The Dungeons and Dragons Megathread v2

Ring of spell storing is a warlock's best friend
The only problem with the ring of spell storing is that when the part wins, they get another magic item.
I'm trying to keep magic items to a minimum. Currently they have: a bag of holding, boots of Spider climb, gauntlets of ogre power, and a pendant of +1 charisma (it looks like the Italian horn).
 
The only problem with the ring of spell storing is that when the part wins, they get another magic item.
I'm trying to keep magic items to a minimum. Currently they have: a bag of holding, boots of Spider climb, gauntlets of ogre power, and a pendant of +1 charisma (it looks like the Italian horn).

Make it so they can't activate it, is cursed, all its power drained, can only be used by a evil outsider, dissolves into a pool of filth when the villian dies. All of these are believable in universe "why can't we use it"

Don't be afraid to cheat!

Might start a spin off quest.
 
Make it so they can't activate it, is cursed, all its power drained, can only be used by a evil outsider, dissolves into a pool of filth when the villian dies. All of these are believable in universe "why can't we use it"

Don't be afraid to cheat!

Might start a spin off quest.
It's not really a big deal. I fleshed Lana out as a 10th level bard. She's pretty formidable and written in the spirit of a Succubus. Plus, Lana Del Rey as a Bard.. gestures with hands apart.

I wish I could share the character link to get your thoughts. Not sure if there is a way.
 
I do remember back in the day an old game where the PCs try to use a ring off a defeated badguy I didn't want them to use...

They were given every warning (cold to the touch, aura of evil and negative energy)

Well one dude said fuckit, so he put it on and his finger rotted off from the ring to the tip after failing his dex check to take it off swiftly.

Fuckers left it in a temple donation box after paying for a Cleric to regrow the finger with a spell...they felt overcharged.
 
I played in a one-shot last week with a new DM from the for-hire company I use. It was only $5 (he's running 3 bargain priced one off's to drum up players for his upcoming weekly game. Smart.) so I could hardly pass up bonus DnD (especially since my weekly game was cancelled that week) . It ended up being a fairly young table with at least one guy playing for the first time. I was honestly impressed with the knowledge of the game and role-play the youngsters had. I say youngsters, there was a couple BF & GF in their early twenties, a single lady maybe just past 25 and the newb who was probably even younger than the couple, but still twenty-ish. The DM was in his thirties and was pretty decent. He seemed to really enjoy the world-building aspect, talking up his post-apocalyptic setting.
I used a character I had created for another one-shot that I just didn't get enough time with the last time out. Gymdell Morigak is a dwarven paladin of the god Hanseth (God of brewing, singing, and carousing). He swore an oath of vengeance when raiders destroyed his families' brewery and stole their secret, proprietary hops. I had fun with him, singing drinking songs as he charged into combat.
We were hired to clear a mine of whatever we find there because something is happening to the miners and anyone else who enters the tunnels, a sickness and madness in the few who've returned. Pretty standard dungeon crawl; blasted through some rats of various sizes, discovered one survivor who was covered in fungi and pustules muttering about being unworthy before we, and went down one dead-end tunnel before finding the Myconid big bad. Him releasing poisonous spores when hit was troublesome. The whole thing was triggered by an evil, sentient ring encased in a crystal. I tried to use lay on hands to cure the "disease" that was affecting the victim, which failed but allowed me to sense the innate evil of the thing. The fight is touch and go, with a well-timed healing potion from a team-mate keeping me up long enough to cleave mushroom man from clavicle to crotch, freeing the gnome cleric he'd swallowed so I could lay on hands to save her.
I do remember back in the day an old game where the PCs try to use a ring off a defeated badguy I didn't want them to use...

They were given every warning (cold to the touch, aura of evil and negative energy)

Well one dude said fuckit, so he put it on and his finger rotted off from the ring to the tip after failing his dex check to take it off swiftly.

Fuckers left it in a temple donation box after paying for a Cleric to regrow the finger with a spell...they felt overcharged.
along those lines...
The newb, playing a drow rogue, ignored our warnings and clutched the newly accessible possessed jewelry. He failed his save but was deemed worthy by the entity in the very last seconds of the session. He was instructed to turn over his character sheet as he is now going to be an adversary for the players in the DM's regular game (some of the other players are in that group, but I don't know which.)
I'm going to his 3rd and final one-shot tonight, which should be even better since my daughter and regular DM will also be there this time. Then tomorrow night is my regular game, also with my daughter, so 3 sessions in a week! well, 8 days.
 
The only problem with the ring of spell storing is that when the part wins, they get another magic item.
I'm trying to keep magic items to a minimum. Currently they have: a bag of holding, boots of Spider climb, gauntlets of ogre power, and a pendant of +1 charisma (it looks like the Italian horn).
Limiting magic is lame and one of the big drawbacks of 5e was their desire to scale back magic item use.
 
Not sure how many follow Critical Role but Aabria Iyengar just had a master class on how to be a shit DM. Railroad the table, give them no control over their actions, kill NPCs
that were important to a characters arc and just completely shit on the rules.

Holy shit that was bad. I couldn’t stand her style in EXU and this was just infinitely worse. And to top it off she legit said “fuck you, the rules are what I say” to those watching. Just a big middle finger to the fandom.
 
Limiting magic is lame and one of the big drawbacks of 5e was their desire to scale back magic item use.
I scale back magic items for the feel of my world. I want to avoid giving the players ridiculously high ACs. This allows them to experience lower level common monsters for a longer period of time. Instead I give my players mechanical marvels and master crafted items that basically function like magic weapons and armor.
 
Tonight's session went well. I started the party off with the whole team dreaming of Lana. The reveal that they all had the same dream is that the bard was practicing one of Lana's songs in the morning. All of the players remarked that they had recalled the melody from thier dreams. They ran around town and eventually located her. She played coy and said she had no idea what they were talking about, eventually casting a mass 'charm person' to get them to forget about the issue. Full party failure.
The results ended with the charm concentrated on one character. I'm going to run it as such; i will consider him afflicted by a 'broken heart' curse. Once it kicks in, his sole goal is to get back to her. Each day apart will require a Wisdom save or take 1d4 wisdom damage ( to the stat). I think this will get the party motivated.
 
Not sure how many follow Critical Role but Aabria Iyengar just had a master class on how to be a shit DM. Railroad the table, give them no control over their actions, kill NPCs
that were important to a characters arc and just completely shit on the rules.

Holy shit that was bad. I couldn’t stand her style in EXU and this was just infinitely worse. And to top it off she legit said “fuck you, the rules are what I say” to those watching. Just a big middle finger to the fandom.
What is the episode? I 'd like to check it out.

But yea, I agree. I felt as though she didn't have enough respect for the rule set. I think that messes with player expectations.
 
Season 3 episode 93. It’s crazy.
Oh man, say it isn't so. I'm only on C3 E69. I watched her DM a few episodes then stopped watching after what she was doing to Aimee. I absolutely cannot stand that wench and how she treats people. I truly do not understand why Critical Role partners with her other than perhaps her followers and diversity. Makes me sick.

How long is she a DM for in C3? I hope it's only temporary because I doubt I'll even continue watching CR if she is the new permanent DM. I actually emailed CR after seeing how she treated Aimee and said I'd never watch their show again, but obviously I did. Of course, never received a response.

That wench is a natural 1.
 
Oh man, say it isn't so. I'm only on C3 E69. I watched her DM a few episodes then stopped watching after what she was doing to Aimee. I absolutely cannot stand that wench and how she treats people. I truly do not understand why Critical Role partners with her other than perhaps her followers and diversity. Makes me sick.

How long is she a DM for in C3? I hope it's only temporary because I doubt I'll even continue watching CR if she is the new permanent DM. I actually emailed CR after seeing how she treated Aimee and said I'd never watch their show again, but obviously I did. Of course, never received a response.

That wench is a natural 1.
Luckily only and episode and a half. It was amazing how horrendous it was. Like not even funny.
 
Question for the crew: how do you get the party ready for a multiple encounter single day event?
My players are entering a goblin encampment; after the first battle, things have kicked off and the camp is alerted. It seems as though a long rest is out of the question.
When they are used to blowing thier load in a single battle day, how do you get them to conserve resources?
I had planned on sprinkling in liberal amount of single use magic items. ( That I will try to make sense of within the encampment. )

If you're interested, they are kicking it off with the Wu Tang clan. They just fought Ghostface Killa the goblin monk and his crew of ninjas. He took out the melee fighter with two kicks to the nuts.
 
Question for the crew: how do you get the party ready for a multiple encounter single day event?
My players are entering a goblin encampment; after the first battle, things have kicked off and the camp is alerted. It seems as though a long rest is out of the question.
When they are used to blowing thier load in a single battle day, how do you get them to conserve resources?
I had planned on sprinkling in liberal amount of single use magic items. ( That I will try to make sense of within the encampment. )

If you're interested, they are kicking it off with the Wu Tang clan. They just fought Ghostface Killa the goblin monk and his crew of ninjas. He took out the melee fighter with two kicks to the nuts.

Like you said, healing magic items. Also look at the whole day as a single encounter vs separate and scale back each individual "episode" Spells being used up was my biggest scarce resource.
 
Question for the crew: how do you get the party ready for a multiple encounter single day event?
My players are entering a goblin encampment; after the first battle, things have kicked off and the camp is alerted. It seems as though a long rest is out of the question.
When they are used to blowing thier load in a single battle day, how do you get them to conserve resources?
I had planned on sprinkling in liberal amount of single use magic items. ( That I will try to make sense of within the encampment. )

If you're interested, they are kicking it off with the Wu Tang clan. They just fought Ghostface Killa the goblin monk and his crew of ninjas. He took out the melee fighter with two kicks to the nuts.
How do you get them to conserve resources? You teach them a lesson. Muhahaha.
 
Question for the crew: how do you get the party ready for a multiple encounter single day event?
My players are entering a goblin encampment; after the first battle, things have kicked off and the camp is alerted. It seems as though a long rest is out of the question.
When they are used to blowing thier load in a single battle day, how do you get them to conserve resources?
I had planned on sprinkling in liberal amount of single use magic items. ( That I will try to make sense of within the encampment. )

If you're interested, they are kicking it off with the Wu Tang clan. They just fought Ghostface Killa the goblin monk and his crew of ninjas. He took out the melee fighter with two kicks to the nuts.
Grasshoppa is right. They need to learn a lesson. If its looking like the party is well and truly fucked, but you don't want a total party kill, then have them get captured. The goblins knock them out, brand them with ancient symbols that make the brain go fuzzy when you try and look at them, and haul them down into a deep dark place to be sacrificed. Then, give them a way out. Perhaps they want to sacrifice the party to a demon and the party negotiates their freedom for even greater sacrifices. Or there's some way to undo the shackles and they party has to make their way out through the underdark (or equivalent). Maybe it's a King Kong situation where there's a giant monster and instead of eating the party on the spot, the creature is fascinated by a party member and abducts them, and the rest of the party's restraints are broken in the process and they have to hunt after their friend.

Lots of cool options without just sticking a shortspear through everybody's neck.
 
The idea of a captured party is great. I will keep this as an available outcome.

I decided to add a consumable item that should be helpful. I had the idea of a heart stone. It is a red crystal with a flickering light within. When broken open it will generate a small campfire and will offer the benefits of a long rest within the period of a short rest.

Other items will include a necklass with 4 second level Chromatic orbs, a potion of wolf's endurance which will allow the consumer to reset a once per day ability, and a few healing potions.

I figured with 5 separate grand encounters, I needed to extend a refresh or two in the game. Additionally, I think the players enjoy the game better when the characters are at full power. I'm sure the wizard isn't having fun spamming fire bolt.
 
The idea of a captured party is great. I will keep this as an available outcome.

I decided to add a consumable item that should be helpful. I had the idea of a heart stone. It is a red crystal with a flickering light within. When broken open it will generate a small campfire and will offer the benefits of a long rest within the period of a short rest.

Other items will include a necklass with 4 second level Chromatic orbs, a potion of wolf's endurance which will allow the consumer to reset a once per day ability, and a few healing potions.

I figured with 5 separate grand encounters, I needed to extend a refresh or two in the game. Additionally, I think the players enjoy the game better when the characters are at full power. I'm sure the wizard isn't having fun spamming fire bolt.

Scarcity does encourage creative thinking though, players know they're running low on goodies (or they know they will be) and they have to be clever, stealthy, or diplomatic...which can also lead to some memorable/epic/hillarious moments of desperation.
 
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