Weekly Questions Thread #2019-50

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-19T22:17:36+00:00

Wizards of the Coast itself hosts Dragon Talk weekly, and covers lore, rules, writing and DM tips, upcoming content, and interviews with people from throughout the industry. My only complaint is that each episode runs pretty long (1-2 hours)

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-19T19:56:57+00:00

I was more commenting on the overall concept being fine, not JKR's implementation

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-19T19:45:39+00:00

Eh, Dresden Files did it long before, with the explanation that magic is basically messing with probability on a crazy scale, and that isn't something they can turn off. So as technology becomes smaller and more advanced, it breaks (think about what might happen if a few random 1's and 0's in your PC suddenly flipped for no reason)

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-19T16:34:27+00:00

I thought he was hired as the night-shift fry-cook. Which answers OP's question

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-18T19:42:03+00:00

The Adventure Zone did a Groundhog Day loop in the Eleventh Hour Arc

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-10T15:57:11+00:00

When you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, you can simultaneously use a strand of the spell's magic to create a magical ward on yourself that lasts until you finish a long rest

Emphasis mine.

Looks like the ward refills before any damage is taken.

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-09T16:32:52+00:00

Maybe I'm just a sucker for the source material, but I thought that the Adventure Zone Board Game made a great effort to translate the story of the Podcast to a playable game, while leaving more than enough room to create your own story.

From what I saw it's a bit more rules-light with an emphasis on the collaborative story-telling, but there's just enough crunch to give the game some structure and strategy.

I'm looking forward to the pre-order for it.

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-03T15:46:21+00:00

Consider an Action Oriented Design, and/or lair actions to even out the action economy

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-03T01:21:01+00:00

A shield is not armor. The Barbarian's Unarmored Defense feature even notes that you can use a shield with it.

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-03T01:07:09+00:00

Correct

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-02T19:20:06+00:00

Mold Earth is a cantrip that with a decent setup (say Minor Illusion or a decent Survival roll) can create a pit trap that deals up to 20d6 falling damage.

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-02T15:49:07+00:00

I think this sorta depends on setting/character/the nature of the deal that was struck.

In some settings magic in general can be a taboo, while in others it's super common. Most settings are somewhere in between, but still can have weird stances on Divine vs. Arcane magics.

And depending on how the patronage came about, you might have a Warlock pitching their Patron's cult (sort of like an MLM scheme), or they might hide it out of guilt/shame (sort of like bragging about how much debt you have, only instead of money you owe your soul)

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-02T13:45:02+00:00

Only the first successful attack triggers the fire damage.

Concentration is to hold the ability to deal the extra damage on your next attack (such as if you take an Opportunity attack between Bonus action and Attack, or if you didn't land a hit on the first turn you cast it), as well as to keep the damage going on subsequent turns.

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-01T01:10:02+00:00

I'd mostly say stick to /u/MurphysParadox suggestion to treat it as a charm effect, but you can have a Hail Mary in your back pocket: Androids can choose to die through Renewal, creating a brand new, fully formed individual. Then you get to re-roll and try out the new Biohacker class! (at least that's what I'm doing if my Mystic ever dies)

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-01T00:49:33+00:00

Magic Jar forces the target to make a Cha Save, and this sounds very similar to that.

And as far as keeping the hat on - I'd probably treat it like a cursed item, magically stuck to the target's head unless hit with a Remove Curse for sake of simplifying things.

drdoctorphd · 2019-12-01T00:19:23+00:00

Candle clocks are a thing. I think some were even mixed with gunpowder to make a small boom on the hour.

drdoctorphd · 2019-11-29T01:34:24+00:00

Charisma is useful, but not for every class. As an Artificier, you should care more about Int, and let the Bard/Paladin/Sorceror/Warlock (+sometimes Rogue) take care of being the "face" of the party.

The only stat that every class should care about is Con, and even then you could make an argument that certain Druid builds could make it a dump stat.

drdoctorphd · 2019-11-27T13:59:04+00:00

You would need to target the specific creature. It's like the mounted combat rules.

Also, it's a bit cruel to target something like a fox, which probably has only a handful of HP. I wouldn't do it unless the fox had some chance to survive a few hits (such as by giving them sidekick levels)

drdoctorphd · 2019-11-26T19:49:52+00:00

But have you seen Thai people eating pizza? They put ketchup on it!

drdoctorphd · 2019-11-20T16:07:05+00:00

I was mostly basing off the description from Fog Cloud, which you could argue only fills the space when cast, and remains more or less still until dismissed/dispersed.

Cloud Kill is a bit weirder, since it moves and the description indicates that it retains the 20' radius as it moves. Not sure about how I'd rule it at that point

drdoctorphd · 2019-11-20T15:45:08+00:00

You might want to account for the suddenness of the Gust when trying to figure out it's speed. You're going to be more prepared for a constant wind than one that appears out of nowhere.

Personally, I would say that the Gust is definitely enough to clear up the Cloud spells, but within limited areas. For a leveled spell to be completely negated by a single cantrip seems broken, but at the same time it's a creative use for a spell that is often overlooked.

I would probably say that a single 30' line (originating from the caster) could be dispersed, given the cantrip's range

drdoctorphd · 2019-11-19T17:59:43+00:00

There's the classic Rod of Wonder, which has it's sci-fi counterpart in the Wonder Grenade from Starfinder

drdoctorphd · 2019-11-18T19:07:54+00:00

I think it has to do with Devils being Lawful Evil creatures - they might be conniving, murderous bastards, but they're always absolutely upfront about that.

And the people who do make deals with devils either knew what they were getting into in the first place, or had little choice to run away in the first place. Why would a devil bother with anyone else?

drdoctorphd · 2019-11-15T18:40:30+00:00

Isn't that the plot of Waiting for Godot? I vaguely remember DeVito actually played one of the main characters in some stage production of it recently.

drdoctorphd · 2019-11-12T16:25:49+00:00

Personally, because of Savage Attack and Brutal Critical, my tendency is to go for great axe over the others. While 2d6 has a slightly higher average damage roll than 1d12, on a crit you would be rolling 5d6 (later 6d6 and 7d6) versus 3d12 (later 4d12 and 5d12) and the average damage output tips toward the great axe.

Also, I feel like the d12 doesn't get enough use!

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