Quote from ChoirOfFire >>

Worlds: Ehh. I have a spicy opinion about players knowing monster stats, but this probably ain't the place for it. There's pros and cons to both approaches and they're fairly evenly matched in my estimation.

 I wonder if we have the same opinion...

 While I don’t mind if player’s know the stats of a monster, what I really prefer to do is that they have an in-game understanding of a creature. I have 225 monsters for the new campaign, with a promise they will encounter each of them at least once. Field guides are a thing, and people have been making them since writing about critters was a thing, and so I have a field guide for them. It has a very specific set of the monsters (the “common” ones, with some mention of others)  and talks about them and how to fight them and what parts are worth.

The field guide covers only 50 of them in any detail, has a lot of presumptions (you already know about zombies so no need to cover them) and gives some bad advice in some cases. The stat block it uses is not the game one, lol, but still looks good and a glance through will give the impression. 

Sometime before the end of the year I will finish the whole set of 225 like that. but the actual monster stats are only found in the Campaign stuff, which is very much for a DM and only for a DM. That is the stuff I protect and get upset about folks knowing (even if it is a published adventure). it is why I change things about any module or adventure I have used.

But by giving them each a copy of the player version I am encouraging them to take notes on each creature. 

Now, I will note that I don’t have the reason everyone else does for disliking them knowing, lol. I use the Monster Manual and such for ideas (I don’t even own the monster manual on DDB, though I have the book) and to see how they did X, but all my critters are from scratch. They have to be. My goblins have to be able to kill a “typical villager” in a single hit. My dragons take up a 50’ by 50’ cube. I have al’miraj that are adorable little bunnies that legends say are killed by holy hand grenades. So all my monsters are “fresh takes”, even when I hew to traditional or pop culture standards for them (Like Vampires).

I don’t like people knowing about the critters because it means they somehow got into my notes, lol. Kat says that’s one of the fun things about my campaigns: I am exactly the sort of person who will turn Stitch into a monster, and who will make Unicorns what they once were — bloodthirsty killing machines that only a virgin could get close enough to capture.

Just took the player survey.

my question is: Have you taken the player survey?

I took the survey this morning. Now, should we start reading the tea leaves about what it means?

I took it this morning as well.

Honestly, it just felt like me reflecting on how much money I spend on RPGs. It feels almost wrong. Then I remember how much of my life is playing RPGs and I regret nothing.

Quote from Xalthu >>

I took the survey this morning. Now, should we start reading the tea leaves about what it means?

 
wait, they served tea this morning?

all I got was stale nuts…

Quote from theologyofbagels >>

Quote from ChoirOfFire >>

Worlds: Ehh. I have a spicy opinion about players knowing monster stats, but this probably ain't the place for it. There's pros and cons to both approaches and they're fairly evenly matched in my estimation.

 I wonder if we have the same opinion...

 Alright, AEDorsay went off so I'll go off too, lol. I'll try to keep it brief.

1. Games are largely about learning. Learning boss move patterns, learning elemental weaknesses, learning which cities on the map you should colonize first, learning to recognize when your friend is bluffing. Learning is fun. It's part of why we play games. But learning is only part of it. The other part is applying what you've learned.
2. Learning requires exposure. Usually firsthand experience is best but walkthroughs and message boards also work, to an extent. In a D&D context you can learn from reading the monster manuals. Or by bringing knowledge with you from another game.
3. D&D monsters don't have a lot to learn, usually. The majority of them will show you everything they can do in just one fight. Spellcasters excluded because they usually have lots of superfluous options.
4. But going back to (1), the experience isn't complete until you apply what you've learned. And in D&D you rarely fight the same monsters twice.

The first time we fought Githyanki, we learned that they can cast Misty Step. We were using flanking rules at the time, and this made them pretty spooky. They got to just ignore our front line and flank the back line. That was a surprise, but since D&D fights don't tend to last very long, it would've just been a surprise and nothing more. The second time we saw some Githyanki, we took formation so they couldn't teleport-flank us. The third time, we blocked line of sight with some kind of spell. Now they can't teleport or cast spells the way they want to. Our tactics evolved as we encountered more of these guys. The guys themselves didn't change much. We had fun.

Conclusion: If you're going to be switching up your monster stats to keep players from getting too comfortable, you owe it to them to use those monsters multiple times. Preferably in sequence. The fact that players already know how a troll works is not a downside. It's a time saver for you. Now you only have to send trolls after them once, to get the full troll experience. I don't think it's bad for players to be curious about the damn game. I actually think that's cool and good and should be encouraged. I think everyone should read whatever books they want to read. Reading is fun and rewarding and attractive. I think player and DM are actions, not types of people. I think the number of monsters you can "break" just by knowing something is exceedingly low, and I think it's easy to play a character who knows different things than what you know as a player, when you do come up against one.

Also, if you never let players get a firm grip on how monsters work, they're just going to feel confused and frustrated all the time. Oh, this guy's immune to charm spells? Cool, great, there's another spell wasted. At least when we're playing RAW, I can tell if something's a damn construct.

Question of Moment:

When was the last time you had a BBEG use high level spells against the Players? I mean stuff like Animal Shapes, Geas, Druid Grove, Mirage Arcane, Forbiddance, Guards & Wards, etc.

Since I am doing magic this week, I am also touching up some of the encounters, and I always forget about things like this stuff. I cannot recall the last time I had a BBEG use Tasha’s Otherworldly Guise as a reaction or Tenser’s Transformation in the midst of a battle. I think about how in the trailer the Red Wizard is actually using magic effectively, lol, and I am all “well, shit, why didn’t I think of that?”

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Quote from Xalthu >>

I took the survey this morning. Now, should we start reading the tea leaves about what it means?

 
wait, they served tea this morning?

all I got was stale nuts…

 You got in the wrong line. 

Quote from AEDorsay >>

When was the last time you had a BBEG use high level spells against the Players? I mean stuff like Animal Shapes, Geas, Druid Grove, Mirage Arcane, Forbiddance, Guards & Wards, etc.

The party's only level 7, so I haven't busted out any really big guns against them yet, but at one point an evil necromancer -- who regained HP by dealing necrotic damage -- used circle of death to damage not only the PCs, but to wipe out some of his own minions just to get some healing

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Just took the player survey.
my question is: Have you taken the player survey?

If player survey you mean the quest to answer a million questions, then yes.

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Question of Moment:

When was the last time you had a BBEG use high level spells against the Players? I mean stuff like Animal Shapes, Geas, Druid Grove, Mirage Arcane, Forbiddance, Guards & Wards, etc.

Since I am doing magic this week, I am also touching up some of the encounters, and I always forget about things like this stuff. I cannot recall the last time I had a BBEG use Tasha’s Otherworldly Guise as a reaction or Tenser’s Transformation in the midst of a battle. I think about how in the trailer the Red Wizard is actually using magic effectively, lol, and I am all “well, shit, why didn’t I think of that?”

In 5e?

My currently group just recently hit level 10 so nothing too big has been thrown their way in terms of the really big spells. But they're chasing down a Beholder who has attained godlike knowledge as the big bad. Big spells will be coming their way soon.

Although my party thinks Driders + Faerie Fire = Death. 

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Quote from Wysperra >>

My groups don't rotate GMs - I'm often the one that has to wear that hat.

 

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Question: Your dice - are they all from one set or are they dice muts (coming from different sets)?

 

My dice are from all over - bought and gifts. I often have a hard time not buying dice if I see a pretty set.

 

Ah, but when you're rolling dice - are all the d4, d6, d8, etc - from the same set?

Or do you have a purple d4, a red d6, a green and yellow d8, that aren't from specific sets?

I see you mentioned difficulty resisting sets - but curious if when you play you only roll "set" dice or mix and match?

 

 Gotta mix and match for everything except d6s. I played Champions so bought multiple d6 packs (the game regularly had 12d6 attacks flying around).

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Question of Moment:

When was the last time you had a BBEG use high level spells against the Players? 

 I had a ghost cast Guards and Wards on the players house awhile ago. But the ghost was Marley from the Christmas Carol, so I reflavored the spider webs as chains.

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Question of Moment:

When was the last time you had a BBEG use high level spells against the Players? I mean stuff like Animal Shapes, Geas, Druid Grove, Mirage Arcane, Forbiddance, Guards & Wards, etc.

 Not me personally, but I’ve had other PCs in my party get hit with disintegrate.

I once had the party sitting around camp having breakfast. I passed one player a note that said: “You are now holding a baby.” Then a second note: “It starts to cry.” Without bogging this down with too many details, someone else, in the past, had cast wish to keep the little prince safe, and it ended up with the party. 

Quick question: Does this sound balanced?

At first level, you gain the ability to cast any 1st level spell. You can do this 3 times a day, and you can regain 2 uses per short rest and all uses during a long rest. The number of uses rises to 5 at 3rd level.

(this is for a homebrew class called the Arcaner)

Quote from DrakenBrine >>

Quick question: Does this sound balanced?

At first level, you gain the ability to cast any 1st level spell. You can do this 3 times a day, and you can regain 2 uses per short rest and all uses during a long rest. The number of uses rises to 5 at 3rd level.

(this is for a homebrew class called the Arcaner)

In literally no way is this balanced. Every other class starts with 2 spells and a very limited list of what to spend them on, and Wizards can only regain 1 spell slot on a short rest.

Quote from Quar1on >>

Quote from DrakenBrine >>

Quick question: Does this sound balanced?

At first level, you gain the ability to cast any 1st level spell. You can do this 3 times a day, and you can regain 2 uses per short rest and all uses during a long rest. The number of uses rises to 5 at 3rd level.

(this is for a homebrew class called the Arcaner)

In literally no way is this balanced. Every other class starts with 2 spells and a very limited list of what to spend them on, and Wizards can only regain 1 spell slot on a short rest.

 How would you balance this? I want to keep the ability to cast all spells for flavor reasons.

Quote from DrakenBrine >>

Quote from Quar1on >>

Quote from DrakenBrine >>

Quick question: Does this sound balanced?

At first level, you gain the ability to cast any 1st level spell. You can do this 3 times a day, and you can regain 2 uses per short rest and all uses during a long rest. The number of uses rises to 5 at 3rd level.

(this is for a homebrew class called the Arcaner)

In literally no way is this balanced. Every other class starts with 2 spells and a very limited list of what to spend them on, and Wizards can only regain 1 spell slot on a short rest.

 How would you balance this? I want to keep the ability to cast all spells for flavor reasons.

Then do 1 per long rest, and make sure that's the only feature they get at that level. Anything else is absurdly overpowered.

Raining where I live so...

Question: Is there a specific song, artist, or album you listen to when it's raining?

Quote from Quar1on >>

Quote from DrakenBrine >>

Quote from Quar1on >>

Quote from DrakenBrine >>

Quick question: Does this sound balanced?

At first level, you gain the ability to cast any 1st level spell. You can do this 3 times a day, and you can regain 2 uses per short rest and all uses during a long rest. The number of uses rises to 5 at 3rd level.

(this is for a homebrew class called the Arcaner)

In literally no way is this balanced. Every other class starts with 2 spells and a very limited list of what to spend them on, and Wizards can only regain 1 spell slot on a short rest.

 How would you balance this? I want to keep the ability to cast all spells for flavor reasons.

Then do 1 per long rest, and make sure that's the only feature they get at that level. Anything else is absurdly overpowered.

 Got it. Make the subclass happen at second level along an make the recharge 1 per long rest.