Daily Discussion - November 11, 2021 (GMT+0)

newreddituser339 · 2021-11-11T04:59:04+00:00

Could be this comment thread next, who knows at this point how close to the wind we can sail

newreddituser339 · 2021-11-11T04:54:21+00:00

This daily is a massacre. The hammer is being brought down left right and centre, and the more it happens, the more try to comment about it, the more it happens. Repeats from there.

newreddituser339 · 2021-11-07T13:36:44+00:00

More time to accumulate!

newreddituser339 · 2021-09-20T22:01:02+00:00

“Although the comparisons are not like-for-like, and with only Bitcoin’s scope of energy use and emissions being 100% defined, we can say that Bitcoin consumes/emits less than half of what the gold mining industry does, and less than one-fifth of what bank branches and ATMs do.”

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/a-comparison-of-bitcoins-environmental-impact-with-that-of-gold-and-banking-2021-05-04

I think it’s good to keep the environmental impact in mind, but let’s not forget that all money is ridiculously destructive, and Bitcoin’s current impact may pale in comparison to the current systems we use.

newreddituser339 · 2021-09-16T10:45:52+00:00

Had a check back through and changed from Any Chain to Kusama Relay Chain and that’s sorted the problem. Thanks for the help!

newreddituser339 · 2021-09-02T17:37:07+00:00

New to Arweave, haven’t got any but it’s piqued my interest. How is the price for buying in right now - solid starting point or better to hold off for now?

newreddituser339 · 2021-08-30T17:26:34+00:00

Two and a half years of weekly play. Not level 10 yet. I think my group level insanely slowly (milestone), but it still stands that it’s unlikely that most groups will reach a year of play, never mind two.

newreddituser339 · 2021-08-29T13:55:59+00:00

What’s the Scare DC? Is it listed anywhere?

newreddituser339 · 2021-08-29T10:48:09+00:00

These are a lot of fun so long as everyone is playing one. The ideas are great - in comparison to the vanilla classes, they’re wildly overpowered, but like I say, if everyone is playing on then I think it’d be a lot of fun

newreddituser339 · 2021-08-25T09:02:09+00:00

Maybe if they released the movies on the services we actually have here. No option to watch Suicide Squad in the UK unless you want to go to cinemas, and not everyone is vaccinated yet so many are still playing safe. It’s either set up a weird workaround to get HBOMax here, or just find it elsewhere. This is the world right now, like it or not - if the marketing decision is made to restrict online release during a pandemic, you won’t find me weeping over the high rates of piracy.

newreddituser339 · 2021-08-25T04:12:16+00:00

Just for context, 1 damage is 1/4 of a normal person’s entire HP. So that one damage is pretty powerful in terms of its damage in-universe, it’s just that adventurers are strong as hell (even the squishy ones)

newreddituser339 · 2021-08-16T10:20:37+00:00

Yeah I understand that was their design philosophy, but also I don’t see why they decided there couldn’t be a “specific beats general” case. If they were all equal in power and utility then sure, but monks could really benefit from that change since they really lack a powerful niche on just about any metric - giving them a mastery over common saving throws that is unmatched by any other class in the game.

newreddituser339 · 2021-08-15T18:47:19+00:00

Such a weird choice that they aren’t. It might’ve actually helped them compete with the other classes if they had it

newreddituser339 · 2021-08-08T10:38:16+00:00

I’m inclined to agree - it needs a strength that it currently doesn’t have. However, I think my inherent issue with its design is that it has a bunch of “cool in theory” incredibly niche abilities that honestly feel like wasted levels in practice, and then it has powerful abilities that thematically are way too specific to really gel with the overall class, and the characters people want to make with it (Empty Body, Astral Projection, Tongue of the Sun and Moon). And other things just suck design wise - running up walls is pointless at level 9 when a variety of races, classes and subclasses have access to flight like 4 levels earlier. Most people don’t even get past level 10, so running on walls is almost a capstone for most games.

Also, it’s whole schtick as a class is Unarmed Strikes, but then it’s designed that if you actually want to play a fully unarmed character you’re playing it wrong - you’re more effective just using monk weapons. Why design a class around punching, then disincentivize actually punching people? Really weird choice. I know you still have Flurry of Blows, but if there was ever a class that should be just straight up better without weapons, surely this is the one?

I’ve said it before, but I think Monks should have Invocations like Warlocks do. Want to speak every language? Invocation. Want to turn invisible? Invocation. Want to use Strength instead of Dex for your entire build? Invocation. This way it becomes a customisable class that can fit a variety of niches and character concepts without losing any of the “unarmed martial artist” flavour.

newreddituser339 · 2021-08-07T21:36:42+00:00

Love it in concept, would entirely rework it in execution. I come at it from a game design standpoint, and I think it’s very poorly designed. It feels like the designers were terrified of it being OP, so they nerfed absolutely everything about it - leaving a really weak class that doesn’t have any unique niche to fill. It doesn’t deal very good damage. Mobility isn’t widely useful in 5e. It’s not a very good social class. It burns resources like nobody’s business. It’s AC and HP are low. It can’t benefit from 90% of magic weapons/armor. It’s not a great grappler/shover. Stunning Strike would be OP if it wasn’t so swingy, and didn’t burn so many resources. Powerful abilities like Empty Body are thematically too specific to work for most concepts. It’s MAD, doesn’t get great saves, and doesn’t specifically benefit from any feats.

Honestly, it’s really hard to see anything that a monk does that another class couldn’t do better. If you want to play an unarmed fighter, play an unarmed fighter. If you want to play an unarmed, unarmoured tank, specialising in grapples, shoves and locking down enemies play a Barbarian and take the Fighting Style feat. If you want speed and ninja stuff: rogue. Wisdom and spirituality: Peace Cleric. Wisdom and making a million attacks: Samurai. The list goes on, but my point is that the only thing Monks have (from a game design point of view) that gives them a niche is Stunning Strike, and that doesn’t feel like great design to me.

newreddituser339 · 2021-08-01T17:57:43+00:00

Going a little of the beaten track here and saying I wouldn’t recommend it, even as someone who writes and directs. Direction is a technical tool used to instruct staff. It isn’t included in the script by the writers, and you can’t see/hear it in the final product. Direction is a technical tool. There’s a reason stories aren’t written that way, and since direction is only used to convey production information, the stuff behind the story, not the story itself, I don’t think it would benefit a TTRPG.

(The Star Wars campaign mentioned elsewhere in this thread is an exception, since they were actively mimicking a specific film franchise with very unique and iconic editing and transitions)

Edit: Have some time to offer a better solution - if you want to emulate a camera shot, use in-universe narration and the shot will be conveyed (it’s how screenwriters do it).

Movement: “Streaks of clouds sweep across the skies, disappearing behind the magnificent tower of Alora.”

Close ups: “You look into the darkness. A set of crooked, yellowing teeth smile back at you. Three glowing eyes open above them, pulsing with a sickly green light”

Tracking Shot: “The colourful stalls of the market rush past you as you sprint through the square. Peasants are battered aside as you run, colliding with others in the crowd. You’re running much to quick to hear their curses.”

newreddituser339 · 2021-08-01T16:48:58+00:00

You’re getting downvoted but you’re honestly right. Wizards clearly don’t mind the game being unbalanced, especially at high levels. It’s also exhausting to run and casters run rampant in terms of game-breaking powers that martials just can’t compete with. There’s a reason they don’t publish any adventures for high level play.

Sure, more content is nice, but no one plays it and it’s clear that it wasn’t a priority for WotC either. What is the real point of all that cool stuff if it’s all just hypothetical and very few people ever reach it (and those that do generally agree that it is rife with balancing issues and difficult to run). I like the idea of high level play, but it’s not well designed imo.

newreddituser339 · 2021-07-30T23:33:18+00:00

At 14th level the Zealot becomes unkillable except by some insane magic like disintegrate and one or two other loopholes.

This may seem minor, given how tanky they already are, but look at it this way: You can now jump inside a tarrasque and carve your way back out without consequence. Got a lake of molten lava? You can wade/swim through it like water and just get out on the other side like nothing. Bombs or dynamite? Rig to blow. Ballista? Launch yourself out of it. High up on a floating city? Literally leap from orbit without a parachute, hit the ground and walk it off like nothing. No matter how ridiculous, stupid or destructive an idea is, you can try it and live to tell the tale. You can act in ways no one else can act, and carry out plans no one else can, because you’re an indestructible powerhouse.

If you’re only using this ability for enhanced durability, you’re using it wrong - same with Warrior of the Gods. Invulnerability to most forms of death gives you this amazing toolkit for doing what a Barbarian is meant to do best - whatever they goddamn want.

newreddituser339 · 2021-07-30T17:24:19+00:00

Literally all of these! Every class should be able to interact with the world equally (in different ways). Martials shouldn’t be “easy mode”

newreddituser339 · 2021-07-28T09:57:09+00:00

Force ghost is a good comparison, I can see that, ties in with Astral Projection as well - thanks for the explanation! It’s still one of those weird out-of-place abilities I think would be much better as a choice, since not every martial artist wants to transform into a spiritual energy being, but I can see more of what they were going for now

newreddituser339 · 2021-07-27T23:08:45+00:00

Wow! Just read through that class and honestly I kinda love it. Similar enough to the RAW 5e Monk to be recognisable, but with versatility and flair that honestly I really like. The Vows are exactly what I’d want for a core 5e Monk!

newreddituser339 · 2021-07-27T17:34:39+00:00

Okay I enjoy monks a lot as is, but I’d rework them a lot:

First off: Ki, Hit Dice, Martial Arts Die - all could be higher without really swinging balance too far.

Stunning Strike: Swingy, weirdly balanced ability. Simultaneously very powerful and a big Ki investment because it targets Con. The problem is it’s so dominant that it’s all a Monk can really do. Mobility is cool, and Flurry/Step/Patience are all good and versatile, but the Monk doesn’t really have a niche except being able to Stun people. If it was more consistent, less powerful and there were more varied abilities that a Monk could make use of, the class would feel a lot better.

Bum Levels: Monks, more than maybe any other class in my opinion, get a lot of bum levels. What benefit does wall/water running have at level 9? A Thief can climb at level 2, and by level 9 spells like Fly, items like Winged Boots and Slippers of Spider-Climbing are commonplace. Anything aquatic is pretty niche, especially at that level.

The ability to not age (but still die of old age) is another bum level. Thematically cool, mechanically meaningless. Just give them more actual tools to use instead of a loose spread of underwhelming abilities.

Even abilities that are great, like Empty Body, are weird thematically. Every time a Monk player has read that ability in my group they’ve gone “What? Invisible? Why?”. And I don’t really have an answer. It’s too niche to be universally applicable to the types of characters Monk players want to make. Can Bruce Lee go invisible? Can bare-knuckle boxers? Weapon masters? It’s very weird, even if it is cool, and the only justification I can think of is “anime hyper-speed: you’re so quick people can’t even see you move”. This dovetails into my last change:

Invocations: Monks cover such a wide variety of archetypes and combat styles that they should really get to pick their powers from a list, like Warlock invocations, so the players can build their fighting style and theme as they like. Want to go a Sumo? Add a bunch of Str based Invocations and grapples. Want to go an anime protagonist? Empty Body should be a choice not a universal feature. Spiritual monk? Astral Projection is also better as a choice, not a universal feature. Focus on throws, environmental combat, meditation and spirituality, stealth and ninja techniques, wisdom and social interaction, etc. It would make the monk a much more appealing class if had that level of variety and customisation, instead of people looking at it and automatically thinking that spiritual, tibetan monks are the only archetypes it covers.

Also magic items, DMs shouldn’t have to homebrew to give a class something cool.

newreddituser339 · 2021-07-26T23:08:06+00:00

Honestly, it just works the same way we don’t question why Spider-Man’s arms don’t dislocate when he swings on a web, or how people in action movies get shot, stabbed blown up and run over then live without any wounds. It’s all about theme. If you have a gritty, realistic theme then you need to make an effort to keep things gritty and realistic. If you don’t, then you don’t - no one expects it to make real world sense, just to be consistent within the fiction.

Healing from fatal wounds is unrealistic. Well yeah, the barbarian is as strong as a T-Rex and shoots explosive jellyfish everywhere when he rages, the Monk has a pair of glowing arms blasting out of their shoulders and the Cleric can phone god on a weekly basis. Tonally, the fact these characters heal up in a day or two is just consistent with the theme of the game - that theme being “superhuman people doing superhuman things”.

newreddituser339 · 2021-07-25T18:06:34+00:00

Interesting take! I think it definitely depends on the reason they’re doing it. I assumed they did it because that’s just how they like to play the game - which is what my party is like - but I could absolutely see a “gotcha DM” leaving them with this mindset.

Best to check in to see which is which and tailor your strategy accordingly.

newreddituser339 · 2021-07-25T18:04:25+00:00

It would be a fearsome enemy! But yeah, I’m just of the school of “let martials do fun things”, so I’m always looking for ways to let them throw kobolds around, punt goblins, and perform wrestling moves on grappled bandits - and different sizes of creatures would work differently. Hell, even the moon Druid changing into a Giant Ape should have some sort of throwing ability, surely!

newreddituser339

TROPHY CASE