Recent content by jmartkdr2

  1. jmartkdr2

    D&D General Subclass and Feat Path thoughts (+)

    If one wanted to make really strong use of feat paths, it might be good to offer subclasses of nothing but feats: ie your fighter subclass is Warrior, and all of your subclass features are either feats of extra Fighting Styles (maybe some masteries) - this makes is a lot easier to dive into a...
  2. jmartkdr2

    Dungeons & Dragons releases Villainous Options playtest

    Can anyone think of an example of a female Death Knight from popular-ish media? Anyways, as to the "why is this charisma-based?" question, I think there are two workarounds: 1. Make it player's choice as suggested 2. If they plan on releasing many feat-chain options (if the player base doesn't...
  3. jmartkdr2

    Dungeons & Dragons releases Villainous Options playtest

    On the other hand - Hell Knight to Death Knight is a really obvious progression, and the subclass certainly qualifies as making a deal with an evil entity.
  4. jmartkdr2

    D&D General Combat as War vs. Sport and a Missing Third Mode

    I don't know if CaT favors dice-light gaming more than CaW - after all, in CaW you're trying to get around the random elements. But diceless CaS would be a really tough sell, I would think.
  5. jmartkdr2

    D&D General Combat as War vs. Sport and a Missing Third Mode

    Even in CaT fudging isn't recommended for getting "good" results, just to avoid the whole thing falling apart. The dice are supposed to provide surprises, after all.
  6. jmartkdr2

    D&D General Combat as War vs. Sport and a Missing Third Mode

    I feel like we're re-inventing the older "Gamist, Narrativist, Simulationist" idea but framing it slightly differently - and carrying the same issues. The "Combat as X" framework seems to be written by CaW/Simulationist gamers and so slightly advantages their own ideas while not quite...
  7. jmartkdr2

    D&D 5E (2024) How useful/interesting is something like this?

    I'm not sure this captures the way damage plays out well - rogues having big spike damage despite having low-ish average damage is important to note. That's on top of the fact that this obviously doesn't account for non-combat features (not that that's missing information) But within narrower...
  8. jmartkdr2

    D&D General What is your favorite Fighting Style in 5e?

    Depends on the class: For fighters, Superior Technique - more toys to play with. Even good with the Battlemaster subclass (although you run out of worthwhile maneuvers quickly, more dice is better.) For paladins, Defense, though next time I might take Intercept. 2014 Protection is just too...
  9. jmartkdr2

    D&D General Combat as War vs. Sport and a Missing Third Mode

    I think one can argue that5e, at least, doesn't really push you toward any of CaW, CaS, or CaT - other editions certainly did, but 5e manages to split the difference. Early editions definitely favored Combat as War, by making actual fighting something you didn't want to do. It was brutal...
  10. jmartkdr2

    D&D General Reincarnate is and has always been, weird.

    That's very true of older editions, but I think the newer versions are a lot more forgiving - ie you wouldn't re-roll stats and very powerful monsters aren't on the list. (you always come back as a pc species). It can make it much less of a risk - there's basically no chance of getting screwed...
  11. jmartkdr2

    D&D General How elder scroll does species

    In addition to any implications, there's also the fact that TES takes place in a single, well-defined setting. DnD is meant to work in many different settings including innumerable homebrew settings. Defining specific cultures well enough to have clear mechanical impacts limits settings much...
  12. jmartkdr2

    Spelljammer Space <insert species/culture/creature>

    Space dragonborn are basically just Klingons, I think.
  13. jmartkdr2

    Tobacco, Hookah, Incense, and Magic

    In Pathfinder 2e there are a couple of spells that create fashionable attire, which typically grant a small bonus to diplomacy checks (in addition to making sure you’re properly dressed.) Perfume could range from “allowing you to ignore a penalty for not having bathed” up to “grants the effect...
  14. jmartkdr2

    D&D General Are you content with what you have in DnD regarding physical/digital material?

    “Content” is the closest listed option but “I don’t foresee myself buying anything more” is more accurate. Partially because I’m sort of done with DnD per se at the moment, and partially because (based on past releases) I don’t think they’re likely to release anything I actually want. 2014 was...
  15. jmartkdr2

    D&D General The 5e Ninja, would it be a class or a subclass?

    In Pathfinder 2e at least, I think there's room for ninja as a complete class - after all, we have slayers as opposed to rangers and daredevils as opposed to swashbucklers - gimme a couple hours and I could probably come up with a dozen focus spells for ninjas. I might need a while to come up...
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