TwoSix
"Diegetics", by L. Ron Gygax
Ironically, my +2 vorpal longsword is named "Courage", and my +3 flametongue is named "Will."Most things should be accomplished without magic or special powers. Your chief weapons should be courage and will.
Ironically, my +2 vorpal longsword is named "Courage", and my +3 flametongue is named "Will."Most things should be accomplished without magic or special powers. Your chief weapons should be courage and will.
Then play something other than a fantasy game.Most things should be accomplished without magic or special powers. Your chief weapons should be courage and will.
Most things should be accomplished without magic or special powers. Your chief weapons should be courage and will.
The best a bard could do was give you a +1 to hit. I'd like to see that return.
Power-building and clever optimizing aren't problems for me. I object to fundamental things like cantrips being at-will, even at 1st level, and ability score increases.
Then play something other than a fantasy game.
Me, I want to play classic (but updated!) D&D. Which means fighting vampires, demons, carnivorous Jello, dinosaurs, and robots-that-fell-from-space (I'm re-reading some Blackmoor material right now) using vorpal swords and fireballs.
Oh, and witty one-liners!
Yeah, in LMoP I had a squad of hobbers advancing up a hill toward the PCs. They used their horses as 3/4 cover, a smart tactical move, and it boosted their AC into the 20s, but they still got killed fast. The two survivors turned tail and ran.
Excellent post. Is there room in 5th Edition for the players to feel they have to earn power, though? ....
I've had things like that happen (because the hobgoblins don't realize at first that the squishy humans are actually heroes--heroes tend to get underestimated by humanoid foes) but once the survivors warn the rest of the hobs they will switch tactics: next time, the hobs shadow the party at long range instead of advancing. The goal is to remain a force-in-being until the party rests or a separate fight starts, at which point the hobs tip the scales.
Still not guaranteed to work, but a smart and realistic tactic.
I was surprised at how fast then went down even with a 23 AC. Against 4th level PCs. Sort of reminded me to keep in mind that I shouldn't feel too bad about bumping up the AC of some monsters to give a slightly longer fighting chance.
You want to be careful about both. If HP inflate too high, it makes some damages feel fairly meaningless ("I've hit this guy with 5 cantrips already and it's not below half hp yet!"), and breaks some spells (ex: Sleep, Power Words).Consider bumping HP instead AC as a more reliable method of controlling the length of a battle- it also has the side benefit of "hitting is fun, missing is not"