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  1. billd91

    D&D 5E (2014) Do You Start At Level 1?

    There's some ambiguity in the MGibster's statement and yours that may be tripping you up. Not making a statement that explicitly recommends starting at level 1 isn't the same as recommending NOT starting with level 1, in general. But it does also say, in the segment on starting at higher...
  2. billd91

    D&D 5E (2024) New Campaign: Should I make the switch to 5.5?

    The only way you'll know if the juice is worth the squeeze for you and your group is to give it a go. There are some definite improvements and some things that, I think, aren't. I'd recommend a shorter series going up a few levels (making sure to incorporate the subclasses) as a trial.
  3. billd91

    Why do so many campaigns never finish? Genuinely curious what others think

    We've got a pretty good record going of finishing off APs for the campaigns where we've used them. They offer a promise of some closure if you get to the end of one - at least in the sense that you've resolved a major situation that has arisen in the campaign setting. So, as long as you're...
  4. billd91

    Critical Role's The Legend of Vox Machina Season 4 Comes Out in June

    And since Ashley Johnson joined the group after the one-shot, presumably once they had converted over to Pathfinder, it also is a pretty good explanation why Sarenrae got added to the pantheon.
  5. billd91

    AD&D 1E A Long Thread about the Weapon's vs. AC Table

    I'm not sure I agree with anything in the 10 column being anything but 0. Why isn't that a baseline.
  6. billd91

    D&D 3.x I miss 3.5 edition

    I have a fondness for 3e (both 3.0 and 3.5/PF1). The customization, the way rules fit together into a fairly wholistic structure - I found a lot to recommend it. I played 3.5->PF1 for quite a few years (though, given my drothers, I would steal some of 3.0 back into it). But 5e really won me...
  7. billd91

    D&D 5E (2024) How do you handle surprised but won initiative?

    We go with Charlaquin's interpretation way up thread about combat happening simultaneously. It's not that the leopard isn't going or hasn't revealed itself, it's that other people are reacting fast enough to have their actions adjudicated first.
  8. billd91

    D&D 5E (2024) How do you handle surprised but won initiative?

    Surprise is one of those elements where the rules have varied quite a bit from edition to edition - some much more powerful than others. In AD&D, you might surprise the opposition for multiple segments, which doesn't sound like a lot because they're less than a round, but characters not...
  9. billd91

    D&D 5E (2024) How do you handle surprised but won initiative?

    Mostly because the number of examples that involve highly skilled characters reacting to surprise attacks before the attack lands in our inspiration media is substantial. Being sufficiently stealthy vs surprised does stack the deck pretty hard in achieving initiative (advantage for the hidden...
  10. billd91

    Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

    I'm more of the opinion that English-speakers were a very mean-spirited prank played on the Celtic-branch language speakers of Great Britain and Ireland.
  11. billd91

    Let's Talk About Core Game Mechanics

    I prefer to think of it as genre-based reality rather than REALITY. And genre faithful rules deform REALITY quite a bit - but ideally are still as believable/relatable as reading/watching media in that genre is to the reader/watcher.
  12. billd91

    Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

    Top, Bottom, Strange, Charm
  13. billd91

    Let's Talk About Core Game Mechanics

    I don't think linear systems are any more prone to over-relying on random chance than non-linear ones - if you're using a random generator, you're using a random generator. Whether they produce a lot of failed results or not (or crits, fumbles, or successes) depends on the target numbers being...
  14. billd91

    D&D 5E (2024) Can you get resistance to all 13 damage types?

    Does any of this translate into the player being resistant to the damage dealt by the DM throwing dice at them? That's the damage resistance that I think would be most necessary when pursuing this strategy.
  15. billd91

    Let's Talk About Core Game Mechanics

    I prefer core mechanics where the chances of success are relatively easy to estimate for the average player. So I generally favor simpler random number distributions like a flat d20 distribution to more complex ones like 3d6 bell curve for routine and frequent task resolution.
  16. billd91

    Olympics 2026 Thread

    Or, who skates to musical themes based on a video game about ripping out people's spines? Is there a hidden message? Given their country's relationship with Russia, it's not out of the question.
  17. billd91

    D&D General Adventure League (AL) still supported?

    I'm finding it hard to find anything official out there - that said, they have updated statements/rules for the latest FR and Eberron books, so I don't think it's completely phased out. What I do know is that Gamehole Con started up their own organized play program called Wardens of the Eastern...
  18. billd91

    Spoilers The Pitt Season 2 Discussion

    Ooo, downtime procedures.
  19. billd91

    D&D General What do you think?

    Not gonna lie, there are some flags here to worry about. But some, maybe not. Big enemy numbers and over-leveled NPCs are something you're gonna see with a DM trying to rebalancing things for 6 PCs. Frankly, we do it for fewer PCs than 6 as well since 5e has a history of underestimating PC...
  20. billd91

    Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

    Ugh, same asshats arguing from the same perspectives ruins another thread.
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