Newest question: If you couldn’t play D&D anymore, what would you do instead and why?
OK wait, those of you that answered already, SERIOUSLY?! If you couldn't play D&D you would just give up do some lame shit instead?!
You wouldn't play something else? Shadowrun?? Fantasy HERO?? Cthulhu?? (just to name a few) Really? REEALLY?!
No way, I gave up D&D once, and right now you can have my dice when you pull them out of my cold dead fingers.
I wouldn't switch to another system, no. I've tried a few and they're okay, but they don't grip me like D&D does.
Also, writing isn't lame to some of us...I can imagine a world in which I don't play D&D, but I cannot fathom a world in which I can't write. Diff'rent strokes, I guess.
I truly didn't mean to offend, merely to..provoke =)
My apologies
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Newest question: If you couldn’t play D&D anymore, what would you do instead and why?
Well, I guess that time would be filled with more board gaming, since I've gotten into that in a big way as well over the past five years. If that's not an option, maybe something else that gets my creativity firing.
What is your favorite encounter you have been in or planned (Player/DM)?
Mine is a Chimera that had been summoned and was stuck in a ring of brambles. He had a bad case of Ego and a worse case of an infected thorn in his paw, and the brambles sat at a crossroads -- making him a crossroads guardian.
He was supposed to be a wayguide that offered assorted rumors and story hooks, but apparently, I played him so well that the characters decided to help him instead. They removed the thorn and healed him, broke the summoning circle, and so he became an NPC that accompanied the players. He was a lion/goat/scorpion chimera, so once freed he was joined by two of his creations. One was a construct of straw and the other a metal golem. It took about six sessions for the players to realize what I did. No, more like 8 as I think of it, so like three months.
It was entirely played straight, and absolutely improvisational.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
What is your favorite encounter you have been in or planned (Player/DM)?
Urmph. As a DM this one is hard to nail down.
But I'd have to say the battle against the Drow Priestess I had planned. It was literally a 25 part session with the party helping the Dwarves.
In the climax of the battle - the Dwarves and Drow got involved in a major scale war which the party members were wrapped up in. But then I would have different tasks they would need to complete. And rather than side quest all of these tasks - I'd say, "The dwarves have reported their camp to the southeast is being burned. They're requesting help putting out the fires." And a few characters would go - and they'd do a Survival check (have a DC to meet to put out the fires). Then one would roll a D4 to see how long it took (in terms of hours). I'd then roll another dice - to see when the next "mini event" happens (catapults, for example need more) - and if it was less than the D4 they rolled, they could come back and help. Each event had "Victory" points assigned to them.
But then the big boss came - the Drow Priestess who had embodied herself into a giant Spider Statue made of Adamantine and granted life through a life essence spell they'd uncovered. Big battle with her, where because of her adamantine body, she was immune to critical hits and had a ton of hit points.
Was a very satisfactory ending to a long story arc.
Newest question: If you couldn’t play D&D anymore, what would you do instead and why?
OK wait, those of you that answered already, SERIOUSLY?! If you couldn't play D&D you would just give up do some lame shit instead?!
You wouldn't play something else? Shadowrun?? Fantasy HERO?? Cthulhu?? (just to name a few) Really? REEALLY?!
No way, I gave up D&D once, and right now you can have my dice when you pull them out of my cold dead fingers.
I wouldn't switch to another system, no. I've tried a few and they're okay, but they don't grip me like D&D does.
Also, writing isn't lame to some of us...I can imagine a world in which I don't play D&D, but I cannot fathom a world in which I can't write. Diff'rent strokes, I guess.
I truly didn't mean to offend, merely to..provoke =)
My apologies
We're cool, no worries. Was just casting my vote in with the other lifelong writers here. I appreciate the thought, though. :-)
AEDorsay and I, however, are not cool. How dare you make me pick a favorite?!
What is your favorite encounter you have been in or planned (Player/DM)?
My absolute favorite encounter is one I ram as a DM about a year and a half to two years ago.
Now, to preface this, I tend to create powerful, notable NPCs using the PC generation method, and then convert them to monster statblocks when I anticipate they will be in combat within a session or two. As part of my conversions I streamline their features and traits to drop the chaff to make them more efficient in combat, modify their action economy to make them more effective, and up their HP to make them more survivable. That’s just my method.
So there we were all those many months ago…. (Cue wavy lines and “doodylydoo” sound effects)
The party was investigating strange goings on in a faded, dying whaling village on a cold, secluded island in the far south sea. On that island was a brand new, state of the art hospital and wellness center that the town’s leadership was banking would draw in wealthy patrons from the mainland to revitalize its he town’s economy and make the town prosperous once again. Running this hospital was an Elf whom the party suspected of secretly being being a vile necromancer who was using the hospital as a cover for his unwholesome research. They decided to investigate. They spent an entire session running reconnaissance on the facility, including a nighttime scouting mission. They determined their best course of ingress would be to break in through the 3rd (top) floor balcony under the cover of night, and stealth their way down floor by floor. They then ended he session on a long rest.
Now, due to scheduling conflicts, our weekly game was forced to take a hiatus for one week, so I had two weeks to prep for the next session. I spent the next two weeks mapping out the 1st through 3rd floors of this massive facility, as well as half the basement floor and the much smaller subbasement. When I say massive, I mean the thing was something like 1,200 square feet per floor, so something like 3,600-4,000 square feet of map, not including the open rooftop area. I anticipated that would take them at least 2-3 sessions to explore, plenty of lead time before they actually encountered the good doctor in his secret lair in the subbasement below his offices which occupied part of the 1st floor and basement with their own private staircase. Especially since the stairs to the secret sublair were hidden behind a secret door. I figured I had so much lead time I didn’t finish the basement map yet because I expected to not need it for close to a month.
Two weeks real time roll by, and there we were on our usual Wednesday night session. I opened the session, as always, with the players recapping for us all where they were when last we had left our heroes. I then inform them they have all just awoken from their long rest, and asked them how they wished to spend the day before their nighttime foray into the hospital. I figured they might want an opportunity to gather more clues, or take some downtime to craft a healing potion or something. They announce they want to go talk to the good doctor that morning. Okay, no problema. Right? They head uphill to the hospital, make their way to his office with some help from the staff, and gain an audience with the doctor.
Within 5 minutes one of them has the doctor grappled, and another is threatening to shove a parasitic worm into his ear if he doesn’t cooperate. (Don’t ask about it he worm, they had it, leave it at that.) Well, now, here I am with a PC character sheet for this doctor (who happened to be a high level Artificer running a special subclass I had designed), and he’s not the type to go quietly since he’s a powerful member of the community with a staff of scores at his disposal… who also happens to be a frigging 16th level bad455 necromancer, and this band of four 12h level interlopers are trying to strong arm him in his frickin’ lair…. So, “roll initiative” says I.
While they’re all getting that sorted out, I’m frantically adding mortal minions and undead servants to the doctor’s Extras tab on his character sheet to pull this combat encounter out of my tuchus on the spot. The players rolled fairly well, and half of them go. Then it’s the doctor’s turn. He pulls what was essentially a suped up flesh golem out of his modified bag of holding as his action (because BBE), calls out for help from the hospital security guards and orderlies, and then with his bonus action commands a small hoard of undead to start pilling up the private staircase from the secret lair below their feet. That’s when all hells broke loose. It was about three rounds later when they heard that the town reeves (police) were almost there too that the players realized mistakes might have been made. Luckily, their party NPC tagalong blew a hole out the back of the doctor’s office to help facilitate their egress. (Cue wavy lines and “doodylydoo” sound effects)
That was probably the most fun I’ve ever had running a combat encounter this or any other edition that I can remember. It was frantic, it was frenetic, it was hella fun. The story went on for about another year after that, but nothing else in all that time was anywhere near as fun as the encounter I didn’t plan. And the players all said they had no idea I was winging it the entire time.
What is your favorite encounter you have been in or planned (Player/DM)?
Hard to say for sure, but one that comes to mind: Our party had befriended members of a sort of wizard guild and three (out of five) of our characters were spending nights learning magic from a certain one of these wizards. One of those nights, as she went to the top floor to get a diamond for our bard to try casting Chromatic Orb, the building started to burn. We started heading up to discover members of a criminal organization (with certain ties to one of our party) had set the fire and were throwing oil around. As we started dispatching them, I (tempest cleric) got a sending from the wizard (who was developing into a love interest for my character, by the way) that she had been attacked and trapped in a room in the top floor.
Our party came together and scrambled through the burning building, avoiding several near-disasters of falling through the floor or tripping on oil traps. We got to the top and I blew away the obstructions with Gust of Wind, bursting into the room where our wizard friend lay unconscious. Our DM had been rolling death saves for her in secret and she barely lived. I healed her and we rappelled our way down out of a window, only to find some higher up members of the gang waiting for us. After killing them, we came out of the building, covered in ash and blood, my character carrying the once-more unconscious (but stable) wizard, as a gathered crowd gawked and the city guard arrived.
It was probably the most intense session I've ever had, and it created a lot of unforgettable moments.
Newest question: If you couldn’t play D&D anymore, what would you do instead and why?
OK wait, those of you that answered already, SERIOUSLY?! If you couldn't play D&D you would just give up do some lame shit instead?!
You wouldn't play something else? Shadowrun?? Fantasy HERO?? Cthulhu?? (just to name a few) Really? REEALLY?!
No way, I gave up D&D once, and right now you can have my dice when you pull them out of my cold dead fingers.
I wouldn't switch to another system, no. I've tried a few and they're okay, but they don't grip me like D&D does.
Also, writing isn't lame to some of us...I can imagine a world in which I don't play D&D, but I cannot fathom a world in which I can't write. Diff'rent strokes, I guess.
I truly didn't mean to offend, merely to..provoke =)
My apologies
We're cool, no worries. Was just casting my vote in with the other lifelong writers here. I appreciate the thought, though. :-)
AEDorsay and I, however, are not cool. How dare you make me pick a favorite?!
Hey, playing to my stereotype is my only defense…
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
What is your favorite encounter you have been in or planned (Player/DM)?
I am not sure what my favorite one is, but this one was a good one.
I was a satyr bard and we were hunting down slavers. We captured one of the villains wagons and tried to ride it away to escape, but they started to chase us. (The wagons were not holding slaves) They pulled up next to our carriage, and several of the bad guys jumped on an started to attack us. My bard leapt on to the other carriage, cast sleep, causing most of the slavers to fall asleep, and then through the slavers off the speeding carriage. Meanwhile a witch that was on the slaver's wagon cast crown of madness on our monk, who then killed the driver of our carriage. I then killed the witch using vicious mockery, so now I can say I insulted a witch to death, and the carriage I was on began to spin out of control, so I leapt on to the other one just as it exploded, plus my satyr rolled high on the extra feet they can jump, and we finished them off.
Newest question: If you couldn’t play D&D anymore, what would you do instead and why?
Same thing as I do now. Try to keep the miscreants from burning the house down. I've never liked Kender as a concept, but now that I've been raising a pair of them for a decade, even less so.
Question: Have you got a favorite set of dice? (You can post a picture if you want) - But what makes them your favorite set of dice? (This includes digital or physical dice!)
So I'm not a Dice Goblin, more a Dice Githyanki, in that I'm very deliberate and intentional, and maybe a little decadent with my dice. I'll see about photos, but when I want to make my party know the gloves are off and they've stepped across the line "into the darkness" I have a set of obsidian glass dice for those occasions, and they're balance with a set of frosted prismatic cut dice (so they're "frost white" but rainbows sorta project through and nearby them) for certain deus ex machinas and other divine intercessions that may help them out. The obsidian d20 is in fact a critter.
But my regular rolling dice as a player and DM consist of three sets, that I always have in my game bag. One is a set of dice honoring the YouTube D&D adjacent channel Mann Shorts (which has a BIG d20 but not a cumbersome BIG d20 I use for most of my rolls because I can read the number easily) and two sets of wood dice, one with red markings the other with black. I've got a few other "D&D sets" and then a bunch of either specifically made for or specifically collected for specific other TTRPGs (looking at you 6 sets of FFG Star Wars Dice).
Sorta related, but not a fan of metal dice. They're gorgeous, but I don't like the feel or the sound they make, etc. I really like wood dice.
What is your favorite encounter you have been in or planned (Player/DM)?
One of the most memorable was more a trap/trick room.
The circular room has 9 platforms (3 foot circles) hovering in the air. Each is about 10 feet apart from the others. 10 feet below is a mist, concealing the floor. Looking up, about 10 feet above, the ceiling is also shrouded in mist.
The exit is a door way set at 90 degrees from the entrance. Simple enough.
When a PC stepped on a platform I rolled a die and 50/50 real or illusion. If the platform was fake, AAAHHHHHHH!!!
Where did they go?? Dunno, they're gone. Who's next?
Two turns later, AHHHHH!! the PC falls from the ceiling. The platform was fake so they keep falling.
No problem mon, I fly across with my broom of flying. AHHHHHH! Flying magic doesn't work.
What do you mean flying magic doesn't work?!
Did you say that out loud?
NOW the monsters show up, "Oi Frank, wot's this?"
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Question: Have you got a favorite set of dice? (You can post a picture if you want) - But what makes them your favorite set of dice? (This includes digital or physical dice!)
Yes. No photo because I don't want to upload one after I take one, but I have several favorite dice, lol.
Of the very first dice set I ever got, I still have one, a d20 that has crumbled edges and is the old style that had a dot next to the zero for 20. It tends to roll ither crits or flops.I am forbidden from using it.
Then I have a set of solid bright green dice with one purple d10.
Then i have the last set I bought in the prior century which is a darker green with marbled swirly sort. They had just come out at the shop, lol. I have a locking 8 inch long, 5 inch wide, four inch high box for my dice. I have two guardians and two luck pieces, and the dang thing is full (including two golf balls that will probably be removed). I am not precisely a dice goblin -- I have discovered that some dice are just really good for certain kinds of rolls, so I use them.
I do have two very large wooden dice (d6). They do not fit in the box, lol.
I added three sets of metal dice, and I have a tray I use for them, specifically -- felt lined. They have not pleased me yet, but they are still young. They will do well orelse.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Question: Have you got a favorite set of dice? (You can post a picture if you want) - But what makes them your favorite set of dice? (This includes digital or physical dice!)
The very first plastic set of seven I ever bought waayyy back when I first started in 2e are still my lucky dice. They’re black with white speckles and red numbers. Although these days I tend to roll off of my DDB sheets, and I’m partial to the Pride dice.
Sorta related, but not a fan of metal dice. They're gorgeous, but I don't like the feel or the sound they make, etc. I really like wood dice.
I have long wanted a set of wooden dice!
I built my own dice tray and inserted a cork cushion for the rolling surface. Metal dice thump and click like a song in that thing. But I love the heft of metal dice, personally, and I am absolutely a dice goblin.
What is your favorite encounter you have been in or planned (Player/DM)?
While my players were travelling to Waterdeep, I had them encounter a crew of lost, drunken pirates. The players killed them, even after the captain attempted to flee. One player stole the captain's pistol and has been happily filling opponents with lead ever since. My players constantly reference the "land pirates" to this day, and I plan to have them return at some point
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I truly didn't mean to offend, merely to..provoke =)
My apologies
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Well, I guess that time would be filled with more board gaming, since I've gotten into that in a big way as well over the past five years. If that's not an option, maybe something else that gets my creativity firing.
Query:
What is your favorite encounter you have been in or planned (Player/DM)?
Mine is a Chimera that had been summoned and was stuck in a ring of brambles. He had a bad case of Ego and a worse case of an infected thorn in his paw, and the brambles sat at a crossroads -- making him a crossroads guardian.
He was supposed to be a wayguide that offered assorted rumors and story hooks, but apparently, I played him so well that the characters decided to help him instead. They removed the thorn and healed him, broke the summoning circle, and so he became an NPC that accompanied the players. He was a lion/goat/scorpion chimera, so once freed he was joined by two of his creations. One was a construct of straw and the other a metal golem. It took about six sessions for the players to realize what I did. No, more like 8 as I think of it, so like three months.
It was entirely played straight, and absolutely improvisational.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Urmph. As a DM this one is hard to nail down.
But I'd have to say the battle against the Drow Priestess I had planned. It was literally a 25 part session with the party helping the Dwarves.
In the climax of the battle - the Dwarves and Drow got involved in a major scale war which the party members were wrapped up in. But then I would have different tasks they would need to complete. And rather than side quest all of these tasks - I'd say, "The dwarves have reported their camp to the southeast is being burned. They're requesting help putting out the fires." And a few characters would go - and they'd do a Survival check (have a DC to meet to put out the fires). Then one would roll a D4 to see how long it took (in terms of hours). I'd then roll another dice - to see when the next "mini event" happens (catapults, for example need more) - and if it was less than the D4 they rolled, they could come back and help. Each event had "Victory" points assigned to them.
But then the big boss came - the Drow Priestess who had embodied herself into a giant Spider Statue made of Adamantine and granted life through a life essence spell they'd uncovered. Big battle with her, where because of her adamantine body, she was immune to critical hits and had a ton of hit points.
Was a very satisfactory ending to a long story arc.
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We're cool, no worries. Was just casting my vote in with the other lifelong writers here. I appreciate the thought, though. :-)
AEDorsay and I, however, are not cool. How dare you make me pick a favorite?!
My absolute favorite encounter is one I ram as a DM about a year and a half to two years ago.
Now, to preface this, I tend to create powerful, notable NPCs using the PC generation method, and then convert them to monster statblocks when I anticipate they will be in combat within a session or two. As part of my conversions I streamline their features and traits to drop the chaff to make them more efficient in combat, modify their action economy to make them more effective, and up their HP to make them more survivable. That’s just my method.
So there we were all those many months ago…. (Cue wavy lines and “doodylydoo” sound effects)
The party was investigating strange goings on in a faded, dying whaling village on a cold, secluded island in the far south sea. On that island was a brand new, state of the art hospital and wellness center that the town’s leadership was banking would draw in wealthy patrons from the mainland to revitalize its he town’s economy and make the town prosperous once again. Running this hospital was an Elf whom the party suspected of secretly being being a vile necromancer who was using the hospital as a cover for his unwholesome research. They decided to investigate. They spent an entire session running reconnaissance on the facility, including a nighttime scouting mission. They determined their best course of ingress would be to break in through the 3rd (top) floor balcony under the cover of night, and stealth their way down floor by floor. They then ended he session on a long rest.
Now, due to scheduling conflicts, our weekly game was forced to take a hiatus for one week, so I had two weeks to prep for the next session. I spent the next two weeks mapping out the 1st through 3rd floors of this massive facility, as well as half the basement floor and the much smaller subbasement. When I say massive, I mean the thing was something like 1,200 square feet per floor, so something like 3,600-4,000 square feet of map, not including the open rooftop area. I anticipated that would take them at least 2-3 sessions to explore, plenty of lead time before they actually encountered the good doctor in his secret lair in the subbasement below his offices which occupied part of the 1st floor and basement with their own private staircase. Especially since the stairs to the secret sublair were hidden behind a secret door. I figured I had so much lead time I didn’t finish the basement map yet because I expected to not need it for close to a month.
Two weeks real time roll by, and there we were on our usual Wednesday night session. I opened the session, as always, with the players recapping for us all where they were when last we had left our heroes. I then inform them they have all just awoken from their long rest, and asked them how they wished to spend the day before their nighttime foray into the hospital. I figured they might want an opportunity to gather more clues, or take some downtime to craft a healing potion or something. They announce they want to go talk to the good doctor that morning. Okay, no problema. Right? They head uphill to the hospital, make their way to his office with some help from the staff, and gain an audience with the doctor.
Within 5 minutes one of them has the doctor grappled, and another is threatening to shove a parasitic worm into his ear if he doesn’t cooperate. (Don’t ask about it he worm, they had it, leave it at that.) Well, now, here I am with a PC character sheet for this doctor (who happened to be a high level Artificer running a special subclass I had designed), and he’s not the type to go quietly since he’s a powerful member of the community with a staff of scores at his disposal… who also happens to be a frigging 16th level bad455 necromancer, and this band of four 12h level interlopers are trying to strong arm him in his frickin’ lair…. So, “roll initiative” says I.
While they’re all getting that sorted out, I’m frantically adding mortal minions and undead servants to the doctor’s Extras tab on his character sheet to pull this combat encounter out of my tuchus on the spot. The players rolled fairly well, and half of them go. Then it’s the doctor’s turn. He pulls what was essentially a suped up flesh golem out of his modified bag of holding as his action (because BBE), calls out for help from the hospital security guards and orderlies, and then with his bonus action commands a small hoard of undead to start pilling up the private staircase from the secret lair below their feet. That’s when all hells broke loose. It was about three rounds later when they heard that the town reeves (police) were almost there too that the players realized mistakes might have been made. Luckily, their party NPC tagalong blew a hole out the back of the doctor’s office to help facilitate their egress. (Cue wavy lines and “doodylydoo” sound effects)
That was probably the most fun I’ve ever had running a combat encounter this or any other edition that I can remember. It was frantic, it was frenetic, it was hella fun. The story went on for about another year after that, but nothing else in all that time was anywhere near as fun as the encounter I didn’t plan. And the players all said they had no idea I was winging it the entire time.
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Hard to say for sure, but one that comes to mind: Our party had befriended members of a sort of wizard guild and three (out of five) of our characters were spending nights learning magic from a certain one of these wizards. One of those nights, as she went to the top floor to get a diamond for our bard to try casting Chromatic Orb, the building started to burn. We started heading up to discover members of a criminal organization (with certain ties to one of our party) had set the fire and were throwing oil around. As we started dispatching them, I (tempest cleric) got a sending from the wizard (who was developing into a love interest for my character, by the way) that she had been attacked and trapped in a room in the top floor.
Our party came together and scrambled through the burning building, avoiding several near-disasters of falling through the floor or tripping on oil traps. We got to the top and I blew away the obstructions with Gust of Wind, bursting into the room where our wizard friend lay unconscious. Our DM had been rolling death saves for her in secret and she barely lived. I healed her and we rappelled our way down out of a window, only to find some higher up members of the gang waiting for us. After killing them, we came out of the building, covered in ash and blood, my character carrying the once-more unconscious (but stable) wizard, as a gathered crowd gawked and the city guard arrived.
It was probably the most intense session I've ever had, and it created a lot of unforgettable moments.
Hey, playing to my stereotype is my only defense…
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I am not sure what my favorite one is, but this one was a good one.
I was a satyr bard and we were hunting down slavers. We captured one of the villains wagons and tried to ride it away to escape, but they started to chase us. (The wagons were not holding slaves) They pulled up next to our carriage, and several of the bad guys jumped on an started to attack us. My bard leapt on to the other carriage, cast sleep, causing most of the slavers to fall asleep, and then through the slavers off the speeding carriage. Meanwhile a witch that was on the slaver's wagon cast crown of madness on our monk, who then killed the driver of our carriage. I then killed the witch using vicious mockery, so now I can say I insulted a witch to death, and the carriage I was on began to spin out of control, so I leapt on to the other one just as it exploded, plus my satyr rolled high on the extra feet they can jump, and we finished them off.
Same thing as I do now. Try to keep the miscreants from burning the house down. I've never liked Kender as a concept, but now that I've been raising a pair of them for a decade, even less so.
Question: Have you got a favorite set of dice? (You can post a picture if you want) - But what makes them your favorite set of dice? (This includes digital or physical dice!)
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So I'm not a Dice Goblin, more a Dice Githyanki, in that I'm very deliberate and intentional, and maybe a little decadent with my dice. I'll see about photos, but when I want to make my party know the gloves are off and they've stepped across the line "into the darkness" I have a set of obsidian glass dice for those occasions, and they're balance with a set of frosted prismatic cut dice (so they're "frost white" but rainbows sorta project through and nearby them) for certain deus ex machinas and other divine intercessions that may help them out. The obsidian d20 is in fact a critter.
But my regular rolling dice as a player and DM consist of three sets, that I always have in my game bag. One is a set of dice honoring the YouTube D&D adjacent channel Mann Shorts (which has a BIG d20 but not a cumbersome BIG d20 I use for most of my rolls because I can read the number easily) and two sets of wood dice, one with red markings the other with black. I've got a few other "D&D sets" and then a bunch of either specifically made for or specifically collected for specific other TTRPGs (looking at you 6 sets of FFG Star Wars Dice).
Sorta related, but not a fan of metal dice. They're gorgeous, but I don't like the feel or the sound they make, etc. I really like wood dice.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
The thing with metals is they really need a decent surface to roll on. Flat tables are bad and noisy.
I admit the crystal ones are my favorite because they are pretty.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
One of the most memorable was more a trap/trick room.
The circular room has 9 platforms (3 foot circles) hovering in the air. Each is about 10 feet apart from the others. 10 feet below is a mist, concealing the floor. Looking up, about 10 feet above, the ceiling is also shrouded in mist.
The exit is a door way set at 90 degrees from the entrance. Simple enough.
When a PC stepped on a platform I rolled a die and 50/50 real or illusion. If the platform was fake, AAAHHHHHHH!!!
Where did they go?? Dunno, they're gone. Who's next?
Two turns later, AHHHHH!! the PC falls from the ceiling. The platform was fake so they keep falling.
No problem mon, I fly across with my broom of flying. AHHHHHH! Flying magic doesn't work.
What do you mean flying magic doesn't work?!
Did you say that out loud?
NOW the monsters show up, "Oi Frank, wot's this?"
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Yes. No photo because I don't want to upload one after I take one, but I have several favorite dice, lol.
Of the very first dice set I ever got, I still have one, a d20 that has crumbled edges and is the old style that had a dot next to the zero for 20. It tends to roll ither crits or flops.I am forbidden from using it.
Then I have a set of solid bright green dice with one purple d10.
Then i have the last set I bought in the prior century which is a darker green with marbled swirly sort. They had just come out at the shop, lol. I have a locking 8 inch long, 5 inch wide, four inch high box for my dice. I have two guardians and two luck pieces, and the dang thing is full (including two golf balls that will probably be removed). I am not precisely a dice goblin -- I have discovered that some dice are just really good for certain kinds of rolls, so I use them.
I do have two very large wooden dice (d6). They do not fit in the box, lol.
I added three sets of metal dice, and I have a tray I use for them, specifically -- felt lined. They have not pleased me yet, but they are still young. They will do well orelse.
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The very first plastic set of seven I ever bought waayyy back when I first started in 2e are still my lucky dice. They’re black with white speckles and red numbers. Although these days I tend to roll off of my DDB sheets, and I’m partial to the Pride dice.
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I have long wanted a set of wooden dice!
I built my own dice tray and inserted a cork cushion for the rolling surface. Metal dice thump and click like a song in that thing. But I love the heft of metal dice, personally, and I am absolutely a dice goblin.
If it's just D&D, I'd just move on to Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, or my own system.
If it's TTRPGs in general, I'd probably spend my would-be D&D sessions making board games. That or playing Skyrim lol
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While my players were travelling to Waterdeep, I had them encounter a crew of lost, drunken pirates. The players killed them, even after the captain attempted to flee. One player stole the captain's pistol and has been happily filling opponents with lead ever since. My players constantly reference the "land pirates" to this day, and I plan to have them return at some point
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