So yesterday was the first session for some newbies, I’m dming, and all except one have never played before. I ask them the basic questions, and we start working on their characters. Most of them are fairly average, no big stat differences or anything. Those people are a Dragonborn ranger, an elf cleric, and a half elf rouge. The two outliers, however, are different. One of them because it is hilarious, another.... is goin to be a pain to dm. So the hilarious one, is a bard/barbarian halfling who has 4 wisdom and 3 int. But 18 in strength and charisma. The painful one is...... sigh. A blood hunter aaracockra with 17 in every stat. Except one. He has a one in charisma. A ONE! And the player of this character is also an outlier in the group. While asking questions: me: “Do you guys want this to be more roleplaying heavy or combat heavy?” They all said roleplay, except for that one guy. “Will you guys be power gaming?” They all said no, except for that one guy! His character has next to zero backstory, but he spent an hour looking at everyone else’s sheets to find our groups weaknesses and become the one good at those things. He spent 20 mins figuring out which species to be because he wanted one that would be powerful and provide an advantage to everything. So he chose aaracockra. So he can FRIGGIN FLY!?! So now this game is going to be soooooo much fun to dm...
Not all of DnD is in dungeons. In fact, most of it isn't. But the ghost would actually do pretty well in a dungeon, since it can phase (etherealness) through walls.
Sorry that wasn't aimed at your ghost comment, I selected the wrong one lol. I know that most of DnD isn't in a dungeon, it was more a comment on how the DM can counter the flying taking that edge away from the "one guy" who wants to powergame his way through.
The painful one is...... sigh. A blood hunter aaracockra with 17 in every stat. Except one. He has a one in charisma. A ONE! And the player of this character is also an outlier in the group. While asking questions: me: “Do you guys want this to be more roleplaying heavy or combat heavy?” They all said roleplay, except for that one guy. “Will you guys be power gaming?” They all said no, except for that one guy!
To be fair, I think a lunatic power-gaming rules-lawyer is probably the only person I'd want playing a blood hunter. It's better since the redesign, but the class is still way too complicated for new players.
I watch. I wait. I listen. I like roleplaying games. Avid fan of messed up homebrew and horror rpgs. Lancer>dnd5e, go read Kill Six Billion Demons. I will shoot you with my transgenderification beam pew pew
My level 4 gnome wizard charmed a couple of bugbears so we could ask them questions. Somehow, this led to them and their friends believing it was the prophesied arrival of Shar, goddess of darkness. They immediately pledged themselves to my service and began tailing me everywhere to protect me. They were able to tell us that the wizard we were after had several giant spiders defending him, so I figured since they were eager to die for me I'd use them to soften the spiders up a bit first. They wiped the spiders out. We battled the wizard, they survived that too. My personal strike force/bodyguard squad is frighteningly effective and I don't know what I'm going to do with them.
Also, there was a squirrel with a flamethrower.
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Jude, He/They
Former gnome evocation wizard and dhampir fey wanderer ranger, current simic hybrid aberrant mind sorcerer
My level 4 gnome wizard charmed a couple of bugbears so we could ask them questions. Somehow, this led to them and their friends believing it was the prophesied arrival of Shar, goddess of darkness. They immediately pledged themselves to my service and began tailing me everywhere to protect me. They were able to tell us that the wizard we were after had several giant spiders defending him, so I figured since they were eager to die for me I'd use them to soften the spiders up a bit first. They wiped the spiders out. We battled the wizard, they survived that too. My personal strike force/bodyguard squad is frighteningly effective and I don't know what I'm going to do with them.
Also, there was a squirrel with a flamethrower.
One part of this seems more important than the rest. How did a squirrel get a flamethrower
Our party woke up from a harrowing evening and fitful rest after we neglected to draw proper guidelines for our fireball-happy sorcerer regarding civilians. As we woke up, one by one, the party started to act strangely--flipping out over the tavern's food and surroundings, but unable to actually describe what they saw. Eventually we all "snapped out of it" and learned the town we just about set on fire the previous night never existed in the first place. Well, it did--just.....decrepit. As if it had been abandoned for months, even though the NPCs were still there in a strange daze.
We wandered out to investigate, and I--a level 7 Bard with Polymorph--morphed into an owl to scout the town. It was all in ruins, but there was a strange demonic statue in the southern part of town. I reported back to the team and we decided to carefully make our way to the stature with owl!me leading the way. Rounding a corner, I saw something weird so I told our Minotaur Barbarian, as a translator, to hold the rest of the party while I got a better look. I flapped up to the rooftop and saw a creature--
--but it had already sensed us long ago.
Suddenly stunned, I dropped off the roof, faceplanting on the ground as the monster scuttled up. And that was it. Good bye and thus ends the tale of Teylas "Sky" Brisilra, Tiefling and Tymora-loving Stabby Bard.
She got ate by an Intellect Devourer :(
On the plus side, I had a GREAT time playing as the bad guy for my party, working with the DM to lure them to the rest of the Devourers :D They were screaming as I used character friendships to manipulate them. Fortunately the rest of the party didn't get caught with their INT down, as it were, and they splatted a ton of brains; no one else got caught. Supposedly the DM is giving them an opportunity to rescue Sky. Just in case though, I've got my backup character...
My level 4 gnome wizard charmed a couple of bugbears so we could ask them questions. Somehow, this led to them and their friends believing it was the prophesied arrival of Shar, goddess of darkness. They immediately pledged themselves to my service and began tailing me everywhere to protect me. They were able to tell us that the wizard we were after had several giant spiders defending him, so I figured since they were eager to die for me I'd use them to soften the spiders up a bit first. They wiped the spiders out. We battled the wizard, they survived that too. My personal strike force/bodyguard squad is frighteningly effective and I don't know what I'm going to do with them.
Also, there was a squirrel with a flamethrower.
One part of this seems more important than the rest. How did a squirrel get a flamethrower
We may never know...
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Jude, He/They
Former gnome evocation wizard and dhampir fey wanderer ranger, current simic hybrid aberrant mind sorcerer
I created my 1st level gnome artificier as a Guild artisan who was living (poor lifestyle) in the scullery of an evil dwarf blacksmith for whom I'd work for a meager wage while getting screwed on the rent.
Now 4th level renowned toysmith, prestigious adventurer and proud homeowner, I went back and confronted him, because he was covering up for the bad guys.
I ran a one shot to do a bunch of playtests with friends. One of the players used my homebrew subclass, and I used a bunch of playtest monsters to help a friend. It was a solid good time...we had fun but it included a bit more fighting then I normally enjoy in a one shot because of all the playtesting! Next time I think I'll focus more on EITHER the subclass or the monsters. But my players were all seasoned vets who enjoyed having no idea what kind of creatures I threw at them!
So me, my brother and my best friend are playing through Dragon of Icespire Peak (finally), they picked Gnomengarde, and they saved the rock gnomes, befriended a mimic. As they left they the BBEG shows up, and almost killed the brother's rogue, and the dmpc bard. But my friend's barbarian was able to hold him off, while the other dmpc fighter was able to stabilize the rogue. After the fight, they were able stabilize the bard, so far everyone managed to make it out alive
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Characters: Level 5 Human Fighter (Champion) and level 5 Human Rogue (Assassin)
- Characters arrived by their own ship to town of Tideless Haven in Goldfish Archipelago.
- Characters did some shopping and met a hatvendor who sold them a magical pipe. They also learned where the maker of magical pipes can be found. (Possible side quest)
- Characters went to barracks and challenged some soldiers for duel. There was arm wrestling competition and duel against skilled elf archer. After the duel the archer asked characters to meet him again in local tavern in the evening. He offered a jewelry store heist job for them with half of the loot as a reward. Characters decided to beat him up again and told to local sheriff about heist plans. However, characters are planning to rob the jewelry by themselves now. Let's see how it turns out... (Possible side quest)
- Characters also met the "main quest" giver that has a job to raid a pirate cove available.
Characters: Level 5 Human Fighter (Champion) and level 5 Human Rogue (Assassin)
- Characters arrived by their own ship to town of Tideless Haven in Goldfish Archipelago.
- Characters did some shopping and met a hatvendor who sold them a magical pipe. They also learned where the maker of magical pipes can be found. (Possible side quest)
- Characters went to barracks and challenged some soldiers for duel. There was arm wrestling competition and duel against skilled elf archer. After the duel the archer asked characters to meet him again in local tavern in the evening. He offered a jewelry store heist job for them with half of the loot as a reward. Characters decided to beat him up again and told to local sheriff about heist plans. However, characters are planning to rob the jewelry by themselves now. Let's see how it turns out... (Possible side quest)
- Characters also met the "main quest" giver that has a job to raid a pirate cove available.
Dude, your players are ballsy, that sounds like a fun group to deal with, lmao.
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It's ok Ranger, you'll always be cool to me.. Unless druid gets another use for its wild shape charges.
Perindash, the lizardman druid, after months of intensive sleuthing, has reached the center of the web spun by the Yellow Sign (a violent and unpredictable rival to the Thieves' Guild). Now he, Isaiah, the hell-paladin, and Fang, a thuggish half-orc barbarian, stand before the Yellow King himself, revealed to be a terrifying beholder (yes I'm ripping off Xanathar. Mind your own campaign)!
Isaiah, immediately grabs a money box off a table and makes for the door. He is stopped by the King's lieutenant, the warlock Geziziah Zorb. As they battle, the others quickly deal the eye tyrant a series of devastating blows. But they make a fatal error when they run to the other side of the room, outside of the paladin's protective aura. Perindash, all but neutralized by the beholder's anti-magic ray, is caught and restrained by creepy eyestalks growing up from the floor like gross anemones. Fang exhausts his supply of thrown weapons and watches in helpless rage as the beholder floats out of his reach, mocking him. With a devastating volley of eye beams, Perindash is disintegrated! As his rage gives way to fatigue, Fang is easily brought under the King's sway with a hypno-ray! And they had him down to 24 hp, too!
But all is not lost. As the highest ranking druid in the area, after the previous archdruid died at the hands of Xanthograss the green dragon, Perindash is reincarnated in the boughs of the ancient oak tree in City Park. He immediately heads home and starts looking through his address book to assemble a rescue/vengeance mission! To be continued...
Today was the second session of the first campaign I have ever run. I forgot to do a post for the first session (two weeks ago), so I'm actually going to make two posts. The setting is a homebrew, pirate-themed setting called the Starkarrow Isles. Starting with session one:
The Players: Giovanni Durrade: A young, cocky tiefling rogue/bloodhunter. Believed to have been murdered by his sister 10 years ago. Lori Afki: A tiefling tempest cleric. Actually Meredith Beaumont, the daughter of a wealthy merchant who ran away from her engagement to Captain Joseph W. Terrence of the Wellbyrn Royal Navy. Karc: An aaracockra arcane trickster rogue. Sold into slavery by his parents as a baby, Karc was rescued by a half-orc pirate captain, herself a former slave, at the age of 12. The sole survivor of his crew, most of whom were killed by a rival ship. A human fighter whose name I don't remember right now. His player has changed the name back and forth a few times, and he also hasn't really pinned down a backstory yet. Me: The Dungeon Master. A noob with high ambitions and absolutely no idea how to acheive them. Let's begin.
We begin on the island of DuPont, in the city of Port Montgomery. Several ships pull into the harbor, all around the same time. Giovanni on a keelboat which he is steering. The fighter on a passenger ship, coming from another continent. Karc has stowed away on a cargo ship. Lori is already in the city, living with a gnomish gunsmith by the name of Coppersmith Marshweed. And indeed, Marshweed's shop is the destination of all our heroes, who have received letters from a mysterious man identifying himself only as E.S. At the shop, they learned that E.S. was actually the Emperor of Storms, perhaps a god, perhaps merely a powerful entity. Either way, the Emperor told them their quest: To assemble the Eight Artifacts of Reysatra in order to defeat an ancient evil elemental known as Nereus. The adventurers than set out for the island of Mardon in search of the first artifact.
Once there, they met a local Tabaxi by the name of River Stone. He offered to guide them through and back from the island's labyrinth, which they soon realized housed the first artifact. They entered the labyrinth. The first artifact was the artifact of Law, a pocket watch known as the Heart of Mechanus. They took the watch by defeating its guardian, a mechanical minotaur. On the way back to the ship, they stopped at the floating Aaracockra city of Aeolia in the mountains, where they met a wise owl who gave them additional information about the artifacts. Each represents a different concept: Law, chaos, good, evil, air, earth, fire, and water.
They returned to Port Montgomery, where they received an invitation to an audience with the infamous gnome pirate Billy McGee at the Gilded Sextant, a pirate bar. He told the party that he was watching them, offered them drinks (all refused), and warned them about someone called the Blood Raven. Gio tried to poison Billy's drink, but was caught. The party left the bar, and that's where the session ended.
I like some of the flavor here. If you're open to notes, keelboats are terrible in open water. Their flat hulls are designed for rivers. I know the stat block in Ghosts of Saltmarsh doesn't make any mention of that, but it's always stuck in my craw. If the party is taking Giovanni's boat anywhere from an island, I might keep the same stat block, but call it a small sailboat.
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Sorry that wasn't aimed at your ghost comment, I selected the wrong one lol. I know that most of DnD isn't in a dungeon, it was more a comment on how the DM can counter the flying taking that edge away from the "one guy" who wants to powergame his way through.
From Within Chaos Comes Order!
To be fair, I think a lunatic power-gaming rules-lawyer is probably the only person I'd want playing a blood hunter. It's better since the redesign, but the class is still way too complicated for new players.
Fair.
she/it pronouns
I watch. I wait. I listen. I like roleplaying games. Avid fan of messed up homebrew and horror rpgs. Lancer>dnd5e, go read Kill Six Billion Demons. I will shoot you with my transgenderification beam pew pew
My level 4 gnome wizard charmed a couple of bugbears so we could ask them questions. Somehow, this led to them and their friends believing it was the prophesied arrival of Shar, goddess of darkness. They immediately pledged themselves to my service and began tailing me everywhere to protect me. They were able to tell us that the wizard we were after had several giant spiders defending him, so I figured since they were eager to die for me I'd use them to soften the spiders up a bit first. They wiped the spiders out. We battled the wizard, they survived that too. My personal strike force/bodyguard squad is frighteningly effective and I don't know what I'm going to do with them.
Also, there was a squirrel with a flamethrower.
Jude, He/They
Former gnome evocation wizard and dhampir fey wanderer ranger, current simic hybrid aberrant mind sorcerer
Rookie Call of Cthulhu Keeper
My last session saw the barbarian get into a small bar fight with a mercenary after the blood hunter passed out drunk in a seedy dive bar
I exist, and I guess so does this
One part of this seems more important than the rest. How did a squirrel get a flamethrower
I exist, and I guess so does this
Our party woke up from a harrowing evening and fitful rest after we neglected to draw proper guidelines for our fireball-happy sorcerer regarding civilians. As we woke up, one by one, the party started to act strangely--flipping out over the tavern's food and surroundings, but unable to actually describe what they saw. Eventually we all "snapped out of it" and learned the town we just about set on fire the previous night never existed in the first place. Well, it did--just.....decrepit. As if it had been abandoned for months, even though the NPCs were still there in a strange daze.
We wandered out to investigate, and I--a level 7 Bard with Polymorph--morphed into an owl to scout the town. It was all in ruins, but there was a strange demonic statue in the southern part of town. I reported back to the team and we decided to carefully make our way to the stature with owl!me leading the way. Rounding a corner, I saw something weird so I told our Minotaur Barbarian, as a translator, to hold the rest of the party while I got a better look. I flapped up to the rooftop and saw a creature--
--but it had already sensed us long ago.
Suddenly stunned, I dropped off the roof, faceplanting on the ground as the monster scuttled up. And that was it. Good bye and thus ends the tale of Teylas "Sky" Brisilra, Tiefling and Tymora-loving Stabby Bard.
She got ate by an Intellect Devourer :(
On the plus side, I had a GREAT time playing as the bad guy for my party, working with the DM to lure them to the rest of the Devourers :D They were screaming as I used character friendships to manipulate them. Fortunately the rest of the party didn't get caught with their INT down, as it were, and they splatted a ton of brains; no one else got caught. Supposedly the DM is giving them an opportunity to rescue Sky. Just in case though, I've got my backup character...
Wow
I exist, and I guess so does this
We may never know...
Jude, He/They
Former gnome evocation wizard and dhampir fey wanderer ranger, current simic hybrid aberrant mind sorcerer
Rookie Call of Cthulhu Keeper
I created my 1st level gnome artificier as a Guild artisan who was living (poor lifestyle) in the scullery of an evil dwarf blacksmith for whom I'd work for a meager wage while getting screwed on the rent.
Now 4th level renowned toysmith, prestigious adventurer and proud homeowner, I went back and confronted him, because he was covering up for the bad guys.
Such a simple encounter but so satisfying.
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InsiderI ran a one shot to do a bunch of playtests with friends. One of the players used my homebrew subclass, and I used a bunch of playtest monsters to help a friend. It was a solid good time...we had fun but it included a bit more fighting then I normally enjoy in a one shot because of all the playtesting! Next time I think I'll focus more on EITHER the subclass or the monsters. But my players were all seasoned vets who enjoyed having no idea what kind of creatures I threw at them!
Find me on Twitter: @OboeLauren
So me, my brother and my best friend are playing through Dragon of Icespire Peak (finally), they picked Gnomengarde, and they saved the rock gnomes, befriended a mimic. As they left they the BBEG shows up, and almost killed the brother's rogue, and the dmpc bard. But my friend's barbarian was able to hold him off, while the other dmpc fighter was able to stabilize the rogue. After the fight, they were able stabilize the bard, so far everyone managed to make it out alive
And they were all level one.
that's a lot of DMPC action.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Yeah but I think they did enough to not over shadow the two players.
Campaign 1, 10th session:
Characters: Level 5 Human Fighter (Champion) and level 5 Human Rogue (Assassin)
- Characters arrived by their own ship to town of Tideless Haven in Goldfish Archipelago.
- Characters did some shopping and met a hatvendor who sold them a magical pipe. They also learned where the maker of magical pipes can be found. (Possible side quest)
- Characters went to barracks and challenged some soldiers for duel. There was arm wrestling competition and duel against skilled elf archer. After the duel the archer asked characters to meet him again in local tavern in the evening. He offered a jewelry store heist job for them with half of the loot as a reward. Characters decided to beat him up again and told to local sheriff about heist plans. However, characters are planning to rob the jewelry by themselves now. Let's see how it turns out... (Possible side quest)
- Characters also met the "main quest" giver that has a job to raid a pirate cove available.
Dude, your players are ballsy, that sounds like a fun group to deal with, lmao.
It's ok Ranger, you'll always be cool to me.. Unless druid gets another use for its wild shape charges.
May I ask what the homebrew subclass was?
Perindash, the lizardman druid, after months of intensive sleuthing, has reached the center of the web spun by the Yellow Sign (a violent and unpredictable rival to the Thieves' Guild). Now he, Isaiah, the hell-paladin, and Fang, a thuggish half-orc barbarian, stand before the Yellow King himself, revealed to be a terrifying beholder (yes I'm ripping off Xanathar. Mind your own campaign)!
Isaiah, immediately grabs a money box off a table and makes for the door. He is stopped by the King's lieutenant, the warlock Geziziah Zorb. As they battle, the others quickly deal the eye tyrant a series of devastating blows. But they make a fatal error when they run to the other side of the room, outside of the paladin's protective aura. Perindash, all but neutralized by the beholder's anti-magic ray, is caught and restrained by creepy eyestalks growing up from the floor like gross anemones. Fang exhausts his supply of thrown weapons and watches in helpless rage as the beholder floats out of his reach, mocking him. With a devastating volley of eye beams, Perindash is disintegrated! As his rage gives way to fatigue, Fang is easily brought under the King's sway with a hypno-ray! And they had him down to 24 hp, too!
But all is not lost. As the highest ranking druid in the area, after the previous archdruid died at the hands of Xanthograss the green dragon, Perindash is reincarnated in the boughs of the ancient oak tree in City Park. He immediately heads home and starts looking through his address book to assemble a rescue/vengeance mission! To be continued...
Today was the second session of the first campaign I have ever run. I forgot to do a post for the first session (two weeks ago), so I'm actually going to make two posts. The setting is a homebrew, pirate-themed setting called the Starkarrow Isles. Starting with session one:
The Players:
Giovanni Durrade: A young, cocky tiefling rogue/bloodhunter. Believed to have been murdered by his sister 10 years ago.
Lori Afki: A tiefling tempest cleric. Actually Meredith Beaumont, the daughter of a wealthy merchant who ran away from her engagement to Captain Joseph W. Terrence of the Wellbyrn Royal Navy.
Karc: An aaracockra arcane trickster rogue. Sold into slavery by his parents as a baby, Karc was rescued by a half-orc pirate captain, herself a former slave, at the age of 12. The sole survivor of his crew, most of whom were killed by a rival ship.
A human fighter whose name I don't remember right now. His player has changed the name back and forth a few times, and he also hasn't really pinned down a backstory yet.
Me: The Dungeon Master. A noob with high ambitions and absolutely no idea how to acheive them. Let's begin.
We begin on the island of DuPont, in the city of Port Montgomery. Several ships pull into the harbor, all around the same time. Giovanni on a keelboat which he is steering. The fighter on a passenger ship, coming from another continent. Karc has stowed away on a cargo ship. Lori is already in the city, living with a gnomish gunsmith by the name of Coppersmith Marshweed. And indeed, Marshweed's shop is the destination of all our heroes, who have received letters from a mysterious man identifying himself only as E.S. At the shop, they learned that E.S. was actually the Emperor of Storms, perhaps a god, perhaps merely a powerful entity. Either way, the Emperor told them their quest: To assemble the Eight Artifacts of Reysatra in order to defeat an ancient evil elemental known as Nereus. The adventurers than set out for the island of Mardon in search of the first artifact.
Once there, they met a local Tabaxi by the name of River Stone. He offered to guide them through and back from the island's labyrinth, which they soon realized housed the first artifact. They entered the labyrinth. The first artifact was the artifact of Law, a pocket watch known as the Heart of Mechanus. They took the watch by defeating its guardian, a mechanical minotaur. On the way back to the ship, they stopped at the floating Aaracockra city of Aeolia in the mountains, where they met a wise owl who gave them additional information about the artifacts. Each represents a different concept: Law, chaos, good, evil, air, earth, fire, and water.
They returned to Port Montgomery, where they received an invitation to an audience with the infamous gnome pirate Billy McGee at the Gilded Sextant, a pirate bar. He told the party that he was watching them, offered them drinks (all refused), and warned them about someone called the Blood Raven. Gio tried to poison Billy's drink, but was caught. The party left the bar, and that's where the session ended.
I like some of the flavor here. If you're open to notes, keelboats are terrible in open water. Their flat hulls are designed for rivers. I know the stat block in Ghosts of Saltmarsh doesn't make any mention of that, but it's always stuck in my craw. If the party is taking Giovanni's boat anywhere from an island, I might keep the same stat block, but call it a small sailboat.