J-H
2024-01-16, 01:29 PM
Here's the current brainbug I'm statting up:
When Gary Gygax provided game statistics for Conan the Barbarian, he actually had Conan lose levels in his older age. Later versions of D&D have done away with that, but it’s still reasonable to assume that – absent magical items – a sufficiently old humanoid will be weaker, slower, and more feeble. However, an aged body does not mean a weaker mind, nor does muscle memory ever fully disappear. The NPC statblocks I'm working on are still quite dangerous, despite their advanced years and weaker bodies. One is being written to correspond to each of the main character classes at peak 20th level with features corresponding to a useful yet not overly complex subclass, simplified to be easy to run at the table, and with 1 to 3 epic boons active.
I'd like to test each one. So far, they are running around CR 15-20, with the druid on the high end and possibly TPK material.
Each NPC will be faced 4v1 after a long rest, in terrain favorable to the NPC, at a starting distance favorable to the NPC. If someone drops these into a real campaign, these old folks are usually going to be engaging on their own terms. Everyone will have their long-term daily spells going, and both sides have two rounds to cast short-term spells (Haste, Mirror Image, etc.) before battle starts. We'll start with your characters at level 11. After facing the NPCs individually, you'll all level up to 20 and face them 4v4 or 4v5 (there are 13 classes). I have no idea how much rocket tag will ensue.
The final material on the DM's Guild will include their favored terrain, tactics, and 4 suggested uses in a campaign for each.
For example, for the monk:
1. The last great sage of a reclusive order holds knowledge that the player characters must retrieve. He wishes to see if they are strong enough to withstand the enemies who will seek this hidden secret.
2. The party has entered an enemy stronghold, killing all who stand in their way, as they seek out an old foe who is temporarily crippled and vulnerable due to a backlash from a ritual they interrupted last week. Their foe’s ancient grandfather or childhood tutor bars their path. He’s just an old man with a long beard, not even carrying any weapons.
3. The great Emperor of the Dark Empire is a slender old man with bony hands and a slight tremor. He’s known to be insightful, but nobody has ever seen him cast a spell or wield a blade. They catch him alone in his bedchamber, or in a carriage whose guards they have slaughtered.
4. The enemy army is broken and running, a great train of refugees preceding them. The players are pursuing, leading an army. The route leads through a narrow mountain pass. One old man bars the way. His stance is solid and his face is stern as he radiates killing intent.
Requirements:
-Proven ability to post at least once per day
-Discord for OOC, discussion, clarifications, etc.
-Must be able to write a review on the DM's Guild when it goes up.
-One melee fighter type, one full-caster arcane type, one full-caster divine type, and something else.
1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, 7etc.)?
D&D 5e
2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)?
No setting.
3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?
4.
4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?
Forums, plus Discord for OOC, discussion, clarification, posting notifications
5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?
11th level.
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
We'll do items once characters are picked. Expect to start with at least 5 items. None of them will be Daern's Instant Fortress. When you level up to 20 be prepared to pick a Legendary.
7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?
I do have some houserules listed below, including a few subclasses that are out.
No time for crafting!
MCDM Talent (Psion) is allowed.
Not a big fan of Sorlock, Paladorc, etc. type multi-classing.
No Tiny Servant + Magic Stone shotguns please.
8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?
No custom lineage or custom racial ability scores.
PHB races please, but with Fizban's in play for Dragonborn.
9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?
Build characters with the following stat array before racial modifiers: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 9 (equivalent to 28pb)
Max at 1st level, average after that.
10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?
N/A
11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?
I prefer single-class characters and will generally pick them over multiclass, especially over dips into Warlock and Paladin.
12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?
Rolls in the IC & OOC threads or sometimes on Discord.
13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules.
See below
14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?
Nope.
15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
Fighting. Then more fighting. Then maybe recovering from getting killed, and fighting some more.
16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?
-Tasha's optional class features are activated.
-Tasha's optional racial rules are not in play.
-Tasha's subclasses subject to approval (Scribe, Twilight, and Peace are out)
-Spells from Strixhaven & Fizban's are not allowed
-Subclasses from Fizban's are allowed.
-MCDM Talent (psion) is allowed.
1) Hexblade medium armor proficiency, as well as CHA to-hit and damage with the Blade pact weapon, move from the Hexblade patron to the Blade pact boon.
Blade pact gains proficiency with ONE martial melee weapon only. This makes Blade boon viable for non-Hexblade patrons, and moves any CHA-dependent dips to requiring 3 levels instead of 1.
Hexblade is still the only Warlock with native access to martial weapons (versatility) or shields.
2) Sorcerers get 2 thematically appropriate spells known added to their list automatically, at spell levels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, as with Aberrant Mind and Clockwork subclasses.
https://i.ibb.co/Y8cm8Tg/sorc-spells-img.jpg (https://ibb.co/HYt6YpZ)
3) Rangers get their Proficiency Bonus added to damage rolls against their favored enemies, starting at level 1. The level 20 capstone applies to all attack rolls against their favored enemies, not just once per turn.
4) Dragonborn breath weapons do (Proficiency Bonus) x d8 damage and can be used once per Constitution Modifier per long rest. This helps it not be overshadowed by cantrips, and gives the Dragonborn the ability to use it slightly more often.
5) Tasha's optional class features are approved.
6) Everyone gets a 4th attunement slot at level 11, and a 5th at level 20.
7) If you go to 0 or get insta-killed (bypassing 0 hp) and raised, you gain 1 level of exhaustion.
8) Berserker barbarians get Frenzy once per day with no consequence; the exhaustion penalties only get added with a 2nd and beyond Frenzy.
9) Attacking while jumping/falling from height: Make an acrobatics check and an attack roll, both against the target's AC.
If both hit, the target takes damage from the attack, and half the falling damage.
If the acrobatics check hits but the attack roll doesn't, they split falling damage but the attack misses.
If the acrobatics check misses but the attack roll hits, the attacker takes the falling damage but manages to stab(slash/bludgeon) his opponent right before hitting the ground.
10) Tasha's rules for making all the races boring are out.
11) Eldritch Knights may change the Evocation school out for one other school of their choice. (Notable picks: Necromancy for debuffs, Illusion for miss chances, Transmutation for self-buffs)
12) No Scribe school wizard, Peace Cleric, or Twilight Cleric. Tasha's subclasses subject to approval.
13) Using "An Updated View on Necromancy" (DM's guild/free/I paid) for Necromancer wizards.
14) No flanking. Big crits: Crits are max damage w/ modifiers + normal rolled damage.
15) Soulknife blades stay manifested, and thus can be used for OAs and to gain the benefits of the TWF feat; Feat: Improved Soul Blade: Your blade gains an enhancement bonus equal to PB/2 (rounded down).
16) 4 Element monks get 2 disciplines every time the PHB says they get 1. They get free discipline uses equal to their Proficiency Bonus, recharging upon Long Rest.
17) Sharpshooter and GWM give a flat always-on +1 damage bonus to the respective weapon types, plus their side benefit. No -5/+10
18) Clarification:
The Mage Slayer feat can interrupt spellcasting, rather than taking place after the spell is cast. The caster struck then must make a Concentration check to avoid losing the spell he's in the middle of casting.
19) Spells only from PHB, Tasha's, XGTE. None from Fizban's or Strixhaven.
20) To gain advantage from being an unseen attacker, you must be able to see (blindsight, etc. count) your target.
21) Animating dead, summoning beasts, etc. is limited to the Tasha's Summon X spells plus the Necromancy companion from An Updated View on Necromancy. Note: Necromancers are not welcome in the Belmonte Order.
22) Warlock invocations that say "You can cast X once using a warlock spell slot" instead add it to your spell list and give you one free casting of that spell per LR.
When Gary Gygax provided game statistics for Conan the Barbarian, he actually had Conan lose levels in his older age. Later versions of D&D have done away with that, but it’s still reasonable to assume that – absent magical items – a sufficiently old humanoid will be weaker, slower, and more feeble. However, an aged body does not mean a weaker mind, nor does muscle memory ever fully disappear. The NPC statblocks I'm working on are still quite dangerous, despite their advanced years and weaker bodies. One is being written to correspond to each of the main character classes at peak 20th level with features corresponding to a useful yet not overly complex subclass, simplified to be easy to run at the table, and with 1 to 3 epic boons active.
I'd like to test each one. So far, they are running around CR 15-20, with the druid on the high end and possibly TPK material.
Each NPC will be faced 4v1 after a long rest, in terrain favorable to the NPC, at a starting distance favorable to the NPC. If someone drops these into a real campaign, these old folks are usually going to be engaging on their own terms. Everyone will have their long-term daily spells going, and both sides have two rounds to cast short-term spells (Haste, Mirror Image, etc.) before battle starts. We'll start with your characters at level 11. After facing the NPCs individually, you'll all level up to 20 and face them 4v4 or 4v5 (there are 13 classes). I have no idea how much rocket tag will ensue.
The final material on the DM's Guild will include their favored terrain, tactics, and 4 suggested uses in a campaign for each.
For example, for the monk:
1. The last great sage of a reclusive order holds knowledge that the player characters must retrieve. He wishes to see if they are strong enough to withstand the enemies who will seek this hidden secret.
2. The party has entered an enemy stronghold, killing all who stand in their way, as they seek out an old foe who is temporarily crippled and vulnerable due to a backlash from a ritual they interrupted last week. Their foe’s ancient grandfather or childhood tutor bars their path. He’s just an old man with a long beard, not even carrying any weapons.
3. The great Emperor of the Dark Empire is a slender old man with bony hands and a slight tremor. He’s known to be insightful, but nobody has ever seen him cast a spell or wield a blade. They catch him alone in his bedchamber, or in a carriage whose guards they have slaughtered.
4. The enemy army is broken and running, a great train of refugees preceding them. The players are pursuing, leading an army. The route leads through a narrow mountain pass. One old man bars the way. His stance is solid and his face is stern as he radiates killing intent.
Requirements:
-Proven ability to post at least once per day
-Discord for OOC, discussion, clarifications, etc.
-Must be able to write a review on the DM's Guild when it goes up.
-One melee fighter type, one full-caster arcane type, one full-caster divine type, and something else.
1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, 7etc.)?
D&D 5e
2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)?
No setting.
3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?
4.
4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?
Forums, plus Discord for OOC, discussion, clarification, posting notifications
5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?
11th level.
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
We'll do items once characters are picked. Expect to start with at least 5 items. None of them will be Daern's Instant Fortress. When you level up to 20 be prepared to pick a Legendary.
7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?
I do have some houserules listed below, including a few subclasses that are out.
No time for crafting!
MCDM Talent (Psion) is allowed.
Not a big fan of Sorlock, Paladorc, etc. type multi-classing.
No Tiny Servant + Magic Stone shotguns please.
8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?
No custom lineage or custom racial ability scores.
PHB races please, but with Fizban's in play for Dragonborn.
9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?
Build characters with the following stat array before racial modifiers: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 9 (equivalent to 28pb)
Max at 1st level, average after that.
10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?
N/A
11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?
I prefer single-class characters and will generally pick them over multiclass, especially over dips into Warlock and Paladin.
12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?
Rolls in the IC & OOC threads or sometimes on Discord.
13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules.
See below
14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?
Nope.
15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
Fighting. Then more fighting. Then maybe recovering from getting killed, and fighting some more.
16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?
-Tasha's optional class features are activated.
-Tasha's optional racial rules are not in play.
-Tasha's subclasses subject to approval (Scribe, Twilight, and Peace are out)
-Spells from Strixhaven & Fizban's are not allowed
-Subclasses from Fizban's are allowed.
-MCDM Talent (psion) is allowed.
1) Hexblade medium armor proficiency, as well as CHA to-hit and damage with the Blade pact weapon, move from the Hexblade patron to the Blade pact boon.
Blade pact gains proficiency with ONE martial melee weapon only. This makes Blade boon viable for non-Hexblade patrons, and moves any CHA-dependent dips to requiring 3 levels instead of 1.
Hexblade is still the only Warlock with native access to martial weapons (versatility) or shields.
2) Sorcerers get 2 thematically appropriate spells known added to their list automatically, at spell levels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, as with Aberrant Mind and Clockwork subclasses.
https://i.ibb.co/Y8cm8Tg/sorc-spells-img.jpg (https://ibb.co/HYt6YpZ)
3) Rangers get their Proficiency Bonus added to damage rolls against their favored enemies, starting at level 1. The level 20 capstone applies to all attack rolls against their favored enemies, not just once per turn.
4) Dragonborn breath weapons do (Proficiency Bonus) x d8 damage and can be used once per Constitution Modifier per long rest. This helps it not be overshadowed by cantrips, and gives the Dragonborn the ability to use it slightly more often.
5) Tasha's optional class features are approved.
6) Everyone gets a 4th attunement slot at level 11, and a 5th at level 20.
7) If you go to 0 or get insta-killed (bypassing 0 hp) and raised, you gain 1 level of exhaustion.
8) Berserker barbarians get Frenzy once per day with no consequence; the exhaustion penalties only get added with a 2nd and beyond Frenzy.
9) Attacking while jumping/falling from height: Make an acrobatics check and an attack roll, both against the target's AC.
If both hit, the target takes damage from the attack, and half the falling damage.
If the acrobatics check hits but the attack roll doesn't, they split falling damage but the attack misses.
If the acrobatics check misses but the attack roll hits, the attacker takes the falling damage but manages to stab(slash/bludgeon) his opponent right before hitting the ground.
10) Tasha's rules for making all the races boring are out.
11) Eldritch Knights may change the Evocation school out for one other school of their choice. (Notable picks: Necromancy for debuffs, Illusion for miss chances, Transmutation for self-buffs)
12) No Scribe school wizard, Peace Cleric, or Twilight Cleric. Tasha's subclasses subject to approval.
13) Using "An Updated View on Necromancy" (DM's guild/free/I paid) for Necromancer wizards.
14) No flanking. Big crits: Crits are max damage w/ modifiers + normal rolled damage.
15) Soulknife blades stay manifested, and thus can be used for OAs and to gain the benefits of the TWF feat; Feat: Improved Soul Blade: Your blade gains an enhancement bonus equal to PB/2 (rounded down).
16) 4 Element monks get 2 disciplines every time the PHB says they get 1. They get free discipline uses equal to their Proficiency Bonus, recharging upon Long Rest.
17) Sharpshooter and GWM give a flat always-on +1 damage bonus to the respective weapon types, plus their side benefit. No -5/+10
18) Clarification:
The Mage Slayer feat can interrupt spellcasting, rather than taking place after the spell is cast. The caster struck then must make a Concentration check to avoid losing the spell he's in the middle of casting.
19) Spells only from PHB, Tasha's, XGTE. None from Fizban's or Strixhaven.
20) To gain advantage from being an unseen attacker, you must be able to see (blindsight, etc. count) your target.
21) Animating dead, summoning beasts, etc. is limited to the Tasha's Summon X spells plus the Necromancy companion from An Updated View on Necromancy. Note: Necromancers are not welcome in the Belmonte Order.
22) Warlock invocations that say "You can cast X once using a warlock spell slot" instead add it to your spell list and give you one free casting of that spell per LR.