Best Version of DnD?

[Doug Sundseth]

13 minutes ago, VitM said:

 

I have played with a few people over the years that are, I guess the best description is "vaguely offended", that mundane weapon strikes cease to matter around mid-levels and that you need to have relevant feats, class abilities, or magic to contribute. 

 

D&D (all versions) might be the wrong system for those people. By default, it's a magic-driven game and if you try to force it into a low-magic game, it doesn't shine.

 

GURPS, RuneQuest, Hero, Chivalry & Sorcery, Ars Magica, .... There are lots of games that do limited magic much better than D&D.

[VitM]

I wasn't talking about weapon strikes versus monsters with specific resistances or immunity, I meant in the sense that a 9th level cleric has better things to do with their time than swing a mace for 1d8+5 damage or whatever.  If you are facing a level-appropriate foe, the game doesn't really cut you any slack if you decide to sandbag with low-level, off-specialty actions.  

[Club]

I saw the sorcerer with five types of damage. It did a fair amount of damage, but was too squishy and high a targeting priority if the GM played the opponents intelligently.

 

The other one was loaded with touch spells and save-or-suck spells that didn't level well. He either didn't manage much or died a lot. After the ... fifth, I think, time losing a level coming back from the dead, he built an archer fighter.

[TheAuldGrump]

*BLINK* Save-or-suck spells are among the very best for leveling up with the party. Weaken the baddies so that the fighter and other tanks can do their jobs better.

 

It sounds like he was trying to be a one man army, rather than support - S-o-S are  great for party support, and allow the Squishy to do his job, then get out of the way while the rest of the team does their jobs.

 

*EDIT* Buff the party, blast the enemy, then weaken the enemy - then get out of the way. Do not hang around to keep blasting. That is how the Squishy gets squished.

 

The Auld Grump

Edited September 19, 2017 by TheAuldGrump

[BlazingTornado]

http://goodman-games.com/blog/2017/09/17/an-update-on-into-the-borderlands/

 

Still pretty excited for this. I'll probably break the bank getting it, though, especially with Xanathar's Guide To Everything coming out around the same time.

[Loim]

It took me a long time to realize that a properly played Cleric is pretty hard to stop. Especially if you have them in a party with some good damage dealers. Also Blade Barrier is stupidly overpowered. 

[TheAuldGrump]

2 hours ago, Loim said:

It took me a long time to realize that a properly played Cleric is pretty hard to stop. Especially if you have them in a party with some good damage dealers. Also Blade Barrier is stupidly overpowered. 

There is a bit of a story on why the Cleric, and by extension, the Druid are so powerful - but it comes down to folks not wanting to play the healer.

 

Me, I like playing Clerics - it is fun to be the preacher, and gives lots of opportunity for role play.

 

A lesson that I learned in my very first D&D game - one of the players was a Catholic priest, and played a Cleric.... a horrible, selfish, unctuous, sanctimonious, usurious Cleric. He had a lot of fun playing the character. Everything that you would least want to see in a priest, rolled into one fat, waddling package. (The priest himself was nothing like that, but I would be willing to bet that he was covertly mocking some people that he actually knew.)

 

The Auld Grump

[Doug Sundseth]

I really like how Pathfinder changed the Cleric. Burst healing makes the cleric even better at healing the group (extending the adventuring day) and can be really helpful in combat when things are going south. And the character still gets the chance to do fun stuff with spells or melee as well. Simultaneously, they dropped the cleric-kaiju down in power and raised the melee classes, so that the cleric is now at best a second-choice fighter.

 

Much better balance.

[PaganMegan]

On 09/16/2017 at 9:44 AM, DocPiske said:

It occurs to me that this forum is much too cordial. Are we sure we're on the internet?

Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elderberries!

 

Yup, pretty sure!

[PaganMegan]

18 hours ago, BlazingTornado said:

http://goodman-games.com/blog/2017/09/17/an-update-on-into-the-borderlands/

 

Still pretty excited for this. I'll probably break the bank getting it, though, especially with Xanathar's Guide To Everything coming out around the same time.

Man, I was hoping for something like Grump's Borderlands and Beyond.

 

Taking the Keep and building a campaign around it.

 

We stuck around an area designed for levels 1 - 3 until we were 7th level, and had FUN!

 

It was one of the best campaigns I have ever been in, playing in the sandbox.

[PaganMegan]

4 hours ago, Doug Sundseth said:

I really like how Pathfinder changed the Cleric. Burst healing makes the cleric even better at healing the group (extending the adventuring day) and can be really helpful in combat when things are going south. And the character still gets the chance to do fun stuff with spells or melee as well. Simultaneously, they dropped the cleric-kaiju down in power and raised the melee classes, so that the cleric is now at best a second-choice fighter.

 

Much better balance.

For combat, we are finding the fighter types ROCK!

 

And the changes to paladin. Oh, how I wish we had a paladin in Korvosa, and I am playing a Chaotic! (Chaotic Good, but definitely Chaotic!)

 

Instead we have a barbarian, which is great, but we keep running into things that are just asking for Smite!

 

I SOOO want to Smite the smirk off the Queen's face! I almost want to play a paladin, just so I get to be the one that does it. And she has the party swashbuckler wrapped right around her little finger.

 

I think Moll is gonna be the one that gets her though - she just started adding Vigilante levels, on top of rogue and shadow dancer. She's extra killy, right now.

 

Grump is letting her try the class before she picks an archetype.

[TheAuldGrump]

30 minutes ago, PaganMegan said:

Man, I was hoping for something like Grump's Borderlands and Beyond.

 

Taking the Keep and building a campaign around it.

 

We stuck around an area designed for levels 1 - 3 until we were 7th level, and had FUN!

 

It was one of the best campaigns I have ever been in, playing in the sandbox.

I was pretty much just making it up a week or two in advance.... at least for the first ten levels or so.

 

The Auld Grump - I still remember Julie screaming when she ran into the burning skeletal bull.... and the whole party running. Good times! Good times!

[BlazingTornado]

I probably could have built a better campaign around the Keep but it was my 2nd time running an adventure and first time converting an older edition to new rules...

 

There just seemed to be a lack of interest for players to play in the sandbox so it was always back and forth from the keep to the caves...

Were I to run it again for a different group, I'd hope I can do better.

 

I mean in the city the players are currently in they've definitely had more fun "sandboxing" around.

[Doug Sundseth]

1 hour ago, PaganMegan said:

For combat, we are finding the fighter types ROCK!

 

And the changes to paladin. Oh, how I wish we had a paladin in Korvosa, and I am playing a Chaotic! (Chaotic Good, but definitely Chaotic!)

 

Instead we have a barbarian, which is great, but we keep running into things that are just asking for Smite!

 

I SOOO want to Smite the smirk off the Queen's face! I almost want to play a paladin, just so I get to be the one that does it. And she has the party swashbuckler wrapped right around her little finger.

 

Barbarian is really good at smiting. And the person you smite doesn't have to be any special alignment for it to work, either. 

 

I strongly recommend Beast Totem. A hasted, pouncing barbarian with a 2-handed sword rocks.

[TheAuldGrump]

2 hours ago, Doug Sundseth said:

 

Barbarian is really good at smiting. And the person you smite doesn't have to be any special alignment for it to work, either. 

 

I strongly recommend Beast Totem. A hasted, pouncing barbarian with a 2-handed sword rocks.

Pretty sure that Jon is going with straight up human Barbarian.

 

Megan has an Alley Witch.

 

Molly has a Rogue/Shadow Dancer/possible Vigilante - she is - (Spoiler)

taking up the persona of Blackjack

 

Duncan has a Swashbuckler - sadly, he is not that good at remembering that Molly really needs a flanking buddy, which is too bad - two mobility types are much better than one. (Which means she ends up flanking with the Barbarian more often than not. Which has the added benefit of keeping the Barbarian alive....)

 

Jenny has a cleric, with Liberation as one of her domains.(A mobile cleric.)

 

Mike has Magus.

 

Julie has a Bard - and when it comes to information gathering, she and Megan freakin' kick arse! (Alley Witches can commune with the spirit of the city - and Megan has realized that Korvosa and Old Korvosa have very different spirits. For all intents and purposes, the city is her Patron.) 

 

What the party doesn't have is a tank - they are good at dealing damage, not so hot at soaking damage. They are all very mobile, even the Witch and the Cleric. (For good reason - the first time we played there was a chase on the Shingles that went... badly.)

 

The Auld Grump