Anthony Martino
Royal Flush
Another mini painted
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Official Dungeons & Dragons Thread... (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Trihonda
- Start date
Nice! Try a black wash on the chain mail (or red-brown if you want it to look rusted).
Anthony Martino
Royal Flush
Just been trying to get a bunch painted and handle the washing/shading stuff later
BukNaked36
Straight
For some reason he reminds me a little of Sean Connery
There are a lot of unemployed actors and actresses.
Anthony Martino
Royal Flush
Did some touching up and a wash to give a bit more depth. Before and after pics
These are not your standard "unemployed actors and actresses". A lot of them have jobs in the traditional game industry, many from acting in web series, others from influencer status on various social media and other types of entrepreneurial enterprises. They all, however, do share a flair for the dramatic (and melodramatic).
BarrieJ3
Royal Flush
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- 129 West 81st Street, Apartment 5B
I tried for a bit. It was either an excuse to smoke so much weed you couldn’t tell the difference between a human or real life kobold (friends of friends/acquaintances), or it was some neckbeard crazy incel gatherings (local game shops).
Unpacking, hoping to maybe start casual game nights and move towards DnD. Is it possible to start a completely novice group with a novice leader, or do I need to find someone who knows what they’re doing?
One Eyed Dollar
Flush
It's easier to start with a DM that knows how to play, but there are several intro sets now that make it easier than ever for a group of all noobs to learn. The two main ones are the Starter Set and the Essentials Kit. I have both, and out of those two I'd recommend the Starter Set for complete beginners. It gives you some pre-gen characters so you can just pick a character and jump in without having to do a "Session Zero" where you spend time generating characters and wading through the books. It's less overwhelming, and the short campaign in that one is a good intro for players and the DM.
The Essentials Kit walks you through how to generate a character if you feel really strongly about building a character from scratch, but I'm not as fond of the campaign so far.
Don't worry too much about the rules at first. If you get stuck and can't find the answer right away - the DM always has the power to just make a decision and move on. And if you find out later that you did something wrong, oh well, just try to follow the right rule next time. The main thing is to get people engaged, keep the game moving, and make sure everybody is having fun! (unless you're a Rules Lawyer and arguing about the rules is how you have fun
)
I also recommend the starter kit.
Anthony Martino
Royal Flush
Played another session today and was able to bump my Light Domain Cleric up to 4th level.
We had a party of 6 today. Unfortunately that kid from last time that the DM spoke with was playing his Bard again. He comes with another kid who is playing an Elven Wizard.
Our group entered a grand hall with a large staircase in front of us and two balconies on our flanks. Four creatures appeared on the balcony to our left and started throwing knives at the party. Our fighters rushed up the staircase to engage in melee, I was casting spells from the floor below. The bard went up the stairs, and instead of helping with combat opted to check in front of him where the stairs diverged left and right to see if there was any doorway.
When he didn't find one, he opted to pass by our fighters and the monsters they were fighting, and move behind the group into an open doorway and the room the creatures had come from, because he was able to see there were some white dresses on a table, and WHILE WE'RE ALL STILL IN FUCKING COMBAT, tried on one of the dresses.
The DM had him make some savings throws where he took some damage, and a ghost appeared but fortunately for him was non-hostile. Then while we were still fighting he kept trying to talk with the ghost, put his hand through her face and whatever other goofy shit he could come up with.
The Wizard is somewhat helpful with the things he does in combat. We were fighting some Gargoyles on a balcony and one of them grabbed me and was trying to fly off with me. The Wizard managed to throw me a rope and then the rest of the party was able to take out the gargoyle and pull me up to safety.
However, he is by no means perfect and still serves as a source of chaos in our group. Playing a Wizard he's our squishiest character, but he continually runs ahead of the party (or off on his own) to check out things without us.
This resulted in him seeing a ton of treasure up ahead and darting off to check it out. A portcullis slammed shut behind him trapping him in there as four creatures attacked him and were able to down him.
Seeing his friend was downed and in risk of being killed, this is the FIRST TIME EVER the kid playing the Bard opted to try and be helpful, casting Thunderwave at the four creatures surrounding his downed pal. The Bard also perked up to the DM about his Thunderwave hitting the mounds of treasure behind the group (because the Bard loves to try and give away or lose our treasure for whatever crazy, chaotic reason he has). "Fortunately" his thunderwave spell did hit the treasure, but just resulted in dispelling the illusion that it was there.
The kid playing the downed wizard kept trying to tell me to heal his character since he had gone into the negatives and was at risk of being killed if he reached the negative value of his max hitpoints, but I actually opted to try and do damaging spells that would hit all four creatures attacking him because he was prone and they could only attack his character on their turns, so my healing him wouldn't be enough to save him if he had to take four hits
Our party was able to kill off the creatures before they could finish him off. Because the kid playing the Wizard had actually been useful in keeping my character from plummeting to his death from that gargoyle, I opted to use a healing spell and get him back on his feet.
But given that this pair of kids are coming together in the same car each session, and the wizard is always running off causing us to get into sticky situations, and the Bard NEVER does a fucking thing of use to help the party (EXCEPT this one time when HIS friend was downed) I have messaged the DM and let him know I'm not finding it enjoyable to play with that pair and in the future please do not schedule me in the same session as them.
We had a party of 6 today. Unfortunately that kid from last time that the DM spoke with was playing his Bard again. He comes with another kid who is playing an Elven Wizard.
Our group entered a grand hall with a large staircase in front of us and two balconies on our flanks. Four creatures appeared on the balcony to our left and started throwing knives at the party. Our fighters rushed up the staircase to engage in melee, I was casting spells from the floor below. The bard went up the stairs, and instead of helping with combat opted to check in front of him where the stairs diverged left and right to see if there was any doorway.
When he didn't find one, he opted to pass by our fighters and the monsters they were fighting, and move behind the group into an open doorway and the room the creatures had come from, because he was able to see there were some white dresses on a table, and WHILE WE'RE ALL STILL IN FUCKING COMBAT, tried on one of the dresses.
The DM had him make some savings throws where he took some damage, and a ghost appeared but fortunately for him was non-hostile. Then while we were still fighting he kept trying to talk with the ghost, put his hand through her face and whatever other goofy shit he could come up with.
The Wizard is somewhat helpful with the things he does in combat. We were fighting some Gargoyles on a balcony and one of them grabbed me and was trying to fly off with me. The Wizard managed to throw me a rope and then the rest of the party was able to take out the gargoyle and pull me up to safety.
However, he is by no means perfect and still serves as a source of chaos in our group. Playing a Wizard he's our squishiest character, but he continually runs ahead of the party (or off on his own) to check out things without us.
This resulted in him seeing a ton of treasure up ahead and darting off to check it out. A portcullis slammed shut behind him trapping him in there as four creatures attacked him and were able to down him.
Seeing his friend was downed and in risk of being killed, this is the FIRST TIME EVER the kid playing the Bard opted to try and be helpful, casting Thunderwave at the four creatures surrounding his downed pal. The Bard also perked up to the DM about his Thunderwave hitting the mounds of treasure behind the group (because the Bard loves to try and give away or lose our treasure for whatever crazy, chaotic reason he has). "Fortunately" his thunderwave spell did hit the treasure, but just resulted in dispelling the illusion that it was there.
The kid playing the downed wizard kept trying to tell me to heal his character since he had gone into the negatives and was at risk of being killed if he reached the negative value of his max hitpoints, but I actually opted to try and do damaging spells that would hit all four creatures attacking him because he was prone and they could only attack his character on their turns, so my healing him wouldn't be enough to save him if he had to take four hits
Our party was able to kill off the creatures before they could finish him off. Because the kid playing the Wizard had actually been useful in keeping my character from plummeting to his death from that gargoyle, I opted to use a healing spell and get him back on his feet.
But given that this pair of kids are coming together in the same car each session, and the wizard is always running off causing us to get into sticky situations, and the Bard NEVER does a fucking thing of use to help the party (EXCEPT this one time when HIS friend was downed) I have messaged the DM and let him know I'm not finding it enjoyable to play with that pair and in the future please do not schedule me in the same session as them.
Darthhoodie
Flush
You should just kill the bard. If you want I can have my archer ranger do it.
Anthony Martino
Royal Flush
That was my plan if I got stuck in another session with the kid, but figured I'd just ask to play in sessions without that pair, don't really need the grief in my life.
Darthhoodie
Flush
Ya i prob wouldn't either but I would want to. The adult thing to do is to ask to not play with them again, but...
Anthony Martino
Royal Flush
Forgot to mention I went with bumping my WIS score 2 points to 20 so I get +5
This added to my spell save DC, my spell attack, multiple savings throws, an additional prepared spell, extra damage on some spells, plus my Warding Flare ability is 5x/day now
I had looked at Feats, but the 2 to my ability score seemed to offer the best boosts to my character as it increased my primary spellcasting modifier
This added to my spell save DC, my spell attack, multiple savings throws, an additional prepared spell, extra damage on some spells, plus my Warding Flare ability is 5x/day now
I had looked at Feats, but the 2 to my ability score seemed to offer the best boosts to my character as it increased my primary spellcasting modifier
I've also been considering joining a local group that is getting a campaign started. Went looking and found that Walmart online currently has the Starter Set for half price - $10!!! Is this good for anyone who is new to the game (I payed some 35 years ago...) or mainly for someone wanting to start their own game? I just want to look through some info so I'm not a complete dummy the first night I show up to join the group.It's easier to start with a DM that knows how to play, but there are several intro sets now that make it easier than ever for a group of all noobs to learn. The two main ones are the Starter Set and the Essentials Kit. I have both, and out of those two I'd recommend the Starter Set for complete beginners. It gives you some pre-gen characters so you can just pick a character and jump in without having to do a "Session Zero" where you spend time generating characters and wading through the books. It's less overwhelming, and the short campaign in that one is a good intro for players and the DM.
The Essentials Kit walks you through how to generate a character if you feel really strongly about building a character from scratch, but I'm not as fond of the campaign so far.
Don't worry too much about the rules at first. If you get stuck and can't find the answer right away - the DM always has the power to just make a decision and move on. And if you find out later that you did something wrong, oh well, just try to follow the right rule next time. The main thing is to get people engaged, keep the game moving, and make sure everybody is having fun! (unless you're a Rules Lawyer and arguing about the rules is how you have fun
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dungeons...n8zfhQGzAyNFE-U-WayUzGfrdwbmJ6iRoCn6IQAvD_BwE
BarrieJ3
Royal Flush
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2018
- Messages
- 13,552
- Reaction score
- 29,068
- Location
- 129 West 81st Street, Apartment 5B
So I thought most groups try and have the same folks, growing both the players and characters dynamics/synergy.
Can you do these drop ins as well, single session campaigns?
I just figured you were starting to know these folks, might at least have numbers for texting if so and so will be there. Because I would absolutely be in that text group planning how everyone was going to egg him on next session, laughing at his antics, building him up. Right before you all turn on him and leave him to die somewhere. I figure even if I was la
$10 is a steal. It's good enough to get to try out. If you end up liking it and want to dig deeper, then get the three basic rule books and a good campaign book. The Princes of the Apocalypse storyline is a good straightforward wilderness-and-dungeon-crawl campaign that will take characters from 1st (or 3rd) to 15th level.
Anthony Martino
Royal Flush
This is an open adventurers league. There are 20 players in rotation, and three sessions each week hosting up to 6 players each
You get notified when you are next up and what sessions are available
One of the players was facebook messaging me with "let him die" when the Bard was trying on dresses
I had planned to organize the party to kill the Bard originally, but I wasn't aware at the time that the wizard was in cahoots with him, as my previous sessions with the wizard he was pretty useful and competent in his decisions
The encounters we come up against can be pretty challenging. Killing off a third of our party at the start would make it even rougher
So I'd rather just avoid playing with the two toxic players than have to become toxic myself
Anthony Martino
Royal Flush
Really liking how this one came out. Took the time to not only paint, but do a wash and dry brushing as well for finer detail and shading
One Eyed Dollar
Flush
Did you end up grabbing it? Totally worth it at $10! Even if you don't DM the adventure, the rulebook is handy and you get dice. It's a good intro to 5E and like allforcharity said you can get the core rulebooks if you like this edition and want to keep going. We had a group of 5 that wanted to do a D&D campaign but had a variety of experience with it (one a total noob) and none had played 5E. I volunteered to run the Starter Set so we could all learn the rules, but I didn't have the time to invest in DMing a full campaign. We played it for a couple months and then one of the guys started a new campaign from scratch and based on some old 2E Greyhawk modules. I really like what they've done with 5E. I have fond memories of playing 2E in HS and college with my friends back home, but it wasn't the most balanced system. 3.5 had a lot of great improvements, but got too technical at times (Grapple rules, anyone?). I hated 4E and only played it a couple times. Just didn't feel like D&D to me. 5E is like a good mix of 2E and 5E. Old school flavor, more balanced classes, simpler than 3.5.
That's interesting that the various versions are so different. I would think a role playing game like this wouldn't change all that much. What kind of things does each upgrade do?
I didn't order the starter kit yet because I'm about to go out of town for a week. I'll get it when I return. but I did find some web sites with detailed info, and links to official D&D documents and the player sheet. I want to give a lot of thought to the type of character I create. The document I found explains the various races and classes. I was surprised that there were only 4 classes of characters described. Is that really all there is? I was thinking there were more. Like some that were combinations. And I thought there were more races too, like half breeds. Being a human seems so boring, but I don't like all the constraints put on dwarves and elves. Not interested in halfling. Also, don't want to be a straight up fighter, but don't want to be a major magic user either. Maybe an elf fighter is a decent compromise. It's so complex and confusing. Might take me months to read up and make a decision... LOL.
I should probably get the player handbook next.
Anthony Martino
Royal Flush
Got some new goodies today
Darthhoodie
Flush
So in the 5th edition players handbook, they list 12 classes and 9 races, but I think there are more classes and races available in other supplements.
Anthony Martino
Royal Flush
Additional books include new races, classes and subclasses you can play as. Some DM's will permit only the Players Handbook and ONE other sourcebook for you to glean new material from, others let you use any published works, etc.
Yeah, I found a PDF of the handbook online. I think the other doc I was looking at was an abbreviated list that only discussed the most common races and classes. Not sure why...
The mechanics of D&D have changed tremendously since its inception almost 50 years ago.
D&D (or really, AD&D) 1st edition was probably the first real attempt at a fantasy RPG that tried to put a rules set to everything that could happen to a character based on the concept of world-building. Every aspect of the game was derived from translations and interpretations of fantasy tropes of the era, along with ideas highly skewed to Western mythological concepts. From the player-as-heroic-character viewpoint, advancement had hard limits and restrictions, mathematical structures of game balance were non-existent, and the in-game survival was fairly skewed against the players.
2nd edition eased up on some of the artificial restrictions on player advancement, and started to allow for customization, at least on an evolutionary scale from the previous edition. This was the time of mass proliferation of published game worlds, and the start of campaigns that were less dependent on predominatly Western tropes.
3rd edition turned most of the mathematical mechanics on its head, making things internally consistent and flowing logically. Gone were the ideas of artificial restrictions on character concepts based on traditional fantasy archetypes. Customization options were maximized. Advancement new no bounds, and there were new guidelines even for godlike levels of power. For those who enjoyed this sort of thing, this was the peak of min/max powergaming. A dizzying and neverending line of supplemental materials, alternative rules, campaign ideas, ruleset expansions, adventure modules threatened to collapse the whole system from its own weight over several years. The Open Gaming License encouraged any number of 3rd party designers to put out content with compatible rules. Modified rules sets for everybody's favourite book series, fantasy genres, crossover opportunities were available.
4th edition almost did away with everything tried previously and turned D&D into more of a strategic card game. Mostly gone was the "theater-of-the-mind". Rules were abstracted into squares on a grid and number points on a line. Numbers were simplified, but customization suffered. Powergaming was out, as the number ranges were effectively shrunk down to a much tighter range of variability. Threats were transformed/reduced to a form of cinematic script.
5th edition came back to somewhat of a balance between 3rd edition and 4th edition. Playing the numbers were still somewhat restricted to keep raw power down. Theater-of-the-mind was back. Customization, though initially limited, was still quite possible. The focus shifted back to story and much less on product. But one of the keys to its success is to use the power of modern communication and social media to bring back all those mature, wealthier gamers who remembered the RPG from decades past and re-ignite their interest.
Darthhoodie
Flush
These races are in the players compendium
Darthhoodie
Flush
Not sure I can play a birdman, like Hawk from Buck Rogers.
So I've been reading for a grand total of 2 1/2 days. Yup, I'm a real expert now. 
I've been thinking about the type of character I would want to be. The elf or half-elf race interests me, and the two classes that are speaking to me are Paladin and Ranger. I'm thinking either a half-Elf Paladin, or a Wood Elf Ranger. I like the Paladin because of their commitment to justice and righteousness, and to battle against the forces of evil. I also like their ability to heal wounds and diseases. I like the Paladin being a half-Elf due to +2 charisma points.
On the other hand, what I like least about Paladin is a lot of close combat and heavy armor. So I like the Ranger because they are proficient with ranged weapons, and can take advantage of the dexterity of a wood Elf. Less need for heavy armor. Quick in a fight with good reflexes and extra speed.
Am I on the right track? Any suggestions? Pros or cons of my choices?
I've been thinking about the type of character I would want to be. The elf or half-elf race interests me, and the two classes that are speaking to me are Paladin and Ranger. I'm thinking either a half-Elf Paladin, or a Wood Elf Ranger. I like the Paladin because of their commitment to justice and righteousness, and to battle against the forces of evil. I also like their ability to heal wounds and diseases. I like the Paladin being a half-Elf due to +2 charisma points.
On the other hand, what I like least about Paladin is a lot of close combat and heavy armor. So I like the Ranger because they are proficient with ranged weapons, and can take advantage of the dexterity of a wood Elf. Less need for heavy armor. Quick in a fight with good reflexes and extra speed.
Am I on the right track? Any suggestions? Pros or cons of my choices?
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