Web DM's Guide to Fighting Dirty | 5e Dungeons and Dragons | TTRPG
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Dungeon masters, is your 5e D&D group getting a little bored with combat? Then this video is for you - we're teaching you how to FIGHT DIRTY by attacking more than just your player character's hit points - here's how to hit 'em where it hurts using proficiencies, spell slots, ideals/bonds/flaws, equipment, and more.
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Time Stamps:
2:40 Proficiencies
8:07 Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws
12:04 Hit Dice
17:06 Spell Slots
22:20 Go after Equipment
26:25 Cursed Items & Curses
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Written & Hosted by Jim Davis and Jonathan Pruitt
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I love the idea of adding mechanical flaws to a character. Like, instead of just simply saying that you are suspicious of everyone....make it so that there's a mechanical consequence of it. Like now the player can't end their turn within 5ft of another character. Or now the player can only cast spells that benefit only him.
Those are PHENOMENAL ideas! Also: I just used the info from your aboleth videos in our last session with my players.
I did that once. A player told me that their character had haptophobia (fear of touching or being touched). They reflexively hit another player character when they were healed. I had them make a DC 14 wisdom check to cast touch range spells. They complained about it.
If you're checking out this top voted comment go ahead and check out MrRhexx's channel for great D&D lore videos :)
I made a Pathfinder character who was afraid of Arcane Magic and effects of that nature! Never got far enough to have to worry about what I was going to do about magic items! Except of course the ones that were used for Arcane spells.
@@GuardianTactician Well they should have gotten a familiar, or a duplicate, to use for those!
I love how Davis and Pruitt have basically exchanged beards at this point
I literally thought the same thing!!
I thought they had a faceswap filter on during the intro
LMAOOOOO
Pruitt is becoming Jim, and Jim is becoming Pruitt. They're going to merge into one mega DM.
Beard yang is beard ying. There never was a difference. 🧘
Would they do that fusion dance or the potara earrings?
@@galvaton10000 no, they rub beards. It's known as "brustling."
The Dread Mega DM. The DM DM. Double the DMs
They see me rolling,
They hatin',
Their action holdin' and tryna catch me fightin' durdy.
The only way to fight.
Don't disagree
The only fair fights are the ones you lose
@@asdasd-ty9se The only fair fights are the ones you win.
@@williampearson8328 this actually lays bare the differences between the fighter and the other classes
@@asdasd-ty9se reminds me of that scene in game of thrones with the sky door in the floor and the duel to the death when Bron tricks his combatant to stepping next to the door and kicks him down.
Soul Caliber 2 taught me to be cautious of those.
This is a super dangerous topic though. Like advice to newer GM's, please be sparring this can suddenly imbalance or unnecessarily become excessively punitive and not fun if wielded to much
Definitely need to make sure everyone knows what they're getting into before pulling out big guns like this!
Great episode! I had a player with lycanthropy who also was a wizard, so I worked with my a player that when they took a long rest, if they failed a save. They could recover only up to half their spell slots. To recover it they had to devour a portion of a creature with a CR equal their player level enough to appease the beast boiling their blood. They loved this attack on their character sheet and it helped reinforce that they had a curse.
Altered Beast mini game. Nice 😎
Aberrations are a great time to dust off the old madness rules.
"Fighting dirty". Can that be a fighting style?
that is a GOOD IDEA
@@WebDM Thank you!
I think it's called the rogue class? Hehe
@@adam222111333 I mean... I suppose it could be looked at similar to that but it's supposed to be knowing where important organs are and being able to get to them thus dealing more damage!
Dirty fighting- you can spend a bonus action to fling sand at a creature. The creature must succeed on a dexterity saving throw. On a failed saving throw the creature treats all of its targets as though they have half cover until the end of its next turn.
I think DMs need to tread carefully when implementing a new mechanism that it not within the base or agreed upon rules that is punitive, particularly when the players are provide no alternatives. So, crossing a desert and applying a level of exhaustion, that's fine ... part of the rules. Crossing a desert and then telling the players now that they've done this the consequence is a loss of a hit die, I wouldn't be OK with this. Telling a player before they cross the desert that if they do so they will lose a hit die, maybe. Better would be that while the players are at the tavern in town planning their approach to get to the next town, the DM says their a mountain path with dangerous yetis or a desert crossing, which would result in losing a hit die.
Knowing the mechanics while the players are planning is always better than surprising them while they're in the mix of a situation, which is better than this is what the consequence is after the fact.
Granted, one should apply proper context. If losing a hit die for crossing a desert is meant to represent the wear on the character, I would expect that my character would know this. If losing a hit die is a result from interacting with a demon, then this very well might not be common knowledge in the world, therefore it is reasonable to not be known beforehand.
Implementing new rules and mechanics, particularly punitive ones, is tricky, and it should be done thoughtfully and with tact.
I think what you need to be more careful of is how this would affect the person’s character, and if the player would be ok with that. For most of the characters I’ve played, taking a proficiency would be fine, but with the bard in playing, each proficiency has a story behind how she has it, and if the dm took away one of her expertise, especially performance, I’d just quit the game. I’d rather have my character die being herself and go make a new character then play some half moldy remains of one that was once great.
@@Spiceodog
Good point. Possibly more games are out there, so there is no need to be needlessly belittled.
And I'll want advantages in kind. If deserts subtract my hit dice, perhaps temperate lands add them! Etc
Etc.
And crit crab has horrifying stories of out of control dms and players. Walk softly, walk very softly !
@@billcasey9672 I’m perfectly fine with the dm saying that I lost hot die do to trecking through a desert, because that’s purely mechanical and hit dice isn’t something personal to my character. But once they start screwing around with my character without my consent is where I draw the line. It’s also why I absolutely hate being charmed.
This is some great inspiration. Especially against a high level party, where they are a lot less concerned about dropping from HP loss. Though a monster that takes away their ability to make death saves or starts them with two failed death saves could change that.
I like dungeon effects like that. Going to an evil lair with two failed death saves heightens the feel of danger without actually messing the difficulty level that much (because if they play well then they won't be making those death saves in the first place).
ua-cam.com/video/cnvTmQq0q5o/v-deo.html
I picked up somewhere the idea for a "doom" condition, each level of it removes a death save...
These ideas have to be approached very carefully. Some DMs would use them to such an extent as to basically rewrite their players' characters.
I always put a timer on them. Like it’s a charm spell instead. It’s fun as a player to have to role play this weird circumstance in a tricky fight but not across an entire session or without some obvious way to end the effect when I’m done with it.
Like “until your next short/long rest” “save every hour” or just a good ole’ lesser/greater restoration fix works wonders to not cross the boundary of ruining a players character.
Though always talk to the players and inform them that the campaign will from the start/going forward contain these things and ask wether they’re okay with that.
I'm never a fan of denying players their choices. You let them make those choices and then you take them away... Why did they make those characters again also taking proficiency away from a bard or rogue is in no way as small a deal as denying a fighter a prof bonus. It doesn't feel equitable.
Ian, I agree with you about not wanting to hamstring a character’s traits from a player who obviously took the character for those traits. It could feel kind of mean spirited if not done correctly.
That’s why I think its a good idea to look at these concepts as a guideline to use sparingly. Its good to Have a few ways that a DM can introduce a different kind of challenge to the players instead of falling back on disadvantage and exhaustion
the key here is using these ideas carefully as a DM. And if you do take something away from the player, give them a chance to cure it. If the wizard is infected with something draining their spell slots, let them know there is a difficult to prepare elixir they can take to reverse the effect. I see some of these ideas leading to great adventure hooks.
But yes if the DM just says “ha ha now the wizard you always wanted play is permanently devoid of spell slots”, thats just being a jerk
"They took your knowledge."
Sounds terrifying.
"They took our jobs!"
@@derekstein6193 "They took our smart-making!"
Psychic damage And when it turns lethal your brain has officially forgotten how to breathe or how to pump your heart
Spell curse I just thought of: basically a necrotic damage version of Burning Hands. It's prepared automatically. If you don't cast it by the end of the day, the next day it's prepared as well but also at second level. And so on, up to your maximum spell level. From there it cascades down, starting to require being cast multiple times using up multiple spell slots at given spell levels. It only goes away if you use it to kill creatures. Not injure, but kill.
You guys are freaking mind readers. My players hit 5th level and the monk is dumping 45 points of damage a round, the rogue is doing 37 and the cleric won't let them even get below max hps.
i would love a party like that tbh
how is your monk and rouge doing that much damage lol, if your rouge is an assassin you might want to reread the surprise rules as they don't work that favorably for the player
Just throw more daily encounters at them. The cleric can't keep healing them to full all day for several combats and other hazards. The rogue has consistent sneak attack damage, but eventually they will become more risk averse as their hp gets lower. The monk can short rest for more Ki during the day, but maybe time is a pressing issue and a short rest is 1 hour.
@@leewiens9912 Yeah, the last time I played was back in 1e and early 2e, and my dming skills are quite rusty and not used to the new system. Players can do a LOT more per round than they used to and I am struggling to balance the encounters. Also, we only play for 2 hours or so once a week, and they end up taking more down time than might be warranted.
Monk always has ki and the rogue just sits next time him getting a sneak attack every round.
I kind of miss the faster round actions of 1-2e, combat seems to slog along a lot in 5e.
Always an exciting day when you get to watch the new WebDM video when it’s drops!! What a great follow up to your Combat as Sport vs. War episode from a while ago!!
Woot! Thanks!
How's about a curse or poison that makes it impossible to concentrate for a while? I think that would make a lot of casters shaken down to their bones.
Alternatively, have the same thing but for potions consumed instead.
In medicine there can be side effects, and you don't necessarily know how skilled the brewer of that greater potion of healing was or if the plants they used in its brewing was from a contaminated source.
A potion of speed that makes not only you speedy, but also makes your mind move so quickly that you can't concentrate? Might give you pause when reaching for the second one you bought from the same alchemist; a potion of mania can add a wrinkle to any combat or infiltration.
I would make it a bit more involving. Give it a affect name, maybe “ sorrow “ and have it be a intense feeling of sadness and anguish. And the only cure is some form of therapeutic experience, like for some it would mean visiting there family. Maybe the bard has been so busy fighting monsters in the woods, and he misses the cheering crowds and he can’t focus until he does a concert in a large town, maybe one just needs to take a beach episode or shopping episode. This way it’s like what you said, but more engaging to the character, and the dm can use it to point you in the direction of the next adventure.
@@Spiceodog "Confidence is a slow, insidious killer" just plays on loop in my head lmao, that reminds me a lot of Darkest Dungeon
I remember in 1st Ed. If you fell in a pit, or got hit by a fireball or acid, you were making saving throws for gear to see if it was damaged/broken.
That thumbnail should be remade into a T shirt. I’d buy it
I'd wear a shirt made out of thumbnails...and a necklace made from the rest of the thumbs.
Same.
I'm still pushing for a WebDM calender of the best thumbnails.
damn, that beard looking mighty good on you Pruitt!
Why do you need to “think outside the box” to adjust difficulty? You already control, the enemy composition (stats, level, type, synergy, tactics), the difficulty of skill checks, magic items available, and you can flub the rolls. Let the player have some sense of (within the rules) control over one variable, their ability scores.
The first example, a poison that takes away a rogue's ability to open locks, makes no sense. Why wouldn't the baddie just use a poison which KILLS the rogue? Any of these ideas need to not just be rando effects the DM throws in the change things up, but instead need to be firmly grounded in the motivations of the party's opponents, etc. Otherwise the players are just going to feel like the DM is attacking them directly, instead of the DM creating an interesting world.
Consider a holy temple keeping such devices/poisons on hand so that would be thieves aren't killed, but lose their ability to thieve and have a chance at redemption.
Jim and Pruitt are just talking about concepts, the execution is up to you.
Well that's your job as the DM. They give you the idea but you gotta play with it and work it so it works for you.
It could be that poison that kills people are expensive, a poison that mess with your finger coordination might be cheaper
Or that amount of poison needed for 20 kills, is to big to fit in the mechanism, but the amount needed to paralyse the hands of 20 people trying, is lower, and can be fitted in to the mechanisms
Instead of starting with the mechanics, it feels much better to players if you start with the motivations of the person placing the trap. Traps are not entities themselves, they are tools that are actually placed, for a purpose, by somebody. So traps feel much better when they fulfill the purpose of the person who placed them.
I had one DM who only used bad guys who attacked things other than HO. I got real tired real fast of combat after combat where I couldn't do anything except use melee attacks as a spell caster. Oh, and because we were low level, trying to fix it knocked me out (surprise!) and the only reason I didn't bleed out was DM hamfisted fiat (I would rather my character died than be saved that way).
I dont know almost all of that sounds like really bad metagame by the DM, I am all for more general stuff but something so targeted is just gonna piss the one that does not get to play becose the DM decide to *challenge him* by just creating something to fuck him up, and that is really easy, yeah I am sure that the caster that does not get to cast any spell or the barbarian that does not get to do anything all sesion is gonna want to waste their next day off hoping to maybe get fixed. since these guys also dislike the restoration spells, all that stuff is out of place in any non-OSR tournament type game.
Damn I actually thought you guys were at the same table for a second. Your editor does good work
Web DM hot take: How to shut down a caster, you make them a warlock
Ouch! XD
The spell slot virus idea was one of the coolest things I've heard in a while.
This is good content. Thank you. I would love to see much more DM-centric tools (I know you guys already do a lot, but MORE!), such as: how would you create a ruined city, how would you run a thieves' guild, how to make Orcs more threatening, etc.
One of the topics I would love to see is how to deal with experienced players. There's a lot of content for new players and how to introduce new players but little for challenges to experienced players. I have been DM'ing for close to 30 years, and my current group has been (with a few exceptions) playing with me for 20 of those. Coming up with something to challenge them that's not obviously dickish is quite tough.
PS: Thank you for your fantastic, wonderful content. You guys rock!
I'm the only caster in my party and the DM is allergic to giving long rests... please no
But what about second short rest?
@@SomeDigitalGhost I don't think he knows about second short rests.
My first reaction to all of this is to work it into another homebrew rule I always use. I'm a big proponent of using XP milestones in D&D the way XP is handed out and used in Cypher System. So why not give players the same choice they get if they roll a 1 in Cypher.
You've been hit with an attack that packs a different kind of punch. You can take the damage as hit points, or you can have these 2 XP and let me hit you somewhere else on your character sheet.
You just failed the save for a fireball. You can take hp damage and drop to 0, or take these 3 XP and these 3 levels if exhaustion.
You all failed your saves against the first mind blast that group of mind flayers over there hit you with. We can TPK and call it a night, or all of you can give 5 of the XP you have stored up back to me and then we'll all roll on the indefinite madness table in the DMG.
Choices, choices.
This is terrible advice, if a character is a thief you don’t do something in the game to take away their thieving abilities. You basically just nullified her concept. Pay attention folks, just because people have a UA-cam channel does not mean the advice they give is good.
Love the hit dice stuff. We're considering a home rule of being able to use a hit die per 10 minutes of rest/downtime. Gives other characters something to be doing while the caster is doing a ritual.. or while that rogue is picking a lock. Having enemies and environments that attack the hit dice will also bring more focus on their usage and conservation.
*Makes the rogue unable to pick locks
"Oh look, the rogue player is proficient in Table-Flipping."
I do love changing effects for terrain. for instance when my players went to the feywild, they had an option with every spell- either you roll on the wildmagic table, or you have to cast at a level higher to combat the turbulent magic in the air. I've had drained magic zones that downcast spells, and for a one-shot I once Iad a creature that attacked your vision. no not the CHARACTER'S, YOUR vision. It attacked your connection to the gods and fate itself. basically I threw something at your character sheet and you lost the ability to keep track of whatever it landed on. HP? Congrats, I don't tell you how much damage you take from attacks, I'll be keeping track of that now. A Spell or ability? I cover it with a scrap of paper, and it fizzles if you can't tell me what it does.. Lose 3 and you're playing blindfolded until you get the debuff cured (or alternately I take the character sheet, you're not dead you just can't see it). It was hilarious to fight against, though only cause it was a nice little one-off.
Though on the 'to get casters' side I love enemies that get a reaction for spells. Like the Nivix's cyclops getting a dash+attack when a spell is cast near it. I've had enemies that heal when spells are used as they sap the lingering energy, enemies that can pocket the spell and throw it back at you, wilfmagic enemies that randomize spells cast on them to a random other of its spell level, and I've always loved the Flail Snail antimagic ability.
You guys have made some really amazing vids, but this might just be my favorite by far. Love this!
Thank you so much!
this episode was a banger
A lot of very cool ideas! How about one in turn? I run a simple alt ruleset for Death Saves. The basic gist of it is that characters don't become unconscious while at 0HP, but every death save corresponds to gaining one level of exhaustion. It makes players more likely to survive fights by escaping, but punishes those who go to 0hp too often. It really enhances the health/rest economy.
Also, Curse of Strahd's Death House needs some mods in order to be a good dungeon, but NGL the ghost possession part that involves gaining some flaws was pretty fun!
I love the idea of attaching flaws to attacks and encountering certain enemy types! It's sorta reminiscent of the sanity mechanic in Call of Cthulhu
A note about the proficiency removal: poison already gives disadvantage on both ability checks and attack rolls. Keep that in mind when you do that.
Cool ideas, especially since the ease of recovering HP takes away from feeling truly threatened.
i used a blue ring octopus that made players forget how to hold their breathe underwater. It was a nautical campaign.
I'm all for attacking the whole character sheet.
Maybe a poison/curse that removes your proficiency bonus.
An autoimmune disease that makes your con save +0.
I fear my players might riot if I blatantly upend the rules to screw them over. It seems like a breach of the social contract between the GM and players.
The only rule is that you are right. If your group doesn't trust you then that's a different problem, but basically they gotta accept that things are the way the are because it makes the game more fun
If your social contract consists of only using rules as written, and never allowing anyone to homebrew anything, then I might agree, but I would say that you are in a minority. If players want a tailor-made gaming experience, you won't get it that way, and you're sacrificing the biggest appeal of tabletop RPGs doing it that way.
@@foghammer9767 I usually try to color within the lines and only mod the rules when it becomes absolutely necessary. Maybe it's because I started DMing in Adventurers League, I don't know. My job as a DM is to make sure everyone is having fun, and if some change I make ticks someone off or ruins their fun, that's on me.
I don't generally treat RAW as scripture, but yeah, with the wrong group, these could all be yellow flags. Taking away spell slots, proficiencies or a rogue's sneak attack through a disease isn't much different than taking them away "because you don't think it's balanced" - either way, you're not respecting a player's buy-in. They sat down to play a class as it was described and intended to be played, yet they can't.
That said, surely there exists an expectation for the DM to surprise the players; pitting you against the same old encounters and challenges whose gimmicks you know by heart isn't very engaging. What I really like is Jim and Pruitt's suggestion that such rule tweaks be presented as a _choice_ - "You _can_ suffer the critical... Or you could perhaps lose a spell slot/weapon/class feature charge. It's up to you."
Ideally, you know the players, what kind of cruel irony they enjoy being subjected to, and they've been warned beforehand that such things could happen. Then it sounds fantastic.
Wow a lot of these ideas are found in Dungeon World.I fully recommend Dungeon World for experienced but jaded 5E DM's looking for less superhero inspired and time-consuming player turns and more improvisational, swift, old school play.
One of my favorite memories from any tabletop game was from a Level Zero Death Funnel, in DCC.
One of another player's characters had eschewed his dagger in favor of a large longsword, which seemed sensible at the moment, until the party was faced with a large beast-man.
During the fight, the beast-man had pinned the longsword-bearer onto the ground with his left foot. The longsword bearer may have been able to attack before, but, due to his choice in equipment, had no weapon small enough to reasonably jab at the beast's foot, and thus, he died, then and there.
Since that one campaign, all of my characters carry at least one dagger.
Ideals, bonds, flaws, hit dice, and encumbrance are woefully underused official mechanics.
LOVE the idea of damaging player’s equipment and resources!
I love the thought of a Lich using a spell or ability that connects them to a players spell slots. Basically the player needs to take an action to make a CHA save each round to break the connection and until they do the Lich can use the PC’s spell slots to cast spells. Basically leeching the Magical power right out of the spell caster and using it against them.
Now, we need a video on how to take away DM abilities!
Most of these concepts would work as custom class abilities, too
Cleric fell in this nasty swamp water last session. Going to spoil all the food in his inventory now, thanks for the tip, muahaha
I remember throwing an aboleth at the party who bartered hints about the dungeon in exchange for treasured memories. The fighter actually lost all memory of his mother's face. Unfortunately this video didn't exist three years ago, so all that meant was a shrug from the player and moving on. Next time I bring in that aboleth, he'll take bonds.
Great ideas. One of my own that I’d like to share is a field of magic compulsion. A field that forces every magic item that has an active ability to use it. It wastes resources, can cause problems, destroys stealth, reminds characters of items they’ve forgotten about and intelligent foes have a better idea of what their dealing with.
Also causes a lot of chaos as well. Immovable rod, deck of many things, wand of fireball........
level drain, ability score drain, attack magical items, incorporate a SAN mechanic, death/dismemberment tables instead of death saves, interrupt rest/recovery, RUST MONSTERS EVERYWHERE
Note: make sure your players are open to this type of play, if not you will lose a table and possibly irl friends
Damaging equipment... One can bring back the Item Saving Throw table.
In the immortal words of a saint: "hit em with the ooolll dicktwist" *twisting claw hand gesture*
Today i worked on monsters which force the PCs to unattune to a magic item with each hit they land.
My favorite is in curse of Strahad I take away most divine skills until the final battle so that I can impress upon my clerics and paladins that the gods have abandoned this place, just so that they get that feeling at the end when I give it back that this is the FINAL FINAL battle
How has that affect their effectiveness? I would imagine, with Cleric's whole thing is their spells and Paladins suffering after about level 5, they don't appreciate it and want different characters.
How has this been in practice?
Ooo I’m earlyyyyy
I only JUST NOW found this channel from a recommended video, and seeing the thumbnail, I went "Holy CRAP is that *_Pruitt?!?"_*
This may or may not be a deepcut, but *_Three in the Afternoon_* and *_Six in the Morning_* are some of my personal favorite fan films EVER. The world-building and character motivations were really cool and bizarrely insightful in hindsight. -is it weird that at one point I wanted to do a fan film about -_-a fan film-_- lol- Until looking back on them, I never realized how much they actually inspired me in my storytelling when I saw them as a young kid. Funny, huh?
Keep on keeping on, man!
Awesome! Glad you found us over here.
Personally I see Flaws as being more punitive than Alignment changes in most situations, and more often than not a breach of the Player/GM social contract, as you are literally telling them how they should play their own character.
I would argue that an alignment change is much worse. In previous editions, an alignment change often involved you handing your DM your character sheet. Also, Evil in previous editions was of the cartoon variety where you are forced to steal from the poor and kick puppies and stuff.
lol you may have wanted to discuss cases where it would be appropriate to use these suggestions
I kinda worked this into the story. The main baddie is in the business of killing deities, and one of the tools he uses is a mineral from the Far Realm that shuts down divine energies and magics. Whenever it shows up, my Pally, Cleric, and Druid beg the Warlock and Rogue to get rid of it asap. Even more desperately when it shows up mid-combat.
You made d&d kryptonite!
I had my hight-level players fight red caps that had full immunity to magic damage and spells. It was a lot of fun having them pull out their old metal weapons that they forgot about and fighting with those.
I judge a man's character by the proportion of their face to their beard. Pruitt is a man now.
We will let him know
I put a custom wraith against my party. I wanted something similar to level drain BUT level drain sucks. So instead, if they failed a save after it attacked them, it would drain 1 proficiency point until Greater Restoration or a Long Rest.
Once the wraith drained all their Prof, it would start draining their max HP.
Nice! What did they think of it?
@@WebDM they liked it but the rogue was the one who failed his save against it. He screamed “WHAT!” at the table when it happened and started to panic.
They haven’t been able to kill it yet as it is has been stalking them through the mega-dungeon they are in.
The longer they fight the wraith, the harder it gets. I added a light/darkness gimmick to the wraith. If it was in darkness, it has high AC, attack, Saves, etc. But those bonuses disappear in light or while turned, making it really weak. Gives them a fighting chance against the wraith.
Dirty deeds. Done dirt cheap.
I once had a player character punished by his goddess, she was the goddess of knowledge and death, so until he redeemed himself he was permanently stuck with 1 failed death save to start off with. Also if you have rust monster there is no reason why spellslot monsters shouldn't exist. Also had an axe called "Blight" that did poison damage as disease, and if you are a paladin your lay on hands gets changed to dealing poison damage, and if you willingly let yourself be infected with disease you can inflict said diseases as well.
The party and I just hit level five yesterday. Think I’ll send this to our DM.
Sounds like you're an awesome player
@@WebDM shucks. Truth is I enjoy punishment xD
Best episode sense the “cooking monsters” one. I love the creativity
Thank you!
Also is it just me or is Davis's voice like a D&D ASMR 🤣
We agree!!
Pruitt, your beard is looking great.
New to your channel... truly insightful, intelligent, clearly presented content.
Delivered by TTRPG GAMERS informed by mechanics of a multitude of TTRPG's & delivered wit that doesn't distract!
If only there were an PathFinder YT channel that could deliver like y'all😭!
Top Fkn Tier boys. SETTING THE BAR HIGH.
I have a specific character build, Fighter Champion 3 Mercy Monk 6+ that's specifically build around using Monk's Stunning Strike with or on top of Disarming Attack to disarm my hopefully vaguely humanoid enemies. The powerful assassin isn't so great at combat when they drop their poison swords which I've now yeeted into my Bag of Holding, and by default they only have one or two swords. Neither is the grand, evil Wizard or Bard that powerful when you take away their spell casting focus, yes they can still use spells, but their selection is much more limited and they can't complete the evil ritual.
It's REALLY good in more people fighting people type campaigns, but it's not going to entirely suck outside of that type of campaign.
Noob DM moment on the "Yeah, this is awesome, but it's the size of a master bed:
Hadn't played since 2e when I was in high school. Got made the DM randomly at the FLGS. Was looking for cool/fun magic items and ended up accidentally giving them something from Pathfinder -- the EXTRA LARGE bag of holding. I rolled randomly on a table to find it, but I was terrified what could potentially be inside of this thing. They got it, and at the end of the session decided to turn it inside out, so I had all week to decide what was in it.
I brainstormed with a friend who (at the time) wasn't in the campaign. We did the math of what a 2,000lb capacity bag of holding could potentially contain. We came to the conclusion that inside of it......was an upright piano. The noise of an upright piano falling into the (now emptied) snake pits brought enemies from two other rooms.
It was glorious.
DMs playing dirty, eh?
Let's try this:
Necromancer BBEG has a lair (mausoleum or abandoned mansion or whatever) and decides to repurpose the leftover bones not fit to be raised as undead. Turns bones into bone dust and coast the floors in the areas/rooms near the entrance with a thin layer that looks like typical dust. The necromancer just uses the secret back way in.
PCs walk through the laor, stirring up the dust. Con saves as the PCs breathe in the bone dust. Max HP or Hit Dice are reduced as the bone dust just ruins their lungs. Not so cocky now, Mr. I-have-a-Sunblade.
That beard is getting pretty epic, Pruitt! Rock on!
PS: Your Patreon pitch in this episode finally made sense of your "save way more than $5" comment in the Web Demons segues in older episodes. I was always like: "That figure seems arbitrary, yet oddly specific..."
something I'm trying in dungeon crawls that my players really seem to enjoy (or at least respect) is to *make time an enemy:*
1. Every physical skill check or tool check is minutes = (20 - Roll). Group check? Average the highest and lowest rolls. 20 or above = 0 minutes.
2. If the player fails DC on physical check or tool check, they succeed in the event regardless but suffer 1lvl exhaustion, or an injury, or both depending on the situation. Also works with curses such as religious shrines, traps, etc. "Marked for death" means no death saves for 24 hours.
3. Short rests last an hour and count against an active workday. Roll encounter % chance each hour.
4. Sleeping in a dungeon is a fool's errand. Muawhahaha! Raw dogging a long rest only regain half hit die back and reduce one level of exhaustion, and only if you get the required amount of rest in an 8hour cycle, assuming there is only one ambush.
5. Every room is 15 minutes to examine, discuss, fight, investigate, take note, pack up, and travel to the next room.
There is always a race against the clock. This dungeon only rises at night and sinks back into the ocean at daybreak. This hostage rescue has until the stroke midnight before the execution. In 3 days' time, the armies of Mordor will march their million locusts orcs thru here enslaving and killing everyone. The pokemon will soon be evolving beyond our strength if you don't hunt it down within the week. *Time to loot and scoot!* DM is not required to give exact time unless pc own timepiece or a spell such as druidcraft, but they should generally know the rules upfront and track their own time.
Run into a dead end? Montage a backtrack at "fast pace" but still count the time. 5 minutes per room.
*My goal is to have them face the main combat encounter exhausted, injured, and in forced march check. Going into combat debuffed from these things helps greatly increase the dangers of combat, especially if they were racing a sand storm, or trying to beat the blizzard, reach shore before the hurricane, find the key out of here before it floods, or make it to the cave of wonders before the volcano erupts, etc.*
This is a good video you guys. Keep it up!
I've used magical locks and elaborate rituals that requires X levels in arcane or divine spell slots to work.
Or magic items that unlock abilities/bonuses when sacrificing Hit Die.
This is not so bad when outside combat but when in the middle of a dungeons...it can put players at a disadvantage when they're in combat.
Or another thing I've seen somewhere: a powerful desert creature can dehydrate an area, so no potions and maybe exhaustion if you failed a CON save in that area. A green dragon's lair can be filled with a noxious gas that affects the nerve system, giving the party disadvantage or stacking minus to attack rolls. Or it weakens one's might so STR-based attacks do half damage.
Fireball is that infectious spell you were talking about.
I let my players turn crits into regular hits by sacrificing an equipped item. This gives helmets a reason to exist, armor is only one item, and weapons/shields must be in your hands to count as “equipped.” Magic items have a much better chance of surviving the hit.
I’ve also always enjoyed *playing* as characters that carry all their inventory as best as I know how. So I really keep track of that stuff, and it took a load off the other players in Lost Mines of Phandelver. Know where your tinder pouch is and keep it dry.
In this one book called Liber Bestiarus, a WotC product with Matt Colville leading design, is a creature called Familiar Eater. It injects its eggs in a caster's familiar which consume it over the next 2d4 weeks, dropping it's constitution. It also drains the caster's magic potential through their link to the familiar so each passing week the familiar's max health drops and the caster spell DC lowers by one, as well as damage from spells (1/dice rolled multiplied by the weeks).
An infectious spell that takes the place of a spell slot is BRILLIANT! I'm taking it and I already know how it will be incorporated. I have little bits of really old magic (because I love that junk lol) which they have been exposed to. This is just another layer to showcase how far beyond current mages these old civilizations really are.
I did an amnesia themed dungeon once (no one had played D&D before so I had mostly amnesiacs so the dungeon was a way to justify it). It had a persistent mist effect that caused them to have to roll Wisdom saving throws or lose a random proficiency or class ability. Once you reached 0 proficiencies, you lose yourself and the dungeon starts claiming you. There was so much tension, it was amazing. They were half dead and out of spell slots and did NOT want to short rest. Rogue lost his Sneak and Perception, Barbarian lost their ability to Rage, Wizard their ability to speak and their literacy. Only one that was fine was the Fighter, oddly. Kept making the saves.
Anyway, just make sure you have consent. I've done it where you take something from the players without warning, and they get maaad. If they know it's coming, it's a risk they take. And make sure you reward if they succeed well, or they will still have hard feelings about it.
I have loved every single video of yours that I've listened to so far (about 10). That being said? I hate every idea you've mentioned in this video. I would never use them, and I would be very angry if they'd been used on me. Especially with some of the more power trippy DMs I've had in the past, if one of them tried to just straight up TELL me I was now a certain personality or had X flaw without working with me on that first, I'd be about 90% of the way out of that game right there.
In my quite high level Ysgard campaign, I have the intention of using the drowning condition in a fight. They're fighting a coven of sea hags and their Merrow Servants, in a Swamp that has very deep sink holes at certain spots on the map.
Also, their "Wizard" (warlock with the tome boon) will most definitely betray them after the battle.
Pruitt talking about hit dice (around the 12-minute mark) gave me an idea for a system for Wounds; pretty simple I think: the system might want to have extended rest (a week or few days of downtown). if an attack or damage is going to inflict a wound, it temporarily locks up a certain number of hit dice, which can only be used again after, during an extended rest, time is spent to heal. a more complicated system could add additional mechanical effects for different types of wounds (reduced base speed for a major leg wound comes to mind).
it just occurred to me - this hit dice thing could also be used for diseases
If you attack your Warlock's meager spell slots... fine, sure, why not. If you attack their Eldritch Blast, however, you're a monster.
I’m sorry, but a lot of these things would cause me to just leave the table tbh. If my dm was like, “ you failed the save , you lose your expertise permanently “ then I’m just going to go find another table. Also if they changed my character to a different alignment. Adding flaws and bonds is interesting as long as they aren’t extreme, because then it’s like trying to hijack there character. Attacking spell slots is good, taking memories is ok, breaking weapons, also giving a phobia is something that I willingly put on my character after a encounter, so that if she’s ever set on fire( not just fire damage, but one of those that burns over time) she has to make a dc 13 wisdom save or be frightened, and if she fails by five or more she is also stunned.
My players had to defend a Dragon from effectively a hit squad sent to kill it, how were they going to do that? Lightning flails that cause Exhaustion, they're in a combat the day after and some are still sporting Exhaustion from that battle, one several levels. They now understand the tools at the BBEG's, and my, disposal and are starting to try and plan ahead to counter such things. Love it.
Speaking of equipement, it would be HILARIOUS if you send a Rogue-y type bad guy to turn their bag of holding inside out, spilling ALL of their randomly assorted loot on the ground xD
Nuts I was really hoping for a guide on how to incorporate nut-kicking into melee combat.
Also stuff like, how to set up ambushes, kicking enemies when they're prone, advantages to high/low honor fighters, etc.
Great episode guys. Love your Out of the Box way of thinking. No reason in particular...but you guys should check out the Dungeon Coach. He is about a year old UA-cam wise, but really awesome at Homebrew
In session zero my DM said he's not going to award inspiration. Each player can award it once per session. I awarded it once, comically, when our fighter declared an attack with no description. Outside of that, it was never used. The DM technically awarded it to me, once, because my character found and drank coffee. But he didn't award it as inspiration, he just told me I could take advantage once in the next four hours.
Being a player for the first time in a while, I asked my DM if I was allowed to add mechanical parts to my character flaws and he was so happy. My character's a changeling that's basically pretending to be her best friend. Went on a 'kill giant bugs' mission and ran into a dragon on a hunt, she cowered while her friend fought, feels torn up because she never wanted to be an adventurer and was only doing this for her friend, but is determined to make the friend's dreams of greatness come true so her death wasn't in vain. Thing is, has crazy bad PTSD because she watched the only person who accepted her as a changeling get toyed with and ripped apart. So any time we fight something large and green, or if I see a dragon, my character has to make saves to keep her form together. How close it correlates to a green dragon determines the check, and if I fail my form freaks out and I revert to original self.
If this happens, or she gets hit with a frightened condition, she fully gives into the obsession which caused her to throw her own identity away and permanently become someone else. mechanically it's the frightened condition, except I can't move AWAY from the creature instead of can't move towards. I'm so torn up over the cowardice in my past that haunts me every day and night that I can't bring myself to run, not again, never again...despite having disadvantage on everything and really should be moving away until I pass that save. I love it, and thankfully my fellow players have found it super interesting, some have been taken thier own flaws as well now. For instance, fey ancestry to the extreme, breaking oaths literally causes them permanent damage as they start to die from the power inherent in their words..
my favorite method of fighting dirty (as a player but DMs can pull this easily too) is what i call the school bully technique
its simple, does you opponent require a weapon to be effective? are ras-nsi's flame tongue and smites too scary? well its quite simple.
have any available strength build take away their weapon. its fall fun and games for the big bad until the rogue wrenches their sword away and runs.
because now theyre at the mercy of the barbarian, and he's angry.
My players never use ideals, bonds, and flaws, personally I love them but when I tried to force them or suggested them everyone ignores them or complains, I've had players quit cause I told them I'd reward players that used them, they told me I was ruining the game...I'll admit forcing them might have been much but the same players ignored the campaign I was running, I said the word Mirabar 17 times in the same night, every npc brought it up and they ignored it every time so I don't miss them
One thing I did to my players is an assassin swapped out one of their rations with a poisoned one. Cleric's PP let him notice someone had gone through their packs but everything was accounted for so they shrugged it off. I though kept track, and every time they ate, I'd roll a dice to see if they ate the poisoned one. 4 sessions later, the barbarian dropped from full to 0 making death saves in the middle of a dungeon far from civilization. Party saved him because there was a cleric, so I didn't even expect it to kill him to begin with; but the fact it burned a ton of resources still had the desired effect.
I've used gear tax for failed skill challenge checks. For Example: doing a skill challenge for over land travel... player picks a skill to reflect how they're managing the trip. If they succeed they're one step closer to the destination. If they fail they have to sacrifice a piece of gear to reflect the failed attempt. A failed Athletics check results in a lost rope. A failed Survival check results in lost rations... and so on...
Where's my post credits joke!?
You might say they... Did you dirty?
One of my favorites was using large packs of wolves that just howl during a fight, creating a cacophony of howls that prevents players from hearing each other speak, as they are unable to out-shout the howling pack. It was a way using free-action in new way could create a different challenge. Wolves not in the front line used their Reactions to howl whenever a PC would speak.