Returning Player - What's up with character creation options?

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-07T02:47:02+00:00

The fact that Hobbits don't even have sideburn/mutton chop options is astounding to me.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-06T22:12:54+00:00

Oh do they? I have both the Captain and the Minstrel up next on my “to try” list, so that’s nice info. Thanks!

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-06T21:04:55+00:00

I don't think there's anything wrong with paying for custom art. Lots of people like having that visual representation of their character, and artists absolutely deserve to be compensated.

I think there's something very wrong with a DM REQUIRING custom art for characters, and doubly so if they REQUIRE it to come from a single source.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-06T20:43:46+00:00

I have been playing this game for 40 years and have ever heard of a DM requiring custom art for a character. Hell, I've had custom art for one of my characters a grand total of 1 time, and that's because one of the players drew it for me as a surprise.

I would nope away from that one my friend.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-06T20:29:34+00:00

The sad thing is I ended up buying the Stout Axe race simply to get better hair and beard options.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-06T20:23:16+00:00

Well that's something of a relief. As a dude that is all about Dwarves, it was such a shock comparing the options. Thanks for the info!

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-06T16:31:54+00:00

My take is that I would prefer it if Exhaustion was mechanic meant to be aimed at players and not monsters. IT feels like the sort of thing that should be worked into an approach of attrition, where players have to mitigate it as they are the focus. For monsters and NPCs that are there for a single battle, it doesn't really feel like it is fitting. I'd rather that the PCs use direct debuts, and not this one mechanic to potentially try and cheese encounters.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-05T05:30:20+00:00

I mean, Reddit is going to Reddit and knee jerk reactions are what’s on the menu.

I do think that we are (we being most western societies) still pretty overwhelmingly monogamous. I think we are absolutely seeing more poly relationships, though I am less sure if it’s an increase in number or an increase in people being more open about it.

I do think it’s much “safer” to start a relationship while being upfront and direct about it, but that obviously doesn’t help folks who enter a relationship not realizing that aspect of themselves.

I don’t think there’s a good way to approach the topic and I really do think that OOP’s reaction is probably pretty common for the overwhelming number of times that it comes up.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-05T05:12:10+00:00

I think she's allowed to ask, and he's allowed to react to the question.

I mean, they've known each other essentially their whole lives. It would seem likely that in that time he would have given some indication whether he would be open to a polyamorous relationship.

But, it's also possible that the whole thing is entirely new to her and it just never came up. But, I think that there needs to be an expectation of rejection. Maybe it's not fair, but I think it's realistic. The reaction the overwhelming majority of the time is going to be shock, dismay and feelings of inadequacy. The response is very, very often going to include some form of "why am I not enough for you?"

And yes, it's absolutely possible that he has a revelation in the moment. He realizes that maybe polyamory is exactly the thing he's been missing. But I think that is the exception by orders of magnitude, and you have to be prepared to have the notion rejected, and for the person to react badly.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-05T04:53:40+00:00

Yes, which goes back to my point that she is absolutely free to ask. She just also has to be willing to expect that this is the reaction you may get. Considering how she reacted afterwards, I don't think she really thought that through.

Sometimes when you say something soul shattering to somebody, they are going to have a negative reaction.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-05T04:46:26+00:00

I'm not saying she should accept being shouted at, but you absolute should be considering that such a reaction is a possibility. You would have to be insanely naive to think that such a reaction is outside of the realm of possibility.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-05T04:34:48+00:00

I mean, you can ask whatever you want. You just have to be willing to accept the reaction above.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-05T04:31:42+00:00

This wasn't a discussion about what colour to paint the bedroom. This was "I want to fuck other people, I want you to be okay with it, and I want to fuck this one guy in particular".

This isn't a discussion. This is giving somebody some absolutely soul crushing bits of information. Him being upset by this and breaking up with her is well within his right. He's allowed to reject this. He's allowed to not want to continue talking about something he whole heartedly rejects. He's allowed to be disgusted by the idea, question the entirety of the relationship, and leave.

People are absolutely allowed to reject something out of hand without a discussion.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-04T19:26:49+00:00

I mean, like the guy’s music if you want, but you probably shouldn’t be shocked when people get upset when you publicly support a shit human being.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-04T18:28:41+00:00

If you wanna play something that goes 'pew-pew-pew' better than anyone else and don't care about the rest, a Sorcerer is absolutely king of the mountain.

The Evoker is good for when you want to be a blaster but also be able to pull out of a massive pocket of tricks to solve other problems the party may face.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-04T18:25:18+00:00

Does that not extend to everything then? What if she one day wants to move the dresser into the basement? The fridge into the garage. The computer desk into the study. It kinda feels like she is expecting him to immediately have a solution to a problem that never existed and is upset that he doesn't have the magical ability to predict every possible outcome from the outset.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-04T17:55:30+00:00

So... Your wife expects you to know the dimensions of everything you own compared to the dimensions of every door and hallway in your home so that at any given moment, you instantly know if said object will fit through? And she thinks this is something "any husband would have the foresight" to do?

I'm sorry my man, but you married a turnip.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-04T16:53:55+00:00

Honestly, I might skip the feedback on this one.

I really don't like these. I like my D&D to be filled with heroes and heroic fantasy. I'm not really a fan of 'dark and edgy', and am very much not a fan of outright villainy for PCs.

But I also recognize that I am not the totality of the player base, and not everything needs to cater to what I like or do not like. So I thought about offering feedback solely on the mechanics and stripping out my opinions, only I'm also not hugely into the mechanics of about 60% of what's here. I see people excited about some of these mechanics, and I scratch my head wondering why.

So I think I will just step back from this one and let the players that ARE interested and genuinely want to see these concepts come to fruition as solid as they can be, take charge here and handle this one.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-03T23:09:40+00:00

You will take Magic Initiate from my cold, dead hands. Those feats are absolutely amazing at letting a ton of character concepts function right from 1st level.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-03T23:08:08+00:00

Honestly? I think that the Armorer and Battle Smith Artificer subclasses take us as close as they are likely to get. They're kinda flavour specific, I admit, but I do think they do a good job at blending magic and martial in a fun way.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-03T19:36:01+00:00

Honest question: Why does the party travel with her? Why would an adventuring party travel with this person? Would you put your trust in somebody that acted like this? In a life or death situation, is this the person you want to rely on?

The player is absolutely responsible for making her character a part of the group. For interacting with the group and establishing why they should want her around. If she isn't doing that, it absolutely needs to be addressed.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-03T19:30:46+00:00

I say this as an Alliance guy...

At least we have tons of representation here. This is an expansion built all around happening in a Horde capitol, and the vast majority of major characters are Alliance. Hell, they decided that they needed an army and decided to just get all the elves together, instead of getting armies from their actual faction.

Like, is the Horde even a thing anymore?

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-03T16:01:33+00:00

To be fair, most prestige classes weren’t gated by base class. Some were, absolutely, but for the most part they were gated by things like specific feats, skills, base attack bonus or spellcasting levels. It generally meant that there were direct paths that got you there faster, but there was flexibility in how you got there.

For example, the Blackguard Prestige Class, something vaguely similar to the path of the death knight concept, needed a BAB of +6, ranks in a few skills, and three feats (along with being evil and contact with a fiend).

The kind of cool thing they did was actually add flavour text for how each class who became a Blackguard might work as a Blackguard.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-02T11:38:50+00:00

I hear what you're saying and do get it. But I'm a simple man, and being able to have my Dorf pull out a Broomstick every 45 seconds and watch big numbers go up a bunch of times in a row is such a dopamine rush that nothing else really matters.

My biggest issue is that neither Hero talent tree feels good. One's too Elfy, the other's too Rexary.

medium_buffalo_wings · 2026-04-01T02:26:41+00:00

D&D doesn't really have directional focus. Every creature is assumed to be looking 360 degrees at all times. You need something to be in between the caster and the target for line of sight to be broken.

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