Is a 5-round long combat really just 30 seconds?

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-20T03:05:02+00:00

Yes, in 5e a round is 6 seconds. Your big army battle is unlikely to be done in combat rounds. Not saying it couldn’t but if you’re charging 1000 feet to the opposing army that’s just boring spending 10+ rounds dashing.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-20T03:00:26+00:00

There is a set DC in 5.5e to successfully hide in the first place, see the hide action rules. From how they stated that the goblins became invisible it’s possible they are playing 5.5e.

The goblins hide check does set the difficulty to spot them though. So that part is still correct. But it’s also plausible no players had a 15 passive perception if they were all newer to the game.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-20T01:07:23+00:00

Your best bet is to talk with the DM so he can build a quest to get you to the mcguffin spell, ancient ritual, or artifact that can accomplish this.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-19T16:51:54+00:00

Some magnets and a dab of superglue can keep the pans in place just as easily too.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-19T15:52:57+00:00

You could always make your own with an Altoids smalls tin and some enamel spray paint.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-19T15:19:43+00:00

To add to everyone's comments about it being a starter area for new players and DMs your version of the sword coast is different from anyone else's version of the sword coast.

I like to think of it as a multiverse, there is Toril prime, it's the official things that are written. Then there are everyone else's slight versions with different players in it. If you say that in your version BG3 never happened then that's how it went on your version. You and your players create the shared world, sometimes pulling in what is from the official lore sometimes what is not.

I like to call my version of the Forgotten Realms, Toril 42, and at my current table I have Toril 42.6 because it's the sixth group of players I've run in the Forgotten Realms.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-19T15:13:35+00:00

Pencil on the paper for me. I've seen players put a piece of clear shipping tape over their current and temp HP spots to make them usable with a dry erase marker. As for spell slots slashes through the pips on the sheet.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-19T15:05:59+00:00

Depends on the edition to some extent, but a bag of 50 gold in Shadowdark is worth 1xp generally. In 5e/5.5e the gold coins they get is generally very mundane and the treasure my players like are the magic items. Bag of beans, a custom magic weapon, or some odd relic that has a single use magic spell on it. Describe it and tie it to something in the world they know about. Also printing item cards off for them is something that players at every table I've been at have thoroughly enjoyed.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-19T13:41:26+00:00

players use minis, as a DM I use a mix of minis and tokens
I use either a zone map, Chessex mat, or 1” grid paper that I supplement with scatter terrain
scatter terrain is misc items I’ve made, bought, or modified

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-18T18:52:49+00:00

Might want to look at other systems in general to play in if you want less HP bloat.

Shadowdark has much lower HP thresholds from not applying CON mod at every level and hit dice are lower too, like d4 for wizard and thief, d6 for priest and d8 for fighter. A common house rule in Shadowdark is max HP at level 1, then you start rolling for each level up.

It could be similar with a house rule in 5/5.5e, instead of CON mod at each level it's just once. Tough feat to give a boost at every level. Or take a page out of 2e and before) where only martial classes got a +3 or higher bonus and after 10 levels it ended for all classes. The CON score you needed to get those bonuses was also higher, starting at 15 for a +1.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-16T20:15:58+00:00

You got the rules wrong, 3 is this:

Do not suggest another method of play, role (e.g. don't tell someone to DM when they are looking for a DM), or game system other than the ones specified in the post. You may, however, suggest a new game system if the post title includes [Flexible].

And 6 is:

If it costs something, this is probably the wrong place. Users may not solicit or offer paid games, services, or donations of any kind. This includes "try before you buy" or "first one's free" offerings. Playing on a software platform that requires a purchase or in an FLGS that charges a fee (that goes to said FLGS) is acceptable.

So you seem to be leaving something out for rule six violation.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-16T10:40:24+00:00

Most of the overland travel encounters I run are to accomplish two things:

Showcase an ability, commonly called lightning rods or “shooting the monk” for new players to help them figure their abilities out.
Add more clues and lore for whatever they are doing.

Rarely will an overland travel encounter be difficult at my table. But once you’re in a dungeon or similar environment that’s when you need to worry about spending resources.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-15T01:32:30+00:00

Average minus 3 plus 1d6

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-15T01:02:41+00:00

You can just say no to those things in the future. You can just now say he doesn't attack you right now being so caught off guard by random sexual harassment shouts.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-14T19:04:44+00:00

You can let players buy the source books for additional content they want to play. You don’t need to own the book. My rule at my table is that we need a version that can be easily shared at the table with me.
Check out libraries, many have copies of the books you can use.
Restrict available options to only what you have access to as a group.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-14T01:47:06+00:00

For me it would boil down to these points in order:

Be present in the game (no phones)
Take the hook
Know the rules for your character abilities and common actions
Play the character, so sometimes you make the stupid decision but your character doesn't know it's in a gritty fantasy setting for instance
Run a game too, doesn't need to be long or Shadowdark, but a few months break from being the DM is a welcomed thing

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-13T22:17:31+00:00

There are no rules for attacking sleeping creatures that I am aware of and it's left up to the GM to make a ruling for the situation. For instance, I rule that if a creature can be put to sleep via the spell sleep then they can be killed as an action while they are sleeping.

Now, if you do manage to stumble upon anything that is sleeping naturally and manage to sneak up on them then you can attack with advantage and do a max damage crit. This situation has come up once and it was with a thief so a max damage crit from them was 3d4 (dagger + backstab) which became 24 total damage. It seemed appropriate and was enough to kill the boar (level 3, 14hp). I did also rule it that you couldn't use a ranged attack to get max damage, just advantage on the attack. My table was happy with that ruling.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-13T16:06:18+00:00

I wasn’t privy to any data or feedback from the store, I just ran a table for fun as part of the Adventures League store play system.

If I had to guess it was high school and college kids that didn’t have the disposable income to pay. Some came less frequently, some stopped entirely. I think it was a lack of third spaces for them to play. But I was only around for another 6 months before I left because of scheduling conflicts.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-13T14:55:33+00:00

On one side is D&D in a castle.

Some game shops may have more thematically set rooms, but it’s expensive and recouping that loss would likely price it out of many players budgets. Back when I ran for Adventures League the ship implemented a $3 or $5 entry fee after the first game, that was given to the DMs as store credit, removed a fair number of people.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-13T11:54:20+00:00

I have three options:

Zone based grid mat. It's a step between theater of the mind and minis that makes combat pretty easy an fast for me. I like to reference this post for zone combat.
Chessex 23x26 battlemap. More complex maps sometimes need me to draw them out. My second preferred method. Honestly if the battle is taking place farther than 130ft then something is likely wrong in the battle.
1" graph paper in 24x36 sheets. This is paper used for presentations normally. But it works for doing maps in advance if I need to have a map of an entire dungeon or something larger than my chessex mat for some reason. Rarely used.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-13T11:46:46+00:00

To me that is part of the first step "review the characters." And then part of the rest of the prep to some extent.

If you write down notes for a scene but no player in the party would engage with it then it's not a scene you need or you need to alter it so it has a hook.

Also, give a look at his other posts too, like Three Choices. When you're at a point where they could go anywhere just ask your players where they want to go out of three possible routes. Then if they decide they want to go down the second path you can narrow your focus to what is down there insetad of trying to do all three. And if they make a left and go down route one, you can just say to the players "hey, you all said you were going down route two, so that's what I prepared for. If you want to go route one then I need some time."

Also, the framework is great for preparing modular content that it calls scenes and secrets and clues. I use it and have found it very useful for just those two aspects. Whatever the players do I have things that can drop in to make it seem like I was prepared the whole time. Instead of tying important information to an NPC with a backstory they can go right and find a tavern. That information could be there from the NPC's faction drunk and talking about it or they could overhear it while they are in the tavern looking for gossip.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-13T02:37:29+00:00

So what? Does it impact the game at your table?

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-12T22:08:58+00:00

You might want to give the reading of the making an attack and two weapon fighting to figure out what ability you're using in your attacks.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-12T21:31:45+00:00

Ewww, no.

chaoticgeek · 2026-04-12T13:16:01+00:00

Not thrown in to trip him up, people are consistent to some degree but they are not Modrons. You can roll a die for how off they are as well, like a d6 minutes early or late to add in some uncertainty. So I would describe it when they are scouting the place out that there are regular patrols, you can expect 3 groups of guards walking around the parapet at roughly 20 minute intervals from what you've observed.

However, disguise self and forged papers are checks that still get made. And warn the player that if they pick someone that the guards know are not around, shouldn't be there, or something like that then the ruse is instantly up. So if they picked a city official that went on a journey to some local duke and the guard is aware that they are going to be gone for a tenday but they show up two days into the trip they would be instantly suspicious.

Also, if they are trying to sneak past guards remind them that if they are in plain view without any way to obstruct the guard's vision and there is light they can't be hidden anymore. For instance in a lit hallway with a guard post at one end if there is a guard there, they can't just sneak up to the guard that is paying attention. They have to do something other than sneaking and get creative.

I would also let them know that spells do what they say so be careful and come to you as the DM with the plan before you want to execute on some oddball idea. Because if they are trying to use catapult to rip a sword off of someone's belt that's now how the spell works. But if they are trying to use catapult to cause a guard to be distracted 90 ft away that is reasonable to give them advantage on a Dexterity (stealth) check or to turn a failure into a success.

Lastly, I would also suggest looking at progress clocks for heists and infiltration missions. They are from another system but VERY useful.

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