Can you explain what you meant by the death saves? I don't think I quite get it

@Medix2 should I post a terse "its up to the DM" answer on that new question?

@ThomasMarkov I was thinking about it...

@RyanKinal As in, when they 'die' do they get death saves like PCs, or are they simply dead?

NVM ive got a ruling

@NautArch Currently, neither

> If the beast is reduced to 0 or less HP and is not killed outright, it is instead reduced to 1 HP, flees, and is removed from combat entirely. At this point it is lost and hiding and it gains a level of exhaustion. At the end of your next Short or Long Rest the beast returns and gains the benefit of that rest.

That's what I have currently

@RyanKinal And I'd say you should probably choose one :)

Fair

@ThomasMarkov Doesn't that imply the bag would stop holding.... anything?

Maybe just the Long Rest is the way to go. If it dies, it dies, but returns the next day (essentially)

@Medix2 Unfortuantely, yes.

If it's not killed outright

So no saving throws

@Medix2 I wanna ask that question now.

@ThomasMarkov I think it's already been asked... or at least almost so

@Medix2 No, the space still exists.

The entrance is blocked.

But the fact that it has a larger-than-normal space is an effect

@ThomasMarkov If only wild shape counted as an extradimensional space... (even then it wouldn't be an "item" but oh well)

@Medix2 It's thematically inappropriate for druids to do anything extradimensional. Their magic is from here.

I disagree, druids magic doesn't come from "here", it comes from "the plane" (regardless of which one you happen to be on), as opposed to wizards, who's magic comes from carefully learned application of techniques, or sorcerers and bards, whos magic comes from themselves, or clerics and warlocks, whos magic comes from another being that grants them that magic

druids draw magic from the nature of the plane itself

So saying that magic that interacts with planes and the spaces between being non-thematic for druids doesn't make sense to me

Aren't they all just using the weave, but with different entrances?

Are there trees in the space between planes? Is there rain? Are there seasons?

@MarkWells There are trees and pools. Haven't you read The Magician's Nephew? It's called "the wood between the worlds".

@RyanKinal right. Although a mechanic to try and get it back earlier at the risk of exhaustion for either it or the fighter is interesting.

But maybe not necessary :)

Or maybe a penalty when the companion isn't there

like they need the companion

Could change the interaction with it to more than meat sack

The penalty is "I have all of these training points and have NO WAY TO SPEND THEM"

But yeah, I see what you're saying

@RyanKinal yeah, that too :)

But yeah, a mechanic that refreshes on a short rest and you've lost your thing to spend it on is a bummer.

@ThomasMarkov I actually have not. I stopped reading the series once it no longer had Susan and Edmund because really what's the point? (Other than adopting "The dwarves are for the dwarves, and won't be taken in" as a personal motto.)

maybe there does need to be a recovery possibility.

I thought the exhaustion mechanic was interesting because it has the flavor of "pushing your companion too far"

@MarkWells Magician's Nephew is the prequel, and it is the best in the series imo.

@RyanKinal and that can work with'brinigng them back.

Like you can try to call them back with a check, but if you don't beat it by 5, then it returns with a level of exhaustion.

Or you simply do recall it, but it gains a level of exhaustion.

Oh, yeah

You can use a training point to recall it, but it gains a level of exhaustion?

ooooh

@ThomasMarkov I think I've literally never found a story that I like best when it's in chronological order.

So you could even do it in combat

That feels... nasty. lol

That poor doggo

but i like the idea of instant recall and cost.

that's kind of neat

Or maybe you can optionally recall it on a short rest, but it gains a level of exhaustion

SR recall + exhaustion, combat recall +2 exhaustion?

Oh damn

I love it

@MarkWells Would you count Memento?

@Upper_Case I would call that non-chronological. If you rearranged the segments so that they're in forward order, and then played the movie backward, that would be chronological order :)

@ThomasMarkov Brilliant, brilliant book

@MarkWells Are there trees or seasons on the elemental planes? Druids have a pretty strong connection to those in particular. But druids don't draw their power from trees and seasons, they draw their power from the plane to affect trees and seasons. They affect nature, but what is natural is different on most every plane. In some layers of the Abyss, lakes of blood are natural. In Valhalla, being resurrected at dawn is natural.

In the Astral plane, random portals to other planes and pocket dimensions are natural

@RevenantBacon I hate mornings in Valhalla.

So saying that because there are no trees there, a druid can't draw power from it is absurd

@NautArch Same

@ThomasMarkov 100% agree

@ThomasMarkov What series is this?

@RevenantBacon Chronicles of Narnia

Ah. I started reading it but wasn't a big fan. Didn't like the movie much either.

@RevenantBacon I never got into it, either.

I used to fall asleep to the audio book that my mum pirated from the library

@NautArch Updated the GMBinder. I think it's looking good. Thanks for the feedback.

@RyanKinal No worries! If I can convince a friend to run a one-shot, I may ask if I can use it :)

Nice! If that happens, let me know how it goes

of course!

@MarkWells Forwards, backwards... pretty much the same. I once read through Wheel of Time in reverse

@Upper_Case I just started it :) Have no idea why I'v waited this long.

But seems like I'm pretty set for books for 2021 :)

@NautArch Yeah, WoT will last you for a bit. I personally love it, but it's kind of hard to recommend

@Upper_Case I'm on the second book and hooked.

I've read I think 5 books in? I never finished the series off because I never got around to actually getting the books.

But for anyone else looking for books to read that have already done the WoT series, I recommend the Vlad Taltos novels

@Upper_Case Especially with long series I find I prefer to start on about the third book.

It starts out as standard low fantasy and the magic gets introduced fairly gradually

I haven't read WoT, though.

@MarkWells that would not work very well with the Riftwar series.

i mean, itwould, but it'd be better in order

@MarkWells It's pretty interesting with WoT, since any of the first three books could just be the end of the series. You could jump in on book 3 or 4 if you wanted, but I don't recommend skipping any (even book 8, Path of Daggers, the only book in the series I consider to be without anything to offer)

@RevenantBacon It's now officially on my list!

Thanks, I'm always up for recommendations

Oh my god, I've mixed two series together.

I was thinking of the Conclave of Shadows trilogy

Vlad Taltos is a different thing entirely

That one is much more upfront magic

@RevenantBacon also known as "this is why we don't allow psionics in D&D, folks" :)

What you want to go for is Talon of the Silver Hawk. That's the first book, and I nw I got that right :p

(or, to me, as "you're about to ruin a perfectly good low-fantasy series, aren't you?")

It's not high fantasy, per se, like there are no epic spell duels, and you don't see enchanted swords falling out of every nook and cranny

but there is magic, and it becomes very relevant towards the end

Can someone here explain LitRPGs to me? I've read one, but I don't see the appeal. In a game I get to play, awesome! In an anime... I mean, OK, I guess, since a lot of them are merchandise vehicles anyhow. But an ostensible novel that weaves WoW spreadsheets in with worldbuilding... why?

@Upper_Case all my RPGs are lit.

They're popular enough that I think I'm missing something, rather than them just not being my thing

@NautArch At least you're not arch about it...

As a side note, I do recommend the Vlad Taltos novels, but the Conclave of Shadows trilogy is what I was really talking about.

I just added all of them to the list, to be safe :)

@RevenantBacon not a fan of tht part of riftwar?

or are a fan of that part of riftwar?

No, I am recommending that part of the Riftwar. I was just getting names mixed up earlier

and was trying to clarify

Also, there's this series that I want to recommend as another next read, but I can't for the life of me remember the name of it.

ah, yeah, the conclave of shadows was an interesting one. I really enjoyed the Empire Trilogy was also really good.

I've been struggling for years to convince people to read A Fire Upon the Deep, with no takers yet. If you haven't read it, check it out!

@RevenantBacon murderbot?

This one is low magic in the sense that there isn't much magic in general use, like being a "wizard" isn't really a thing, but there's a handful of incredibly powerful artifacts around, 1 primary one, source unknown, and 6 imperfect copies that each reflect a different aspect of the originals power. Also there are these strange creatures from another dimension that have some sort of strange relation with the number 13.

Sounds a little bit like Night Angel

By Brent Weeks

That might be it

Durzo Blint, Wetboys, etc.?

YES

That's the one

Good old Kyler Stern! I was mixed until the third book, which 100% sold me and justified every complaint I'd had before, petty or otherwise

That's the other series I rcommend to anyone looking for something to read

Did you ever read his Lightbringer series? I've been circling it for a while

@Upper_Case I started it...and stopped. Didn't get into the first book.

@Upper_Case I have not.

@NautArch Did you read Night Angles? How do they compare?

@NautArch That was almost my experience with Night Angel, though I'm glad I stuck it out. Weeks strikes me as a good writer, but impatient. I think he could use a stronger editor, but that could just come down to taste

@RevenantBacon I did not. I think I moved onto the Craft series.

Speaking of good fantasy novels, I'm fleshing out a section of one of the campaigns I'm running that is meant to be based on the middle three Thomas Covenant books. But every idea I throw at it looks like a pretty blatant ripoff... I've never adapted a full setting like that. Does anyone have any tips on doing so?

@Upper_Case where's the problem? that your players will know what to do?

Based on, or inspired by?

@NautArch I'd just rather it not be so transparently a copy. It could at least be a re-skin, but I'm having trouble even getting that much separation between them

@Someone_Evil Inspired by is what I want, based on I might settle for, and flat-out stole is where I've landed so far

@Upper_Case I tried to do this with a failed campaign (it didn't fail because of it.)

But ultimately, I took more of the mechanics of the world I liked.

So not the whole world, but the way some of the magic worked in it.

The major elements of the setting fit so perfectly with the tone and major events of my campaign, which is otherwise pretty original (in content and design, not so much narratively)

The Sunbane is the one piece I've got to have, but it's also the most recognizable and original from that triptych

Is it the actual "sunbane" or something that works like it?

"Works like it" would be fine, though it'll take some effort to get past its four phases. Maybe I could start with D&D-official effects and then work back to the sunbane as a mechanism

"Magpie Games Inks Deal with ViacomCBS Consumer Products for Roleplaying Game Based On Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra" (Magpie Games site announcement). They announced additions to the dev team on Twitter.