I assume you know he was a politician as well?
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) kicks off today!
I've got a couple hundred words in, mostly just hoping to write a bit every day. Anyone else participating? What are your goals?
Protip: If you're on Mastodon, you can follow a hashtag just like you can an account, and the #nanowrimo tag is pretty active today. :-)
Glad to help! I'm somebody who wishes more videos were blog posts so I totally get it. I tend to enjoy Matt Colville's videos, though.
There's a short summary at https://shop.mcdmproductions.com/collections/the-talent-and-psionics/products/the-talent, with a few excerpts from the PDF (in images, unfortunately), but I felt like in this case the video covered it better.
And yeah, I feel like strain could be so much fun to roleplay, compared to spell slots.
Has anybody tried this while it was in beta? I'm super curious about what the powers are, and what the strain dice rolls look like.
Lots of stuff here, but the basics of the class seem really exciting to play:
- Use it to model characters like Jean Grey from X-Men or Eleven from Stranger Things.
- No spell slots.
- When you "manifest" your power, you roll a dice, and if you roll too low you take "strain".
- Strain is cumulative, you get some choice in how it effects you, does things like give disadvantage on certain checks, reduces speed, prevents dodge/disengage action, etc.
- Max strain increases with level. If you exceed max strain you die. But you know when you're at max strain and get to make the choice of whether or not to manifest your power and risk death.
- Strain can clear on rests.
Not sure who Raith Roguestar is, but the original source for these monsters (and more! a Pumpkin King boss with lair/legendary actions!) appears to be https://emberdm.tumblr.com/post/188729099266/medievil-pumpkins-dd-5e-monster-stats-for.
Hi! Sorry if this came across as a specific complaint about you. It's a trend I've seen on YouTube that I don't understand, is all. By all means, express yourself however you want! But of course, don't be surprised if old fogies like me don't engage with that style of content.
And thanks for the blog post! I'm a DM trying to find the best way to distribute fun magic items to my party. I have one character who wants to craft a stronger shield but lacks the necessary skills. This could be a good approach to get him the effect he wants without losing the shield he's been spending time and effort on.
You really don’t have to watch the video
I didn't. I'm curious about the content, though.
And I'm genuinely confused about this style of video being so common, but since it is common, I have to assume that it works for some people. I'm glad it works for you.
I don't understand this video style where I have to watch a video with words appearing on the screen and a cartoon character talking. Why is this not a blog post so I can just read it?
Ooo, some nice monster options here! Things like the Kobold Chieftan remind me of things I've been hearing about in MCDM's upcoming Flee Mortals! I checked out the preview at https://mcdm.gg/FleeMortalsPreview and it looks like a lot of fun.
As a DM, are you tracking PC spell slots? That seems like a lot of extra work! Or maybe you just mean NPCs...
If the name Thuradim Breakbones means anything to you, stop reading now! 🙈
I'm a first time DM running LMoP for a mix of old and new players. We play short sessions every couple of weeks, so I wanted to introduce fun magic items early in the campaign. As such, our level 2 fighter picked up a Berserker Axe at Cragmaw Hideout. However, he hasn't yet discovered that it's cursed:
> Whenever a hostile creature damages you while the axe is in your possession, you must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or go berserk. While berserk, you must use your action each round to attack the creature nearest to you with the axe. If you can make extra attacks as part of the Attack action, you use those extra attacks, moving to attack the next nearest creature after you fell your current target. If you have multiple possible targets, you attack one at random. You are berserk until you start your turn with no creatures within 60 feet of you that you can see or hear.
What I'm realizing is that he may not take damage and learn about the curse for the first time until they head into Tresendar Manor, where it will be impossible for the party to get 60 feet away from him without splitting into different rooms, or even fleeing the manor.
As I've read other posts about this item, there seems to be a consensus that it can be unfun, since it takes away player agency during combat. Between these two issues, I'm wondering if I should introduce some changes to the berserk status.
A few ideas I'm toying with:
- Once the party realizes the axe is cursed, I'd like for them to be able to get help from Sister Garaele. It could be part of her quest reward that she can either (a) help the fighter unattune the axe, or (b) help the fighter gain some resistance to the axe's curse (lowering the saving throw DC, for example). However, I don't want this to be a blocker for dealing with the Redbrands.
- In the meantime, I was thinking about allowing the following:
- Once berserk, allow fighter to reroll the Wisdom saving throw if he is somehow prevented from using his action to attack on his turn (for example, if the party grapples him).
- Allow other party members to use their action to roll Persuasion to snap him out of the berserk status.
Any suggestions? Alternatively, if the item is actually fine the way it is, any tips on how to run encounters in a fun way while it's in their possession? Thanks!