Monday, April 30, 2018
Improvised Gear Durability
I'll be brief. In the DMG on pp.246-247 there are rules and guidelines for calculating the physical properties of objects. HERE is a PDF containing the extrapolated AC and HP of every object in the PHB. The PDF contains a detailed explanation as to why someone might need this information. I will leave you with an image as a hint:
Hex Grid Encounter Keys
Let's talk about hex crawls again a bit!
Continuing from where I left off here and here, I use a standardized system to assign encounter charts to hexes so I know automatically which one to use by looking at the hex in question. This is that system! I refer to the hex's designation as it's encounter key, and the process of applying keys to hexes as keying a hexmap.
For each hour of travel, (each hex entered) I roll a group perception check for the party to evade an encounter. (1d20 rolled once, using the lowest mod for the party) If they roll higher than the local encounter DC, (Derived from the hex they land in) no encounter occurs, and I provide basic fluff. The DC is encoded on each hex by a letter value, with that letter's alphabetic position being the value of the DC. (A=1, Z=26) If an encounter DOES happen, I roll 1d6 on an appropriate encounter root chart to determine the type of encounter they face. I know which root to use, because they are letter-coded on the hex after the DC. To speed this process, I just make all the rolls using color coded dice behind the screen.
Exploration 2 16%
Combat 1 16%
This root represents areas inside and immediately surrounding a settlement, not just the roadways. These are generally highly active areas, even when they seem calm, especially compared to the savage wilderness of far off lands.
Exploration 2-3 33%
Combat 1 16%
This represents farmland, grazeland, hunting grounds, estates, parklands, lumberyards, etc. Owned and cultivated land.
Exploration 3 16%
Combat 1-2 33%
This represents the unowned apparent wilderness surrounding the owned land of a settled place, several miles away. While these regions are technically "wild", the significant human activity passing through the area has driven out a lot of the more chaotic elements, and tamed the wilderness.
Exploration 2-4 50%
Combat 1 16%
This root determines encounter type for patrolled, paved, or high-traffic roadways, regardless of the surrounding terrain.
Exploration 2-5 66%
Combat 1 16%
Here we have the distribution for a wide, open environment, where the party has good visibility to survey heir surrounding land, possibly out to the horizon. Because of the high visibility, there's a high chance for distractions to explore or change course, and it's easy for animals to avoid fights they don't want. This also applies to deserts, but the DC for avoiding encounters there is usually below 5, so it almost never comes into play.
Exploration 3-4 33%
Combat 1-2 33%
This represents the likelihood of various encounter types when wandering backroads, regardless of surrounding environments. A backroad is any path or trail, typically unpaved, rarely patrolled, infrequently used, and possibly little more than wagon tracks in the mud. People do come by this way, so it is sort-of maintained, however infrequently, and the occasional activity does keep some of the wildlife away.
Exploration 3-5 50%
Combat 1-2 33%
This represents the players walking around in regular, run-of-the-mill swamps, forests, jungles, ravines, etc. Most wildlife will avoid them, and there are very few people, so it's mostly going to be just you and nature. If an animal does attack, you probably startled it or entered its territory.
Exploration 4 16%
Combat 1-3 50%
Tribal lands are those regions which, while populated, are uncultivated, untamed, and uncivilized. These are the lands of nomads and wildfolk. While you have a better chance of seeing a friendly face than usual, you're even more likely to get jumped.
Exploration 4-5 33%
Combat 1-3 50%
These are isolated, exotic, or distant regions, nearly entirely uninhabited, completely uncultivated, and wild. The wildlife has no learned fear of people, and react with unpredictable behavior. These are foreign, dangerous places.
Social 6 16%
Exploration 5 16%
Combat 1-4 66%
These lands are unnaturally violent. This is used for places populated by vicious humanoids, military enemies, carnivorous plants, or a primarily carnivorous ecosystem. It can also be used to represent lands which are haunted, cursed, or innately malevolent.
So, for example, a hex with the key FT would be a Tribal region with an encounter DC of 6. Sounds like a pretty barren place, since the PCs won't see much action and the only people aren't civilized. As another example, a region encoded RR would be a Rural place with an encounter DC of 18.
Now, what about the actual encounter charts themselves? Where are those?What do they look like? They look like a standard d20 randomized weighted list. Each terrain type is paired with 3 encounter charts, one for each encounter type. I have a set of 3 encounter charts for each terrain type, at each potential encounter type. An encounter chart has below-CR encounters in its top third, and above-CR encounters in its bottom third, with the middle third all being the labelled CR. Terrain types are color-coded, and CRs are written on each hex after the initial letter codes. So, for example, a dark green hex with the code OB3 would be a backroad in a forest with an encounter DC of 16, and any encounters found there should have a CR around 3. If they roll badly on an encounter though, the encounter's CR could be as high as 4 or 5! Now, does that sound like a lot of charts to you?? Well, hold on to your hat, because You need two versions of every single one of them! One for day, the other for night.
1/8 = A
1/4 = B
1/2 = C
1 = 1
2 = 2
3 = 3
4 = 4
5 = 5
6 = 6
7 = 7
8 = 8
9 = 9
10 = D
11 = E
12 = F
13 = G
14 = H
15 = I
16 = J
17 = K
18 = L
19 = M
20 = N
21 = O
22 = P
23 = Q
24 = R
25 = S
26 = T
27 = U
28 = V
29 = W
30 = X
Continuing from where I left off here and here, I use a standardized system to assign encounter charts to hexes so I know automatically which one to use by looking at the hex in question. This is that system! I refer to the hex's designation as it's encounter key, and the process of applying keys to hexes as keying a hexmap.
For each hour of travel, (each hex entered) I roll a group perception check for the party to evade an encounter. (1d20 rolled once, using the lowest mod for the party) If they roll higher than the local encounter DC, (Derived from the hex they land in) no encounter occurs, and I provide basic fluff. The DC is encoded on each hex by a letter value, with that letter's alphabetic position being the value of the DC. (A=1, Z=26) If an encounter DOES happen, I roll 1d6 on an appropriate encounter root chart to determine the type of encounter they face. I know which root to use, because they are letter-coded on the hex after the DC. To speed this process, I just make all the rolls using color coded dice behind the screen.
Encounter DC Keys
1 = A
2 = B
3 = C
4 = D
5 = E
6 = F
7 = G
8 = H
9 = I
10 = J
11 = K
12 = L
13 = M
14 = N
15 = O
16 = P
17 = Q
18 = R
19 = S
20 = T
21 = U
22 = V
23 = W
24 = X
25 = Y
26 = Z
Terrain Keys
U - Urban (Social>All)
Social 3-6 66%Exploration 2 16%
Combat 1 16%
This root represents areas inside and immediately surrounding a settlement, not just the roadways. These are generally highly active areas, even when they seem calm, especially compared to the savage wilderness of far off lands.
R - Rural (Social>Combat)
Social 4-6 50%Exploration 2-3 33%
Combat 1 16%
This represents farmland, grazeland, hunting grounds, estates, parklands, lumberyards, etc. Owned and cultivated land.
L - Local (Social>Exploration)
Social 4-6 50%Exploration 3 16%
Combat 1-2 33%
This represents the unowned apparent wilderness surrounding the owned land of a settled place, several miles away. While these regions are technically "wild", the significant human activity passing through the area has driven out a lot of the more chaotic elements, and tamed the wilderness.
H - Highway (Exploration>Combat)
Social 5-6 33%Exploration 2-4 50%
Combat 1 16%
This root determines encounter type for patrolled, paved, or high-traffic roadways, regardless of the surrounding terrain.
F - Flatland (Exploration>All)
Social 6 16%Exploration 2-5 66%
Combat 1 16%
Here we have the distribution for a wide, open environment, where the party has good visibility to survey heir surrounding land, possibly out to the horizon. Because of the high visibility, there's a high chance for distractions to explore or change course, and it's easy for animals to avoid fights they don't want. This also applies to deserts, but the DC for avoiding encounters there is usually below 5, so it almost never comes into play.
B - Backroads (Even)
Social 5-6 33%Exploration 3-4 33%
Combat 1-2 33%
This represents the likelihood of various encounter types when wandering backroads, regardless of surrounding environments. A backroad is any path or trail, typically unpaved, rarely patrolled, infrequently used, and possibly little more than wagon tracks in the mud. People do come by this way, so it is sort-of maintained, however infrequently, and the occasional activity does keep some of the wildlife away.
W - Wilderness (Exploration>Social)
Social 6 16%Exploration 3-5 50%
Combat 1-2 33%
This represents the players walking around in regular, run-of-the-mill swamps, forests, jungles, ravines, etc. Most wildlife will avoid them, and there are very few people, so it's mostly going to be just you and nature. If an animal does attack, you probably startled it or entered its territory.
T - Tribal (Combat>Exploration)
Social 5-6 33%Exploration 4 16%
Combat 1-3 50%
Tribal lands are those regions which, while populated, are uncultivated, untamed, and uncivilized. These are the lands of nomads and wildfolk. While you have a better chance of seeing a friendly face than usual, you're even more likely to get jumped.
S - Savage (Combat>Social)
Social 6 16%Exploration 4-5 33%
Combat 1-3 50%
These are isolated, exotic, or distant regions, nearly entirely uninhabited, completely uncultivated, and wild. The wildlife has no learned fear of people, and react with unpredictable behavior. These are foreign, dangerous places.
I - Inhospitable (Combat>All)
Exploration>AllSocial 6 16%
Exploration 5 16%
Combat 1-4 66%
These lands are unnaturally violent. This is used for places populated by vicious humanoids, military enemies, carnivorous plants, or a primarily carnivorous ecosystem. It can also be used to represent lands which are haunted, cursed, or innately malevolent.
So, for example, a hex with the key FT would be a Tribal region with an encounter DC of 6. Sounds like a pretty barren place, since the PCs won't see much action and the only people aren't civilized. As another example, a region encoded RR would be a Rural place with an encounter DC of 18.
Now, what about the actual encounter charts themselves? Where are those?What do they look like? They look like a standard d20 randomized weighted list. Each terrain type is paired with 3 encounter charts, one for each encounter type. I have a set of 3 encounter charts for each terrain type, at each potential encounter type. An encounter chart has below-CR encounters in its top third, and above-CR encounters in its bottom third, with the middle third all being the labelled CR. Terrain types are color-coded, and CRs are written on each hex after the initial letter codes. So, for example, a dark green hex with the code OB3 would be a backroad in a forest with an encounter DC of 16, and any encounters found there should have a CR around 3. If they roll badly on an encounter though, the encounter's CR could be as high as 4 or 5! Now, does that sound like a lot of charts to you?? Well, hold on to your hat, because You need two versions of every single one of them! One for day, the other for night.
CR KEY:
0 = 01/8 = A
1/4 = B
1/2 = C
1 = 1
2 = 2
3 = 3
4 = 4
5 = 5
6 = 6
7 = 7
8 = 8
9 = 9
10 = D
11 = E
12 = F
13 = G
14 = H
15 = I
16 = J
17 = K
18 = L
19 = M
20 = N
21 = O
22 = P
23 = Q
24 = R
25 = S
26 = T
27 = U
28 = V
29 = W
30 = X
And for the lazy, here is a link to my encounter chart sheet. One page per hex on the map. It makes for a lot of paper.
Monday, April 23, 2018
Boss Monster: THE DUNGEON MASTER HIMSELF
Hey there friends! It is time. The party has journeyed deep into the bowels of the mythic underground and overcome countless challenges. Here, in the surreal core of the supernatural being that is the dungeon, the party has finally found their quarry. The true enemy, the entity which has plagued them with myriad traps, puzzles, and monsters. The source of all the evil that swells from the deeps.
It is time to face THE DUNGEON MASTER.
Templates Used: Mind Flayer (Arcanist), Half-Black-Shadow-Dragon, Lich, Vampire
Medium Undead (Shapechanger), Lawful Evil
AC 15
HP 71 (13d8+13)
SPD 30
STR 18 +4
DEX 18 +4
CON 18 +4
INT 19 +4
WIS 17 +3
CHA 17 +3
Saves:
INT+7
WIS+6
CHA+6
Skills:
Arcana+7
Deception+6
Insight+6
Perception+6
Persuasion+6
Stealth+8
Resistances:
Acid
Cold
Lightning
Necrotic
Damage Immunities:
Poison
Mundane Bludgeoning
Mundane Piercing
Mundane Slashing
Condition Immunities:
Charmed
Exhaustion
Frightened
Paralyzed
Poisoned
Senses:
Darkvision 120
Blindsight 10
Truesight 120
Languages:
Deep Speech
Undercommon
Telepathy 120ft
*Qualith
Draconic
Common
Abyssal
Infernal
Primordial
Orc
Goblin
Challenge 24
Sunlight Sensitivity: While in sunlight, disadvantage on attack rolls and vision-related perception checks.
Legendary Resistance (3/day): On failed save, succeed.
Magic Resistance: Advantage on saves against spells and magical effects.
Turn Resistance: Advantage on saves against turn undead.
Regeneration: @ turn start: if HP > 1 and no sunlight or running water: +20hp. If damaged by radiant damage, or damage from holy water, this trait ceases to function for 1 turn.
Misty Escape: @ 0hp, automatically uses shapechanger trait to change into mist form, does not become unconscious. It must return to its resting place within 2 hours or will dissipate, and its body is destroyed. It returns to its normal form at 0hp and stable upon returning to its resting place, and regains 1hp after a short rest. If it cannot shapechange (sunlight or water) its body is destroyed.
Rejuvination: If phylactery exists, lich does not make death saves at 0hp, even if its body is destroyed, instead regaining a new body within 5ft of its phylactery in 1d10 days.
Shapechanger: When not in sunlight or running water, 1 Action: change statblock to tiny bat, or become a medium cloud of mist, or back to its true form. Reverts to true form on death. While in mist form, the only action it can take is the move action, has a hover speed of 20ft, has infinitely small squeeze space, can enter any other creature's space and end its turn there, has advantage on all physical saves, and is immune to all mundane damage, but cannot pass through water.
Living Shadow: While in dim light or darkness, resistance to all but force, spychic, and radiant damage.
Shadow Stealth: While in dim light or darkness, can take the hide action as a bonus action.
Spider Climb: No checks or saves to climb any solid surface.
Innate Spellcasting (Psionics): Spellcasting ability is INT, spell save DC 15.
Spell List:
At-Will:
Detect Thoughts
Levitate
1/day:
Dominate Monster
Plane Shift (Self Only)
Spellcasting: 18th-level caster, spellcasting ability is INT, spell save DC is 20, spell attack +12, wizard spell list.
L0:
Blade Ward
Dancing Lights
Mage Hand
Shocking Grasp
Prestidigitation
Ray of Frost
L1 (4):
Detect Magic
Disguise Self
Magic Missile
Shield
Sleep
Thunderwave
L2 (3):
Blur
Invisibility
Melf's Acid Arrow
Mirror Image
Ray of Enfeeblement
L3 (3):
Animate Dead
Clairvoyance
Counterspell
Dispel Magic
Fireball
Lightning Bolt
Sending
L4 (3):
Blight
Confusion
Dimension Door
Hallucinatory Terrain
L5 (3):
Cloudkill
Scrying
Telekinesis
Wall of Force
L6 (1):
Disintegrate
Globe of Invulnerablity
L7 (1):
Finger of Death
Plane Shift
L8 (1):
Dominate Monster
Power Word Stun
L9 (1):
Power Word Kill
Pseudodragon Familliar: The pseudodragon has a magic, telepathic bond. While the two are bonded, the companion can sense what the pseudodragon senses as long as they are within 1 mile of each other. While the pseudodragon is within 10 feet of its companion, the companion shares the pseudodragon's Magic Resistance trait. At any time and for any reason, the pseudodragon can end its service as a familiar, ending the telepathic bond.
Unarmed Strike: The vampire makes an unarmed strike or graple attack. If the vampire has a weapon equipped, they will use that weapon instead.
Bite: MWA: +9 ATK, @ 5ft, 1 target that must be willing, grappled, incapacitated, or restrained, HIT: 7(1d6+4) pi dam + 10(3d6) permanent nec dam, vampire gains hp equal to permanent dam dealt to target. The permanent damage is healed with a long rest. Creatures are instantly killed if their hp drops to 0 from permanent damage. Creatures buried with 0 maximum hp rise the following night as a vampire spawn in the vampire's direct control.
Tentacles: MWA: +7 ATK, @ 5ft, 1 target, HIT: 15(2d10+4) psi dam, targets < large auto-grappled w. DC15 INT save or be stunned until his grapple ends.
Extract Brain: MWA: Target must be incapacitated and grappled by this creature in its natural form. +7 ATK, @ 5ft, HIT: 55(10d10) pi dam, if target @ 0hp, target dies, no save.
Mind Blast: (Recharge 5-6): @ 60ft cone, targets make DC15 INT save vs. 22(4d8+4) psi dam and 1 min stun, with rethrow at each turn end to end effect.
Shadow Breath (Recharge 5-6): @ 5x15ft cone, targets make DC11 DEX save vx. 22(5d8) nec dam, HIT: half dam. Targets reduced to 0hp by this attack die, no save, returns as undead shadow under its control.
Paralyzing Touch: MSA: +12 ATK, @5ft, 1 target, HIT: 10(3d6) cold dam, DC18 CON save vs. paralyzed 1 min. w. rethrow at each turn end to end effect.
Charm:
Children of the Night: 1/day; 2d4 swarm of bats, 2d4 swarm of rats, or 3d6 wolves when outdoors; at night; acting as allies and obeying spoken commands; 1 min or until dismissed or this creature's death.
Move(1): Moves up to SPD without provoking opportunity attacks.
Unarmed Strike(1): Uses unarmed strike action.
Bite(2): Uses bite action.
Cantrip(1): Casts a cantrip.
Paralyzing Touch(2): Uses paralyzing touch action.
Frightening Gaze(2): @ LOS 10ft, 1 target, DC18 WIS save vs. frightened 1 min. w. rethrow at each turn end to end effect. When this effect ends on an affected target, they are immune to this legendary action and its effect for 1 day.
Disrupt Life(3): @ 20ft sphere, all targets, DC18 CON save vs. 21(6d6) nec dam, HIT: half dam.
* Pools of water @ LOS 120ft surge outward in a agrasping tide. All targets within 20ft of such pools make DC15 STR save vs. being moved into pool and knocked prone.
* 20ft sphere of insect swarms @ 120ft, all targets DC 15 CON save vs. 10(3d6) pi dam, HIT: half dam. Remains until dismissed, replaced by this action again, or death.
* 15ft magical darkness @ 60ft. Remains until dismissed, replaced by this action again, or death.
* Regain 1 spell lot of level 1d8
* 1 target, @ LOS 30ft, forms a tether of negative energy with target. Whenever it takes damage, target makes DC18 CON save vs. splitting damage between the two.
* Calls out for the spirits of the lair to attack, 1 target, @ LOS 50ft, DC18 CON save vs. 52(15d6) nec dam, HIT: half dam.
Shadows cast within 500ft of lair become unusual, and sometimes independently mobile.
Land within 6 miles of lair takes twice as long to travel through, since the plants grow thick and twisted, and the swamps are dense with reeking mud.
Water sources within 1 mile of lair are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the dungeonmaster regurgitate such water within minutes.
Fog lightly obscures the land within 6 miles of lair.
The fog within 500ft of lair occasionally takes eerie forms, such as grasping claws and writhing serpents.
Noticable increase of bats and rats in region.
It is time to face THE DUNGEON MASTER.
NPC: Nemazys
Monster: Dungeon MasterTemplates Used: Mind Flayer (Arcanist), Half-Black-Shadow-Dragon, Lich, Vampire
Medium Undead (Shapechanger), Lawful Evil
AC 15
HP 71 (13d8+13)
SPD 30
STR 18 +4
DEX 18 +4
CON 18 +4
INT 19 +4
WIS 17 +3
CHA 17 +3
Saves:
INT+7
WIS+6
CHA+6
Skills:
Arcana+7
Deception+6
Insight+6
Perception+6
Persuasion+6
Stealth+8
Resistances:
Acid
Cold
Lightning
Necrotic
Damage Immunities:
Poison
Mundane Bludgeoning
Mundane Piercing
Mundane Slashing
Condition Immunities:
Charmed
Exhaustion
Frightened
Paralyzed
Poisoned
Senses:
Darkvision 120
Blindsight 10
Truesight 120
Languages:
Deep Speech
Undercommon
Telepathy 120ft
*Qualith
Draconic
Common
Abyssal
Infernal
Primordial
Orc
Goblin
Challenge 24
TRAITS
Vampiric Weaknesses: Cannot enter a residence without invitation. 20 acid dam from running water. If wood pierces its heart, paralyzed until wood is removed. 20 radiant damage and disadvantage on attacks and ability checks in sunlight.Sunlight Sensitivity: While in sunlight, disadvantage on attack rolls and vision-related perception checks.
Legendary Resistance (3/day): On failed save, succeed.
Magic Resistance: Advantage on saves against spells and magical effects.
Turn Resistance: Advantage on saves against turn undead.
Regeneration: @ turn start: if HP > 1 and no sunlight or running water: +20hp. If damaged by radiant damage, or damage from holy water, this trait ceases to function for 1 turn.
Misty Escape: @ 0hp, automatically uses shapechanger trait to change into mist form, does not become unconscious. It must return to its resting place within 2 hours or will dissipate, and its body is destroyed. It returns to its normal form at 0hp and stable upon returning to its resting place, and regains 1hp after a short rest. If it cannot shapechange (sunlight or water) its body is destroyed.
Rejuvination: If phylactery exists, lich does not make death saves at 0hp, even if its body is destroyed, instead regaining a new body within 5ft of its phylactery in 1d10 days.
Shapechanger: When not in sunlight or running water, 1 Action: change statblock to tiny bat, or become a medium cloud of mist, or back to its true form. Reverts to true form on death. While in mist form, the only action it can take is the move action, has a hover speed of 20ft, has infinitely small squeeze space, can enter any other creature's space and end its turn there, has advantage on all physical saves, and is immune to all mundane damage, but cannot pass through water.
Living Shadow: While in dim light or darkness, resistance to all but force, spychic, and radiant damage.
Shadow Stealth: While in dim light or darkness, can take the hide action as a bonus action.
Spider Climb: No checks or saves to climb any solid surface.
Innate Spellcasting (Psionics): Spellcasting ability is INT, spell save DC 15.
Spell List:
At-Will:
Detect Thoughts
Levitate
1/day:
Dominate Monster
Plane Shift (Self Only)
Spellcasting: 18th-level caster, spellcasting ability is INT, spell save DC is 20, spell attack +12, wizard spell list.
L0:
Blade Ward
Dancing Lights
Mage Hand
Shocking Grasp
Prestidigitation
Ray of Frost
L1 (4):
Detect Magic
Disguise Self
Magic Missile
Shield
Sleep
Thunderwave
L2 (3):
Blur
Invisibility
Melf's Acid Arrow
Mirror Image
Ray of Enfeeblement
L3 (3):
Animate Dead
Clairvoyance
Counterspell
Dispel Magic
Fireball
Lightning Bolt
Sending
L4 (3):
Blight
Confusion
Dimension Door
Hallucinatory Terrain
L5 (3):
Cloudkill
Scrying
Telekinesis
Wall of Force
L6 (1):
Disintegrate
Globe of Invulnerablity
L7 (1):
Finger of Death
Plane Shift
L8 (1):
Dominate Monster
Power Word Stun
L9 (1):
Power Word Kill
Pseudodragon Familliar: The pseudodragon has a magic, telepathic bond. While the two are bonded, the companion can sense what the pseudodragon senses as long as they are within 1 mile of each other. While the pseudodragon is within 10 feet of its companion, the companion shares the pseudodragon's Magic Resistance trait. At any time and for any reason, the pseudodragon can end its service as a familiar, ending the telepathic bond.
ACTIONS
Multiattack: Makes two attacks in 1 attack action. Only one may be the Bite attack.Unarmed Strike: The vampire makes an unarmed strike or graple attack. If the vampire has a weapon equipped, they will use that weapon instead.
Bite: MWA: +9 ATK, @ 5ft, 1 target that must be willing, grappled, incapacitated, or restrained, HIT: 7(1d6+4) pi dam + 10(3d6) permanent nec dam, vampire gains hp equal to permanent dam dealt to target. The permanent damage is healed with a long rest. Creatures are instantly killed if their hp drops to 0 from permanent damage. Creatures buried with 0 maximum hp rise the following night as a vampire spawn in the vampire's direct control.
Tentacles: MWA: +7 ATK, @ 5ft, 1 target, HIT: 15(2d10+4) psi dam, targets < large auto-grappled w. DC15 INT save or be stunned until his grapple ends.
Extract Brain: MWA: Target must be incapacitated and grappled by this creature in its natural form. +7 ATK, @ 5ft, HIT: 55(10d10) pi dam, if target @ 0hp, target dies, no save.
Mind Blast: (Recharge 5-6): @ 60ft cone, targets make DC15 INT save vs. 22(4d8+4) psi dam and 1 min stun, with rethrow at each turn end to end effect.
Shadow Breath (Recharge 5-6): @ 5x15ft cone, targets make DC11 DEX save vx. 22(5d8) nec dam, HIT: half dam. Targets reduced to 0hp by this attack die, no save, returns as undead shadow under its control.
Paralyzing Touch: MSA: +12 ATK, @5ft, 1 target, HIT: 10(3d6) cold dam, DC18 CON save vs. paralyzed 1 min. w. rethrow at each turn end to end effect.
Charm:
Children of the Night: 1/day; 2d4 swarm of bats, 2d4 swarm of rats, or 3d6 wolves when outdoors; at night; acting as allies and obeying spoken commands; 1 min or until dismissed or this creature's death.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
Up to 3 AP, chosen from this list, at the end of turn.Move(1): Moves up to SPD without provoking opportunity attacks.
Unarmed Strike(1): Uses unarmed strike action.
Bite(2): Uses bite action.
Cantrip(1): Casts a cantrip.
Paralyzing Touch(2): Uses paralyzing touch action.
Frightening Gaze(2): @ LOS 10ft, 1 target, DC18 WIS save vs. frightened 1 min. w. rethrow at each turn end to end effect. When this effect ends on an affected target, they are immune to this legendary action and its effect for 1 day.
Disrupt Life(3): @ 20ft sphere, all targets, DC18 CON save vs. 21(6d6) nec dam, HIT: half dam.
LAIR ACTIONS
When in lair, on init # 20, gets 1 lair action, actions can not be used twice in a row.* Pools of water @ LOS 120ft surge outward in a agrasping tide. All targets within 20ft of such pools make DC15 STR save vs. being moved into pool and knocked prone.
* 20ft sphere of insect swarms @ 120ft, all targets DC 15 CON save vs. 10(3d6) pi dam, HIT: half dam. Remains until dismissed, replaced by this action again, or death.
* 15ft magical darkness @ 60ft. Remains until dismissed, replaced by this action again, or death.
* Regain 1 spell lot of level 1d8
* 1 target, @ LOS 30ft, forms a tether of negative energy with target. Whenever it takes damage, target makes DC18 CON save vs. splitting damage between the two.
* Calls out for the spirits of the lair to attack, 1 target, @ LOS 50ft, DC18 CON save vs. 52(15d6) nec dam, HIT: half dam.
LAIR EFFECTS
Plants within 500ft of lair wither, becoming twisted an thorny.Shadows cast within 500ft of lair become unusual, and sometimes independently mobile.
Land within 6 miles of lair takes twice as long to travel through, since the plants grow thick and twisted, and the swamps are dense with reeking mud.
Water sources within 1 mile of lair are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the dungeonmaster regurgitate such water within minutes.
Fog lightly obscures the land within 6 miles of lair.
The fog within 500ft of lair occasionally takes eerie forms, such as grasping claws and writhing serpents.
Noticable increase of bats and rats in region.
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Handling Warfare In Core Rules Combat
Military Swarms
I wanted to find a way to represent groups of soldiers moving around a battlefield and clashing with each other while also being able to represent individual creatures in the middle of said conflict. For example, an adventurer standing in a battle hammering his way through heaps of soldiers, or mobs of peasants revolting with only one squad of guards to control the chaos. I thought long and hard on this and got an idea: Giant swarms.Swarms are a type of mundane creature found in the MM on pp.337-339. All of them are composed of tiny creatures which have their own individual statblocks. All swarms have properties in common with other swarms, and each swarm has properties in common with its base creature. Thus, it is possible to extrapolate the rules by which theoretically any creature can be turned into a swarm... even Tarrasques. (Rules pending on flocks of ancient dragons, friends. Their wings shall blanket the sun!!)
There are pregenerated statblocks for generic NPC types in the MM starting on pp.342. By making swarms out of NPCs, you can represent large groups of people acting together with a mob mentality or as an organized combat unit. Using these inferences and a bit of brute-force creativity, I was able to make a number of generic combat groups and run tactical combats involving them in a white-room theoretical encounter. I also ran them up against some white-room generated PCs (lacking magic gear weapons of course) to fine-tune the estimated challenge rating.
To Make A Swarm:
- AC remains the same
- A swarm is at least 2 size classes larger than the base creature. (If this increases the size beyond gargantuan, simply increase the occupied space by the gargantuan creature.)
- Multiply HP by estimated count of creatures (The number that can fit or squeeze into new size class floor area.)
- All abilities remain the same except STR, which typically increases by an arbitrary value. I will keep STR close to the same, because at medium size the only meaningful change is carrying capacity, which is already covered by the size category increase.
- A swarm can occupy the same space as other creatures and can pass through an opening large enough for one of its constituents.
- A swarm's melee attacks can target creatures occupying the same space as the swarm.
- A swarm's attack is generalized to randomly determine the damage with an even or peaked distribution maxing out at half damage, with half the damage dice when the swarm is reduced to half health. (For example, a swarm of 24 rats, dealing 1 damage apiece, could deal a maximum of 12 damage in a single melee attack, with the other 12 rats running around. A peaked distribution is achieved with 2d6. The attack deals 1d6 when HP<50%.)
- Swarms have Damage Resistances to bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
- While the swarms of tiny creatures have a bunch of condition immunities, all of these seem to be more because it's a whole bunch of tiny things, not because it is a swarm.
Building Armies
While planning all of this, I did a little research and put together this information, for those who want to represent actual military engagements.A squad consists of 9 men; 8 privates in two sections, and a corporal to lead them. One of the privates may be promoted to lieutennant corporal to act as an assistant and replacement to the corporal. Thus, a unit is a swarm consisting of 9 medium creatures; a huge creture. If mounted, a squad's movement speed increases to 60ft and their size class becomes gargantuan.
A platoon consists of 2 squads and is lead by a sergeant.
A company consists of 2 platoons and is lead by a captain.
A battalion consists of 4 companies and is lead by a captain.
A regiment consists of 2 battalions and is lead by a Major.
A division consists of 3 regiments and is lead by a Commander.
A corps is 2 divisions and lead by a Colonel.
An army is 2 or more corps and lead by a General.
Mob (Swarm of Commoners)
Huge swarm of medium humanoids, any non-lawful alignmentAC 10
HP 36
Speed 30ft
STR 10
DEX 10
CON 10
INT 10
WIS 10
CHA 10
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Senses Passive Perception 10
Languages Any one language
Challenge 1/2 (100xp)
Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a medium humanoid. The swarm can 't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.
Actions
Club Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5ft, one target, Hit: 8 (4d4) bludgeoning damage, or 4 (2d4) if HP<50%
Band (Swarm of Bandits)
Huge swarm of medium humanoids, any non-lawful alignmentAC 12
HP 99
Speed 30ft
STR 11
DEX 12
CON 12
INT 10
WIS 10
CHA 10
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Senses Passive Perception 10
Languages Any one language
Challenge 5 (1800xp)
Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a medium humanoid. The swarm can 't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.
Actions
Scimitar Melee weapon attack: +3 to hit, reach 5ft, 1 starget, Hit: 20 (4d8+4) slashing damage, or 10 (2d8+2) if HP<50%.
Light Crossbow Ranged weapon attack: +3 to hit, range 80/320ft, 1 starget, Hit: 20 (4d8+4) piercing damage, or 10 (2d8+2) if HP<50%.
Guard Squad (Swarm of Guards)
Huge swarm of medium humanoids, any alignmentAC 16 (Chain shirt, shield)
Hit Points 99
Speed 30ft
STR 15
DEX 12
CON 12
INT 10
WIS 11
CHA 10
Skills Perception+2
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Senses Passive Perception 12
Languages Any one language
Challenge 5 (1800xp)
Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a medium humanoid. The swarm can 't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.
Actions
Spears Melee or Ranged weapon attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft or thrown range 20/60ft, 1 target. Hit: 16 (4d6+4) piercing damage, or 8 (2d6+2) if HP<50%.
Miltary Squad (Swarm of Veterans)
Huge swarm of medium humanoids, any alignmentAC 17 (splint)
Hit Points 522
Speed 30ft
STR 16
DEX 13
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 11
CHA 10
Skills Athletics+5 Perception+2
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Senses Passive Perception 12
Languages Any one language
Challenge 8 (3900xp)
Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a medium humanoid. The swarm can 't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.
Actions
Multiattack The brigade makes two longswords attacks. If they have their shortswords drawn they can also make a shortswords attack.
Longswords Melee weapon attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft, 1 target. Hit: 28 (4d8+12) slashing damage, or 14 (2d8+6) if HP<50%, or 32 (4d10+12) slashing damage if used with two hands, or 16 (2d10+6) if HP<50%.
Shortswords Melee weapon attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft, 1 target. Hit: 24 (4d6+12) piercing damage, or 12 (2d6+6) if HP<50%.
Heavy Crossbows Ranged weapon attack: +5 to hit, range 100/400ft, 1 target. Hit: 20 (4d10) piercing damage, or 10 (2d10) if HP<50%.
Results
A single band can wipe out a guard squad with ease. Though they have a lower hit rate, they deal much more damage at a time. However, their success is highly dependent on the initial few rounds. Once the band starts winning, it sets off a death spiral for the guard squad that is hard to climb back from. The result is that a guard squad will sometimes smash a band, but a band will usually win at heavy loss. Two bands is enough to eliminate a single guard squad with ease, and two guard squads will do the same to a single band. Neither is meaningfully threatened by a single mob. It would take many, many villagers to overwhelm a raiding group or an oppressive militia. A military squad, however, will wipe out all of the above with ease. They have phenomenal HP making them very hard to slog through, good attack bonuses, extra damage output, and high damage per attack even after being reduced to half power. Based on CR, a single unmagical character needs to be at least level 12 before they can meaningfully threaten a military squad, and even this is approaching a deadly encounter for them.This all feels about right for a low-magic military type campaign. I'm satisfied with the results.
There is one weird thing though: swarms create a loophole in the rules regarding unit positioning in grid combat. Because there is no rule controlling unit layering for units that defy the "one unit per space" rule, there is no limit to how many swarms can occupy a single space! I guess they figured no DM would be savage enough to drop more than one swarm at a time on a single PC. However, once you have swarms that occupy multiple grid spaces, overlapping becomes common. I'm fine with single-layer overlapping, it really gets across the idea that the soldiers are all crammed in together in a chaotic mess. Beyond that though it gets a little ridiculous. So, I have a variant rule for those who would use these creatures:
Corporeal creatures which can occupy the same space as other creatures fill the remaining occupied space completely, preventing other such creatures from occupying the same space. You may only have a maximum of two corporeal creatures occupying the same space at a time.
So you could do things like cram 2 squads on top of each other, packing your soldiers shoulder to shoulder to make a group that can't be infiltrated by an attacking squad. Or if a band was being attacked by squads from two sides, the two squads could both overlap part of the band but no part of either squad could overlap each other and the band at once.
Monday, April 9, 2018
1d20 vs 2d10: A Dissection
Forgive me, this is not going to be a flowery blog post. It will be all text and math. Today, I'm going to dissect the application of dice in D&D and explain the inherent flaws in the d20 system as it was inherited by 5th edition.
The #1 complaint against the d20 system is called "swing". The problem comes from a flaw in the phraseology and valuing used in the 3.5e corebooks. In those books, they repeatedly and frequently emphasize that 10 is the average result on a d20, and they value a single +1 as being equivalent to many hours of play and thousands of gold coins. They also repeatedly harp on the idea that a score of 10 (with a modifier of 0) is "average" for a common person, and that a DC of 10 is "easy". 5th edition inherited much of this idiocy.
The problem is that they are using the word "average" in both it's formal and informal uses. Mathematically, the average on a d20 isn't actually 10, it's 10.5. (The minimum roll would need to be 0 for an average of 10.) That minor problem aside, a d20 has what is called a "flat distribution". That is to say, you have an equal chance of rolling any given face every time you roll it. So 10.5 being the "average" result is meaningless in regard to any given single roll, and it's what happens in a single roll that is precisely the problem. See, because the system talks about the average as being equivalent to the common, normal, and mundane, everything in the system treats 10 as base. But it's actually not.
How much is a modifier of 1 actually worth on a d20? 5%. It shifts your result range by 1. If you divide 20 into percentages, each face is 5%. So, shifting your range up by 1 is a flat increase of 5%. Barring optimized cheese builds in 3.5e, and T4 characters in 5e, +5 is pretty much your typical limit to bonuses on a check. That gets you +25% to your chances of success on a static DC. That means a barbarian with 20 strength is only 25% more likely to kick down a door than some schmuck tax attorney. That's hardly a difference, and certainly not worth hours of character-life-threatening work.
How does it play out at the table? Poorly, but not as bad since they pulled crits and fumbles out of the check system in 5e. This is where people bitch about swing. Here's an example: a door needs to be busted down. DC15. The barbarian with +5 to the roll tries and rolls a 6. He can't kick down the door. The wizard with -5 rolls a 20 and knocks the door off its hinges. What went wrong? Why is the system generating nonsense? Because the players and system think 10 is average, but it's actually equal. Modifiers are overvalued and ability scores are mostly irrelevant.
There's a few ways to mitigate the above scenario.
The Problem: Swing
The problem is that they are using the word "average" in both it's formal and informal uses. Mathematically, the average on a d20 isn't actually 10, it's 10.5. (The minimum roll would need to be 0 for an average of 10.) That minor problem aside, a d20 has what is called a "flat distribution". That is to say, you have an equal chance of rolling any given face every time you roll it. So 10.5 being the "average" result is meaningless in regard to any given single roll, and it's what happens in a single roll that is precisely the problem. See, because the system talks about the average as being equivalent to the common, normal, and mundane, everything in the system treats 10 as base. But it's actually not.
How much is a modifier of 1 actually worth on a d20? 5%. It shifts your result range by 1. If you divide 20 into percentages, each face is 5%. So, shifting your range up by 1 is a flat increase of 5%. Barring optimized cheese builds in 3.5e, and T4 characters in 5e, +5 is pretty much your typical limit to bonuses on a check. That gets you +25% to your chances of success on a static DC. That means a barbarian with 20 strength is only 25% more likely to kick down a door than some schmuck tax attorney. That's hardly a difference, and certainly not worth hours of character-life-threatening work.
How does it play out at the table? Poorly, but not as bad since they pulled crits and fumbles out of the check system in 5e. This is where people bitch about swing. Here's an example: a door needs to be busted down. DC15. The barbarian with +5 to the roll tries and rolls a 6. He can't kick down the door. The wizard with -5 rolls a 20 and knocks the door off its hinges. What went wrong? Why is the system generating nonsense? Because the players and system think 10 is average, but it's actually equal. Modifiers are overvalued and ability scores are mostly irrelevant.
There's a few ways to mitigate the above scenario.
- The DM should be using the check to determine the reality of the situation, not the other way around. When the fighter failed to kick down the door, that doesn't mean he failed despite the door being within his power to smash- it means the door was never within his abilities to begin with. Think of it as a sort of Schrodinger's door, it isn't strong or weak until someone gives it a try.
- Given that the fighter's strength is so high, and him kicking down the door makes more sense than him failing, why was a check ever even called in the first place? Generally, if something makes sense, the DM should just allow it without question. We don't need to roll checks to walk across a room or speak freely, do we?
- As soon as the wizard said he wanted to try, this should have been handled as a group check, not separate individual checks. That way the wizard was helping, and his help would have opened the door where strength alone would not have been enough. That makes sense. When the wizard said he wanted to try after the check was complete, the DM should have shut him down for not joining in to help in the first place- the door has been determined to be too sturdy for your group to open. Find another way or move on.
Despite these methods of more refined check calling, the swing still remains, and characters will still find themselves randomly doing cartoonishly well or idiotically bad. The worst of it will happen about 10% of the time, but any number around 5 or 15 or beyond will get you weird results if your modifier is in the opposite direction.
It isn't the results that are the problem though. We want unpredictability. We want the gamble. The problem is the frequency at which we go from high to low results and back again within seconds. This rapid shifting between high and low produced by the flat distribution of the die makes our results swing wildly from successful, to pathetic, to heroic, to failure again. That swing frequency is the problem we seek to eliminate.
The Solution: Same Range, Better Distribution
The commonly debated solution is 2d10 because it uses close to the same range as 1d20, changing 1-20 for 2-20 with an average result of 11. I'm not going to debate the official 3d6 system because it is completely retarded. The modifiers in D&D are based on the range. Shifting the range to 3-18 makes no sense at all in relation to the mod ranges. The exact distribution doesn't matter, we don't need a pretty bell curve, we just need middling results between major results most of the time to cut the swing.
First off, you get a lot of people who will dismiss this idea outright because it is
- Unofficial, and
- Not a d20.
Well, that's fine. Being unofficial is good because the guys making the game are just as dumb as the guys playing and houseruling it. D&D is full of stupid design decisions and it's still a good game. The d20 system happens to be one of those stupid designs. Also, I have no loyalty to any particular polyhedral chunk of plastic. The d20 is a toy. I have many other plastic polyhedrons to play with.
Next, you get math nerds who will overvalue petty variations between the d20 and 2d10 and exaggerate the disastrous unintended consequences. The common complaints are thus:
- Your probability distribution becomes peaked, not curved.
- Chances are not as easily calculated in your head any more because each +1 is worth a variable % rather than a consistent 5%.
- The average is now 11, a whopping 0.5 difference.
- The game's math wasn't intended to use 2d10.
- How do crits work?
- Because ACs still operate linearly, they interact with the nonlinear attack modifiers weirdly.
Ok, let's tear into that.
A peaked distribution is fine because you don't see a distribution chart when you roll. It doesn't matter what the distribution looks like as long as it does the job we want. (Spoiler: 2d10 does its job quite well.)
I'll be honest about people who calculate the odds of a check in their head: that shouldn't be possible. The DM shouldn't declare his DCs ever. When you go to attempt a task in reality, do you have absolute certainty regarding your mathematical probability for success? No. Never. Why should your character? Uncertainty is the whole point of the system. Obfuscating such calculation is a good thing. Besides, precalculating your odds doesn't change them. It's a waste of time and effort. And, finally, as I already pointed out, even "high" mods that take a lot of effort to get are only a mild shift in probability on a d20 anyways. The difference between a "hard" check and a "very hard" check was only 25%.
I'm going to let you in on a secret about human perception: our brains only care about doubles. We don't care about 5% because we can't actually feel it. We care only a little about 25% because it only mildly registers. Until something really pays off for us, nearing or exceeding double the norm or expectation, we don't really care about it. (Until we calculate it. Once we quantify things, we begin to care a great deal about very little changes. This isn't about the quantified reality of it though, this is about the feeling generated by the dice at the table.)
Regarding the shift in average, I'm not sure how this is even a problem. The average is irrelevant on a d20 for any single check in the first place. The fact that 2d10 has an average that matters is much more significant than what the number actually is. It's also kind of the point, isn't it? We wanted the average to also be the most common result. That's what you get on 2d10.
Now, about the intent of the D&D system. Let me tell you an anecdote. In the first printing of 5e, unarmed strikes were simple weapons, granting any character with simple weapon proficiency a proficiency bonus to their fists. Characters lacking this could either take a feat or multiclass to monk to get unarmed strike proficiency. Druids, for some reason, wound up unproficient. In the second printing, unarmed strike was removed as a weapon, granting all players unarmed strike proficiency, allowing wizards to slowly become pro wrestlers without ever throwing a punch.
The point is that the developers are idiots like the rest of us and what they intend is just as much nonsense as what they did not intend. D&D is a pile of bullshit they got paid to make up on the fly. Frankly, their words and opinions mean as much to me as their choice in underwear: not at all.
Now for the interesting part: criticals.
Let's start with crit fumbles because that comes up all the time for some reason. 5E DOES NOT USE CRITICAL HITS FOR CHECKS. Furthermore, 5E DOES NOT INCLUDE CRITICAL FUMBLES OR AUTOMATIC FAILURE AT ALL. They are nonsense on a d20 and they are nonsense on 2d10. Crit fumbles do not make any sense and turn your game into a cartoon. What 2d10 would mean for crit fumbles is nothing at all because they don't exist in the first place.
OK, now for critical hits. In the 2d10 community, 3 methods of determining a crit have been proposed:
1. Nat 20 is Nat 20.
Under this system, 2 tens at the same time is a crit. This reduces your chances to 1%. That means 1 in a hundred attacks will land a crit. In 3.5 that'd be a big deal! In 3.5e, crit threshold mattered a lot and whole character builds revolved around taking advantage of the critical hit system. Not so in 5e. A crit is just an extra damage die, not even double damage. At this point, by making the rate so low, you've basically rendered them nonexistent.
2. Nat 10 is Nat 20.
Under this system, if any 10s show up in the roll, it's a crit. There are 19 combinations that include 10s on 2d10. 19 in 100 is 19%. This actually establishes a higher frequency for critical and abstracts critical effects from overall effectiveness somewhat.
3. Crit Die
Under this system, you still roll a d20 with your 2d10. If it lands a 20 it's a crit. This is silly because it's an extra die for just one number to establish a binary state. On the other hand, it has no impact on critical rate and fully abstracts effectiveness and criticals.
So, there you go. Crits. Personally I just go with two 10s is a fluke and snake eyes is a flunk. Flukes are auto-success and flunks are auto-fail. No special damage. Then I just adhere to careful check calling so people don't fluke or flunk on things that don't make sense. No, you can not fluke to punch the moon in half, you just don't get a roll at all.
And now for the meat of it: how does the 2d10 check system interact with AC in the combat system?
From the perspective of a commoner with 10 in all stats and a 0 mod to all ability checks, a DC 10 task is a 64% success rate. That means an AC 10 creature, such as an unarmored commoner, is an easy target that you will hit more than half the time. That sounds right, right? If it's easy, then you should normally pass the task, right? AC 15, however, is not the old 25% chance. Here's the distribution for 2d10:
Die result chances
2=1%
3=2%
4=3%
5=4%
6=5%
7=6%
8=7%
9=8%
10=9%
11=10%
12=9%
13=8%
14=7%
15=6%
16=5%
17=4%
18=3%
19=2%
20=1%
So, adding up all the percentages, what are your chances of meeting a target number without any mods?
DC pass chances
2=100%
3=99%
4=97%
5=94%
6=90%
7=85%
8=79%
9=72%
10=64%
11=55%
12=45%
13=36%
14=28%
15=21%
16=15%
17=10%
18=6%
19=3%
20=1%
So your 15AC target should get punched in the nose about 21% of the time. That AC-optimized fighter tank with 19 AC out the gate should get smacked roughly 3% of the time when being assailed by a bunch of untalented mooks. Modifiers don't actually alter your percentages, they just shift your range up or down. So, for example, a mod of +5 shifts your range up 5 steps. Attacking an AC 10 creature with +5 to the throw gets you a hit rate of 94%, the same as what would be given to an attack against an AC of 5 for someone without a mod. Your mods could be applied to the target number with negative logic to produce the same effects.
All of this means that the mathematics and probability now match the description given for them in the corebooks. Look at the benchmark probabilities without mods:
Trivial = 94%
Easy = 64%
Moderate = 21%
Hard = 1%
Very Hard = 0%
Impossible = 0%
Compared to the original rates of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 5%, these numbers more accurately fit the name given to them. A trivial check really is a trivial check. An easy challenge really is most likely to be passed. A moderate challenge is something that actually gives a fair bit of resistance, and something hard is actually unlikely to be done.
Furthermore, because mods shift your range, not your probability curve, having a bonus means your average result, also your common result, is always higher than someone without it, and the chances of someone outcompeting you in something you are good at drop off rapidly as you get better at it. This also works for the penalties as well though. Someone who is specifically bad at stuff will be consistently bad at it, achieving success when out of his element only on a lucky roll. The wizard could still kick a door from its hinges immediately after a barbarian flailed uselessly against it- but that degree of swing will happen far, far less frequently, and so be more of a memory and less of something weird and glitchy that happens all the time.
And, if that doesn't get you on board, there's this little cherry on top:
d10s just look cooler than d20s. Seriously! A d20 looks like a weird lumpy ball. d10s look like little diamonds. LOOK:
 |
| They're just cool, OK?! |
Monday, April 2, 2018
Naval Gazing
I Made A Naval Campaign Guide!
OK, so hear me out, this is NOT a set of naval combat rules. Unlike other documents, which attempt to reinvent the wheel, this document utilizes, as much as possible, existing rules and content from official publications. There are some additional options, like a new downtime activity based on naval commerce, but it is otherwise nothing more than what it claims to be- a guide.
The core of this document is the ship design system, which introduce a new way of planning the battlemap to account for the unusual shape of ship decks, and is wrapped with some guides on how to handle the commerce and industry surrounding such vessels. If you're interested, the first line is a link to the PDF. Give it a browse if you're so inclined! Be aware though, it presumes ownership of the corebooks and Xanethar's Guide to Everything.
The following is a collection of the visual examples, showing in brief how to go about designing a ship.
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