Recent content by ECMO3

I just remember playing Battlesystem modules back in the 80s where you do part of the adventure and then there was a battle in the middle of and when the battle was going on everyone at the table was like - can we just get back to playing D&D now. It is a very particular group this works for.

I would disagree with this. In 3.5E with no bounded accuracy someone could start out good at a skill and by 10th level they sucked at it ..... what happpened 3 weeks ago I could bluff everyone and my Disguises were the cat's meow. Now I am fooling no one [because I put no points in Disguise...

IME it is completely the opposite. In a pirate themed campaign every PC is either an aquatic race or an aquatic subclass.

Battlesystem would work mechanically, the issue though is that is a different kind of game. D&D is character focused and Battlesystem is more about the army/battle. It would have to be a specific kind of group for this to be effective and fun. I remeber when battlesystem was new and Gygax was...

I am working up a character who is going to be a Scion of the Dead 3 Rogue. I have some of her backstory together - basically she was intended to be sacrificed as a child but was saved by a group of adventurers right before she was about to be killed. As far as the campaign goes Bane works a...

While this is true most beligerents view another countries "privateers" as pirates.

Have the PCs essentially be the Marines on the ship. The Captain is driving but the PCs are shooting arrows, manning ballistae and catapults or working on the rigging, until you close and then it is grappling hooks, boarding planks and a massive melee. There are a couple ways to make this work...

Call from the deep is a really good nautical adventure.

In 2024 it is usually a Slight of Hand Check. Having proficiency in Thieves Tools gives you proficiency on the Slight of Hand check and having proficiency in both the tool and the skill give you advantage.

It is in the rules and they don't need to be humanoids, they just need to have legs (for a rope) or be small or medium (for manacles) and be grappled or incapacitated. Yes, all the time. Pretty much any time anyone is either grappled or incapacitated from something like Stunning Strike or...

I totally get it ... but the rules are the rules. Not only is a Rope easier, it is more effective and less conditional.

The problem with low level troops in 3.5E is bounded accuracy and damage resistance. Creatures that were much lower level were no threat at all. It is one of the things I hated about 3.5E.

That is a really good way to simplify it, but to make it work you need to accept that people who don't get spells will be inferior, or else you need to make it substantially more complicated. I would be totally cool with it, but the people who demand that Fighters be as good as casters wouldn't be.

DC10 SOH check with a Rope or DC13 SOH with manacles to make an enemy restrained. This is new for 2024 and is extremely powerful in play.

The 5.5 rules have really changed this quite a bit IMO. Before 5.5 it was Perception, Stealth and Athletics and then everything else was well below these. Now they are much more balanced. Some of these are going to vary a ton depending on campaign and PC, but here is how I would put them...