Dungeons and Dragons, a return

[granfire]

My son has considered getting me into it.
it's been offered at the library for a couple of years now, went virtual for obvious reasons, but seems to be back in-person.

It is in again (and I think the trend predates the TV show)

 

[Steve]

My son has considered getting me into it.
it's been offered at the library for a couple of years now, went virtual for obvious reasons, but seems to be back in-person.

It is in again (and I think the trend predates the TV show)

It's fun, and the new(ish) 5e rules are solid. My youngest is having a great time with it.

 

[Dirty Dog]

It is in again (and I think the trend predates the TV show)

If you're talking about the Vox Machina series on Amazon, then you are correct. I think YouTube can take credit for being the vessel for the D&D resurgence. The Critical Role folks, mostly. These folks started live streaming their games. And people loved it. The animated series is their first online campaign, although it doesn't start at the beginning. Vox Machine was the name of their party in that campaign. None of our games can really compare to theirs, in large part because the players & DM are all professional voice actors. So their role play is worlds beyond most of us.

It's fun, and the new(ish) 5e rules are solid. My youngest is having a great time with it.

They've released One D&D for playtesting, so 5e will be going the way of AD&D. I have not looked into it yet, because my gaming time has been spent doing Beta testing for Blizzard on Diablo: Immortal and Diablo 4, but it sounds solid.

 

[granfire]

If you're talking about the Vox Machina series on Amazon, then you are correct. I think YouTube can take credit for being the vessel for the D&D resurgence. The Critical Role folks, mostly. These folks started live streaming their games. And people loved it. The animated series is their first online campaign, although it doesn't start at the beginning. Vox Machine was the name of their party in that campaign. None of our games can really compare to theirs, in large part because the players & DM are all professional voice actors. So their role play is worlds beyond most of us.

They've released One D&D for playtesting, so 5e will be going the way of AD&D. I have not looked into it yet, because my gaming time has been spent doing Beta testing for Blizzard on Diablo: Immortal and Diablo 4, but it sounds solid.

No idea. It was 4 or so years ago when they started to offer it, before lockdown.
they are also offering an online session, it might be on Discord.

 

[Dirty Dog]

No idea. It was 4 or so years ago when they started to offer it, before lockdown.
they are also offering an online session, it might be on Discord.

Are you sure you don't mean Twitch?

 

[granfire]

Are you sure you don't mean Twitch?

nope.
I was busy, and just glanced at the online offer.
Discord is the other online gamer communication hub though. Including streamed content.

 

[Flying Crane]

Had fun playing through the Lost Mines of Phandelver, the adventure that came with the Basic set, and then Dragon of Icespire Peak, the adventure that came with the Essentials set, although that one was not as well written. I wrote a ton of new material into the last section, to satisfy my sense of challenge to justify the advancement that was supposed to come after it.

I’m also working on developing a new villian, based on the Huntsmen of Annuvin, from Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles, a Tolkien-ish adventure aimed at a younger audience, published in the 1960s and one of my personal favorites from my childhood. Anyone else familiar with that?

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles, a Tolkien-ish adventure aimed at a younger audience, published in the 1960s and one of my personal favorites from my childhood. Anyone else familiar with that?

I loved the Prydain Chronicles when I was a kid. Memorable characters, solid storytelling, and some good lessons for younger readers.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

My D&D group is within a few sessions of wrapping up our current campaign, which has been going on for about 3 years now. During the pandemic we switched to mostly playing via video chat and we're still doing that most of the time just because it's easier to schedule that way. Once we're done with that, one of our players is going to try her hand at DM-ing for the first time with a basic dungeon crawl.

 

[Flying Crane]

My D&D group is within a few sessions of wrapping up our current campaign, which has been going on for about 3 years now. During the pandemic we switched to mostly playing via video chat and we're still doing that most of the time just because it's easier to schedule that way. Once we're done with that, one of our players is going to try her hand at DM-ing for the first time with a basic dungeon crawl.

As a Christmas gift for the family, I picked up the PHB, DMG, and MM so we can now play with a wider range of freedom. I also picked up Tomb of Annihilation because my son saw it in the store and liked the cover. The people I asked about it said it is well written and it tough. A good adventure if the DM wants to kill off his players. Looking forward to it, although killing off the 9 year-old’s character is probably not a good idea.

 

[Flying Crane]

My D&D group is within a few sessions of wrapping up our current campaign, which has been going on for about 3 years now. During the pandemic we switched to mostly playing via video chat and we're still doing that most of the time just because it's easier to schedule that way. Once we're done with that, one of our players is going to try her hand at DM-ing for the first time with a basic dungeon crawl.

As a new DM myself, I am highly supportive of people giving it a try.

 

[Flying Crane]

I loved the Prydain Chronicles when I was a kid. Memorable characters, solid storytelling, and some good lessons for younger readers.

I don’t know why the huntsmen were never turned into a D&D villian. Maybe licensing, copywrite issues or something. But they seemed like an obvious choice. I made it more than simply giving them more HP each time one of their war band dies. So I started adding additional skills and such when certain percentages of their warband are killed. Additional attacks on each turn, additional speed, advantage on savings throws for constitution, so things like suffocation and exhaustion. They can hold their breath longer, they can seamlessly switch between weapon choices without spending an action, so they can shoot their bow at a distant target and then switch to melee weapons and still get in every attack on their turn. They fight with double weapons for melee, so the last guy standing is a buzz saw, getting in four attackes on each turn, dual weapons give him eight actual attacks.

I haven’t had much of a chance to workshop them yet, and I recognize they are complicated to play. But I really like the idea. XP is a challenge as well, because their toughness can vary dramatically depending on the size of their party and their starting HP.

 

[Dirty Dog]

As a Christmas gift for the family, I picked up the PHB, DMG, and MM so we can now play with a wider range of freedom. I also picked up Tomb of Annihilation because my son saw it in the store and liked the cover. The people I asked about it said it is well written and it tough. A good adventure if the DM wants to kill off his players. Looking forward to it, although killing off the 9 year-old’s character is probably not a good idea.

That module has been around since the days of AD&D. I think I have an original in a box somewhere. It's been adapted to the 5e rules, but the traps and such are pretty much unchanged.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

I don’t know why the huntsmen were never turned into a D&D villian. Maybe licensing, copywrite issues or something. But they seemed like an obvious choice. I made it more than simply giving them more HP each time one of their war band dies. So I started adding additional skills and such when certain percentages of their warband are killed. Additional attacks on each turn, additional speed, advantage on savings throws for constitution, so things like suffocation and exhaustion. They can hold their breath longer, they can seamlessly switch between weapon choices without spending an action, so they can shoot their bow at a distant target and then switch to melee weapons and still get in every attack on their turn. They fight with double weapons for melee, so the last guy standing is a buzz saw, getting in four attackes on each turn, dual weapons give him eight actual attacks.

I haven’t had much of a chance to workshop them yet, and I recognize they are complicated to play. But I really like the idea. XP is a challenge as well, because their toughness can vary dramatically depending on the size of their party and their starting HP.

I like your idea. After we get through the next dungeon crawl campaign, then it will probably be my turn to DM again and I have a home-brew campaign setting that I like to use. I might stick something like the huntsmen in there.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I don’t know why the huntsmen were never turned into a D&D villian. Maybe licensing, copywrite issues or something. But they seemed like an obvious choice. I made it more than simply giving them more HP each time one of their war band dies. So I started adding additional skills and such when certain percentages of their warband are killed. Additional attacks on each turn, additional speed, advantage on savings throws for constitution, so things like suffocation and exhaustion. They can hold their breath longer, they can seamlessly switch between weapon choices without spending an action, so they can shoot their bow at a distant target and then switch to melee weapons and still get in every attack on their turn.

Dropping a weapon is a free action. Drawing/picking up a weapon is an object interaction.

They fight with double weapons for melee, so the last guy standing is a buzz saw, getting in four attackes on each turn, dual weapons give him eight actual attacks.

That isn't how two weapon fighting works in 5e...
Your character gets X attacks per round (determined by the books). Using a second weapon changes that to X+1 attacks, with the single extra attack being with the off-hand. That off-hand attack doesn't get your usual bonuses unless you have the Two weapon fighting style or feat. And both of your weapons need to have the LIGHT property, so forget about using two longswords.
It's not a very good implementation, in my opinion. I think it was done for balance, but it just makes two weapon fighting untenable.

 

[Flying Crane]

Dropping a weapon is a free action. Drawing/picking up a weapon is an object interaction.

That isn't how two weapon fighting works in 5e...
Your character gets X attacks per round (determined by the books). Using a second weapon changes that to X+1 attacks, with the single extra attack being with the off-hand. That off-hand attack doesn't get your usual bonuses unless you have the Two weapon fighting style or feat. And both of your weapons need to have the LIGHT property, so forget about using two longswords.
It's not a very good implementation, in my opinion. I think it was done for balance, but it just makes two weapon fighting untenable.

Interesting, I’ll have to review the rules. I’ve been using the Essentials set rules, perhaps it will be more clear in the DMG.

I have been wrestling with how best to work with that augmentation. Perhaps a better way is to give them an automatic retaliation against any players who attack. So if the last guy is surrounded by three players who each get an attack, he gets to retaliate against each player, as they attack him, rather than getting simply his “turn”.

Keep in mind, they don’t begin the fight with all of these advantages. They gain them as the war band diminishes. So only the last guy or two will have them all.

The other thing is, these are a new “monster” class, not a player character. As such, it seems the designers give them attributes as they see fit to make them unique and challenging, within reason.

 

[Flying Crane]

I like your idea. After we get through the next dungeon crawl campaign, then it will probably be my turn to DM again and I have a home-brew campaign setting that I like to use. I might stick something like the huntsmen in there.

If you feel like using them I would be happy to email the word doc to you, you are welcome to use it either as-is, or use it as a starting point and modify as you see fit. I just threw everything into them that I could think of, expecting to whittle it away as I get opportunities to workshop them and see how well they play.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Had fun playing through the Lost Mines of Phandelver, the adventure that came with the Basic set, and then Dragon of Icespire Peak, the adventure that came with the Essentials set, although that one was not as well written. I wrote a ton of new material into the last section, to satisfy my sense of challenge to justify the advancement that was supposed to come after it.

I’m also working on developing a new villian, based on the Huntsmen of Annuvin, from Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles, a Tolkien-ish adventure aimed at a younger audience, published in the 1960s and one of my personal favorites from my childhood. Anyone else familiar with that?

Nice to see you return.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

That module has been around since the days of AD&D. I think I have an original in a box somewhere. It's been adapted to the 5e rules, but the traps and such are pretty much unchanged.

You guys can order old judges guild modules such as The Dark Tower that have r3cently been reprinted in original1 st Ed. And 5 e conversions as well. Here is the best part, they even made figurines for all major nice and villains that are available. I bough5 the whole line and painted in secret before the campaign began. Then I was able to present actual proxies for even such sundries as the local ”merchant”. It was a delicious campaign as none of my very experienced group had ever played any judges guild materials. I was able to get hands on a complete judges guild campaign setting Briarwood city to place the Dark Tower module near.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Interesting, I’ll have to review the rules. I’ve been using the Essentials set rules, perhaps it will be more clear in the DMG.

It's not really clear in any sourcebook. It is, I think, one of the worst written bits of 5e rules. It takes a lot of pondering and reading, and even then you end up scratching your head and going "huh???" a lot.
The two-weapon rules also ignore your ability to block with those weapons.

Granted, two weapon fighting that allowed their defensive use as well as doubling the number of possible attacks would be somewhat unbalancing. But if you've ever fought someone who is using two weapons and is truly ambidextrous, it IS unbalancing.

I have been wrestling with how best to work with that augmentation. Perhaps a better way is to give them an automatic retaliation against any players who attack. So if the last guy is surrounded by three players who each get an attack, he gets to retaliate against each player, as they attack him, rather than getting simply his “turn”.

You could give them the Sentinel feat then. But reactions need to have limits too. You might also look at the Legendary Actions.

The other thing is, these are a new “monster” class, not a player character. As such, it seems the designers give them attributes as they see fit to make them unique and challenging, within reason.

One of the things 5e does right, mostly, is that the rules apply to PCs, NPCs, and monsters. There are some exceptions, but those are being removed.