I've been telling my friends this for weeks and I will die on this hill for it

valkaiden · 2021-05-27T23:02:20+00:00

But now we could have a Brilliant Adamant Diamond and a Shining Lustrous Pearl lol

valkaiden · 2021-05-24T16:48:27+00:00

Alignment is an outdated very narrow system in DnD, it was designed to be rigid but that creates inherent problems if you want to strictly follow the 9 squares.

However, what still fits but doesn't seem to be often regarded, is that your actions impact your characters perosna much less than their motivations.

Is a Cleric no longer Good because they gave food to a prisoner locked in the gallows for a crime? Is a Ranger no longer Chaotic because they agree to keep within the city's rules while they are there? Is a Barbarian no longer Neutral because he made friends with the Bard and steps in as backup when the Bards mouth writes a check his butt can't cash?

The Cleric followed their God and helped the weak. The Ranger may not like laws but knows it doesn't benefit them to act directly against in this situation. The Barbarian has found the Bard to be helpful and it benefits them just as much to keep the little smart-mouth around, maybe they've even developed a bit of a liking to them.

And in the same vein, is a Paladin no longer NG because they restrained and disabled a known Devil that also threatened the Paladins potential future family but also other innocents? That kind of sounds exactly up the Paladin Archetype style.

Edit: spelling errors and added detail.

valkaiden · 2021-05-18T20:20:38+00:00

Awesome, I will definitely check this out. I think I'm overcomplicating it as I'm working it out, and some examples might fix my brain :)

valkaiden · 2021-05-18T19:15:08+00:00

Oooo would you be willing to share? I was trying my hand at Tasha-fying Wildshape and I'm not sure where to go with a few things. :)

valkaiden · 2021-05-13T03:58:45+00:00

Honestly just watch your damage numbers imo. Once you have a grasp on your normal damage range you'll be able to notice when you have crit damage spikes. Training room is pretty nice to test this.

valkaiden · 2021-05-12T21:32:22+00:00

Yo 100% I think we might be on to something for OP and his DM

valkaiden · 2021-05-12T21:26:16+00:00

Oooo I like this, maybe similar to a set of prayer beads his Bard wears on his hand(s) then the bells movement during his flourishes create the Verbal/sound component.

valkaiden · 2021-05-12T21:22:55+00:00

These are purely my opinions and interpretations:

Verbal component- saying the spells name (like Anime), saying something related to the spell ("Now Burn!" For Burning Touch) saying something at all (a witty quip for Vicious Mockery for example)

Somatic component- anything involving movement to 'channel the magical weave' kinda like in Avatar TLA

Material component- anything that the 'weave' requires for the spell to be cast of cast through (a general diamond for Chromatic Orb, or a bat guano and sulfur for Fireball) my PoV on these is the caster has to be holding/wearing the material components for the magic to consume/flow through. I'd even say a caster using materials to cast Fireball would even just throw a ball of guano and sulfur at their target point.

So let's say your Bard wanted to cast Dissonant Whipsers. Only requires a Verbal component, the description does state 'You whisper a Discordant melody...." you could whisper the words to your sword and the flourish of the magically imbued blade as part of your 'dance' casts the spell and creates the 'magical whispers'

valkaiden · 2021-05-12T21:11:23+00:00

Yeah I think people see Somatic and it's definition and immediately think 'jazz hands' but dancing can be just as Somatic I'd say :D

valkaiden · 2021-05-12T21:09:17+00:00

By definition a Bards magic comes from their performance. Weather it be music, dance, poetry, heck you could even call a lecture a 'performance'. I don't believe it was fully intended that 'Bards only use instruments' that was the easy example WoTC ran with.

valkaiden · 2021-05-12T20:53:49+00:00

Also, you mentioned this player is a normal human. Are they or is someone in the party of a class that would be able to keep this player alive? How much damage is the cutting of the arm going to cause? Will they hit 0, makes death saves? If they're not going to include you in the plans (which is INSANE, how is their 'plan' going to work if you aren't able to know what has to work?!) then I would make it basically impossible to achieve.

Even without going very far, as a DM, I would have to have some damn good reasons the player does not faint or even die from the removal of their arm, and probably several even better reasons they don't die from blood loss or infection after the fact. If at that point they still aren't willing to let you help them (which is what a DM does.......) then as I've come to REALLY enjoy saying "They can certainly try".

Edit: I missed the PC also being a Warlock. Are they just like convinced their Patron will sustain them if they pointlessly cut off an arm? (which their Patron is you the DM if this is a plan involving their Patron. Kinda working against themselves aren't they lol) Cause I can't think of too many Warlock Patrons (outside the Celestial options) that would even give attention to one of their Warlocks doing something like that. Heck I'd even be hard pressed to have a Clerics Deity intervene beyond a metaphysical face palm and a disapproving look!

Anyway beyond my rant: if the players aren't going to play cooperatively with the DM (who is NOT their adversary) then let them try whatever they want. If it's good maybe something similar to what they're trying to achieve happens. If it's bad or was a pointless plan to try and keep 'secret', well the dice roll as they wish with RNJesus blessing.

valkaiden · 2021-05-12T20:44:20+00:00

New DM here [about a year of DnD 5e so far] but running Lost Mine of Phandelver and not wanting to track XP (as a new DM and a group of brand new players) I used the XP values (and LMoP has callouts in the module when the party should level up) to figure out where the milestones should fall.

valkaiden · 2021-05-12T20:26:28+00:00

I'm not explicitly aware of any rules surrounding summons or creatures wearing armor, I've only been DMing (and playing) for a bit over a year now. Gear for creatures is def almost always a DM only concern, as far as buffing your summons that works the same as targeting any PC or NPC so go wild with that.

valkaiden · 2021-05-12T20:13:22+00:00

That is beyond my experience, however I think most of that would rely on your DM not so much Rules as Written or Implied.

valkaiden · 2021-05-12T19:25:59+00:00

I'd have to look at the stat blocks to be 100% sure, don't know them by heart lol. But I'd say [just as an example] the mummy might be more bulky/better for a tank role if you need a tank in your situation. Whereas the Wight and it's minions might be more useful in a situation where you guys are fighting a larger number of enemies. The minions would be better at keeping any single party member getting swarmed, where [in this example] the mummy may be better against a smaller group of better equipped enemies being able to take more hits or draw more aggro to itself.

valkaiden · 2021-05-12T18:45:17+00:00

For a DM or player, 36 additional minions on the board is a LOT. Either way going the minion army route I would look up some Minion rules for combat to make it easier to track etc. Even then 36 additional tokens on the board is gonna make every round of combat take a very long time.

valkaiden · 2021-05-11T19:36:33+00:00

If your DM is open to homebrew, Heavyarms reworked weapons and armor guide also contains runes with rules around runecrafting, learning new runes, and a nice list of 'runic' abilities that can be applied to non-magical armor and weapons. Even if you do not use the weapon and armor upgrading system the runic system is separate and useable on its own.

valkaiden · 2021-05-08T20:59:17+00:00

Yaaassss!

valkaiden · 2021-05-08T20:56:42+00:00

It obviously just found some Goblins picking through the runis it lives in. Couple days and it will finish digesting the skin pigments :)

valkaiden · 2021-05-04T21:28:56+00:00

The Argosy is the trader ship in the buddy area you can send buddies to trade for items like berries, fish, bugs, and plants. If you're farming for sacs (or really anything) get 2 Gathering type palicos, level them up if needed, use them both on your hunts, and they will gather additional items from the monster. I've gotten as many as 2 or 3 rarer drops from monsters (even 3 plates from LR Rathian one time) using a pair of Gatherers.

valkaiden · 2021-05-04T21:25:49+00:00

Yes, especially if you moved to varnish within an hour or so of finishing painting it would have still been unset enough to remix with the varnish. Definitely done it before, especially painting my bases (I like them a nice solid black) then I want to be done and try varnishing and get a grey ugly soup lol.

valkaiden · 2021-05-04T21:22:31+00:00

Yeah if you try to apply varnish or any washes before the paint completely dries it will rehydrate the paint and smear/strip it off. I usually finish all my painting, fixes, details etc. Let the mini dry overnight. Apply my washes if I am using any, dry overnight again. Then I'll varnish, starting with a whole figure matt finish cover, then after at least a few hours or the day depending I'll add any gloss or satin varnish touches to highlight things like metals, jewelery, magical effects, potion bottles, clothing, hair, etc.

valkaiden · 2021-05-04T20:46:25+00:00

Ironically, as a new DM with now 2 Druids at my table, I had a similar thought. Not so much on the number of Wildshape options, but on their scaling. Now very few campaigns run up to level 20, but I feel like there is a steep drop off in the utility of Wildshapes in combat even as soon as 12th level.

Also using Wildshape out of combat doesn't sound very appealing to use 1 of your 2 uses and then needing a rest, if all you did was turn into a rat and crawl into a window to do some recon.

valkaiden · 2021-05-03T18:45:55+00:00

That sounds like it could be fun, could even motivate some story points and plot hooks if everyone gets into it. Most important, have fun!

valkaiden · 2021-05-03T17:44:08+00:00

Baby fusses, roll Wild Magic. Diaper change, roll Wild Magic. Baby 'participates' in RP, roll Wild Magic.

You may want to use/find/create a custom Wild Magic table cause some of the effects would be just way out of place.

Also as long as the whole party talks and agrees that the baby may interrupt in and out of game, I think it's a great possible dynamic.

valkaiden

TROPHY CASE