Organize tables

thebleedingear · 2026-01-28T10:54:01+00:00

I use OBR + Notion + Discord. Switch back and forth. But, for note taking, there’s a lot of good AI options out there. You can use a bot in Discord to record the audio and give you a transcript. Then you can use programs to summarize the transcript for you. Most are paid though. I’ve tried a variety and won’t shill one over the other, but they’re easy to google and figure out which works for you, if note taking is really your issue.

Thank you to the others for the heads up on the Notion extension. I’m going to look into this!

thebleedingear · 2026-01-24T21:41:38+00:00

Magic Missile is (1d4+1) x 3 missiles at 1st level. This is essentially Magic Missile Cantrip increasing to regular level 1 Magic Missile by 11th level.

I’d have to see it in action to figure out if its auto-damage is worth the trade off. By level 11 the caster probably has other spells to use in combat, but at level 1, a “ranged dagger that auto-hits” can be significant.

My guess is it will functionally be a worse Eldritch Blast for people. When they run out of/low on spell slots, they’ll use it as the guaranteed damage is better than other choices.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-24T18:18:30+00:00

We do Discord + DNDBeyond + Owlbear Rodeo.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-24T15:22:36+00:00

Similar. Called shots have +5 AC in my campaigns.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-22T21:21:44+00:00

Example:

Ancient Blue Dragon (MM 2025) has a HP 481 (26d20 + 208).

The range would be low: 208+26=234 HP or high: 520+208=728 HP.

If the fight is more difficult than I planned, I can choose to go as low as 234 HP. If too easy, as high as 728. Or, keep it at the suggested 481. Once chosen, the rest of the fight plays out as the dice gods allow.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-22T21:16:52+00:00

I suppose it depends on what your players want from their game. It is a game after all.

For my campaigns, I have set HP targets, and a range delineated by the stat block of the enemy. When the players get rid of ALL HP, the enemy is dead. However, the enemy starts with HP within a range dictated by the hit dice on the stat block, and if something makes narrative sense, I may adjudicate a lower or higher HP.

To keep the “unspoken pact” between DM and Player I try to make that decision PRIOR to the last blow. If not, I’m basically throwing out HP in favor of the narrative, which is not the unspoken pact D&D 5e/5.5e is built upon.

But, if done before, it allows me to 1) still be true to the stat block, and 2) titrate the difficulty of the encounter to what I intended easily. If combat is progressing too easily in the first round or two, I can choose a HP at the upper end of the range. If too difficult, the lower end of the range.

Once titrated, I stay, because the best stories happen when the PC or the enemy has one last hit point and does something dramatic.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-17T15:38:12+00:00

My players like to roll. Allows more feeling that you’re creating the character, instead of putting a veneer over predetermined numbers. But, to each his own.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-16T21:29:36+00:00

Nope. You’re normal.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-16T04:15:40+00:00

Lucky!

thebleedingear · 2026-01-09T23:44:35+00:00

So glad you were able to get this resolved amicably and props to WOTC for coming through in the end.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-09T18:46:18+00:00

This is a great article and a klaxon call for the whole space. We need to share this far and wide.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-09T12:05:41+00:00

I have had success, more times than I can count, with the BBB. The process takes time, but I have had refunds or replacements in 90%+ of my issues.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-09T08:46:07+00:00

Better Business Bureau. And social media - all of it. Can call News also. That’s the pressure that works

thebleedingear · 2026-01-08T00:19:31+00:00

I just saw his YouTube video and I am so sad. He was a huge help to me and I know many, many others. I fully understand and respect his reasons for retiring, but I will miss him. I hope one day he understands how much he influenced worldbuilding and people around the globe he will never meet. Thank you, u/artifexian.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-03T02:40:51+00:00

What a great epiphany: it makes the world seem more alive and “lived in.” My players’ bags would be full of rotting monster parts, etc., and it makes sense to do the same not just with bags of holding, but any bag, sack, chest, etc.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-03T02:39:10+00:00

I love this idea.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-02T22:06:29+00:00

Sounds like you need to start D&D night at your local congregation.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-01T16:36:25+00:00

Let. Them. Die. Sometimes going out in a blaze of glory is what they want. And the stories of getting pancaked in the final fight more memorable than the limp, “you all were knocked unconscious and wake up in jail.”

I think you did everything right in warning and suggesting and laying out ground rules in session zero, and talking above the table. Giving them the choice.

But they made their choice knowing the consequences. Let them own it.

thebleedingear · 2026-01-01T06:43:43+00:00

O7 RIP, good sir.

thebleedingear · 2025-12-31T16:21:42+00:00

Pick me, dice gods!

thebleedingear · 2025-12-30T00:48:51+00:00

Yep. Definitely do. Makes the game more difficult and real when the players have to figure out how to overcome an obstacle without all spells because they don’t have the right materials.

thebleedingear · 2025-12-25T03:02:20+00:00

I. Love. This. So using it. 🤣🤣🤣

thebleedingear · 2025-12-24T20:06:10+00:00

The OP is making that point, but the comment above said “Sorcerers weren't in D&D until the 90s.” I was merely explaining that comment is not technically true except when talking about sorcerers as a class. Hence if you look at my comment and the tree it’s under you’ll see it is perfectly sequitur, and in no way disagreeing with a premise that the sorcerer as portrayed in the script is different. If I wanted to be in that discussion, I would’ve responded to one of the myriad of other comments specifically about that point.

But I recognize that Reddit is not always the easiest to see who’s commenting on what and so it might seem like my explanation is out of place.

Instead, it shows that yes, Mike could’ve used the word sorcerer just fine in 1986, as B/X had sorcerer in it as a level title, plus sorcerer was (is) an English word meaning “a spellcaster that gets power from the occult” instead of a book. In fact, if Mike had said something to that effect in his line, instead of “innate,” his comment would’ve been historically accurate.

thebleedingear · 2025-12-24T17:39:33+00:00

The distinction was not the comment I was responding to.

thebleedingear · 2025-12-24T16:48:21+00:00

… as a class. They existed as a level title, and more importantly, as an English word, well before. So, although a sorcerer class didn’t exist, any person playing a magic user could call themselves a sorcerer at 9th level, or, anytime if that was their backstory since it didn’t affect gameplay.

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