@MikeQ The big bugbear is that it allows Divine Soul Sorcerers to cast revival spells for free, although it is limited to Raise Dead until level 20. I don't think it's an issue because by that point, you're expected to have quite a lot of gems/money anyways, but I do know some DMs that balance Revival around the scarcity of gems.
@Xirema ...is there an AoE resurrection spell in 5e?
"We kill them all but they just keep getting back up! WHAT IS GOING ON." [meanwhile, eight miles away, a cleric giggles and picks up another handful of diamonds]
@BESW I posted the rest of my homebrew; this is in reference to the Discounted Spell effect, which allows the sorcerer to spend Sorcery Points to ignore costed spell components.
I grew up on the edge of the desert, so heat doesn't really bother me all that much. I used to chase grasshoppers across the football fields in the middle of summer in the 40C heat.
Ok, to summarize, I spent buncha downtime across 8-12 months prepping this big pirate-themed Pathfinder game. Unfortunately, I grossly overestimated player availability, so the game's scale is simply too much. Since I mistakenly started the game at 10th level, my players built very complicated and powerful characters, and I find the resulting combat very tedious.
@MikeQ Greener had that happen once, and switched from 4e to Fate because it was faster, simpler, really easy to translate characters from D&D into Fate, and let him skip the tedious "leveling up" time and get right into the cool endgame stuff.
@Shalvenay A campaign against an invading army of sapient emus, involving all of the different challenges that fighting off an invading army entails - subterfuge, diplomacy, and large-scale battle.
I'd asked here a while ago about writing some arc about finding spies in a town, but now I have to cram it all into one session, so the criteria has changed
I could set up the session's bulk to be a long combat slog while raiding the spy HQ, but that won't be fun for me
One idea I had is to use some story element to basically nerf the enemies. The spies use devil magic, so maybe an early-session challenge could involve gaining some mumbojumbo that makes the PCs arbitrarily powerful against devil magic. So I could justify "Oh wow the hellknight goes down in 2 hits, it's a good thing you got that buff"
e.g. Some of the PCs use a big handful of dice when rolling their attacks and damage, another PC summons as many monsters as possible, another casts duration-spells with complicated effects
@Ben It's what I keep reiterating in chat: I don't like when the granularity and number-crunching of the game mechanics outweigh the narrative and fun.
Yeah. I'm all for it if the situation is actually entertaining. E.g my Corruption mechanic... but if it's just more bookkeeping it's just more bookkeeping
Give the party some allies who do background fighting while the party goes straight for the "only we can do this" goals. Narrate the epic fighting they're ducking through and around as they focus on the endgame.
I wish we were not to temporally separated ... your play test group might be best in your time zone ... or you have to jump through hoops to test with some of us in this time zone group ....
@KorvinStarmast I could just give it to you to apply to one of your games?
The system itself isn't exactly specific to the game - it can be applied and just go through some label changes. The numbers are the important thing to test.
Here is my first cut on wordsmithing your AoE metamagic thing ... Artillery spell When you cast a spell that targets an area of effect that isn't yourself, you may spend 5 sorcery points to increase the spell's range, as long as you can see the target. Make a spellcasting ability check with the DC equal to your distance from the target and yourself divided by the spell's normal range (miniumm DC of 20). On a success, the spell targets the location. On a failure, the spell targets a location around the target determined by a d8 die roll: (1=North; 3 = East, 5 = South, etc.) and a d10 die r…
@Ben Hmm, likely not, I am not running a dungeon crawl any time soon. Our shared campaign world has mostly out doors, and I am setting them up to hit Shrine of Tamoachan in a few months. That's more like a one shot than a dungeon crawl.
@Xirema Sorry, see the above word smith on Artillery Spell Meta Magic
Well, again I can still see it working. The system not tied to any specific environment, just the labels for all of it can be changed. E.g. it could be re-worded into a toxin based thing.
The only requirement I see s possibly just the length of the campaign.
@KorvinStarmast I mean it definitely shortens it. And my first iteration was dividing some of the categories on the 5's rather than the 0's, so your proposal does show that we can get rid of one of the d10s. I probably don't want to start using variable letters though.
@Xirema Take me back to first principles: you want to throw some spell out at serious range. Beyond longbow. Beyond horizon? I.e. is this Napoleonic artillery or 20th-C. artillery?
And you want to reflect that firing at that range isn't necessarily as accurate as firing at "reasonable" (listed) range. You want more than just hit/miss, you want something of how it missed, right?
@nitsua60 That's the essence of it. The circumstances of when you'd use a spell like this are specifically that there's something worth hitting if you don't hit the exact target.
@BESW Rather than a full-on "kick down the door and kill all the baddies" raid, another possibility could be to set up a sting operation or infiltrate a spy meeting. Less combat that way.
@MikeQ Might be good to have the party working with the proper authorities instead of being vigilantes; then all they have to do is what the authorities need in order to get the system rolling.
@Xirema Okay, so the nature/direction/distance of the miss is both mechanically and narratively interesting. (I.e. this isn't just giving the GM a useful prompt for narrating the miss, but it's a mechanic that is worth making gameable by the players.)
@nitsua60 I do like the current version: it only rolls 3 dice. d20 to successfully land the shot, d8+d10 to adjudicate the miss. Still worried it's too complicated.
@BESW Yes, for background, the mayor-equivalent knows that the spies have infiltrated many parts of the town, including his own forces. He has a relatively small handful of trusted guards. He's also caught in the middle of a complex political situation. In other words, he can't solve his problem himself, and he needs some adventurers to help him out.
@Xirema I.e. could the d20 result be more than just hit/miss? Like "high hit" is exactly on target, "close hit" is off-target but target is still in AoE, then there's "near miss" and "far miss"?
My other instinct (and I should be transparent here: I haven't read any of the versions linked by you or others--so I'm just spitballing afresh) is to have some sort of range "band" mechanic with only a few options.
@BESW The PCs have reason to hunt down the spies. So I figured, maybe they meet with the mayor, set up some operation (maybe suggest they pose as spies?), and then... I dunno. It's a cool sounding idea (compared to an extended raid) but I'm unsure about a sensible setup or execution.
Well, what does the mayor need in order to act? Evidence to take to the king's police? Blackmail material on the spies' boss? Access to the spies' records?
@BESW So they're not a mayor per se, more like an authoritarian pirate boss who oversees the port. This handwaves the nuances about the chain of command or getting further permission.
normal range is band 0; it costs 0SP and doesn't engage this mechanic. Band 1 is range--2x range. Costs 1SP and the bounds on the d20 are at +/-1 of the target number. Band 2 is 2x range--4x range. Costs 2SP and the bounds on the d20 are at +/-2 of the target number. Band 3 is 4x range--8x range. Costs 3SP and the bounds... Band 4 is 8x -- 16x, costs 4SP. &c. Exceeding target number+#of SP spent is a perfect hit. Anything between target number and target+SP is an offset in d8 direction. Between target-SP and target misses by SP x (size of AoE)
Only extra roll is d8 for direction. Need an extra beat to think about how close to target number the roll is. I think this is close to a minimal mechanic that (tries) to get the things we listed a few lines back.
@BESW A remote empire. The spies want the McGuffin. The PCs have the McGuffin, the spies stole treasure from the PCs. But the PCs know that giving the McGuffin to the spies would lead to Bad Stuff, so an exchange isn't an option.
@MikeQ And the mayor is actually a Deva who fell to earth ... sorry, was talking with someone about the books by RA McAvoy today ... had Damiano and Raphael on the mind.
@BESW The pirate mayor hasn't acted because 1. he's busy, 2. he knows the spies find him useful for unspecified reasons, and 3. he's unsure how much they've infiltrated his security forces, and doesn't want to risk playing his hand.
@BESW If this sounds complicated, that's because it is, and I had scaled the campaign so that PCs could gradually gain information across consistently recurring sessions.
If I don't specify a goal, I think the players would likely opt to 1. gear up and 2. find the spies and then 3. fight them. Which is fine, but seems really boring.
@BESW If I suggest they get help first, then the PCs would likely opt to meet with the mayor-pirate first. So they raid the HQ with arbitrarily many allies, and the combat can, mechanically, involve fewer NPCs. But again, the premise is still "kick down the door and fight stuff for a while."
So my goal is to 1. wrap up the established narrative, and 2. resolve it in a way that's not all combat
Given that I'm using a combat-centric system, some combat is ok, but I'd like to avoid a marathon of juggling numbers and managing an assortment of temporary effects on various characters
To clarify, I'm not trying to add complexity to the combat by inserting secondary goals and such. The combat is already mechanically complex. My goal is to reduce time spent running combat, and instead present other challenges that have primarily noncombat premises.
Even with my streamlined NPCs with minimized statblocks, running combats is still exhausting when the combat involves hours of tediously juggling numbers
Well, you don't need enemies to be the obstacle. For example, there might be a few low-level casters that are setting up a spell, but by the time the party reaches them, the prep is already done - a bit like avengers one with the portal. they need to find a way to shut down the [evil thing that is happening]
Making a countdown event can be really fun.
In one Dark Heresy game I played, there was a timer we had to beat in order to escape the base. And we managed to get out just in the nick of time before the whole thing exploded.
Ok, how about: The pirate-mayor has intercepted a spy letter, and wants to set up a sting operation. They'd write up their own response to the letter, proposing a meeting between the main spymasters. Since the spies presumably know the mayor's forces, he'd suggest sending the PCs undercover.
Could that work?
Player challenges would be: Devising the operation, Choosing the place/time for the meeting, Maintaining disguise and doing skills/social stuff during the meeting, then possibly a short combat against the story-relevant baddies.
@Ben Countdowns can be fun, and rituals can be cool, but I've already set up too many plot elements, and adding a time-sensitive ritual risks oversaturating the plot even further.
It certainly can be a tricky thing to balance - you don't want to make every conflict a combat sequence, but you don't want to have to come up with a whole other concept every time either.
Well, if you wanted to capture magic spymasters, then you'd want to gather them in one place, then cast a spell on that place to prevent them from teleporting away.
Assuming they would gather? I think if the PCs have some clever ideas in setting up this fake spy meeting, and make it sound sufficiently convincing, then I'll let it happen.
@Ben Next order of business. Even if the operation is a success and the spymasters can't teleport, they'll likely attack. So I need to set up the NPCs.
@Joshua I had one game where we were up against the "Sluggernaut". I ran in to try and slow it down, while the other two tried to hijack/break in to a car to try and crash into him, effectively knocking him out in one hit.
I once asked a story id question there, about a Brave Little Tailor book that becomes a grisly and macabre commentary on weapons of mass destruction after the tailor succeeds.
Rats why does the mobile UI sometimes duplicate messages when editing
The tailor, after slaying the giant, gets hired by the king to be in charge of other killing operations too. He gets a machine so advanced they can kill someone by just pushing a button
The tailor starts to like their job and doesn't really think about it. He gets more machines with more buttons, until ultimately there's even a little red button to kill everyone with --- should the need arise.
He does realize he's become a monster when he sees one of his victims (whom I remember being a childhood friend and rather mangled)
@MikeQ Ritual Caster: how to integrate that for the case of an NPC baddie such that there is a 10 minute ticking clock...
... make the baddie a 9th level caster, and they have to use Teleportation Circle to escape (their one 5th level slot) after casting that (X) 5th level spell as a ritual.
Setting the trigger for the clock to begin running down is the trick, I think. I'll get back to you when I have a better idea, my Xanathar's is not currently available.
@MikeQ don't forget about group checks and chase sequences.
They're not physically "chasing", but they are "chasing" leads. If you haven't watched colville's video on the chase, I recommend it.
iirc, it's basically a "best of 5" (or 7 or whatever).
• PCs arrive, you ask someone to make a check to advance the hunt. • McFighterson suggests his craft vehicle (water) to schmooze with the yachtsmen. Succeeds the check. That's 1-check. • Wizardface suggests insight to look for someone acting shifty and succeeds. 2-check
@Carcer you are correct. RAT was a tongue in cheek term coined by a recent answer. That being said, I really hope people don't start using it. There's enough confusion around RAW/RAI/RAF without joke terms being thrown into the mix.
it is not for no reason that they've been heavily referenced by people trying to figure out what the rules mean
yes I've read it
but the problem is that even if you feel that way, WotC says he makes official rules statements on twitter and for many people that is significantly meaningful
so a term which distinguishes between rules as written and rules as tweeted by JC could be functionally useful.
@Carcer Sure but I believe that it is wrong for them to be viewed so highly. I think making a special term to enshrine them is just unnecessary even if I didn't think that. The larger thing though is that all of his rulings already fit under the commonly used terms RAW and RAI
I'm firmly of the opinion that losing HP by levelling up is the worst thing crawford's ever written, including the thing about twinning dragon's breath
@Rubiksmoose well, both. Not including a minimum in the rules and then doubling down about it on twitter saying that you should just be taking the average if you don't want to risk losing HP
@Carcer I mean to be fair, he was correctly interpreting the RAW. If he had said the rules said otherwise he would have just been wrong. But he should have just said that it was an oversight and that it would be fixed.
So, if a friend of mine uses teleportation circle to get to where I'm fighting, can he then attack the rakshasa, because he used a spell lower than 6th level?
not that I've perused his tweets extensively but I have noticed he seems to overwhelmingly take the tack that the rules as written are correct and you just need some help interpreting them rather than ever saying anything is a mistake or error
Rule As Tweeted (RAT) is ironically used when a tweet from a the game designers contradicts RAW or (perceived) RAI.
Who used it first? Did it originate here in RPG.SE?
Ugh, I really want to create an answer to this question which opposes the JC interpretation one. But I really don't want to sift through all the spells to figure out which ones qualify under a more sensible definition. In addition of course of the painful task of having to define what "affects" means. Could probably get away with an "ask your DM" type answer but I don't feel it super useful. Though more useful I think, than an answer based on JC.
I've been looking for the most effective ways to damage a Rakshasa as a spellcaster, before L7 slots become available. After reading the 3 questions below,
Is a Rakshasa immune to Animate Objects?
Can Maximilian's Earthen Grasp or Bigby's Hand target a Rakshasa?
Does a Mundane Arrow Fired From...
Don't you just yearn for the days of going back to 3e where everything was nice and simple and a spell clearly defined whether or not it was subject to spell resistance/immunity based on simple rules?
perhaps "The Rakshasa is not subject to the effects of spells that target it, nor areas of effect in which it is included, nor illusionary effects of spell level 6 or lower"
and the clause about nondetection remains the smae
@Rubiksmoose There probably aren't that many edge cases for L6 and under. All direct damage spells are out. Detection spells are out. Direct buffs and debuffs are out.
@goodguy5 Spells that don't target it, it's affected by?
@Rubiksmoose Oh, trying to derive the meaning of affect from other spells? I think it would probably be easier to make a list of the edge case L1-6 spells and see if you can derive a heuristic for what does and does not affect a rakasha.
@KorvinStarmast This isn't a 5e game so it doesn't really apply
@goodguy5 Ok, I could use the group skill checks for the phase where the PCs prepare for this undercover operation - much of the "challenge" will involve them brainstorming the plan, more of a collaborative discussion than roll-focused. I like the premise, although I'd kinda be working against the system mechanics, so I'm worried about this all backfiring.
Pathfinder. Working "with" the system often means lining up a bunch of enemies and hazards, and the PCs are reactive and grind out a complicated combat. What I'm planning is to put the PCs on the proactive side, and would not involve long combats.
I like to (not that I always *remember* to) lay it out to the players in that sort of situation. "You want to try to negotiate a deal with the baron to stand hold off on the attack and let you try to infiltrate first? That's going to require 4 successes before 3 failures, and every member tries at least one of them. Talk amongst yourselves for a few minutes to come up with an approach, then we'll start going through the checks." That lets them come up with a more-interesting set of approaches than I probably would have, it lets them track their "progress" in the minigame, &c.
Don't lock things away behind pass/fail skill checks.
IF the party has to find the proverbial key in order to advance, but no one rolls above a 5, then you're stalled. I assume you know better based on my experience here, but I personally tie Pathfinder to a time in my GMing career when I made more mistakes.
@goodguy5 Agreed. Always bugs me when there's an X% chance that the game progress will simply halt because nobody passed the one skill check that is needed to continue
@KorvinStarmast Yes. Not an issue. I realize I sound somewhat the hypocrite, since I'm always rambling about how the DM should work with and not against the system, but I've already picked the wrong system for the game I wanted to run.
I considered just canceling the campaign entirely, but it would be best to give the players some closure about this campaign that I spent so long making for them.
Rule As Tweeted (RAT) is ironically used when a tweet from a the game designers contradicts RAW or (perceived) RAI.
Who used it first? Did it originate here in RPG.SE?
I've been looking for the most effective ways to damage a Rakshasa as a spellcaster, before L7 slots become available. After reading the 3 questions below,
Is a Rakshasa immune to Animate Objects?
Can Maximilian's Earthen Grasp or Bigby's Hand target a Rakshasa?
Does a Mundane Arrow Fired From...
