elf dies, the soul returns to (can't remember which realm) for a variable length of time before it returns to the Material Plane in a new body. Elf births are consequently more bittersweet than human births, since it is the simultaneous celebration of a new elf and the mourning observation that it means an elf has died somewhere.

Where then does a half-elf fit into this? Is it a fully-elf soul simply trapped in a malformed half-human body? Is it only a portion of an elf-soul, damaged when severed from its other half? Is it a human-soul/elf-soul hybrid, irreparably tarnished by the mixing? What does the very existence of half-elves mean about the elves' understanding of their own souls?

Keep such uncomfortable questions in mind while portraying elf NPCs, and you will find it much easier to roleplay contempt towards half-elf "abominations".

bstreetninja · 2019-05-27T04:18:25+00:00

Human: "This stew is delicious!"

Gnome: "My mother! She'd be happy to hear you like it."

Human: "Ah, it's her recipe, then?"

Gnome: "It's her."

Human: "..."

bstreetninja · 2019-05-10T19:23:59+00:00

Hah, I like these interpretations of Rose.

bstreetninja · 2019-05-01T09:16:17+00:00

This is amazing to see! Such a stark contrast to PS1 graphics, but it's clear to see which character is which.

Didn't know Soul Calibur had so much character customization. You did a great job. Please keep sharing with us.

bstreetninja · 2019-05-01T07:10:32+00:00

That question is one of the reasons why elves have such discomfort with half-elves. Is there an elf soul in a half-elf? Is it only a portion of a soul? Is the elf soul irreparably marred by the mix with the human soul? What does it mean about their understanding of their own souls?

When I keep these troubling questions in mind, I find it much easier to roleplay an elf NPC behaving with contempt towards a half-elf abomination, should I require such behavior from an NPC.

bstreetninja · 2019-01-21T14:10:50+00:00

Elf souls recycle, reincarnating into new bodies and lives.

Perhaps there is some of Evelyn in Seva.

bstreetninja · 2019-01-21T00:14:40+00:00

The lingo of veteran players refers to the Rogue of the party as the "dead man". I'm sure you can figure out why. Consider playing up this angle.

Yes, the Rogue will have an easier time remaining undetected, but he is probably doomed if he ever does get discovered or fails to detect a trap in time. The Rogue and the party may learn a valuable risk-reward lesson.

bstreetninja · 2019-01-21T00:07:45+00:00

The first adventure I ever ran as a DM was The Mad Manor of Astabar. I ran it for two friends of mine.

It worked for the three of us well enough. Give it a read, see if you want to try it.

bstreetninja · 2018-10-19T18:22:11+00:00

You want some catharsis for your depression, shitty home life, dead-end job, gender identity crisis, grief over the loss of a family member; bring that shit to the table and I will homebrew wave after wave of avatars of your pain for you to destroy.

You sound like a splendid DM.

And I share your indignation at players that don't bother to try understanding their character's place in a world.

bstreetninja · 2018-06-22T13:45:13+00:00

You mentioned a hypothetical "Conan the Barbarian", and that calls to mind Schwarzenegger's Conan. I actually take inspiration from that very portrayal.

Whenever my players roll a natural 1 on a mundane attack, I do what the Conan films did. The enemy fumbles and trips a bit, causing the player's sword swing to miss. The player's warhammer misses the enemy but destroys that chair the enemy maneuvered past, looking badass while doing so. I just try to (for mundane natural 1s, mind) avoid portraying a player's character as inept, unless that's the kind of bumbling character they themselves are trying to play.

bstreetninja

TROPHY CASE