discussion and house keeping page

The flexibility is overdue. Everyone will just make custom backgrounds to fulfill particularly game essential skill sets. But you can have an orc paladin that can pick locks.

yeah, well overdue.

That last bit you posted is just bloody bonkers.

whoa.... check this out!

a medieval long bow with a magazine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZuOZ7Fqag8

truly impressive. His discussion of mounted archery is rather spot on... especially since you couldn't really use a Longbow from horseback. The smaller composite bow (which goes back to the Persians, then the Parthians, then then Turks and Mongols) is far more useful and effective. His comment about that being a hunting bow vs. a war bow is actually quite significant.

Hey guys, looking like we’re heading for the final act of Josh’s intro chapter. I’m really enjoying this campaign so far, is there an appetite to keep it going with rotating DMs as we did with Pirates?

Whitey wrote:Hey guys, looking like we’re heading for the final act of Josh’s intro chapter. I’m really enjoying this campaign so far, is there an appetite to keep it going with rotating DMs as we did with Pirates?

definitely! Josh has breathed some much-needed new life into my gaming interest.

I was telling Josh the other day that I had an idea for an adventure that wouldn't interfere with his main storyline. It would be more of a modular chapter that could occur at anytime. Mike was the most recent GM in Pirates, so I feel you are off the hook. Alan should have dibs if he wants to run a chapter. If he doesn't, I am happy to tell the next chapter. Or I can go after Alan, as my idea can happen anytime.

One thing that I really enjoy is the pace that this group can move!

Right on. I’m happy to take a turn as DM too, but will defer to Chris and/or Alan if they want to step up.

I do have an idea for a chapter that would dovetail off Josh’s story pretty well.

That's fine with me too!

I am fine with whomever wants to take over. I have some character ideas (the mortician Dwarf Necromancer is in the lead for now)

Just to say it... anything I have written for this world was mostly flavor and can be changed without bothering me in the least.

I’m the interest of the awesome pace, I should yield DM duties to Chris until after soccer season. I’m coaching for my daughter’s grade school team. I’m getting a new tablet soon and plan to figure out how to edit a maps on that. Then I think I can DM.

It’s settled then. Chris next, then Whitey, then Pup

So say we all

An electric version for $50k? I know what I want for retirement. Plus a scout trooper uniform, of course

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QX5Sm7ttt-k

Chris wrote:An electric version for $50k?  I know what I want for retirement.  Plus a scout trooper uniform, of course

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QX5Sm7ttt-k

I’ll bet repulsorlift causes cancer…

I suspect going 60mph on a flying motorcycle will kill a person long before they need to worry about cancer

at least it's a much more fun way to die! lol

that thing is friggin' sweet!

Wow, this just kicked me right in my childhood!

https://toynewsi.com/278-44499

There are a few things I want to address in the down time before I take over as GM.  We have been playing RAW, which if that is what everyone wants to do, I am ok with it.  However, there are some really bad rules using RAW that I want to propose a couple easy fixes for.

In the last fight, which Josh ran 100% correctly as far as I can tell, the witch stood behind a pillar (3/4 cover) cast a fireball that flew through her wall of giants (1/2 cover) through Zax\Brock (more 1/2 cover) through Marvin\Warhol (more 1/2 cover) and 15ft down a dark tunnel to a spot perfectly 15ft behind Marvin\Warhol that she could not see.  

Likewise, Warhol shot a guiding bolt through Zax\Brock, through the corpse of a giant, through his own wolf and perfectly hit the witch.  

Carry this to the extreme - a person could be standing behind 100 other people (meat shields) in a room with a low ceiling.  Marvin could still hit the target with only a +2 to his AC.  somehow the arrow magically weaves through a crowd of 100 people with no chance of hitting them.  or a fireball or whatever



In 5e, there is no actual definition of Line of Effect.  It is a derived term from the cover rules, which I will copy here for reference:

Cover
Walls, trees, creatures, and other obstacles can provide cover during combat, making a target more difficult to harm. A target can benefit from cover only when an attack or other effect originates on the opposite side of the cover.

There are three degrees of cover. If a target is behind multiple sources of cover, only the most protective degree of cover applies; the degrees aren't added together. For example, if a target is behind a creature that gives half cover and a tree trunk that gives three-quarters cover, the target has three-quarters cover.

A target with half cover has a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws. A target has half cover if an obstacle blocks at least half of its body. The obstacle might be a low wall, a large piece of furniture, a narrow tree trunk, or a creature, whether that creature is an enemy or a friend.

A target with three-quarters cover has a +5 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws. A target has three-quarters cover if about three-quarters of it is covered by an obstacle. The obstacle might be a portcullis, an arrow slit, or a thick tree trunk.

A target with total cover can't be targeted directly by an attack or a spell, although some spells can reach such a target by including it in an area of effect. A target has total cover if it is completely concealed by an obstacle.


here is the only rules on targeting

A Clear Path to the Target
To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover. If you place an area of effect at a point that you can't see and an obstruction, such as a wall, is between you and that point, the point of origin comes into being on the near side of that obstruction.


which means...   anyone casting a spell can be blind, in darkness and still hit the perfect 1 inch intersection of 4 squares as long as the path is not obstructed.  Archers cannot do that.  

it also means that any full obstruction makes someone immune to magic.  

under AOE rules

If no unblocked straight line extends from the point of origin to a location within the area of effect, that location isn't included in the spell's area. To block one of these imaginary lines, an obstruction must provide total cover.


standing behind a window makes a person immune to all magic
or a screen door
or a bedsheet

yes, a fireball would do damage to the obstruction, but the effect stops there.


This is such nonsense that it drives me nuts.

I propose a couple quick and easy fixes:


1)  a caster must have both line of sight and a clear path (not blocked by total obstruction\cover)

2)  instances of cover STACK.  so 3 medium creatures (1/2 cover each) would stack levels of Cover.   1/2 cover (1) to 3/4 cover (2) to full cover (3)

3)  if the damage of a spell\effect is enough to destroy the obstacle, the spell\effect continues through to its full range.

I'm good with those changes...

The 0 HP and death save rules are also really terrible, but so far nobody has been abusing those. They make it almost impossible for a PC to ever die. As long as Warhol doesn't just start bouncing people up from 0 hp, we should be ok.

If that starts happening, the 2 main internet fixes are to impose 1 level of exhaustion (stacking) every time a PC drops to 0 and Death Saves are cumulative (they don't disappear every time you get bounced back up to 1hp). 1 death save goes away after each long rest.

If anyone else has any rules issues they want to address or changes to propose, now would be a good time!

no objections to the rule change for death saves. Vasyli is going to be difficult to get to 0 in the first place.

Can't think of any other rules that need amending.

On area of effect it is important to draw a distinction between effects that emanate from a target location and those that fill a space that is geometrically defined by a target location.

navyik wrote:On area of effect it is important to draw a distinction between effects that emanate from a target location and those that fill a space that is geometrically defined by a target location.

Technically they are no different according to the rules. A ray that goes from A to B or a sphere that emanates at B, both need a clear line from A to B in order for the caster to target B.

Does full cover between me and the center of a fireball protect me from the fireball if the spaces on either side of that cover are not also obstructed? Does the fireball wrap around the cover and get me anyways? I think maybe such cover doesn’t help.

Again, technically RAW, yes. The effect STOPS any time there is a full cover obstacle. There are a few specific exceptions, like gas spells that they wrap around corners.

Dumb, just dumb

Chris wrote:Again, technically RAW, yes.  The effect STOPS any time there is a full cover obstacle.  There are a few specific exceptions, like gas spells that they wrap around corners.

Dumb, just dumb

But if I’m in a cylinder or sphere effect that doesn’t emminate from its center, then maybe the cover is not helpful.

I agree, it doesn't make a ton of sense, but mapping it out on a grid usually helps.

I’m good with the change to cover/ LOS rules and agree that mapping things out is the key.

Marvin is leveled up and ready to go!

Alan and Josh ready?

Whitey wrote:Marvin is leveled up and ready to go!

Did you want to buy any magic items?

I wasnt sure if we finished the loot accounting

Yeah, put that in the other thread. 6 arrows +1

please introduce yourself in the new interlude thread


https://lodgestgaming.forumotion.com/t476-between-a-rock-gut-and-a-stone-palace#30084

https://media.dndbeyond.com/compendium-images/one-dnd/expert-classes/kpx0MvyfBGHe0XKk/UA2022-Expert-Classes.pdf?icid_source=house-ads&icid_medium=crosspromo&icid_campaign=playtest2


new UA includes 3 of the classes (Experts) and a bunch of new feats (most 4th+)

take a look - those seem like really good improvements on the feats. GWM and Sharpshooter got big nerfs, that were needed. Most of the other feats got big boosts!

Also, they made it clear that a lot of the rules from the 1st UA are, in fact, just playtest suggestions and have been rolled back this time - like no GM crits, all 1\20s are auto win\lose, etc


VERY NICE!
imho

interesting....

But I don't see anything that will benefit my dude for now. Unless I missed something.

I love how the Ranger keeps getting tinkered with. lol

that is for One D&D or 5.5 or 6e however you look at it

I would not want to change the “blinded” condition. I just think one should be able to indiscriminately lob an area effect spell into an unseen space with an approximated targeting. A hand grenade rule. A blind man should still be able to blow shit up in range. He should just be somewhat inaccurate in terms of the exact placement of the point of origin. But it isn’t a big deal.

not to nit-pick but this is why they have the Feat that covers that... although that exposes the problem with Feats in this game

Feats are too hard to get.

fully agree with that!

Besides, any idiot should be able to try to hurl area effects into the darkness.

I understand the frustration with Blinded. I see it a few different ways. None of them necessarily make logical sense.

1) game balance - some conditions affect specific types of classes more than others. Blind is worse on casters than melee or even archers, who just have DIS. But other conditions like Poisoned, give DIS to any attack roll but have effectively zero impact on spells (like fireball, ice storm, etc) that are AoE and don't make attack rolls.
Just wait until you are Silenced 0 effect on martials and crippling to casters. With Blind, you can still cast heal spells or dispel magic or lesser restoration.

2) grenade rules - d12 for direction, then some random amount that you miss by... lots of extra rolls for something you aren't actually throwing. A fireball can magically weave through crowds to target the exact 1 inch intersection on a grid. If you had to make an attack roll to target the fireball in the first place, i would agree that it just gets DIS. That's changing a lot of rules. I think the magic targetting rules suck too, but probably for different reasons, lol

3) one of the big issues w 5e in general is what the internet calls "save or suck". There are a lot of things that either do nothing or are just crippling. Like those Formorians Josh used. Imagine 3 of them, instead of giants. If we all save, we roll them. If we all fail, its a TPK. It also makes PC spells feel either OP or worthless.
It makes planning encounters really hard for a GM, especially with a CR system that is widely regarded as worthless.

That is one of the changes I really like in pathfinder 2e. There are always 4 options - crit success, success, failure, crit failure. Crits beat or miss the DC by +/- 10
So DC 15 is success/failure. If you roll 25+ its a crit success or 5- crit fail.

Here is the Blindness spell from 2e, just as an example that's on point.

Blindness
BLINDNESSSPELL3
Incapacitation Necromancy
Traditions arcane, divine, occult, primal

Cast [two-actions] somatic, verbal

Range 30 feet; Targets 1 creature

Saving Throw Fortitude

You blind the target. The effect is determined by the target’s Fortitude save. The target then becomes temporarily immune for 1 minute.

Critical Success The target is unaffected.

Success The target is blinded until its next turn begins.

Failure The target is blinded for 1 minute.

Critical Failure The target is blinded permanently.



There are still real consequences but it eliminates the binary nature of "save or suck"

yet another reason why I think PF 2E is superior to 5e... but that's just me

For all ye olde Dragonlance fans...

https://dnd.wizards.com/unearthed-arcana/heroes-krynn-revisited


Some really cool ideas with the Black wizard special being my favorite!
The Knights are kinda half Battle Masters and half something else.

I wondered if they would ever get around to this... I like the Kender stuff. Will have to delve into the wizards

Dude, not cool starting against our team!

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10056585-jets-zach-wilson-benched-mike-white-will-start-at-qb-vs-bears.amp.html

Hey all,

I don't know if any of you are following the latest gaming news, but its worth checking out what Hasbro\WotC tried to do to D&D.

In short, content creators from Pathfinder to Kobold Press to Matt Mercer's critical roll, were all sent a new OGL with NDAs.  It was straight up greed.  Someone inside WotC leaked the OGL and the content creators risked their businesses to share it publicly.  The backlash has been swift and severe with thousands of people cancelling their D&D Beyond accounts and many of those same content creators banding together to form their own OGL and create their own rules\systems.  There have also been leaks from inside WotC\Hasbro quoting executives saying that D&D isn't being monetized enough, in the same way as Magic the Gathering for example.  They want micro-transactions and were furious that all the OGL content creators were making money.  Even though it was those outside CCs that caused the resurgent interest in D&D in the first place.  

WotC made a fake apology yesterday but this CC has a fantastic take-down of it


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeWaq6pQQW4



I have suggested a move away from 5e a couple times just on gaming issues.  I would like to revisit this topic in the future as a matter of principle.  I understand Mike is up next and only knows 5e, so that's 100% fine with me to continue the current campaign.   I also know Josh has future plans that absolutely don't involve demons\devils, lol.  

But perhaps the next time we start a new game, we shift away from 5e.

I'm fine with whatever the group decides.