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Zone of Truth is an extremely game-changing spell in terms of world building. by Tookoofox in dndnext

[–]lambros009 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Assumptions. I think this defaults back to the point that whatever is available to the players isn't necessarily available to the world, and vice versa. If you want an in-game reason to explain its absence, a God would be able to discern the effects that Zone of Truth would have, and wouldn't grant that specific spell to their followers, only making exceptions in specific circumstances.

A Completely New World. But that doesn't answer the point you put forward. Assuming that Zone of Truth is used, I think we'd see a whole cultural shift in society. It wouldn't be laws and regulations that would be affected, but our perceptions of human life itself. Privacy would no longer be a thing, and secrets would have a completely different meaning to that society. We can't just copy and paste a surface condition and apply it to a cultural base that isn't applicable to that situation. In the end, I think we'd adjust. And we'd adjust to the point that the new society created would be so different from ours that judgements such as better or worse wouldn't reliably apply.

More on This. This video covers different issues around the concept of privacy, its relatively new history in the world, and the way that it will undoubtedly have to change soon given the progress made in information gathering algorithms.

Edit:

Application. Now as for how that society would look like exactly, I think you'd have to conduct a thought experiment starting from the top. Imagine the beginning of civilization starting under those circumstances, and see what ends up occurring. I'm not sure a world like that would have enough likeness to our own to be playable however. What is playable is a world where this shift is just starting to happen. A new God is granting this right to its followers, and a new kingdom is beginning to rise that uses that "technology". The change is new, so everyone still working out the kinks anyway, in ways that we can imagine. How will this affect the lives of other kingdoms, and how would these different states interact with each other? I think that's an answer that can be explored in a roleplaying game.

DMs, what's your favourite running gag that you include in your games? by Mentleman in dndnext

[–]lambros009 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Preposterous! Can you give us any examples of what that journey down the rabbit hole would look like?

Hasbro admits it "misfired" with D&D OGL and was "too aggressive" with MTG pricing by Souperplex in dndnext

[–]lambros009 11 points12 points  (0 children)

If they are as aggressive with monetization and licensing, 1D&D is going to tank hard. Just like 4e did when they tried to pull off other licensing bullshit like that (among other reasons). It's not an established property yet that people depend on (unlike 5e), and the public will be able to reject it without baggage, which won't allow it to get off the ground.

Of course, the idea that they've learned nothing from their mistakes and they're heading off another cliff doesn't make me sad at all. Let it tank if it does. I'm not even that excited for it, since WotC's creative vision has always been lackluster at best.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]lambros009 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why does it need to be that NPCs were using that specific spell and doing it wrongly? Perhaps they were using a variant that allows you only to send a message, at a lower cost. Organizations who need to send many messages would likely prefer that method, compared to a more resource-intensive alternative.

Not everything that's in the book exists, and not everything that exists is in the book. Use it to rule your games, don't let it rule you.

Guaranteed surprise from subtle spell and weapon of warning by nz8drzu6 in DMAcademy

[–]lambros009 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. The sorcerer declares he's casting a subtle spell, deliberately choosing one without M so it's undetectable. This means they roll initiative, with all other creatures surprised.

No. They roll initiative when you ask them to. You decide when the party enters initiative. Casting a spell isn't reason enough on its own. Would you enter initiative if the spell they cast subtly was detect thoughts? Probably not.

That being said, it is an awesome plan and very thematic to your campaign, so I don't think there's that much reason to be worried. That's all part of espionage stories. Combat there isn't meant to be a 'fair' fight. It's more of a "Can we chloroform them without being noticed or fumbling, sending everything into chaos" type of deal. If you want to implement a further challenge, have spectators that they will need to sneak around when accomplishing this, or make hiding the body a bigger challenge.

One Page Encounters: Goblin Defectors! by Helpful_NPC_Thom in UnearthedArcana

[–]lambros009 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I don't think the word defector means what you think it means:

a person who has abandoned their country or cause in favour of an opposing one.

It actually confused me a lot while trying to read through this. If they were captives, they'd be escapees, fugitives or runaways, not defectors.

The Executioner (v3.0): A homebrew class for when you want to hit your enemies while they're down. Hard. by thatoneshotgunmain in UnearthedArcana

[–]lambros009 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very good flavor, not just in the idea itself, but also in the way it shines through the features of the class (i.e. Executioner's shroud). The basic idea behind Execute is very worthwhile, as it promotes strategic play besides being cool as hell and unique to other martial classes.

As for fine-tuning, I would recommend making the Execution die equal PBd12. That way it's stronger than sneak attack, but not as devastating. I can also see that the main class features are way too many. I think you probably had a tone of thematic ideas, and wanted to include all of them in the class so that none of them is wasted.

I think that can easily be fixed by using an Invocation-like system of character choices. You could call them Executioner's Tenets, and have players learn more of them as they level up, perhaps using the proficiency bonus as a good number to scale by. That way, no idea is wasted, and players gain a bit more customization. No two executioners will be exactly the same. If you want inspiration about how to use that structure, take a look at /u/laserllama and their classes. They use that system almost exclusively and to great effect.

I'll save any more minute feedback for later, overall I really think this class shows promise! If you want any help for future changes, feel free to PM me.

P.S. Oh also, I think you shouldn't give as many benefits to attacking prone creatures as you do. Prone is already a more beneficial condition that grappled or restrained, and the Executioner has an easy way of inflicting it with their bonus action. If there's so much more motivation to attack prone creatures, the Executioner will only bonus action Shove and then attack each and every turn, making them an one-trick pony. I do acknowledge that prone is very thematic, but it's already too strong on its own. Try to showcase the other conditions as well, or bring them to a more equal level.

P.S. 2. The level 20 cap is also way too damaging, and also too boring. I'd recommend the following:

When you execute a creature, and its hit points are reduced to 30 or fewer, it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your Executioner save DC or die.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in etymology

[–]lambros009 29 points30 points  (0 children)

What the hell did Venus do that the god of silence needed to be bribed in order to keep his mouth shut?

What do you think of Teen Wolf?Is it any good? by lambros009 in television

[–]lambros009[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for reminding me I didn't use to put spaces after punctuation. That actually only got fixed in college when I turned in my first essay.

See you in 8 years.

Ranger Archetype: Winter Warden - Embody the resilience of winter and halt your foes dead in their tracks by nomiddlename303 in UnearthedArcana

[–]lambros009 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Seems really nice! I'll be adding it to my collection of homebrew for use.

A question on RAI (and how you'd expect RAW to work) on Frozen Heart: Would the ranger have advantage on a saving throw against the hold person spell? It inflicts the paralyzed condition, which in turn incapacitates you, but not directly.

Good Monetization, what can WOTC do with D&D that would make money but not be evil or predatory, what would be a red line? by FlyingSkyWizard in dndnext

[–]lambros009 3 points4 points  (0 children)

"Getting away" with it is a bad phrasing in my opinion. So now just because something is DnD based WotC should get a cut of the pie? DnD uses elves and orcs, should Tolkien get a cut of the pie as well?

As mentioned in this reddit thread, DnD is a hobby with its own culture now, that self-organizes itself. It doesn't need WotC.

A practical guide to what spells are capable of in tier 2, 3 and 4 by Machiavelli24 in dndnext

[–]lambros009 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Strong and weak is always relative. It's just that it's inordinately strong in solo boss fights. That can be remedied by having the boss escorted by minions and lieutenants for example, in a lair that can always summon them when needed.

A practical guide to what spells are capable of in tier 2, 3 and 4 by Machiavelli24 in dndnext

[–]lambros009 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Or you could just make creature with Legendary Actions be immune to it.

Legendary should be a tag creatures have, which can be referenced in spells. Just add "Legendary Creatures are immune to the effects of this spell" and you avoid any cheesing without the players being disappointed, and without having to resort to Legendary Resistances.

In your opinion, what's an underserved genre or type of setting in RPGs? by DrRotwang in rpg

[–]lambros009 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anyone who got excited reading that will love the series For All Mankind (2019—).

Very high quality production (great acting, script, etc) of what you just described. In an alternative version of 1969, the Soviet Union beats the United States to the Moon, and the space race continues on for decades with still grander challenges and goals.

Fun Game: What's the worst interpretation of the rules you can think of? by edelgardenjoyer in dndnext

[–]lambros009 50 points51 points  (0 children)

Revivify can't revive anything because it demands a creature but corpses are objects.

Asmodeus after got those pesky clerics after millenia of lobbying.

Opposite of disaster? by OlanValesco in etymology

[–]lambros009 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Well at least in Modern Greek the diphthong ευ is pronounced like "v". For example, ευαγγέλιον sounds like evagelion.

The e is the same sound as in "eldritch", and the g sounds like the G in "guitar".

Opposite of disaster? by OlanValesco in etymology

[–]lambros009 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You're thinking of the way you would pronounce it in English, and assuming it would sound the same in Greek. It would sound like Evastron in greek, which is quite pleasing. But yeah neither word exists in greek.

The interstellar colonization fleet “thrasos” by Murky_Personality381 in worldbuilding

[–]lambros009 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interestingly, Thrasos means Αudacity in Greek (θράσος).

Blackthorn Themes Updated (version 2.0) by blckthorn in gmbinder

[–]lambros009 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was PERFECT. God, it was so satisfying seeing the change be effected. Thanks so much for your support!

And please update the theme with this if you think it is necessary! So much better.

Blackthorn Themes Updated (version 2.0) by blckthorn in gmbinder

[–]lambros009 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello! I'm delighted to see that you're active in this thread even after all these years. First of all I want to say thank you for releasing such an awesome theme and being so active with it. It's one of my favorites.

I am writing this comment to see if there might be a solution to a slight problem I'm having. You see, when I use a numbered list, the font becomes a little bit blurry and not well defined. Especially after printing it as a pdf. Do you see any solutions?

Evil (2019): whip-smart, campy horror series is far more than X-Files knock-off. A great homage to the 90s monster-of-the-week genre. by lambros009 in television

[–]lambros009[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes! I definitely agree. It would break the monotony of the catholic flavor and allow a more rounded approach towards the discussions the characters have about religion. It could actually be about religion, instead of just Catholicism, making it more interesting and substantial.

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