D&D 5E (2014) Level 20 Class Competition Ideas

[Minigiant]

Are there things to hide behind for stealth classes?

As sneaky Dex classes like rogue, ranger, bard, and monk can play differently if they can hide at the start.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Honestly, rather than having all of the preferences for this and that weighted, I think it's better just to have a few random maps and randomly determine the starting locations and distances between characters within them. And there should be no prep, or very little. Like maybe a caster is allowed to pre-cast one personal range spell (like mage armor, though it could be whatever you want) with a casting time of 10 minutes or less as the equivalent of being able to put on armor.

That way you can see how well a character does overall, because you aren't always going to end up in the ideal circumstances for your character.

 

[FrogReaver]

The only competition that should be considered is the one that the most people actually want to participate in. What should and should be (for any satisfaction of fairness or propriety requirements) is completely irrelevant, unless the majority / plurality wants the most fair / proper competition possible.

I disagree. Given 1000's of participants I would come closer to agreeing. But given the low number of participants we are going to see a competition that silos nearly all of them out into separate mini-competitions doesn't make sense.

Opposed checks (preferably simple opposed d20 rolls without modifiers) could be a good way to determine these factors when there's no fair way to determine them otherwise.

I think including modifiers there would work best.

As I said, you run the matches. If/when it becomes clear that initiative is why one side or the other wins, then you do math. If it's not clear that initiative is why one side wins, then math doesn't come into play.

And as I said, even if initiative is a major factor, we don't know that it's the only factor. As such looking at initiative in that general situation and doing white room computations won't yield any meaningful results. The only time that can yield meaningful results is if we know exactly how big of an impact is having on the combat and there's no way to know that - except in the 1 exceptional case where the character that wins initiative always - which doesn't happen given the random nature of everything else...

 

[FrogReaver]

Honestly, rather than having all of the preferences for this and that weighted, I think it's better just to have a few random maps and randomly determine the starting locations and distances between characters within them. And there should be no prep, or very little. Like maybe a caster is allowed to pre-cast one personal range spell (like mage armor, though it could be whatever you want) with a casting time of 10 minutes or less as the equivalent of being able to put on armor.

That way you can see how well a character does overall, because you aren't always going to end up in the ideal circumstances for your character.

But then you would theoretically need to play through every scenario a few times for fairness. That's a lot of matches.

 

[Lucas Blackstone]

Pretty easily.. How?

Time Stop is the main one that comes to mind.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

But then you would theoretically need to play through every scenario a few times for fairness. That's a lot of matches.

Only if you were looking for some sort of definitive proof of exactly which character is stronger than another. But you can't really get that anyway with a few actual matches in a system based around a d20. The random factor is going to matter too much, unless the entire goal here is to build characters that can win every time even if the odds always go against them, which I think is overly limiting (only a very few builds could be made that might be able to do that).

Even with the suggestions for how to weight it, characters would still have to adapt to non-ideal starting situations. Why bother with that extra step when at least one of the characters is usually going to have to adapt anyway and it's still randomly determined? Just embrace it. Making a character that has more than one way to handle a fight (or has an approach that is sufficiently flexible to handle different fights) becomes part of the challenge.

 

[Hohige]

Time Stop is the main one that comes to mind.

Subtle Counterspell.
But, lets assume that you can do it.
And now?

 

[DND_Reborn]

Hey guys,

Sorry I didn't get to respond until today but we had our first live session again yesterday (10 hours long!). Since a lot of the post seem to focus on the arena, here's what I was thinking and you all can let me know what you think:

1. There are four maps (as stated before).
2. Each map will vary from sparse to complex in objects (such as rocks, trees, walls, or other obstacles for maneuvering around, hiding, etc.).
2a. Since the idea is a 100 x 100 grid, sparse would be 10% of the squares, the next level maybe 15-20%, then 20-25%, and maybe 30% max for complex.
2a. If people have maps, you can post them here for consideration by the forum.
3. Light conditions could be either random for the entire arena, or dark, dim, or bright in spots as determined by the map?
4. Starting distance could be random between the requested distances?
Example: A requests the maximum distance (740 feet, opposite corners, one flying 250 feet high, the other on the ground) and B requests 60 feet. A random bell-curve would determine the distance using those extremes.

For Initiative:

Maybe, if we do two out of three rounds, we could give Initiative to one player, then to the other, and have the last match be rolled Initiative?

I think the next step is a formal definition of the rules and win conditions.

I think two wins out of three matches. A win requires the opponent to be rendered dead, petrified, or otherwise defeated (i.e. there is nothing they can do and no way to recover from their current state). The DM will arbitrate when a win is scored.

As far as the rules:
1. You can go into the Astral or Ethereal, but must return (see condition #2).
2. You cannot go to another plane (no elemental, no outer, no alternative prime).
3. If you do not act in some fashion (make an attack roll, force a saving throw, or reaction) against your opponent within 3 of their turns, you forfeit.

Anything else?

 

[DND_Reborn]

Are there things to hide behind for stealth classes?

As sneaky Dex classes like rogue, ranger, bard, and monk can play differently if they can hide at the start.

One map will have VERY little to hide behind. Other maps will have a decent to good amount.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Honestly, rather than having all of the preferences for this and that weighted, I think it's better just to have a few random maps and randomly determine the starting locations and distances between characters within them. And there should be no prep, or very little. Like maybe a caster is allowed to pre-cast one personal range spell (like mage armor, though it could be whatever you want) with a casting time of 10 minutes or less as the equivalent of being able to put on armor.

That way you can see how well a character does overall, because you aren't always going to end up in the ideal circumstances for your character.

That is basically my idea with 4 random maps, random light, and random distance. Unless you begin withing sight of your opponent, you won't see each other.

Would you want prep time to include the activation on a magic item instead of casting a spell? I am not sure I like the idea but I'll throw it out there.