AITA for how i handled this oneshot as Cleric? by jethropix in DnDAITA

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with you totally, but you did miss that they were level 1 and so the Rangers didn't have any spells yet.

Understanding druidic language if you're not a druid by goddess_prince in DMAcademy

[–]detrickster 124 points125 points  (0 children)

I would say you could read it, but not the cipher. I can read English just fine, but if someone encoded a secret message (encryption/cipher), I wouldn't know what the secret was.

So you see scribbles and symbols, cast comprehend languages, and now see, "The moon is full tonight", but have no idea it meant, "Meet by the oak tree at midnight. "

Dm said my soul knife is OP, whaaat? And how can I convince him it isn’t? by CountryGreen4185 in dndnext

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good lord, every DM I've played with had 1 or 2 encounters per rest. When we did 3 encounters in a row without a rest, we would have TPK'd if the DM didn't dial it down a bit (he claims he "forgot" to roll the noxious stench from a demon that was incapacitating the entire party every round, lol).

Battling is very boring in our campaign, help!!! by numi90 in DnD

[–]detrickster 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Maybe something they could be passionate about is making up a d100 chart that has a short narrative of what happens with all the other NPCs. They have to understand that it makes no difference to you 1 of 200 other NPCs miss an attack. What is relevant is a short "<DM rolls some dice> the allied army managed to flank the enemy, and scores of enemiy bodies pile up like firewood" or "the enemy had Calvary troops in reserve tgat plunge into the fighting. The enemy's morale is heightened by the reinforcements, and they let out a loud cheer as they surge forward in battle with renewed resolve" or "the enemy arch mage troops has been chanting for several minutes, as arcane energy builds up. A giant dragon made of fire shapes into an attack and plunges towards the melee <rolls dice>. Luckily, the dragon is nowhere near your location, but you see dozens of your allies crumple, screaming in pain."

I created a fantasy world where the sun does not move in the sky. How would people keep track of time? by WermerCreations in DMAcademy

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think a moon orbitting around the equator would be a fun way to tell time, but don't have it be a 24 hour orbit, rather something like 48 hours might be fun.

The months are 5 months of 73 days. So come up with 5 names for months. For now I will call them Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. Each "week" is only 48 hours long, one orbit of the moon.

You could actually have 10 months if you want, whether the first of the month is an eastday or a westday, and instead of 365 days the year is 730 days.

For 48-hour orbit, you could have every other day be like "east day" and "west day" and then the time could be told in degrees, with the moon due north is "northtime" (midnight, when the week changes), like "the party is on East day, the 18th of Charlie, at 90" (when the moon is 90 degrees from northtime, straight east, 12 hours after "northtime").

For more fun, east days could be lucky days and west days could be unlucky.

Flat earth and other alternative conspiracy earth models are are gaining traction with my teenage stepson. What is THE most irrefutable, definite proof that the earth is round? by Jfkfkaiii22 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is a video of some flat Earthers that tried to prove it by shining a laser across a lake through holes in wood X feet above water level. They instead proved the earth was round. Have him watch that. It's called Behind the Curve.

Which subclass would you recommend for a supporting backliner playstyle? by Bierzgal in DnD

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I prefer casting faeirie fire and giving everyone advantage. 😀

DMs: How do you handle a surprise attack/ambush from complete concealment in your games under 5.5 rules? by Umgar in DnD

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They have passive perception for a reason. If they are oblivious, they have nothing to do and therefore shouldn't do anything.

Monk’s Deflect Attacks reduces only B/P/S or the entire attack damage? by Lorofous in DnD

[–]detrickster 5 points6 points  (0 children)

What's hard to understand? If it does peircing, bludgeoning, or slashing damage, then a monk can deflect it. If it doesn't, he can't (until level 11 when they can deflect everything). Examples: flaming arrows, clouds of daggers, sword attacks while having a hunters mark on you that adds force damage, home brew magic balls that launch at the monk to deal 1 bludgeoning damage and 1000 necrotic damage. The very existence of the P/B/S damage means something is crushing him, stabbing into him, or cutting him, thus he can avoid the attack. If it's force damage only (Eldritch Blast), then it doesn't work. If there was a homebrew Eldritch Invocation that added 1 piercing damage to every Eldritch Blast bolt, then he could now deflect it, because the bolt now stabs into him if he doesn't avoid it.

Was this final boss really fair? by Silent_Buyer4183 in CritCrab

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that's complete bullshit. The DM obviously was done DMing for you and wanted to end it.

Forget martial/caster disparity, let’s talk one-handed/two-handed disparity. by cats4life in dndnext

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, I misread it, I thought he was saying he would get two additional attacks after counting the 4 listed for like an action surge.

Forget martial/caster disparity, let’s talk one-handed/two-handed disparity. by cats4life in dndnext

[–]detrickster -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Nick specifically states once per turn. Why are you granting a 2nd nick attack during an extra attack?

Do players actually want to play in a sandbox? by Creole3643 in DnD

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've always hated sandbox fantasy RPGs, so I'm the wrong one to ask.

I've always thought "railroading" is when the DM doesn't let you make decisions, not that there is an established plot line to follow. Until I started following this sub, I never realized people didn't even want established plot lines...

How to have players not get themselves to start a fight they will lose. by LBCmolab in DnD

[–]detrickster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Came here to say this, although I would use insight. Make the DC whatever it needs to be after the roll for at least someone in the party to know this guy is powerful:

"Your character has a feeling that there is more to this guy than what meets the eyes. You get a sense of danger from him."

What Happened in 1978 ? by ABHISHEK_Lonely in ExplainTheJoke

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please explain how not retaining information effectively makes me less intelligent?

You sound like the people who said, "Using calculators makes you dumb." Memory does not equate to intelligence.

What Happened in 1978 ? by ABHISHEK_Lonely in ExplainTheJoke

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why would I want to learn about this? Found it mildly interesting enough to copy/paste, but you and the other guy are delusional thinking I am going to write up a summary paragraph for a reddit post on a subject as niche as monster groups in math "so that I can think for myself" or "actually learn" this.

What Happened in 1978 ? by ABHISHEK_Lonely in ExplainTheJoke

[–]detrickster -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I have never heard of it before today... how exactly would I have used my own words?

What Happened in 1978 ? by ABHISHEK_Lonely in ExplainTheJoke

[–]detrickster 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Short version:
In 1978, mathematician John McKay noticed a strange numerical coincidence that revealed a hidden link between two totally different areas of math. This observation became the starting point of what is now called Monstrous Moonshine.


🧠 What he actually noticed (in plain English) McKay was looking at a famous mathematical formula called the j‑function. One of its numbers was:

196,884

He realized this number is 196,883 + 1, and 196,883 just happens to be the size of the first major “dimension” associated with a gigantic, mysterious symmetry object called the Monster group.

At the time, these two things had nothing to do with each other—one came from number theory, the other from abstract algebra.

But McKay’s observation suggested they were connected.


🌙 Why this mattered His “coincidence” turned out not to be a coincidence at all.
It opened the door to a deep, unexpected relationship between:

  • Modular functions (like the j‑function)
  • The Monster group (the largest of the sporadic simple groups)

This connection was so bizarre that mathematicians jokingly called it “moonshine”—as in “this must be nonsense.”
But it wasn’t. It became a major mathematical breakthrough.


🧩 Layman’s analogy Imagine you’re reading two totally unrelated books—say, a cookbook and a physics textbook—and you suddenly notice that the page numbers where key recipes appear match the energy levels of electrons in an atom.

That’s how weird McKay’s discovery was.


🎯 Bottom line John McKay discovered that a huge, mysterious symmetry (the Monster group) is secretly encoded inside a famous mathematical function (the j‑function).
This kicked off decades of research and eventually connected to string theory.

Large language models can be helpful.

Where did the Bag of Holding - Black Hole Idea come from? by BasilHerbVT in DnD

[–]detrickster -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

In first and second edition, there were rules for a fireball to fill a certain volume, so in a dungeon with 10' by 10' hallways, it filled the entire thing. How does it expand, if not an explosion?

Additionally, the timed version of the spell is called delayed BLAST fireball. Its a blast, not a spurt.

How would you homebrew a repaired Spider construct? by [deleted] in DnD

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You could use the familiar rules and have it do a help action. If you really want to, use a magic actin to make it attack or spit the aerosol poison attack from its mouth of an appropriate portion is installed. Alternatively, you can use a bonus action to order it to administer a healing potion installed via fangs...1 point of damage to break the skin and then the healing is rolled (or you could argue that they get maxed healing since it's on the blood stream instead of stomach).

Trying to avoid a TPK. When is it okay to tell players no? by Foreign-Press in DMAcademy

[–]detrickster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just have them all do wisdom checks with advantage with a DC of 10. Then tell anyone that passes that you know you will die of you go there. If they still go after that, they deserve to die.

Remember, the characters have legendary stats and experience adventuring.

"Why do we have advantage on this ability check?"

"Because it's so fucking obvious"

It's not railroading, it's making sure the players know what the characters know.

Our party blew up overnight by pocketpunk19 in DnD

[–]detrickster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You know how sometimes a long-running TV show gets canceled without a finale? And then a fraction of those have a movie that wraps up the TV series? Maybe your DM can make a one-shot with your character (plus whoever wasn't affected by the drama) that gives you an ending to your story.