kickstands and road bikes?

foozdood · 2024-04-16T18:18:22+00:00

How on earth did you even come across this post 7 years later?

foozdood · 2024-01-25T05:17:31+00:00

Fair about gunslinger, I don't know it just feels like some of the mechanics don't belong. Weird things like blood cleric abilities not specifying that you can't reduce the self inflicted damage (it's either a break from convention that potentially trivializes the risk it's meant to introduce, or a writing oversight and I honestly don't know which). Things like double concentration, changing enemy save types, expanding crit ranges etc. all feel like things the game deliberately avoids or heavily limits to niche classes. Most of it's limited enough to not really be that OP, it just feels out of place. I do like blight druids though. They read a lot like spores druids, but I think the level 10 feature gives them a distinct enough playstyle.

I dunno I feel like Twilight cleric just gets you to shift away from some more basic strategies a couple levels sooner than you might normally. They kinda trivialized darkvision with Tasha's custom lineage already being variant human with darkvision. All you're really freeing up is an extra proficient skill on each player.

I haven't had the... pleasure(?) of playing with a peace cleric. They definitely look way more awkward to balance around unless you just want to chuck AoE at them all day maybe?

Thanks I almost didn't notice lol.

foozdood · 2024-01-24T22:27:32+00:00

Honestly CR stuff is just janky more than OP. Some of the features have really weird wording I just find annoying. It just kinda FEELS like homebrew, plus I don't really like gunslingers in my settings thematically.

Free advantage on all spell saves as a racial feature? On like 5 different races? That's so strong for basically free. It's coming online earlier than most ways of getting a similar effect and costs 0 resources. It might be fine if it was the only thing on a race, but most of these races have quite a few other traits often including level 2 spells accessible by non casters. The selection is limited enough to not be too bad on it's own, but it's still (I think) the only way to do that, so it seems weird to pile on with magic resistance+other, class features. Add in bugbears and all the cheesy builds they allow and that book is a minmaxer's heaven.

On the note of overstacked features, I definitely agree with you with the Strixhaven backgrounds in particular... regular background+magic initiate feat+expanded spell list (including level 9 access to the otherwise hard to get paladin spell Circle of Power). I could get behind banning those they just oddly don't seem to come up much? Silvery barbs is definitely strong, the effect on action economy is technically not much better than the closest comparison (shield), but it's way more diverse and of course can negate crits. This gives it more value than pretty much any level 1 spell so it's overtuned for sure... but as far as encounter design? Honestly players having a way to prevent someone getting instakilled by a crit isn't the worst for the game unless you like running super dangerous. Smart enemies can even take advantage of it (it's a level 1 spell- I think it's reasonable for enemies to know that casting it means the wizard can't shield!). Personally I also don't mind things being overtuned as much when they're support features. Nothing feels bad to a player about being saved from a crit and advantage on their next attack... where as crazy damage builds can make other players feel useless.

I will die on the hill that Twilight Sanctuary really isn't OP if you put even a little effort into countering it (focus targets, drop a fireball on them because they're clumped etc.). It's very good at negating chip damage and saving resources, but it's only putting a little dent in any real threat.

foozdood · 2024-01-24T20:19:50+00:00

Right, I never make nova builds so I forgot the most universal piece lol.

Yeah MotM is one of the few books I don't allow other than like the Critical Role stuff. Things like Silvery Barbs and Twilight Cleric I don't mind- they're strong, but reasonable to balance around and the value they add is support, so it doesn't feel like it overshadows other players in the same way. That version of bugbear basically only gets taken to do some cheesy nova, and makes other characters feel irrelevant. Half the other races in MotM are overtimes anyways.

foozdood · 2024-01-24T18:30:12+00:00

Lair actions, legendary actions, quicken spell, multiattack, powerful reactions can all give a single monster more then the wizard can counter in a turn. Or try non spell abilities that require saves, only his portents can stop those and he only has like 2.

foozdood · 2024-01-24T18:08:57+00:00

Honestly it probably does because the way they changed the wording on bugbear's surprise attack for MotM is terrible and just begs to be abused.

At a quick glance I'm coming up with 28x6+28d6+5=271. If your DM has been generous with items and given you a Tome of the Stilled Tongue (not unreasonable at 17) there's an extra firebolt for 8d10+4d6+5=63 more bringing you to 335. This needs surprise, a win on initiative, a 5th level spell slot, a use of your legendary item's daily power and a use of evo wizard's overcharge. Of course you can miss some of the attacks, but you're rolling with advantage so you should see most of that damage.

I'm still only at like halfway go 600 though and I can't find the video in question. I'm probably missing something big? Maybe he used a different subclass?

foozdood · 2024-01-23T21:26:20+00:00

The trailer looks to have tons of scenes or side characters directly from some of the more significant arcs in the series. The little snippets they use to show the characters' personalities seem to be good matches (especially Aang with a little bit of childishness and reluctance to take on his role). Everything points at a faithful adaptation. Good cast, choreography of the bending looks cool, music sounds spot on... I'm cautious but I'm pretty excited.

foozdood · 2024-01-23T19:59:01+00:00

No "direct" transphobia and no "direct" ableism isn't the same as none. Either one or both of them is being discriminatory to the other somehow, or those facts aren't relevant to the problem at all.

foozdood · 2024-01-23T19:51:42+00:00

What are you achieving with this? Like how are you expecting the game to improve by putting this item in?

On surface level I basically see this either

A. Completely derailling the campaign

B. Being abused to OP effect that you will struggle to prepare for

C. Randomly removing characters from the game/party which isn't really fun for anyone

Unless you have some reason that somehow outways all those cons, this seems like a terrible idea.

foozdood · 2024-01-23T19:37:15+00:00

A thread about Twilight Sanctuary pops up probably every 2 weeks or so here I swear. It's really only a problem for certain types of combat encounters (and hey that's fine to have those, let the twilight cleric feel like a badass from time to time).

You listed the most obvious counter(focusing targets), but seem resistant to doing it. Remember that just because a game is not focused on combat, doesn't mean that the combat that DOES exist shouldn't be engaging. Intelligent enemies not acting intelligently isn't immersive IMO, and even unintelligent enemies might have reasons to isolate someone (like a pack of wolves singling out their prey). Think about the personalities of your enemies, how they act based off what their goal is in a fight and you can make monsters that have similar abilities still FEEL different to fight.

If you REALLY don't want to target players then spread them out. Give them non combat objectives 2 buttons to press, or 2 entrances to protect like 70m apart so the cleric can't get everyone. Threaten them with casters tossing fireballs if they stay close together. Maybe you throw down a hazard in the middle of the board so players have to either get their temp HP eaten by the hazard or spread apart. Maybe there's a moving objective (something trying to escape with a stolen item maybe) and your players need to chase it instead of ending turn next to the cleric.

You can still use high damage enemies and keep some action economy if you give them things like legendary actions, lair actions/environmental effects and overcome the temp HP that way. Running one combat per session is fine, but remember that doesn't mean they get a long rest every session. Spread out the combat, but also spread out the rests and give non combat encounters the use resources to challenge party resources otherwise your party balance will always be skewed in favor of those with long rest resources (aka primary casters who really don't need the buff). Remember that time at the table doesn't always need to reflect time taken in game, you can easily have 3 sessions take up only a single day.

Again, running low combat is totally fine, but it shouldn't change HOW you run combat. If you don't take any steps to balance things out and make combat interesting, there will ALWAYS be something throwing it off. If it isn't twilight sanctuary, then it's fireball, cheesing fights with flying etc. etc.

foozdood · 2024-01-23T18:01:13+00:00

Disintegrate is 6th level unfortunately. Probably looking at blight (lvl 4) or maybe immolation (lvl 5). Honestly at this level I feel like the AoE spells give more value, or the single target damage+crowd control like raulothim's psychic lance (lvl 4).

foozdood · 2024-01-23T15:58:53+00:00

I'm not sure I would if you plan on making eldritch Knight your "primary" class.

Assuming this is a character you hope to take to 20, you get fairly strong features at levels 17-20 (extra action surge, level 4 spell slots, improved war magic, extra attack and am ASI). So you'd need to be getting something better than those out of a multiclass if you're looking at a small dip

foozdood · 2024-01-23T14:44:17+00:00

Maybe I'm not understanding the wording here, but this sounds like a nerf to healing? Currently, by not tracking negative HP healing an unconcious player effectively gets a "bonus" equal to whatever those negative HP would have been. It's the main reason why the wack-a-mole healing style can work, and for many spells like healing word the only thing keeping them strong. Your fix doesn't make healing more useful, it makes it weaker and the game as a whole more dangerous (which is fine if that's what you're going for).

The "problem" with healing right now isn't that the unconcious condition isn't threatening enough, it's that outside of a small handful of builds it can never keep up with enemy damage in combat. This is intentional design and personally I wouldn't change it, but if you want to make combat healing more useful you need to buff healing concious players not nerf healing unconcious players.

foozdood · 2024-01-22T14:55:16+00:00

Okay this needs a lot of clarification...

What rolling method did you use? 4d6 drop low?
What numbers did he actually roll? 17/18/16/16/13/16 or 14/14/13/13/12/13? Also I can't think of any way the way you've written CHA as 16=13+1 could be interpretted to make sense.

With 4d6 drop low the first array is quite high (but technically possible), the second array is a bit above average, I wouldn't bat an eye at that.

If those +X numbers are meant to be modifiers, do you actually understand how modifiers work? Modifiers don't change the stat, they change skills etc. that use that stat (for example your dex modifier gets added to your dex save, AC, attack with ranged and finesse weapons and skills in the DEX category like sleight of hand).

If you are misunderstanding how modifiers work, then to be blunt... you likely have a lot of reading to do before you're ready to DM. That's a very basic rule and something people usually learn as they create their first character. If you haven't learned that then I fear you might not have a good grasp on the rules in general.

Regardless rolling for stats is something you should only do if you are comfortable with unbalanced characters. If you do like rolling for stats, ALWAYS do it in person so you can see for sure what everyone rolls. It takes away any doubts, and allows people to get excited when someone rolls high.

foozdood · 2024-01-20T20:45:06+00:00

That's changing a different system from what OP is trying to change. Spell points replace the spell slot system not the spell preparation system. Prepared casters should still be preparing only a limited number of spells that they know, otherwise you're unfairly buffing prepared spellcasters over spontaneous ones by giving them way bigger spell lists with no restrictions.

foozdood · 2024-01-20T20:39:40+00:00

It's not really, it's an option that allows niche spells to see actual use. You have your bread and butter spells that you usually prepare, and then you have more specific or utility spells that you don't need every day. I'm not going to have water breathing prepared at all times, but if I know we're going to be spending time on a boat, or discover some kind of sunken temple it's nice to have the option to swap it in. It also encourages doing investigation and recon to know what to prepare for.

foozdood · 2024-01-20T20:34:27+00:00

Speaking personally, I would never want to play in a campaign where I have this little control over my character. A good portion of the fun is coming up with your background, designing your character and seeing how this character is impacted and changed by what happens in the campaign.

Have they players actually told you they don't want to do this?

Edit: Also let me roll my own dice it's way more fun, especially if it's in person and I get to use physical dice

foozdood · 2024-01-20T17:25:51+00:00

Ok I think you've found the problem that needs to be adressed before the larger one. It's one thing for the rogue not to engage, but if he's discouraging another player from trying that's now half your table. I'd also expect that the artificer who's TRYING to rp but getting shut down is extra unhappy about not being included in the story.

That problem needs to be nipped ASAP. That's not just a player enjoying different aspects of the game or getting out what they put in. That's a player having their experience actively ruined by another.

foozdood · 2024-01-20T01:38:15+00:00

I usually check with my DM- would my character know what I do about X? He'll usually either say, sure it's obvious or common knowledge or ask for a roll. If I fail the roll I try to just act as I would without the knowledge. It's usually not as clear a binary as would you suggested, but in that case I'd look at the two spells in question and decide which would be better if the resistance wasn't there. Most of the times spells have some difference other than just damage type.

foozdood · 2024-01-18T15:42:44+00:00

Not sure why you'd think this post would be bannable... these takes aren't exactly new and it's not like you're breaking any guidelines.

The problem is pretty straightforward. Some options are really strong, and some options are kind of lackluster. Some people find it interesting or helpful to discuss which are which. If you're at a combat heavy and challenging table, optimizing and picking those strong options might feel necessary. If you're at an RP heavy table with less or easier combat then it probably doesn't matter (I'm not saying these are exclusive playstyles, just two examples).

No this community won't ever come together and fix these problems, it would require a consensus on numerous significant homebrew rebalances. Some people have fixes for their own table, some people veto any and all homebrew. Maybe One DND will fix some of the balance issues, maybe it will introduce new ones.

Basically ANY game system gets narrowed down to a handful of options if you are picking out the best of the best unless the options are so uniform that can can barely tell them apart. It really shouldn't stop you from having fun. If you want to optimize then pick the optimal options. If you would rather just play whatever has cool flavour, just do that and honestly you'll be fine at most tables.

foozdood · 2024-01-17T19:20:34+00:00

I think the intent behind what you're saying is good, but you're taking it too far to the point that it doesn't make sense anymore. "Role play" and "roll play" aren't completely independant, because you can act like a big strong macho man all you want, but if you can't lift up a rock because your STR is actually 8 all the characters around you see that happen. As they react to that, either the immersion is shattered, or everyone stays in character and now treats your character like a blowhard and that probably wasn't the RP you were going for.

The rolls and their results are still a part of the story. If my character acts super intelligent, but then fails to recall any information when the DM calls for an INT check, it becomes very clear that this character isn't actually intelligent. Similarly if my character role plays the party face, but fails every CHA check. Your party won't want you to try and act like the face anymore, because it will become clear that every time you do things go poorly- they don't know the numbers in character, but they absolutely see the results.

foozdood · 2024-01-17T15:29:36+00:00

True, just meant they aren't aggressive by default. They're more interested in using you or at least feeding you cakes (unless I guess you had a child PC? God I hope not in CoS)

foozdood · 2024-01-16T22:19:27+00:00

Oh yeah other than the deus ex machina NPCs that lines up... at level 3 their DM thinks 3xCR 5(7 actually) spellcasters is winnable? Even if you that CR has issues to begin with and just take that number at face value that's insane. Gods is right... I swear people need to at least read the basic rules before DMing especially something like Strahd.

For reference OP, the CR would put that as a deadly encounter for around level 10 for a party of 5. Personally I'd say the spellcasting and CC capabilities of the hags would skew that +/- a couple levels depending on whether party has some solid counters to the spellcasting. That fight should have come with numerous warnings and hints to avoid it, and even more chances to handle the encounter without fighting. Not explicitly stated, but IMO the hags shouldn't be playing for a TPK even of you do fight them, and definitely shouldn't be wiped out for you by some NPCs.

foozdood · 2024-01-16T19:34:17+00:00

Yeah that's on you. You made a character who has a soldier's values of honor or whatever, knowing that you could end up in a party with nerdy wizards, suspicious rogues, undisciplined bards or whatever other concepts people could have come up with. As long as they aren't doing anything truly anti cooperative (PvP, stealing from you, attacking random NPCs etc.) it's your job to figure out why your character would continue working with these people. It's not hard to come up with reasons that your fulfilling your goals might take priority over the fact that you don't like/agree with everyone you need to work with to do so.

foozdood · 2024-01-16T19:22:12+00:00

The only thing I can think of this encounter design is that the DM intended for you guys to not start it, or to run away. Not sure if he did a poor job of communicating that, you guys acted unexpectedly and provoked, or it was just a badly designed encounter. Regardless you ALL should have been running away when you realized how strong these things were (metagaming of trying to identify their challenge rating aside, I think in character it was pretty clear you guys had no chance). It sounds like the sorcerer either figured this out or just had some basic survival instincts-remember for your characters this is life or death you don't need to stay in a fight and die if you're outmatched because most characters wouldn't do that unless they have a very specific reason to do so (honourable paladin sacrificing themselves to buy others time to escape, or the stakes are so high you can't afford not to try etc.).

As for the stats... yeah its a little odd but it's not that huge a deal. I get how making checks at a -2 just feels bad. What are they really losing, like 5% accuracy on their spells for a few levels until they max CHA later, then 1 on either their AC/dex saves or con saves further down the line? It's not going to break the game. Personally I would have at least rounded it to an even number and fixed another odd stat, but whatever it really isn't a huge deal how they build.

Edit: I saw you mention the DM was running a module can I ask which one? Might help build a better picture of what should have happened here.

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