Ok I started D&D recently with adventurers league and I made a copper Dragonborn Druid of the Land. Here is one story of where I made a bad mistake but its still kind of funny.
OK so we just got into a town and we were heading to the Fey wilds and our DM told us to cause a distraction. One of our guys yelled out fire and then a bunch of city guards rushed the alley we were in from one side. I decided to give us some cover cast darkness far back enough so it covered all the guards and none of our party.Then I wild shaped into a chameleon and climbed up a building and changed my color to match it. Then cause a combination my druid absolutely Hating Cities he while still in Chameleon form said in giant "Tiamat take this city."
Unbeknownst to me or my adventuring group our cleric had previously pissed Tiamat Off by killing one of her lieutenants. So my DM decided my swearing counted as a summoning. She spawned in using a Red Dragon Avatar and yelling "Wheres Rollo?!"(Rollo was our cleric). We then spent the rest of the session stealthing and sneaking away from Tiamat. Then a newcomer (who had been around for only 1 other session and was playing a rogue) decides to tell Tiamat where Rollo was and he yelled it so loud you could here it over everything.
He made a mistake however he was standing next to Rollo. Tiamat flew over and barbecued the entire street with flame. Our Rogue and Rollo both had to make instant death saving throws. Rollo passed but our rogue was not so lucky he then as a lvl 4 thief took 136 points of fire damage. Then our barbarian actually talked to Tiamat and persuaded her to fight him at a later point so when he fell he fell from greatness.(He rolled a Natural 20 in this). She left and when we all got back together I used my potion of greater healing on him but none the less he was a completely hairless dwarf.
That is my story of why my character will never swear ever again.
Wildshaped druids are explicitly incapable of speaking.
There is no rule that supports a random utterance turning into a summoning.
There is no DDAL or DDEX module I'm aware of where Tiamat randomly showing up would be an appropriate addition to any encounter.
Okay story, and all... but I don't think you were playing an Adventurer's League game. Even if you were told you were, it wasn't a legitimate or rules-legal AL game.
It was at an adventure league event in my local game store and those were the rulings by the DM.
AL games have to be hardcover or official AL adventures. You have to follow the rules and the DM does not get to make major changes to the rules or plot. Hence it wasn't a legitimate adventurers league game.
It was at an adventure league event in my local game store and those were the rulings by the DM.
The DM cannot make "rulings" that explicitly contradict the published rules. Wildshaped druids cannot speak, it is plainly stated in black and white. There is no room for a DM to make a "ruling" on it.
The DM can only make "rulings" based on an ambiguity in the published rules. There are no published rules that allow for a deity to be summoned by a few words.
The DM is empowered to add thematically appropriate creatures to existing encounters. See original statement.
Once again... No matter what you may have been told, your story makes it clear you were not playing an AL game.
It was at an adventure league event in my local game store and those were the rulings by the DM.
The DM cannot make "rulings" that explicitly contradict the published rules. Wildshaped druids cannot speak, it is plainly stated in black and white. There is no room for a DM to make a "ruling" on it.
The DM can only make "rulings" based on an ambiguity in the published rules. There are no published rules that allow for a deity to be summoned by a few words.
The DM is empowered to add thematically appropriate creatures to existing encounters. See original statement.
Once again... No matter what you may have been told, your story makes it clear you were not playing an AL game.
Unless he goes on to DM an AL game, does it matter?
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Unless he goes on to DM an AL game, does it matter?
The subject of this thread claims it was an Adventurers League game, but that cannot be true due to the reasons I cited.
The player needs to know that his character is likely not Adventurers League legal. A character cannot hop in and out of AL-rules games. If it is meant to be an AL character, it must always be an AL character.
If it was at one point, it may need to be rolled back before this story took place to become legal again. Assuming prior and later sessions were conducted within AL rules, at the very minimum any rewards and log entries from the session where this story took place need to be removed.
What the DM did is irrelevant to the player of this character. The player needs to make the correction, and probably keep an eye out for non AL-legal shenanigans in the future.
Unless he goes on to DM an AL game, does it matter?
The subject of this thread claims it was an Adventurers League game, but that cannot be true due to the reasons I cited.
The player needs to know that his character is likely not Adventurers League legal. A character cannot hop in and out of AL-rules games. If it is meant to be an AL character, it must always be an AL character.
If it was at one point, it may need to be rolled back before this story took place to become legal again. Assuming prior and later sessions were conducted within AL rules, at the very minimum any rewards and log entries from the session where this story took place need to be removed.
What the DM did is irrelevant to the player of this character. The player needs to make the correction, and probably keep an eye out for non AL-legal shenanigans in the future.
Okay, that makes sense.
Since you seem to know a lot about AL, how about telling me why it's a good thing?
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Since you seem to know a lot about AL, how about telling me why it's a good thing?
Why AL is a good thing? The primary goal of the AL rules is the portability of characters. The types of things that show up in AL content - including challenges, rewards, and rules - has a level of commonality that makes for a similar experience from table to table. I can take a character played at one place (even a home game, if that game follows the rules) and bring it to a game day or a multi-day convention with its abilities and items intact.
The AL rules take the place of many DM rulings, particularly with character creation and allowed source materials. This helps establish that common baseline. Sure, they don't cover everything and don't want to. If there is ambiguity in a rule, you may experience different rulings, but when it's laid out in black and white, what the text says goes: Druids can never speak in Wild Shape, Fireball always starts at 8d6 (and always uses d6s) and so on. The DM is empowered to make changes to suit his table - for instance, he can add thematically appropriate enemies to an encounter for a skilled group of players (players, not characters) - but can't change rules "just because".
Since you seem to know a lot about AL, how about telling me why it's a good thing?
Why AL is a good thing? The primary goal of the AL rules is the portability of characters. The types of things that show up in AL content - including challenges, rewards, and rules - has a level of commonality that makes for a similar experience from table to table. I can take a character played at one place (even a home game, if that game follows the rules) and bring it to a game day or a multi-day convention with its abilities and items intact.
The AL rules take the place of many DM rulings, particularly with character creation and allowed source materials. This helps establish that common baseline. Sure, they don't cover everything and don't want to. If there is ambiguity in a rule, you may experience different rulings, but when it's laid out in black and white, what the text says goes: Druids can never speak in Wild Shape, Fireball always starts at 8d6 (and always uses d6s) and so on. The DM is empowered to make changes to suit his table - for instance, he can add thematically appropriate enemies to an encounter for a skilled group of players (players, not characters) - but can't change rules "just because".
Actually, there is a case that can be made for Beast Spells letting druids speak in Wild Shape.
Thanks for explaining AL to me, though.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Actually, there is a case that can be made for Beast Spells letting druids speak in Wild Shape.
At a non-AL table, sure - discuss it with your DM. At an AL table, "verbal components" are not the same as "saying whatever you'd like". The DMs can change from table to table, module to module, so the most restrictive interpretation is usually the right interpretation. On other words, if it meant to allow you to speak freely, it would have said so.
In any case, my original point remains the same. This thread is titled erroneously - it is not a story about an AL game, just a game that somebody thinks was one. There is not enough information to determine the root cause of the misunderstanding, only that a misunderstanding exists.
Actually, there is a case that can be made for Beast Spells letting druids speak in Wild Shape.
At a non-AL table, sure - discuss it with your DM. At an AL table, "verbal components" are not the same as "saying whatever you'd like". The DMs can change from table to table, module to module, so the most restrictive interpretation is usually the right interpretation. On other words, if it meant to allow you to speak freely, it would have said so.
At a non-AL table, verbal components are speech (https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/spellcasting#VerbalV), therefore you can't perform verbal components if you can't speak, therefore you have to be able to speak to perform verbal components, therefore, if you're able to perform verbal components, you're able to speak.
At an AL table, you can prove the validity of the above argument as many times as you want, but it won't make a speck of difference because that's not how AL works.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
I actually spoke to the DM and he said essentially he didn't care it was tiamat she probably understood my guys thoughts because she is a god.
The DM "not caring" is part of what makes it not an Adventurers League game. If he wants to run an AL game, he needs to adhere to the AL rules. Not running an AL game is fine. Claiming a game is AL when it is not is the problem.
This DM is doing you, and all the other players at the table, a disservice by claiming the game is AL. He is doing things that will not fly at other AL tables. You may be in for a rude awakening if you go to an event and play an actual AL game, and these shenanigans are not allowed.
Ok I started D&D recently with adventurers league and I made a copper Dragonborn Druid of the Land. Here is one story of where I made a bad mistake but its still kind of funny.
OK so we just got into a town and we were heading to the Fey wilds and our DM told us to cause a distraction. One of our guys yelled out fire and then a bunch of city guards rushed the alley we were in from one side. I decided to give us some cover cast darkness far back enough so it covered all the guards and none of our party.Then I wild shaped into a chameleon and climbed up a building and changed my color to match it. Then cause a combination my druid absolutely Hating Cities he while still in Chameleon form said in giant "Tiamat take this city."
Unbeknownst to me or my adventuring group our cleric had previously pissed Tiamat Off by killing one of her lieutenants. So my DM decided my swearing counted as a summoning. She spawned in using a Red Dragon Avatar and yelling "Wheres Rollo?!"(Rollo was our cleric). We then spent the rest of the session stealthing and sneaking away from Tiamat. Then a newcomer (who had been around for only 1 other session and was playing a rogue) decides to tell Tiamat where Rollo was and he yelled it so loud you could here it over everything.
He made a mistake however he was standing next to Rollo. Tiamat flew over and barbecued the entire street with flame. Our Rogue and Rollo both had to make instant death saving throws. Rollo passed but our rogue was not so lucky he then as a lvl 4 thief took 136 points of fire damage. Then our barbarian actually talked to Tiamat and persuaded her to fight him at a later point so when he fell he fell from greatness.(He rolled a Natural 20 in this). She left and when we all got back together I used my potion of greater healing on him but none the less he was a completely hairless dwarf.
That is my story of why my character will never swear ever again.
Couple of problems here...
Okay story, and all... but I don't think you were playing an Adventurer's League game. Even if you were told you were, it wasn't a legitimate or rules-legal AL game.
It was at an adventure league event in my local game store and those were the rulings by the DM.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
I suppose it also depends on whether or not Tiamat can understand animal speech. (Assuming non AL game)
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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I actually spoke to the DM and he said essentially he didnt care it was tiamat she probably understood my guys thoughts because she is a god.