D&D 5E Discussion

[tuluse]

Did anyone actually like wild magic?

Nope. Unpredictable and looking up tables like that slows down the game.

I think if you play a wild mage, you know it's not serious game. It's good to have some more fun, crazy things as an option.

 

[Spectacle]

Did anyone actually like wild magic? When you cast a spell, you want to know what it does in advance. Some of the results on that table include casting fireball or confusion centered on yourself, which I'm sure your allies will love.

It's great for players who want to fuck around with the rest of the group, when shit happens they can just blame the dice.

 

[LeStryfe79]

An obvious example of trying too hard.

 

[Grunker]

Did anyone actually like wild magic?

Nope. Unpredictable and looking up tables like that slows down the game.

I think if you play a wild mage, you know it's not serious game. It's good to have some more fun, crazy things as an option.

Plus, when you have a GM with a laptop, looking stuff up almost doesn't stop the game at all.

 

[Alex]

Did anyone actually like wild magic?

Nope. Unpredictable and looking up tables like that slows down the game.

I think if you play a wild mage, you know it's not serious game. It's good to have some more fun, crazy things as an option.

Plus, when you have a GM with a laptop, looking stuff up almost doesn't stop the game at all.

Actually, I find looking up stuff with a real book a lot easier. PDFs frequently take some time to load, and going back and forth is a lot more time consuming. Besides, you can put up bookmarks on stuff you use a lot.

 

[Grunker]

Did anyone actually like wild magic?

Nope. Unpredictable and looking up tables like that slows down the game.

I think if you play a wild mage, you know it's not serious game. It's good to have some more fun, crazy things as an option.

Plus, when you have a GM with a laptop, looking stuff up almost doesn't stop the game at all.

Actually, I find looking up stuff with a real book a lot easier. PDFs frequently take some time to load, and going back and forth is a lot more time consuming. Besides, you can put up bookmarks on stuff you use a lot.

Alex, I love you, but you never cease to amaze me in your quest to make everything from before the year 2000 seem arbitrarily superior. I guaran-fucking-tee you that you, me, 20 arbitrarily selected books and look-up tasks, and I will win everytime on a laptop. Even if your false logic of "laptop means PDFs" (mostly I use online databases - fuck I even do so for oWoD - where you just have to type in whatever you're looking for and it appears), was correct, you don't scroll through the books when you use PDFs. You search and Go-To. Also, going back and forth? What do you mean by that? Any book you'll ever need for that session is right there in your FoxIt tabs. It's one click, then press CTRL + F, type it in, and get an instant result.

Looking up stuff in my games hardly even pause the damn things anymore. I just have my browser and FoxIt open, and it's click - click - bam. Plus, we frequently use 30+ books for my games these days precisely because we can do so digitally. That would never be feasable if we did it like we did back then.

 

[LeStryfe79]

What the fuck is this PDF shit, when a monocled DM just lies and cheats improvises to get his way for the good of the game?

 

[Alex]

Alex, I love you, but you never cease to amaze me in your quest to make everything from before the year 2000 seem arbitrarily superior. I guaran-fucking-tee you that you, me, 20 arbitrarily selected books and look-up tasks, and I will win everytime on a laptop. Even if your false logic of "laptop means PDFs" (mostly I use online databases - fuck I even do so for oWoD - where you just have to type in whatever you're looking for and it appears), was correct, you don't scroll through the books when you use PDFs. You search and Go-To. Also, going back and forth? What do you mean by that? Any book you'll ever need for that session is right there in your FoxIt tabs. It's one click, then press CTRL + F, type it in, and get an instant result.

Looking up stuff in my games hardly even pause the damn things anymore. I just have my browser and FoxIt open, and it's click - click - bam. Plus, we frequently use 30+ books for my games these days precisely because we can do so digitally. That would never be feasable if we did it like we did back then.

Actually, I was commenting more in the hopes you would explain how you do it. I have a lot of books in pdf only form, and they are a pain in the ass. I don't mind technology one bit (though I think tablets look and feel awful, but that is just a pet peeve). What I dislike about (many) newer RPGs are their design philosophy.

About searching, I frequently have PDFs that are image only, or ones where I am not too sure about what to search for (I suck at memorizing names). I think databases would be a far more elegant solution, though of course it would be a lot simpler if I didn't have to program them myself. Where do you get a database for existing RPGs?

 

[tuluse]

Actually, I was commenting more in the hopes you would explain how you do it. I have a lot of books in pdf only form, and they are a pain in the ass. I don't mind technology one bit (though I think tablets look and feel awful, but that is just a pet peeve). What I dislike about (many) newer RPGs are their design philosophy.

About searching, I frequently have PDFs that are image only, or ones where I am not too sure about what to search for (I suck at memorizing names). I think databases would be a far more elegant solution, though of course it would be a lot simpler if I didn't have to program them myself. Where do you get a database for existing RPGs?

D&D 3rd edition and all it's derivatives have freely available online databases thanks to OGL.

When you get a PDF, you want one that says it's OCR that means the text is text I believe, so you can search it.

My problem with tech during a pnp game is that it's usually super distracting. If only the GM has a laptop that probably works. As soon as smart phones come out, it's a problem though.

I was actually thinking a tablet would be a good way to incorporate a digital player's handbook since it would be easier to pass around than a laptop.

 

[Grunker]

Alex, I love you, but you never cease to amaze me in your quest to make everything from before the year 2000 seem arbitrarily superior. I guaran-fucking-tee you that you, me, 20 arbitrarily selected books and look-up tasks, and I will win everytime on a laptop. Even if your false logic of "laptop means PDFs" (mostly I use online databases - fuck I even do so for oWoD - where you just have to type in whatever you're looking for and it appears), was correct, you don't scroll through the books when you use PDFs. You search and Go-To. Also, going back and forth? What do you mean by that? Any book you'll ever need for that session is right there in your FoxIt tabs. It's one click, then press CTRL + F, type it in, and get an instant result.

Looking up stuff in my games hardly even pause the damn things anymore. I just have my browser and FoxIt open, and it's click - click - bam. Plus, we frequently use 30+ books for my games these days precisely because we can do so digitally. That would never be feasable if we did it like we did back then.

Actually, I was commenting more in the hopes you would explain how you do it. I have a lot of books in pdf only form, and they are a pain in the ass. I don't mind technology one bit (though I think tablets look and feel awful, but that is just a pet peeve). What I dislike about (many) newer RPGs are their design philosophy.

About searching, I frequently have PDFs that are image only, or ones where I am not too sure about what to search for (I suck at memorizing names). I think databases would be a far more elegant solution, though of course it would be a lot simpler if I didn't have to program them myself. Where do you get a database for existing RPGs?

Haha, sorry, maybe I have a penchant for misunderstanding you.

Fucking image-only PDFs need to die in a fire. I can't be of much help there . It's the case too for a scant few of my oWoD books. There I rely on sites like this and this (what I refered to as databases). The prime example of a fully functional, balls-to-the-walls awesome database is www.d20pfsrd.com. However, most RPGs have searchable PDFs if you're willing to look for them. For GURPS, I use the PDFs as they are all searchable and all awesome. I use FoxIt as my reader since it's free and has nice, clean, browser-like tabs that allows me to switch through several books very fast. It also opens PDFs very rapidly (it can be a bit slow to launch at times, but once launched it is rapid).

I do concede easily that for games where none of the above is a solution, books are the way. Fortunately, those games rarely need more than a couple of books

My problem with tech during a pnp game is that it's usually super distracting. If only the GM has a laptop that probably works. As soon as smart phones come out, it's a problem though.

Agreed. Our take on it is:

1) Only GM has a laptop.

2) No phones, no laptops for players.

3) Tablets are OK.

We find that tablets really provide no disturbance. This is because character editing can be done while the tablet is lying horizontally on the table, so there's no reason to ever pick it up and use it for something else. Mileage will vary with player discipline though, is my guess.

 

[Xor]

Did anyone actually like wild magic?

I always wanted to play a wild mage but my group would always throw a fit when I'd bring it up.

 

[Alchemist]

More info on the 5E Starter Set: http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20140609#93096

Once we had an idea of what we wanted to avoid, we focused on what to include. The Keep on the Borderlands is the classic adventure bundled with the 1981 D&D Basic Set. The locations and encounter scenarios introduced in that adventure have stood the test of time, with DMs still using them to run games today. With that in mind, we decided to focus on making the adventure the key component of the Starter Set. A good adventure sees use again and again.

Moreover, we wanted an adventure that was similar to Keep on the Borderlands, but a bit more focused on helping new DMs launch campaigns. The original Keep is almost completely open-ended, but feedback during the playtest told us that some new DMs felt lost when figuring out exactly where to take an open-ended adventure. We wanted an adventure with a bit of direction to launch a campaign, which could then segue to a more open-ended approach after a play group has a couple of game sessions under its belt.

The result is Lost Mine of Phandelver. Weighing in at sixty-four pages, it provides enough material to advance characters up to 5th level. The first segment of the adventure puts DMs through the basics of asking for checks and saving throws, as the characters venture into a goblin lair on a rescue mission. Once the adventurers have dealt with the goblins, they have free reign to explore the region around the village of Phandalin. Three more dungeons and five other adventure locations provide novice DMs with plenty of material to keep a campaign going for months. With Basic D&D as a natural next step, DMs will have the tools they need to further expand the region and keep the action going.

We’ll talk about Lost Mine of Phandelver in more detail next week. The adventure’s author, Rich Baker, has graciously agreed to answer a few questions about the process of creating it.

In addition to Lost Mine of Phandelver, the Starter Set also includes a rulebook. This provides the basic rules of play, descriptions of the spells used by the pregenerated characters and NPCs, and the magic items found in the adventure. In addition, it makes a handy table reference for things like equipment and combat rules, and we expect that DMs who move on to Basic D&D or the three core rulebooks will continue to use the Starter Set rulebook as an extra resource during play.

The adventure comes with five pregenerated characters—a dwarf cleric, two human fighters, an elf wizard, and a halfling rogue. One of the fighters uses a large axe and heavy armor. The other is an archer clad in leather armor. Since the fighter is easily the most popular class in the game, we decided to offer two takes on it rather than a fifth character class. This approach also makes it easy for players to modify the pregenerated characters using Basic D&D, and to advance them past 5th level.

Finally, the Starter Set comes with a set of six polyhedral dice—marbled blue in color with white numbers. I have three of these sets in my dice bag—all early samples sent over by the factory. If you’ve watched our live stream games, you might have seen them in use.

Along with the Basic D&D PDF (to make custom characters), sounds like there will be enough here to start off a 5E campaign.

 

[tuluse]

Is basic D&D what they're calling the free PDF or are they splitting up the game into basic and advanced rules again?

 

[Alchemist]

Is basic D&D what they're calling the free PDF or are they splitting up the game into basic and advanced rules again?

Basic D&D will be the free PDF and the core rules of the game with a limited number of classes / races - but it will go all the way to level 20. They said the Player's Handbook and DMG will include advanced optional rules to add on top of the core Basic. So not strictly the advanced / basic split they had in the old days, because they'll be totally compatible. You could theoretically play a basic character in the same game with someone using a Player's Handbook character.

 

[Night Goat]

Big news: WotC has posted an excerpt from the Starter Set! Prepare yourselves, you're about to see something amazing! Those with heart conditions shouldn't look, you might not be able to handle the excitement.

Spoiler

Wow! Don't say I didn't warn you!

 

[Excidium]

I like how the rope doesn't have a length

 

[tuluse]

6 levels of meal quality

 

[Kahlis]

But no rope quality?

 

[Alchemist]

Heh.. yeah not a juicy reveal. Yay equipment list. I wonder if the lower meal qualities carry a % chance of disease. Make a CON check...

 

[Ulminati]

If you are proficient with playing cards, you can add your proficiency bonus to ability checks you make to play a game with them.

10/10, GOTY

 

[LeStryfe79]

Artwork is shit.

 

[m_s0]

I like how the rope doesn't have a length

It's magic(al).

 

[Melan]

I am not seeing the ten foot pole.

 

[J1M]

I am not seeing the ten foot pole.

It has been buffed to eleven feet.

 

[Caim]

I am not seeing the ten foot pole.

It has been buffed to eleven feet.

Collapsible pole, 11'.