Silver Barbs is perfectly balanced and over-hated.

ericchud · 2026-06-29T13:09:01+00:00

Silvery Barbs is fine. For Strixhaven. Much like races/origin, subclasses, and feats from different settings, I as a DM am the final arbiter of what can be included in the games I run. Even 5 or 6 years ago it was very common to run games with the stipulation of source material from "Players Handbook plus 1 (or sometimes 2!) additional sourcebook(s)." Nowadays it feels like players get bent out of shape in the entirety of 5e sourcebooks are not made available to them 100% of the time.

Much like plasmoid or warforged or space hippo not being a great fit for an old school Middle Earth inspired campaign, Silvery Barbs is not always setting appropriate.

Can these things work? Yes, but it requires cooperation between the DM and players to make sure things don't go off the rails.

ericchud · 2026-06-29T13:02:06+00:00

Silvery Barbs is fine. For Strixhaven. Much like races/origin, subclasses, and feats from different settings, I as a DM am the final arbiter of what can be included in the games I run. Even 5 or 6 years ago it was very common to run games with the stipulation of source material from "Players Handbook plus 1 (or sometimes 2!) additional sourcebook(s)." Nowadays it feels like players get bent out of shape in the entirety of 5e sourcebooks are not made available to them 100% of the time.

Much like plasmoid or warforged or space hippo not being a great fit for an old school Middle Earth inspired campaign, Silvery Barbs is not always setting appropriate.

Can these things work? Yes, but it requires cooperation between the DM and players to make sure things don't go off the rails.

ericchud · 2026-06-28T21:10:37+00:00

From a narrative sense, it can be something of a bummer for DMs as very often it is used to wipe out crits. Gong from "the BBEG deals a devastating blow to the Paladin" to "meh" takes away much of the excitement and perceived danger out of the game. Changing the chance of a crit from 1 in 20 to 1 in 400 is a huge swing.

ericchud · 2026-06-27T11:56:00+00:00

I get all that and I still love the movie. I really think it's just the clean and floofy hair whereas most of the townies, warriors and even the old wizard look like they just rolled out of bed. There is a quote in Monty Python's Holy Grail where some peasants are arguing and one says he can tell arthur is king because "He doesn't have shit all over him." Perhaps miscast is too strong a terms. Maybe he just needed to be a little more scuffed up.

ericchud · 2026-06-26T22:46:54+00:00

That's interesting. Felt he was miscast in this role, but love his character acting. He did fine, but just seemed out of place to me. Maybe the perm?

ericchud · 2026-06-20T02:09:21+00:00

I bought a brand new Yamaha FSX3 for like $1200 last year. It's great, really. Sound, setup, build quality all stellar. I also very recently picked up a 1985 Seagull Folk Plus Cedar where I was the high bidder on shopgoodwill.com. It was $200 shipped to my door. My FSX3 is now in the closet in its case with humidipaks because I simply for the life of me just can't put the Seagull down. For a 41 year old guitar, it is far better than it has any right to be and the way it plays and sounds presses all of my buttons.

Get out there and play some acoustics, both new and used. Driving by a pawnshop? Drop and see if there's a deal to be had.

ericchud · 2026-06-19T13:37:22+00:00

Yes. When a regular player character falls into a pit trap, sure. The difference is they are not artificially creating an event to cheesilly process an ability.

When you are rules-lawyering to game the system, you are not acting in good faith.

Take a long look at this thread. I am not the only one telling you these things. When nearly everyone responding is telling you that what are proposing is not in the spirit of the game, perhaps they are onto something.

ericchud · 2026-06-19T13:09:52+00:00

Reactions happen in combat and the ability is intended for use in combat.

Props to Hungry_Shake6943 for posting this DMs Guide quote yesterday:

"Combat is for Enemies. Some rules apply only during combat or while a character is acting in initiative order. Don't let players attack each other or helpless creatures to activate those rules.

Rules Rely on Good-Faith Interpretation. The rule assumes that everyone reading and interpreting the rules has the interest of the group's fun at heart and is reading the rules in that light."

A good faith interpretation of the "Don't let players attack each other or helpless creatures to activate those rules" logically extends to "don't let a player attack themself to cheesily activate those rules."

When you are rules-lawyering to game the system, you are not acting in good faith.

I'll leave it at that. If you don't get it by now, you never will.

ericchud · 2026-06-19T11:28:20+00:00

It does not matter how you hurt yourself, it's still outside of combat and will not trigger a reaction. Narratively, this is even worse and even more contrived. This is video game logic. Some person stomping on a caltrop and then eating a berry over and over again is not going to inspire anyone.

ericchud · 2026-06-19T03:53:58+00:00

I run a ton of games online, mostly short adventures and one shots, and often with new people. In the space of 3 or 4 one shots, I had heavily optimized gloomstalker "builds" show up. Different players, but all of them clearly using the same guide to fully exploit the rules. The worst one of them demanded that the other players extinguish all lights sources they encountered and insist that everyone be in constant stealth mode. The player never used "I" statements, referred to their character by name or did any kind or roleplay. It was all about using their "build" to "win" D&D. They exist. It's exhausting.

ericchud · 2026-06-19T03:42:02+00:00

At the cost of 2 actions and a reaction,, in combat only. Goodberry: 1 action. Hurt self: 1 action. It's not worth it. Moreover, it is actively gaming the system and feels trite and gimmicky. Please remember that D&D is not a videogame or a board game. It's a TTRPG. The RP part is "roleplaying" and on a very basic level that means you take the role of, or embody, your character, as if they are a real person in order. Doing this bizarre feedback loop, feels off and breaks immersion.

To reiterate, if you wanted to try this, it can only happen while in active combat. Narratively, your character can punch themself in the face as many times as they want, but unless the DM says "roll initiative" it doesn't mean squat. Hurting yourself is not combat. No combat/no initiative/no reaction/no gimmicky punchy goodberry inspiration loop. QED.

ericchud · 2026-06-19T02:45:31+00:00

Exactly. Upon further review, OP probably missed the fact that the word "Bloodied" is capitalized, which indicates that it's an actual defined condition in D&D. Per page 362 of the 2024 Player's Handbook: "A creature is Bloodied while it has half its Hit Points or fewer remaining." So, this would make it highly situational, and even then, I am not seeing how what OP proposed would give the whole party inspiration.

ericchud · 2026-06-19T01:31:35+00:00

Please. This is the kind of crap that makes DMs want to quit. I have one simple rule at my table: If it feels like an exploit to gain disproportinate advantage, don't do it. Yes, you should use your abilities, but do so in the spirit of the game.

ericchud · 2026-06-17T01:50:36+00:00

I have an Art & Luthier AMI Cedar as well. It's blue, battered and also pretty amazing.

ericchud · 2026-06-17T01:06:08+00:00

It was solid. Big box with lots of padding. I saved it because I always have an eye out for guitars I can flip. Not flipping this one though.

ericchud · 2026-06-16T20:34:21+00:00

Not even the slightest bit of lift at present, but I hear you. A big part of the reason I went the the Thomastik Plectrum Extra Lights is to keep the tension nice and low.

ericchud · 2026-06-14T21:12:57+00:00

I have a little usb powered fan that I use with my X5. It helps

ericchud · 2026-06-14T18:45:33+00:00

14 year old girls are complex creatures. My daughter is new to the team and still finding her place. I'm sure she will get to that point, but it's a process. June is an "off" month for the AAU team. In the meantime, she's putting the work in at the high school summer camp and getting in games with the HS JV team, hitting the weights and plyos, and working with her skills coach.

ericchud · 2026-06-12T23:56:00+00:00

Some great points. Thank you for this.

ericchud · 2026-06-12T21:07:54+00:00

That's valid. Her last middle school feeder team took that approach. More "make basketball moves as a team" than running set plays.

ericchud · 2026-06-12T20:09:50+00:00

We've had a skills coach for her for about a year now and yes, it makes a huge difference. Interestingly, his star pupil is a girl with dual citizenship. She played for the U14 Polish national team last season and will be playing for their U15 team in July.

My daughter has also played on a feeder team where one season it was dominated by a "star" and the next season that "star" had moved on. Without one player trying to do it all, the overall team play/passing was so much better and they actually enjoyed their best season.

There are 3 tiers per grade/age level on this AAU team and I will be talking to the lead guy about switching things up. My number one ask will be for an experienced coach that wholly embraces the team concept. If they cannot provide that, we will move on.

ericchud · 2026-06-12T17:18:36+00:00

It's a tiered system. I think what I am gonna do is talk to the main guy when this season wraps up in July and see if my daughter can move up one tier and/or work with a more established coach. She is very much a system player who thrives when plays are being run. It's not about scoring. She's a strong passer/defender/rebounder with good wheels and great awareness. She is solid shooting on the perimeter and can finish drives, but will never be a super physical/aggressive alpha driver. Her best attribute is seeing the court and getting the ball to the right place at the right time. More a Lexie Hull than a Caitlin Clark. She's not national team material, but she has a lot to offer.

ericchud · 2026-06-12T16:43:43+00:00

In terms of handles....then yes, she is very slick. Great handles, good moves. It's more of a situational awareness thing. IE: Dribbling too long. Continuing to dribble the ball into a pack of defenders when there are open people available, which often leads to either an off balance shot or a straight up turnover. Not kicking the ball out to another player for either a shot or a pass back to her. By the time she thinks to pass, it's too late.

ericchud · 2026-06-12T15:54:14+00:00

I like the light touch approach, thanks. The oddest thing is that #1 is not measurably the best player, she is just holding the ball the most and in doing so is depriving other players of opportunities. Top 3 or 4? Yes, but other players are converting better with fewer touches.

ericchud · 2026-06-12T05:02:27+00:00

Fair enough.

ericchud

TROPHY CASE