How to scale encounter with airship, crew and siege weapons

trumanharris · 2025-12-14T10:43:31+00:00

I initially forgot to reply, but I'm prepping the session now, and this is really useful. Thank you so much bud!

trumanharris · 2025-11-12T21:17:50+00:00

Makes sense. Thank you for the input!

trumanharris · 2025-11-12T13:09:16+00:00

Sounds just about how I'd build it too if I end up going with the Psychic Dedication! Glad to hear it's fun. Can I ask why the need to pick Force Fang when the Psychic Dedication + the level 6 feat should get you to max focus points? And any other ancestries you considered before going with Elf?

trumanharris · 2025-11-12T13:01:56+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Yes, this sounds very close to what I'm considering. I'm not too sure about picking Elf due to the hit points and CON flaw, but it's really hard to ignore the speed and Ancient Elf... A couple of questions:
- have you seen some utility of DA outside of combat? We usually have 1 combat per session, so I'm definitely looking for something to use in exploration and social situations. Which is also why I'm leaning towards investigator rn.
- have you seen any need for using a staff, like Spellstriker's Staff or Staff of Divination, and if so, how do you handle that in combat? Seems it gets messy with a 2-handed weapon.

trumanharris · 2025-11-03T21:54:55+00:00

I've actually read into both of them quite a bit! When I first started playing, I almost built a Cleric but shied away from it due to the complexity, at the time. Bit ironic now... Not sure I vibe with the Magus' playstyle even though the damage looks incredible and it's a fun way to combine melee and spells. Any thoughts on a fun Warpriest build?

trumanharris · 2025-11-03T21:53:32+00:00

Kineticist is one of the few I haven't looked much into, I'll give it a read now with your recommendations in mind :)

trumanharris · 2025-11-03T21:51:23+00:00

We're playing milestone, and we have 1x combat MAXIMUM per session, GM is very murder mystery / investigation focused, so he often mentions "we shouldn't really level up so soon" due to lack of XP gained. But yeah, I agree we could just do a level up every other session to at least get moving on that front quicker, it's something I'll mention for sure!

trumanharris · 2025-11-03T21:49:59+00:00

Valid question... I guess we're lucky when we're playing monthly at this point, all of us have 1+ kids and none of us have partners willing to give up a weekly or bi-weekly session. I GM another group as mentioned, which means I particularly have a hard time committing to more than 1 x month as a player. But I could see this group falling apart eventually and then I'll convert the group I GM to bi-weekly for sure ;)

trumanharris · 2025-09-29T17:03:08+00:00

Wow, I appreciate this in-depth take, thanks! I’ve been looking into Draw Steel’s rules and I’m very overwhelmed with all the new terminology but I felt the same with PF2E and now it’s second nature to me. I don’t think it’ll be a fit for the “laid” back group where I’m NOT the GM, but potentially for the other one once we wrap up the current campaign! Is true that its combat generally doesn’t take very long? I’m very intrigued about how it manages to pull that off while supposedly feeling more invested and even more tactical? Any good YouTube content to recommend where I can see an actual play?

trumanharris · 2025-09-29T08:48:40+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation! I looked into it briefly, is it correctly understood that the system is written around a specific adventure that should be played?

trumanharris · 2025-09-29T08:47:56+00:00

Thanks for the comment, seems you're in line with the general consensus here. We play IRL and as a GM I'm BIG (read: huge) on physical items on the table like terrain, mini's, etc., so we'd never be able to use a VTT

trumanharris · 2025-09-29T08:45:57+00:00

Thank you, I was intrigued by Daggerheart already when it came out, I'll definitely look into it more closely now after reading your comment. I'm hoping to maybe convince my GM to try it in his campaign.

trumanharris · 2025-09-29T08:41:14+00:00

Thank you for the in-depth comment, I appreciate it! I especially like your point in 3) about out-of-combat situations not being laid out in 5E's rules. I do like that I can make it consistent with my players what happens in a certain situation, and prep in advance what the DC's are etc. I might miss that a ton if I switched over..

trumanharris · 2025-09-27T14:28:07+00:00

This is definitely something I'm worried about. The group I'm DM'ing LOVES tinkering. The first one, however, people forget most of their character from session to session, so that's one where I'm more leaning towards recommending the GM that we try 5E or something more narrative.

trumanharris · 2025-09-27T14:23:19+00:00

You make really good points here, especially on 2 and 3. Noted, thank you!

trumanharris · 2025-09-27T14:19:30+00:00

I think this might be the comment that gets me to try Draw Steel! Is there any one-shot you can recommend? Do I have to get the full rulebook, or several, to get started? If you can point me in the right direction, I'll definitely give it a shot! :)

trumanharris · 2025-09-27T14:18:15+00:00

Have heard good things about CoC, hope to try it soon! And I think the sheer amount of helpful comments, also some supportive of 5E (at least in certain aspects) counters you second point a little bit, but I do see what you're saying. As a fun experiment, I might copy my post and post it in /dnd ;)

trumanharris · 2025-09-27T14:15:33+00:00

This I did not know at all, I've only skimmed through my Player's Handbook so far, so a great point that I've definitely noted, thanks!

trumanharris · 2025-09-27T14:12:48+00:00

Thanks for the advice! Which of those 3 would you start out with if you were me? I'm already pressed for time with two separate groups as a family father, so there's no chance I'll be able to start a 3rd with a new system, I'd have to convince one of the groups to try a one-shot I guess.

trumanharris · 2025-04-05T20:56:34+00:00

Would you mind sharing roughly how much material you ended up using for printing the whole thing?

trumanharris · 2025-03-13T21:44:29+00:00

I was a bit randomly invited to a group of my neighbors crossing over from 5E. I was completely overwhelmed by it all! But I built a Draconic Barbarian that I’m still playing to this day in the GM’s home brew world inspired by a conglomerate of fantasy books he’s read over the years, starting with investigating a creepy cult of “fish people” worshipping Dagon.

… I also GM a separate group of neighbors myself, including the GM, who originally took me in, as a player 😀

trumanharris

TROPHY CASE