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On December 03 2015 01:32 AsmodeusXI wrote:Show nested quote +On December 03 2015 01:26 WaveofShadow wrote:On December 03 2015 01:12 jcarlsoniv wrote:
I am not looking forward to the next crazy monster that will undoubtedly banish us all to hell with DC 25 WIS saves The only answer is to stop beating his encounters obviously. I think the real answer is to stop calling my fights EZ. <3 I was thinking about today about how my perfect fight would essentially be a dead boss, two unconscious party members, three party members at single digit health, and no remaining spell slots/other class resources. It's just about how far I need to push that envelope to get there. I'll start by depleting resources BEFORE you get to the boss. Just means I have to figure out a way around your Tiny Hut of GM Annoyance.
I mean, I just give you shit cuz I know how hard encounter balance is. Last night's fight was probably as balanced as you'll get, tbh. The hardest part is that you can't account for the randomness of the dice - last night it was in our favor. We rolled well, the boss rolled not quite as well. If the boss had lived for one or two more rounds, it is very likely that one or more of us would have died (I suppose Gimple will almost never die).
I know I had resources depleted before that fight because of our escape from the "prison".
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United States15536 Posts
On December 03 2015 01:39 jcarlsoniv wrote:Show nested quote +On December 03 2015 01:32 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 03 2015 01:26 WaveofShadow wrote:On December 03 2015 01:12 jcarlsoniv wrote:
I am not looking forward to the next crazy monster that will undoubtedly banish us all to hell with DC 25 WIS saves The only answer is to stop beating his encounters obviously. I think the real answer is to stop calling my fights EZ. <3 I was thinking about today about how my perfect fight would essentially be a dead boss, two unconscious party members, three party members at single digit health, and no remaining spell slots/other class resources. It's just about how far I need to push that envelope to get there. I'll start by depleting resources BEFORE you get to the boss. Just means I have to figure out a way around your Tiny Hut of GM Annoyance. I mean, I just give you shit cuz I know how hard encounter balance is. Last night's fight was probably as balanced as you'll get, tbh. The hardest part is that you can't account for the randomness of the dice - last night it was in our favor. We rolled well, the boss rolled not quite as well. If the boss had lived for one or two more rounds, it is very likely that one or more of us would have died (I suppose Gimple will almost never die). I know I had resources depleted before that fight because of our escape from the "prison".
That's fair. I'm actually pretty pleased with how last night's battle went, player antagonizing aside. 
There are other things I want to experiment with though. Like a "low resource" boss fight (although Wave, Amak'thos will never be low on resources because he always has Eldritch Blast).
The other thing I haven't done much of with y'all yet is mobs. Though the one time you have dealt with mobs it was not particularly easy for you (freeing the Quiet Comrades from the vine people... y'all got a bit rekt)
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United States47024 Posts
On December 03 2015 01:32 AsmodeusXI wrote:Show nested quote +On December 03 2015 01:26 WaveofShadow wrote:On December 03 2015 01:12 jcarlsoniv wrote:
I am not looking forward to the next crazy monster that will undoubtedly banish us all to hell with DC 25 WIS saves The only answer is to stop beating his encounters obviously. I think the real answer is to stop calling my fights EZ. <3 I was thinking about today about how my perfect fight would essentially be a dead boss, two unconscious party members, three party members at single digit health, and no remaining spell slots/other class resources. It's just about how far I need to push that envelope to get there. I'll start by depleting resources BEFORE you get to the boss. Just means I have to figure out a way around your Tiny Hut of GM Annoyance.
Variance aside, the difficulty is that you kind of have to have the boss written and built out before you know how many resources the party is going into the fight with, unless you're intentionally giving them a fight where they go in full on gas.
On December 03 2015 02:06 AsmodeusXI wrote:
The other thing I haven't done much of with y'all yet is mobs. Though the one time you have dealt with mobs it was not particularly easy for you (freeing the Quiet Comrades from the vine people... y'all got a bit rekt)
They also didn't have the AoE wombo-combo of doom back then, though.
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On December 03 2015 02:06 AsmodeusXI wrote:Show nested quote +On December 03 2015 01:39 jcarlsoniv wrote:On December 03 2015 01:32 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 03 2015 01:26 WaveofShadow wrote:On December 03 2015 01:12 jcarlsoniv wrote:
I am not looking forward to the next crazy monster that will undoubtedly banish us all to hell with DC 25 WIS saves The only answer is to stop beating his encounters obviously. I think the real answer is to stop calling my fights EZ. <3 I was thinking about today about how my perfect fight would essentially be a dead boss, two unconscious party members, three party members at single digit health, and no remaining spell slots/other class resources. It's just about how far I need to push that envelope to get there. I'll start by depleting resources BEFORE you get to the boss. Just means I have to figure out a way around your Tiny Hut of GM Annoyance. I mean, I just give you shit cuz I know how hard encounter balance is. Last night's fight was probably as balanced as you'll get, tbh. The hardest part is that you can't account for the randomness of the dice - last night it was in our favor. We rolled well, the boss rolled not quite as well. If the boss had lived for one or two more rounds, it is very likely that one or more of us would have died (I suppose Gimple will almost never die). I know I had resources depleted before that fight because of our escape from the "prison". That's fair. I'm actually pretty pleased with how last night's battle went, player antagonizing aside. There are other things I want to experiment with though. Like a "low resource" boss fight (although Wave, Amak'thos will never be low on resources because he always has Eldritch Blast). The other thing I haven't done much of with y'all yet is mobs. Though the one time you have dealt with mobs it was not particularly easy for you (freeing the Quiet Comrades from the vine people... y'all got a bit rekt)
Mobs and waves. This past week I overwhelmed my players by having more and more waves of guards showing up. They were CR 1/8 Guards, but there was a CR ~5 captain that they had to deal with, and it became too much for them.
As I told you last night, I think you hit a pretty good sweet spot with the Jailer in that if we weren't lucky, we likely would have been overwhelmed because it was twice as bad when someone got petrified (-1 player, +1 enemy).
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I think 'cause Soniv rolled it over to a new page no one saw my post on the last one, but essentially yeah.
Overall one thing I notice about our fights is it's a lot of 'get into fight, kill things' rather than attempting to weasel our way out of fights or end things before they've begun which to be fair is also a likely factor of our spellcaster heavy party?
I like the idea of using tools to deplete our resources before battle and whatnot but how do you get around stuff like me using one of my two spell slots to go invisible and do a thing and then being basically tapped out aside from an eldritch blast machine? Although on second thought again like I said in my last post that may not be a bad thing at all considering how many Critical Role fights are just the melle/ranged attacking over and over once the fights start. It might just be more interesting to watch there because so much of their stuff is fluid in terms of who fights and how, when those encounters happen, guards joining the fights etc.
Soniv if you start watching more of Critical Role since you have more experience with DnD maybe you can help me properly express what I'm trying to say here bleh
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United States15536 Posts
As far as RP'ing your way out of a fight goes, there should be opportunities for that. At this point I'm actively planning for them if people manage to find good reasons (or if the people they are fighting are reasonable and not hideous eldritch madness monsters). For example, the Gaoler COULD have been reasoned with (you would've needed a GOOD reason), but Amak'thos whipping out the book tends to have the "kill, kill 'em ded" effect on people.
Edit: and maaaaaaaan I should watch that show. Just for inspiration if nothing else. TIME PLS
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On December 03 2015 02:17 WaveofShadow wrote:
I think 'cause Soniv rolled it over to a new page no one saw my post on the last one, but essentially yeah.
Overall one thing I notice about our fights is it's a lot of 'get into fight, kill things' rather than attempting to weasel our way out of fights or end things before they've begun which to be fair is also a likely factor of our spellcaster heavy party?
I like the idea of using tools to deplete our resources before battle and whatnot but how do you get around stuff like me using one of my two spell slots to go invisible and do a thing and then being basically tapped out aside from an eldritch blast machine? Although on second thought again like I said in my last post that may not be a bad thing at all considering how many Critical Role fights are just the melle/ranged attacking over and over once the fights start. It might just be more interesting to watch there because so much of their stuff is fluid in terms of who fights and how, when those encounters happen, guards joining the fights etc.
Soniv if you start watching more of Critical Role since you have more experience with DnD maybe you can help me properly express what I'm trying to say here bleh
Once you enter initiative, it's basically a fight. But nothing is stopping you from trying other things in there - example, my prayer to Alenna, your mind connection to me. Even early on, when we were in the temple of Equitus, I used Charm Person to avoid a lot of fighting we had to do. A lot of it is that we are encountering malicious gods and creatures that want us dead, so we kinda have to fight in those situations.
I will probably watch more Critical Role, but I'm currently wrapped up in more Rollplay. While Critical Role is a very well done campaign, I also believe it is a very unique type of one. You should watch some Rollplay: Solum, imo, it's a bit "closer" to our campaign in terms of flavor (I guess is the best way to put it?)
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United States47024 Posts
On December 03 2015 02:24 jcarlsoniv wrote:
Once you enter initiative, it's basically a fight.
TBH I really hate this because it gets players primed into a "this is a fight" mentality even if it doesn't have to be. Players, whether consciously or subconsciously, start to rule out peaceful resolutions to a scenario when the DM says "roll for initiative". It's one of the perennial problems of initiative as a system in 3e+.
I generally have players roll for initiative at any point where action order is somewhat relevant (e.g. if they want to cast spells in social situations); partly because it helps remove confusion when people all want to take simultaneous actions, and partly because once you do it enough in non-combat scenarios, you can remove the natural tendency to think "initiative = fight".
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On December 03 2015 03:16 TheYango wrote:Show nested quote +On December 03 2015 02:24 jcarlsoniv wrote:
Once you enter initiative, it's basically a fight. TBH I really hate this because it gets players primed into a "this is a fight" mentality even if it doesn't have to be. Players, whether consciously or subconsciously, start to rule out peaceful resolutions to a scenario when the DM says "roll for initiative". It's one of the perennial problems of initiative as a system in 3e+.
I don't disagree.
I generally have players roll for initiative at any point where action order is somewhat relevant (e.g. if they want to cast spells in social situations); partly because it helps remove confusion when people all want to take simultaneous actions, and partly because once you do it enough in non-combat scenarios, you can remove the natural tendency to think "initiative = fight".
This is something I should do more often. I definitely end up with potentially conflicting actions often enough to make it regular habit.
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Won't be able to make it tonight.
+ Show Spoiler +undergoing treatment for bovine fecalisis syndrome
Dw, I'm sure whatever elaborate encounter asmo has planned will be simple to tackle without me.
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United States15536 Posts
On December 09 2015 03:21 Lord Tolkien wrote:Won't be able to make it tonight. + Show Spoiler +undergoing treatment for bovine fecalisis syndrome Dw, I'm sure whatever elaborate encounter asmo has planned will be simple to tackle without me.
Your trolling has so many levels it's hard for me to detect.
Also I will murder all of you sooner rather than later.
KEEP PUSHING ME.
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On December 09 2015 03:21 Lord Tolkien wrote:Won't be able to make it tonight. + Show Spoiler +undergoing treatment for bovine fecalisis syndrome Dw, I'm sure whatever elaborate encounter asmo has planned will be simple to tackle without me.
Oh oh oh I get it.
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On December 09 2015 03:22 AsmodeusXI wrote:Show nested quote +On December 09 2015 03:21 Lord Tolkien wrote:Won't be able to make it tonight. + Show Spoiler +undergoing treatment for bovine fecalisis syndrome Dw, I'm sure whatever elaborate encounter asmo has planned will be simple to tackle without me. Your trolling has so many levels it's hard for me to detect. Also I will murder all of you sooner rather than later. KEEP PUSHING ME.
The rest of the team maybe, but Gimble? Never.
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United States15536 Posts
On December 09 2015 03:34 Lord Tolkien wrote:Show nested quote +On December 09 2015 03:22 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 09 2015 03:21 Lord Tolkien wrote:Won't be able to make it tonight. + Show Spoiler +undergoing treatment for bovine fecalisis syndrome Dw, I'm sure whatever elaborate encounter asmo has planned will be simple to tackle without me. Your trolling has so many levels it's hard for me to detect. Also I will murder all of you sooner rather than later. KEEP PUSHING ME. The rest of the team maybe, but Gimble? Never.
Challenge accepted.
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On December 09 2015 03:36 AsmodeusXI wrote:Show nested quote +On December 09 2015 03:34 Lord Tolkien wrote:On December 09 2015 03:22 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 09 2015 03:21 Lord Tolkien wrote:Won't be able to make it tonight. + Show Spoiler +undergoing treatment for bovine fecalisis syndrome Dw, I'm sure whatever elaborate encounter asmo has planned will be simple to tackle without me. Your trolling has so many levels it's hard for me to detect. Also I will murder all of you sooner rather than later. KEEP PUSHING ME. The rest of the team maybe, but Gimble? Never. Challenge accepted.
This enemy's parents were killed by an evil band of wizards. He holds an amulet that specifically shuts down wizard spells. He's invisible to everyone else.
Your move Gimble.
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On December 09 2015 03:44 jcarlsoniv wrote:Show nested quote +On December 09 2015 03:36 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 09 2015 03:34 Lord Tolkien wrote:On December 09 2015 03:22 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 09 2015 03:21 Lord Tolkien wrote:Won't be able to make it tonight. + Show Spoiler +undergoing treatment for bovine fecalisis syndrome Dw, I'm sure whatever elaborate encounter asmo has planned will be simple to tackle without me. Your trolling has so many levels it's hard for me to detect. Also I will murder all of you sooner rather than later. KEEP PUSHING ME. The rest of the team maybe, but Gimble? Never. Challenge accepted. This enemy's parents were killed by an evil band of wizards. He holds an amulet that specifically shuts down wizard spells. He's invisible to everyone else. Your move Gimble.
convince him that I am NOT in fact a wizard with divination and lucky, and how dare he assume that all gnomish academics are wizards.
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On December 09 2015 03:44 jcarlsoniv wrote:Show nested quote +On December 09 2015 03:36 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 09 2015 03:34 Lord Tolkien wrote:On December 09 2015 03:22 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 09 2015 03:21 Lord Tolkien wrote:Won't be able to make it tonight. + Show Spoiler +undergoing treatment for bovine fecalisis syndrome Dw, I'm sure whatever elaborate encounter asmo has planned will be simple to tackle without me. Your trolling has so many levels it's hard for me to detect. Also I will murder all of you sooner rather than later. KEEP PUSHING ME. The rest of the team maybe, but Gimble? Never. Challenge accepted. This enemy's parents were killed by an evil band of wizards. He holds an amulet that specifically shuts down wizard spells. He's invisible to everyone else. Your move Gimble.
Just pretend you can't see him? Not Gimble's problem.
Also I would be ok dying I have a lot of other cool character ideas.
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On December 09 2015 04:37 Requizen wrote:Show nested quote +On December 09 2015 03:44 jcarlsoniv wrote:On December 09 2015 03:36 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 09 2015 03:34 Lord Tolkien wrote:On December 09 2015 03:22 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 09 2015 03:21 Lord Tolkien wrote:Won't be able to make it tonight. + Show Spoiler +undergoing treatment for bovine fecalisis syndrome Dw, I'm sure whatever elaborate encounter asmo has planned will be simple to tackle without me. Your trolling has so many levels it's hard for me to detect. Also I will murder all of you sooner rather than later. KEEP PUSHING ME. The rest of the team maybe, but Gimble? Never. Challenge accepted. This enemy's parents were killed by an evil band of wizards. He holds an amulet that specifically shuts down wizard spells. He's invisible to everyone else. Your move Gimble. Just pretend you can't see him? Not Gimble's problem. Also I would be ok dying I have a lot of other cool character ideas.
I bit the bullet and made one of my character ideas an NPC for my campaign.
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On December 09 2015 03:21 Lord Tolkien wrote:Won't be able to make it tonight. + Show Spoiler +undergoing treatment for bovine fecalisis syndrome Dw, I'm sure whatever elaborate encounter asmo has planned will be simple to tackle without me.
Took me longer than I'm willing to admit to figure that one out.
On December 09 2015 04:33 Lord Tolkien wrote:Show nested quote +On December 09 2015 03:44 jcarlsoniv wrote:On December 09 2015 03:36 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 09 2015 03:34 Lord Tolkien wrote:On December 09 2015 03:22 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 09 2015 03:21 Lord Tolkien wrote:Won't be able to make it tonight. + Show Spoiler +undergoing treatment for bovine fecalisis syndrome Dw, I'm sure whatever elaborate encounter asmo has planned will be simple to tackle without me. Your trolling has so many levels it's hard for me to detect. Also I will murder all of you sooner rather than later. KEEP PUSHING ME. The rest of the team maybe, but Gimble? Never. Challenge accepted. This enemy's parents were killed by an evil band of wizards. He holds an amulet that specifically shuts down wizard spells. He's invisible to everyone else. Your move Gimble. convince him that I am NOT in fact a wizard with divination and lucky, and how dare he assume that all gnomish academics are wizards.
Something something would the enemy go for the wizard first though because monster intelligence etc
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United States15536 Posts
On December 09 2015 03:44 jcarlsoniv wrote:Show nested quote +On December 09 2015 03:36 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 09 2015 03:34 Lord Tolkien wrote:On December 09 2015 03:22 AsmodeusXI wrote:On December 09 2015 03:21 Lord Tolkien wrote:Won't be able to make it tonight. + Show Spoiler +undergoing treatment for bovine fecalisis syndrome Dw, I'm sure whatever elaborate encounter asmo has planned will be simple to tackle without me. Your trolling has so many levels it's hard for me to detect. Also I will murder all of you sooner rather than later. KEEP PUSHING ME. The rest of the team maybe, but Gimble? Never. Challenge accepted. This enemy's parents were killed by an evil band of wizards. He holds an amulet that specifically shuts down wizard spells. He's invisible to everyone else. Your move Gimble.
Really all I have to make him do is make enough STR, DEX, and CON saves and he'll just expire. You can only Lucky and Divination so many times. 
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EPT
