AdAstra
2020-08-16, 11:13 PM
So to start off, the DM of the online campaign I've been playing in is amazing. This is his first time DMing, and yet he's knocked it out of the park. His campaign is able to naturally swing from goofy to serious, with genuine stakes and laughs. His NPCs are great, and while they mostly all have a similar nonserious tone, their personalities and goals remain distinct. The serious ones are all the more impressive for the contrast. He's no rule expert, but I'm usually the party rules dictionary anyway, and he's great at adjudicating things in a fair yet fun way. One thing I especially love from a gameplay perspective, is that he's good at coming up with on-the-fly rulings for cool actions not covered by the rules.
Here are some examples of situations and his rulings, for people to have fun and take inspiration for their own campaigns. I will try to keep this list updated:
1. King Kong Fights a Bug
I suggested that our Polymorphed Giant Ape PC throw a giant centipede that spat fire when hit (young remorhaz that he homebrewed) as a projectile into the cursed animated tree we were trying to get something from. Hitting the thing in melee hurt us too much, and we needed to keep the thing distracted, so we decided more unconventional attacks were safer.
First off, grapple check for the Giant Ape
Then on the next turn, a DC20-ish Strength Check to fling the thing. Took 3 tries, and three turns, due to some bad luck.
7d6 damage (I think, based on the Ape's Rock attack) to both the tree and the monster, which killed the monster and set the tree on fire, which would have mattered more if we hadn't grabbed the item soon after, which killed it.
2. Wrestling
I asked if our Orc Barbarian NPC ally could jump onto a wagon that an enemy caster was standing on, grapple him, then suplex him on to another foe standing next to the wagon. The next turn, he would use the caster as a bludgeon to wail on the primary enemy.
First, a DC 10 athletics check to jump on (no action). Makes sense with the unstable surface, and easily passed by the raging Barb.
Then a Grapple check against the caster. Also easily succeeded, using the first attack.
An athletics check to slam one bewildered foe onto the other. On the success, 2d6 damage to both enemies and all are knocked prone. The non-grappled enemy is then dispatched by other circumstances.
Caster still casts, but is unable to shake our friend.
On the next turn, regular attacks (though with advantage since the enemy leader was being restrained in a Polymorphed T-Rex's jaws). On a hit, once again 2d6 damage to both targets, without rage damage. On a miss, still 1d4 damage against the caster from getting swung into the dirt.
Overall, I think these rulings were quite fair and reasonably balanced, and definitely added a lot to the play experience. What do you all think?
Here are some examples of situations and his rulings, for people to have fun and take inspiration for their own campaigns. I will try to keep this list updated:
1. King Kong Fights a Bug
I suggested that our Polymorphed Giant Ape PC throw a giant centipede that spat fire when hit (young remorhaz that he homebrewed) as a projectile into the cursed animated tree we were trying to get something from. Hitting the thing in melee hurt us too much, and we needed to keep the thing distracted, so we decided more unconventional attacks were safer.
First off, grapple check for the Giant Ape
Then on the next turn, a DC20-ish Strength Check to fling the thing. Took 3 tries, and three turns, due to some bad luck.
7d6 damage (I think, based on the Ape's Rock attack) to both the tree and the monster, which killed the monster and set the tree on fire, which would have mattered more if we hadn't grabbed the item soon after, which killed it.
2. Wrestling
I asked if our Orc Barbarian NPC ally could jump onto a wagon that an enemy caster was standing on, grapple him, then suplex him on to another foe standing next to the wagon. The next turn, he would use the caster as a bludgeon to wail on the primary enemy.
First, a DC 10 athletics check to jump on (no action). Makes sense with the unstable surface, and easily passed by the raging Barb.
Then a Grapple check against the caster. Also easily succeeded, using the first attack.
An athletics check to slam one bewildered foe onto the other. On the success, 2d6 damage to both enemies and all are knocked prone. The non-grappled enemy is then dispatched by other circumstances.
Caster still casts, but is unable to shake our friend.
On the next turn, regular attacks (though with advantage since the enemy leader was being restrained in a Polymorphed T-Rex's jaws). On a hit, once again 2d6 damage to both targets, without rage damage. On a miss, still 1d4 damage against the caster from getting swung into the dirt.
Overall, I think these rulings were quite fair and reasonably balanced, and definitely added a lot to the play experience. What do you all think?