Question: Have any of you played a proper game of dnd at level 20? Proper means you’re actually following the rules correctly.
My answer is no.
My answer is also no. The highest level I got to as a player was (I think) 7. Even then, I only got that high by playing the same character with multiple different Dungeon Masters.
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BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explainHERE.
Question: Have any of you played a proper game of dnd at level 20? Proper means you’re actually following the rules correctly.
My answer is no.
If by “following the rules correctly” you’re allowing for homebrew and houserules then unfortunately still no, lol. The highest my group has gotten to so far is 14th level.
Apologies for the absence; I was banned (again) because D&D Beyond has some pretty bad [REDACTED]s and their [REDACTED] policy is shit. I mean, you can't even talk about the [REDACTED]s without your message getting [REDACTED].
Question: Do you have specific days that you play D&D? Or is it just when everyone can make it? Or do you plan the next session (if it's not always on the same day of the week) at the end of the current session?
Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes Monday but scheduling is difficult lol
I'm curious what "following the rules correctly" means. I don't think I've ever played or run a game that was entirely RAW, which is in itself perfectly within the rules...
I have DMed and played a handful of level 20 one-shots, though. Some with fewer homebrew rules than others. Personally, I don't really enjoy tier 4 play as much as other levels, so the allure of writing or playing in a campaign that goes that high is kinda dulled for me.
I personally enjoy the game up to about level 12 or 13. After that as a GM it can feel repetitive, which I something I’m trying to fix, and if you don’t balance something perfectly then the players go up in smoke or the monsters don’t make it past round one.
This, plus the fact that magic trivializes so much of travel, exploration, investigation, and traps. Yes, there are ways to adjust to keep challenge a factor, but it requires a lot more work from the DM, and if you do it too often your players will probably start to feel like you're punishing them for being powerful.
I resonate with what you said about playing comparatively weak characters. Some people really love dropping heavy damage and feeling mega-powerful in combat, and that's great. For those of us whose playstyle doesn't match that, the disconnect can be pretty stark in high-level play.
Apologies for the absence; I was banned (again) because D&D Beyond has some pretty bad [REDACTED]s and their [REDACTED] policy is shit. I mean, you can't even talk about the [REDACTED]s without your message getting [REDACTED].
And so, history repeats itself...
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
By following the rules, I mean not allowing rerolls, sand that’s it.
Why would not allow rerolls? It's not against the rules to have advantage on something.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
I'm in two irl groups. One meets every Thursday at 6:30 pm, and has done for probably 4 years. This is the ideal imo. I love this. We're playing online these days.
The other one meets on the second Tuesday of the month, unless it doesn't, which happens roughly a third of the time; and meets at no other times. This is less than ideal. Lovely people, fun game, very slow progress and I barely see my friends. This one meets in person.
I'm also in an online game that updates asynchronously, which is also fun.
Apologies for the absence; I was banned (again) because D&D Beyond has some pretty bad [REDACTED]s and their [REDACTED] policy is shit. I mean, you can't even talk about the [REDACTED]s without your message getting [REDACTED].
Question: Do you have specific days that you play D&D? Or is it just when everyone can make it? Or do you plan the next session (if it's not always on the same day of the week) at the end of the current session?
Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes Monday but scheduling is difficult lol
I have written several posts and come mighty close to clicking the button, only to realize that given what I have learned and observed thus far, if I do click it, I will earn enough points to be gone a for a long while, lol.
So, I abandon it and click "ignore user" instead, since it is always to the same very small group of people who appear to have an intense hate for WotC, D&D, and anyone who doesn't think like they do.
I would say that there is a dearth of knowledge about understanding posting patterns and an absence of significant experience. But old ladies such as I are like that, I guess, lol.
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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
By following the rules, I mean not allowing rerolls, sand that’s it.
Why would not allow rerolls? It's not against the rules to have advantage on something.
Outside of class, race abilities, and advantage and disadvantage.
By that basis, then I have often played games well in excess of 20 prior to 5e and all my games are within the rules. Because I don't *allow* rerolls. In some cases, the story requires them, but mostly I am a bear about the nature of chance, lol.
Also, I use Hero points and inspiration, lol. In my games, the point is to be heroic and often foolhardy. The more it adds to the story, the better. I have lost one of my favorite NPCs, a BBEG, many a time because the actions decided upon by the party are so hilariously perfect or so utterly glorious that they had to happen just because they made the story better. It always means more work for me, dang nabbit, but that's part of the fun for me, too.
But it always has some kind of thing about it that really makes the story -- of that character, of the overall game itself, of that particular encounter -- better in some way. Otherwise, nah, you rolled a 4, Stacy, deal.
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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
Apologies for the absence; I was banned (again) because D&D Beyond has some pretty bad [REDACTED]s and their [REDACTED] policy is shit. I mean, you can't even talk about the [REDACTED]s without your message getting [REDACTED].
Question: Do you have specific days that you play D&D? Or is it just when everyone can make it? Or do you plan the next session (if it's not always on the same day of the week) at the end of the current session?
Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes Monday but scheduling is difficult lol
I have written several posts and come mighty close to clicking the button, only to realize that given what I have learned and observed thus far, if I do click it, I will earn enough points to be gone a for a long while, lol.
So, I abandon it and click "ignore user" instead, since it is always to the same very small group of people who appear to have an intense hate for WotC, D&D, and anyone who doesn't think like they do.
I would say that there is a dearth of knowledge about understanding posting patterns and an absence of significant experience. But old ladies such as I are like that, I guess, lol.
It’s not just you. I deal with my temper and really work to not be that person who responds to the haters. WotC and D&D don’t deserve hate, just conversations about tense topics. If the community could meaningfully engage with WotC we wouldn’t have people acting like that.
I’m getting dangerously close to the topic that is not to be spoken of though, so I’ll stop myself here.
Question: Actually, not a question! Tell me about the most memorable moment your character has had (or a memorable moment as a DM, if you're more DM than player) in any of your campaigns (and if it's not clear, tell me why it was so memorable). :)
Question: Actually, not a question! Tell me about the most memorable moment your character has had (or a memorable moment as a DM, if you're more DM than player) in any of your campaigns (and if it's not clear, tell me why it was so memorable). :)
Haha…
I’ve had many, but my most recent was the damage dealing wall of twenties.
I’m playing a ranger who has many abilities to stack onto attacks. I rolled my three attacks (gloom stalkers get three in the first round) and got nat 20, nat 20, and 25. The damage was astronomical for a level 8 character. The next round I rolled another nat 20 and a 22. No character has yet dealt more damage than him. This is less of a memorable story moment, but it was still amazing, and at the end of it my GM looked at me and held out his hand “give me that die”
Question: Actually, not a question! Tell me about the most memorable moment your character has had (or a memorable moment as a DM, if you're more DM than player) in any of your campaigns (and if it's not clear, tell me why it was so memorable). :)
I don’t know about the most memorable moment, but here is a memorable one. I had a divine soul sorcerer who was exploring Gnoll infested mines. He entered one room, and inside he found a bunch of Groll witherlings. He attacked one of them with guiding bolt and when rolling for damage, which was 4d6, he rolled four sixes. Maximum damage. Unfortunately, that attack was wasted on wimpy little skeletons, but the DM said that the blast was so powerful that it hit the Gnoll witherling, blasted through it, and destroyed the one behind it. I am actually pretty sure that is an optional rule in the dungeon master’s guide.
I don’t know about the most memorable moment, but here is a memorable one. I had a divine soul sorcerer who was exploring Gnoll infested mines. He entered one room, and inside he found a bunch of Groll witherlings. He attacked one of them with guiding bolt and when rolling for damage, which was 4d6, he rolled four sixes. Maximum damage. Unfortunately, that attack was wasted on wimpy little skeletons, but the DM said that the blast was so powerful that it hit the Gnoll witherling, blasted through it, and destroyed the one behind it. I am actually pretty sure that is an optional rule in the dungeon master’s guide.
You're talking about cleaving through creatures. It, or "overkill" damage is a common optional or house rule in a lot of games that don't want to see a good damage roll go to waste..
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I don’t know about the most memorable moment, but here is a memorable one. I had a divine soul sorcerer who was exploring Gnoll infested mines. He entered one room, and inside he found a bunch of Groll witherlings. He attacked one of them with guiding bolt and when rolling for damage, which was 4d6, he rolled four sixes. Maximum damage. Unfortunately, that attack was wasted on wimpy little skeletons, but the DM said that the blast was so powerful that it hit the Gnoll witherling, blasted through it, and destroyed the one behind it. I am actually pretty sure that is an optional rule in the dungeon master’s guide.
You're talking about cleaving through creatures. It, or "overkill" damage is a common optional or house rule in a lot of games that don't want to see a good damage roll go to waste..
Yes, that was what I was thinking of. I like that house rule. Another memorable moment was when I first started playing DND. I was a wizard, we had one rogue, and two fighters. We were attacking a goblin fortress when we came across a door that was bared from the outside. We didn’t stop to think that it must be keeping something in, not keeping others out, so we opened it. Out came an owlbear and we were level 2 or 3, hadn’t really played DND before, and were terrified of every monster we met. I wanted to avoid death, so I used prestidigitation to make owlbear sounds outside the castle door in an attempt to lure it away from us. It was working, after a few tense rounds the owlbear was right out the door and leaving, but by that time one of our fighter’s got bored. She decided to chuck her greataxe at the owlbear and rolled a one for damage. Barely harmed but angered, the owlbear turned around and attacked her. The first attack missed, which is lucky because the second attack knocked her to 0 hp. Our other fighter, who plays every single one of her characters as a chaotic evil rogue regardless of class or written alignment, darted inside the door that the owlbear came from, slammed it shut, and locked it. So the rogue and my wizard were stuck in the room with the angry owlbear and were locked out of safety. My turns were spent casting a bunch of spells at it, like sleep, but they didn’t have any effect. The rogues turns were spent banging on the door and screaming at our fighter to open it. Eventually, the fighter did open the door and she dragged the other unconscious fighter to safety. The rogue then stole a healing potion and all her money from the fighter before healing her. Ever since then, the fighter that provoked the owlbear has been terrified of the monsters and thinks that they are much more powerful than they really are. So I obviously include one in every adventure that she will be in.
Other memorable moments include when I successfully performed brain surgery on our warlock to remove a mind flayer tadpole and when a party member killed a werewolf by force feeding it bleach.
My answer is also no. The highest level I got to as a player was (I think) 7. Even then, I only got that high by playing the same character with multiple different Dungeon Masters.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.If by “following the rules correctly” you’re allowing for homebrew and houserules then unfortunately still no, lol. The highest my group has gotten to so far is 14th level.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Apologies for the absence; I was banned (again) because D&D Beyond has some pretty bad [REDACTED]s and their [REDACTED] policy is shit. I mean, you can't even talk about the [REDACTED]s without your message getting [REDACTED].
Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes Monday but scheduling is difficult lol
[REDACTED]
This, plus the fact that magic trivializes so much of travel, exploration, investigation, and traps. Yes, there are ways to adjust to keep challenge a factor, but it requires a lot more work from the DM, and if you do it too often your players will probably start to feel like you're punishing them for being powerful.
I resonate with what you said about playing comparatively weak characters. Some people really love dropping heavy damage and feeling mega-powerful in combat, and that's great. For those of us whose playstyle doesn't match that, the disconnect can be pretty stark in high-level play.
If any of y’all have fun wizards characters then check out my new thread in the Wizard forum: Share Your Quirky Wizards!
The link wouldn’t work, so I’m just going to advertise it directly 🤷🏻‍♂️
And so, history repeats itself...
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
By following the rules, I mean not allowing rerolls, sand that’s it.
Hi, I’m DrakenBrine, here’s my Sig and characters
I am The Grand Envisioner!
Why would not allow rerolls? It's not against the rules to have advantage on something.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
Outside of class, race abilities, and advantage and disadvantage.
Hi, I’m DrakenBrine, here’s my Sig and characters
I am The Grand Envisioner!
I'm in two irl groups. One meets every Thursday at 6:30 pm, and has done for probably 4 years. This is the ideal imo. I love this. We're playing online these days.
The other one meets on the second Tuesday of the month, unless it doesn't, which happens roughly a third of the time; and meets at no other times. This is less than ideal. Lovely people, fun game, very slow progress and I barely see my friends. This one meets in person.
I'm also in an online game that updates asynchronously, which is also fun.
I have written several posts and come mighty close to clicking the button, only to realize that given what I have learned and observed thus far, if I do click it, I will earn enough points to be gone a for a long while, lol.
So, I abandon it and click "ignore user" instead, since it is always to the same very small group of people who appear to have an intense hate for WotC, D&D, and anyone who doesn't think like they do.
I would say that there is a dearth of knowledge about understanding posting patterns and an absence of significant experience. But old ladies such as I are like that, I guess, lol.
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
By that basis, then I have often played games well in excess of 20 prior to 5e and all my games are within the rules. Because I don't *allow* rerolls. In some cases, the story requires them, but mostly I am a bear about the nature of chance, lol.
Also, I use Hero points and inspiration, lol. In my games, the point is to be heroic and often foolhardy. The more it adds to the story, the better. I have lost one of my favorite NPCs, a BBEG, many a time because the actions decided upon by the party are so hilariously perfect or so utterly glorious that they had to happen just because they made the story better. It always means more work for me, dang nabbit, but that's part of the fun for me, too.
But it always has some kind of thing about it that really makes the story -- of that character, of the overall game itself, of that particular encounter -- better in some way. Otherwise, nah, you rolled a 4, Stacy, deal.
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
It’s not just you. I deal with my temper and really work to not be that person who responds to the haters. WotC and D&D don’t deserve hate, just conversations about tense topics. If the community could meaningfully engage with WotC we wouldn’t have people acting like that.
I’m getting dangerously close to the topic that is not to be spoken of though, so I’ll stop myself here.
Question: Actually, not a question! Tell me about the most memorable moment your character has had (or a memorable moment as a DM, if you're more DM than player) in any of your campaigns (and if it's not clear, tell me why it was so memorable). :)
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Link for anyone: Them There Quirky Wizards and Their Questionable Links!
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Thanks SirTawmis!
Haha…
I’ve had many, but my most recent was the damage dealing wall of twenties.
I’m playing a ranger who has many abilities to stack onto attacks. I rolled my three attacks (gloom stalkers get three in the first round) and got nat 20, nat 20, and 25. The damage was astronomical for a level 8 character. The next round I rolled another nat 20 and a 22. No character has yet dealt more damage than him. This is less of a memorable story moment, but it was still amazing, and at the end of it my GM looked at me and held out his hand “give me that die”
I don’t know about the most memorable moment, but here is a memorable one. I had a divine soul sorcerer who was exploring Gnoll infested mines. He entered one room, and inside he found a bunch of Groll witherlings. He attacked one of them with guiding bolt and when rolling for damage, which was 4d6, he rolled four sixes. Maximum damage. Unfortunately, that attack was wasted on wimpy little skeletons, but the DM said that the blast was so powerful that it hit the Gnoll witherling, blasted through it, and destroyed the one behind it. I am actually pretty sure that is an optional rule in the dungeon master’s guide.
You're talking about cleaving through creatures. It, or "overkill" damage is a common optional or house rule in a lot of games that don't want to see a good damage roll go to waste..
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Yes, that was what I was thinking of. I like that house rule.
Another memorable moment was when I first started playing DND. I was a wizard, we had one rogue, and two fighters. We were attacking a goblin fortress when we came across a door that was bared from the outside. We didn’t stop to think that it must be keeping something in, not keeping others out, so we opened it. Out came an owlbear and we were level 2 or 3, hadn’t really played DND before, and were terrified of every monster we met. I wanted to avoid death, so I used prestidigitation to make owlbear sounds outside the castle door in an attempt to lure it away from us. It was working, after a few tense rounds the owlbear was right out the door and leaving, but by that time one of our fighter’s got bored. She decided to chuck her greataxe at the owlbear and rolled a one for damage. Barely harmed but angered, the owlbear turned around and attacked her. The first attack missed, which is lucky because the second attack knocked her to 0 hp. Our other fighter, who plays every single one of her characters as a chaotic evil rogue regardless of class or written alignment, darted inside the door that the owlbear came from, slammed it shut, and locked it. So the rogue and my wizard were stuck in the room with the angry owlbear and were locked out of safety. My turns were spent casting a bunch of spells at it, like sleep, but they didn’t have any effect. The rogues turns were spent banging on the door and screaming at our fighter to open it. Eventually, the fighter did open the door and she dragged the other unconscious fighter to safety. The rogue then stole a healing potion and all her money from the fighter before healing her. Ever since then, the fighter that provoked the owlbear has been terrified of the monsters and thinks that they are much more powerful than they really are. So I obviously include one in every adventure that she will be in.
Other memorable moments include when I successfully performed brain surgery on our warlock to remove a mind flayer tadpole and when a party member killed a werewolf by force feeding it bleach.