TRPG General Chat

@Himitsu_no_Yami Tell that to a white dwarf.

Q: Does 5e have a Manual of the Planes?

1:00 AM

4

I'm building a Warlock with an Archfey patron, and I want to read more about the Feywild. I remember the AD&D Manual of the Planes and it had information from all the planes. Does 5e have one of these? If not, is there a place I can read in-depth about the Archfey and the Feywild? (Similar inform...

15

Q: I think one of my players wants to leave the campaign

I am a relatively new DM. I am running my first campaign, which started about a year ago, with some close friends from college. We have all played D&D before, but this is the first time I’m DMing. My group is very roleplay-oriented. I’ve had a ton of fun planning out dramatic character moment...

dnd-5e problem-players player-communication parting-ways-with-players

1:28 AM

Almost got my code working ...

MikeQ

@Xirema This falling damage conundrum has me thinking... Do you know any good approximations for a linear progression without rolling more than 10 dice? Constraints are that the minimum, maximum, and average should be more or less continuous.

i.e. if different distance domains corresponded to different formulas, and you graphed the min, max, and average output values rolled, then the graphs would be more or less continuous

You mean, like, you want the approximate distribution of 40d6, but not to roll 40 dice?

MikeQ

Sort of, except I don't think variance is a priority here.

D&D doesn't represent Falling damage well. HP are meant to represent Skill, Luck, etc, as well as Physical Endurance. These don't come into play much with a vertical plummet!

So, say you want only to roll 10 dice at max. To approximate NdX (N>10) just roll 10dX and add it to (N-10)*(X+1)/2. Should be close enough for gov't work, no?

So 40d6 becomes 105+10d6

10d6

9d6

Dice Service

1:35 AM

•

d6

•

139!

@BlackSpike yeah, falling's just the tip of the iceberg even, esp. in d20 modern games

20ktons at 70mph = SPLAT, no matter how many class levels you have

I'd be tempted to call on "DM decides if it is worth rolling" ... you fell over 200' straight down? I don't care if you're a 20th level Fighter ... No roll needed ...

Shalvenay

1:40 AM

@BlackSpike yeah, likewise with my rather splattery expample

@Shalvenay indeed

a particular interpretation of the rules could support that .. "to a maximum of 20d6" (anything over that is SPLAT!) :D

KorvinStarmast

@Himitsu_no_Yami Gravity is a law that's kind of hard to break unless you have lift and fuel

@AlexP Yep, ENWorld changed their site around a bit but I think the forum posts are all still there. Just takes a little googling to find the new URL

Fixed the other broken link too using Wayback Machine

Himitsu_no_Yami

1:58 AM

@KorvinStarmast or a second or third level spell slot

KorvinStarmast

@Himitsu_no_Yami Yeah, that too :)

Q: How do critical hits work with static monster damage?

10

If I use static damage from monsters, how do I calculate the value on critical hits? I can't just double the value, because that includes the static modifier. Should I recalculate the damage on the fly (so, if the monster usually has (7) d8 + 3, I make it (11) 2d8 + 3)? That's kind of pain in the...

dnd-5e monsters critical-hit

3:14 AM

@Himitsu_no_Yami feather fall's first level, no?

Youjay

4:37 AM

Heyo, does anyone know where I can find a quick little 1hr social/combat encounter for 4 lvl 3 players in 5e? Were trying out new characters and my players want to "break the shoes in" so to speak.

MikeQ

They meet in a tavern called "Monk's Café" and discuss everyday life in an observational comedy style

5:20 AM

@nitsua60 yes

@Youjay I don't have a link to one handy, but I'm sure there are a few that might work in D&D Beyond's "Encounters of the Week" articles

dndbeyond.com/tag/encounter-of-the-week

7:33 AM

@BlackSpike I would advise against that, since there is an explicit damage formula in the PHB. The players should know you're not going to use it before being in a situation where they might want to jump.

(People also do survive extreme falls, occasionally. Luck is often involved, of course, in terms of what one lands on)

I mean, if I had done the math and decided to jump, and my GM told me that "don't roll, you die. Splat" and proceeded to say something like "use your common sense man it was 200 feet!" I'd walk out.

8:14 AM

Company of Heroes 2 is free to own if you get it before Nov. 17th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/231430/Company_of_Heroes_2/
And the same applies (free to own if you get it before Nov. 18th) to the Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam expansion, but you need to own CK2 first: https://store.steampowered.com/app/203778/Expansion__Crusader_Kings_II_Sword_of_Islam/

8:25 AM

@kviiri agreed. "Common sense" shouldn't really be too relevant to what high-level heroes are capable of, anyway, they're basically mythological past a certain point

Q: How can I improve combat so my players don't always use the strategy of collectively focusing fire on one enemy at a time until it's dead?

10:01 AM

4

I'm DMing a campaign on 5e with a group of four players. We're all experienced in RPG in general but not specifically on 5e. Players are Level 4. Wizard, Fighter, Rogue and Druid, Circle of the Moon. My players have come to the conclusion that, given the mechanics of the game, is much more effe...

dnd-5e combat strategy

12:36 PM

@V2Blast Isn't CK2 free nowadays? (The base game)

3:00 PM

@Youjay Sounds like they meet a patron who wants to "see what they've got" before hiring, and has them pit-fight against three of the patron's trusty brawlers?

(Some chit-chat with the adversaries beforehand might influence whether the damage they do is lethal vs. non-?)

4:03 PM

@kviiri apparently so

didn't realize that until recently

Q: Can a wizard copy a wizard spell into their spellbook that they aren't high enough level to cast?

5:09 PM

1

In 5e D&D, can a wizard discern and copy a wizard spell into their spellbook that they aren't high enough level to cast? If they found a dead archmage's book, or stole their own master's, prior to fleeing into the night, could a 5th-level wizard copy the 9th-level spells into their own? He doesn'...

dnd-5e spells class-feature wizard spellcasting

@HotRPGQuestions Only if it's a public domain spell or with the express consent of the copyright holder.

5:27 PM

that protection question

I feel like I'd have a hard time believing those players weren't arguing in bad faith

I dunno, I've seen all kinds of weird misunderstandings

eh

taking the OP at face value, the way that they pulled up the definition on dndbeyond and then directly misquoted it in such a way as to make their interpretation sound possible is setting off my bells

Glazius

@Shalvenay I won't be able to make it in tomorrow, sorry; work's called for another weekend in the office.

because without mangling that reading it is very obvious that the style doesn't grant you extra attacks

Shalvenay

@Glazius ok, things would have been touch and go with my schedule anyway

5:32 PM

@Carcer They might not be native, which makes all kinds of errors more likely

@kviiri possible, I suppose

And there's always the rule text confusion between editions -option. Although I'm not sure what the lingo on taking reactions has been before 5e

I admit no real familiarity with 4e but "reactions" weren't really a thing in 3e

I recall being personally quite confused by 4e when there were spells that allowed one to "make a saving throw or gain 2d4 temporary hit points". I hadn't played DnD before but I knew saving throws as a concept from roguelikes... and I knew they were something you make to avoid bad stuff, not good!

Turns out 4e saving throws are basically "does this bad effect continue on me or not" -checks.

So extra saving throw means an extra chance to lose some bad stuff.

in 3e attacks of opportunity were their own specific thing and didn't have any impact on the rest of the action economy

6:04 PM

Yes, I can kinda see that getting generalized into "using a reaction"

Glazius

8:29 PM

@vicky_molokh I'm sorry to report that you were correct, but if you want to talk more about it I'm here.

vicky_molokh

10:03 PM

@Glazius This doesn't seem like the first time we seem to have a miscommunication leading to talking past each other, and I think I'm unlikely to clear things up in a reasonable amount of exchanges. Certainly not right now. Sorry.

Q: Can Forest Gnomes secretly converse (like Thieves' Cant) with other Forest Gnomes/Firbolgs/Speak with Animals users via Speak with Small Beasts?

10:56 PM

4

My party has two Forest Gnomes and a Firbolg and they want to use their racial features to secretly communicate. Forest Gnomes have Speak with Small Beasts: Through sound and gestures, you may communicate simple ideas with Small or smaller beasts. Firbolg's have: Speech of Beast an...

dnd-5e spells racial-traits gnomes firbolg

BESW

Tess of RPG Casts wants to know, "What TTRPG have you NEVER played but really really want to?"

Highlights from my own list:

> Balikbayan
Bell Songs
Bluebeard's Bride
The Fifth Season (not yet published but waaant)
Have I Been Good?
Lord Scurlock
Maharlika
Misspent Youth
Ngen Mapu
Pasión de las Pasiones
Paw Friends Are Forever
Sundown
The Thousand Cousins
Trophy
War of Ashes

trogdor

11:21 PM

definitely want to try Sundown