Well, I know that look….
…time for a new character.
this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2023
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My group consults an ancient relic we refer to as the Device Ex Machina. If it deems you worthy, you can have 1 Deus ex machina event per session, pending a vote from the other players.
(If everyone agrees to it, we shake a magic 8 ball and ask if the action or event that's about to happen according to the rules as they stand should or should not be allowed to happen)
I play using a VTT so everybody sees what the results are immediately. No telling it to them gently when the troll crits three times during the fight.
But then how do you chuck d20s at your players when they misbehave
My character is likely getting this next weekend. She's got 1 hp and is stuck in a fight that should have been a flee rather than fight situation. A party member tried to sacrifice himself to save the rest of the group and my dumbass character is far too good to allow that to happen. We ended the session before the fight was complete. Her only hope is that we have more players actually show up for the next session.
Good luck! Good way to go down if the dice send it that way, though.
Boy, I hope not. I've always wanted to play this character and only had 5 sessions with her. I recently joined an established table.
Had that moment multiple times last night. My Wednesday group does a sorta-not-AL thing where we play AL adventures plus a few house rules.
The adventure last night pitted us against a Winter Wolf and 4 Dire Wolves. We are a large party (6 characters) that's a bit more powerful than average (everyone got a free Feat at level 1, but otherwise it was standard 27 point buy.) But even then, that encounter had me and the rogue being whack-a-moles for the Winter Wolf and 2 of the Dire Wolves, and the party's fighter, barbarian, and wizard barely survived.
Guys, I have never played or seen anyone play D&D in my life, but I still enjoy the memes for some reason. I've seen people name powers, roll a dice and then scream in agony or joy... But I never know what the hell is going on. I know a higher number is better but I don't know what is done with the number. Can someone explain?
Like, I say "ice shield" and I roll a 15. Then what?
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules
There’s a link to the basic rules. At the most basic example, let’s say you swing your sword at a goblin. The goblin has an Armor Class, or AC, of 15, thanks to his leather armor and shield. So in order for your swing to hit, you have to get higher than 15. So you roll a d20, and it lands on 13. However, since you’re good at swinging swords and very strong, you can add those bonuses to your roll. Let’s say +3. So your roll ends up being a 16, which beats 15. So then you roll a couple dice to see how much damage you do based on the type of weapon and how good you swing swords again. For a long sword you would roll a d8 and add any relevant modifiers to your roll. Then you subtract that number from the enemy’s go. When it’s the goblin’s turn, the DM rolls against your AC to do damage to you.
Those are the basics to all of the rolling. Someone rolls a d20 and adds modifiers to determine if they are successful at something against a target number, and the other dice are mostly for damage, healing, or to choose something random on a table.
It sounds complicated as a comment but when you play you have your character sheet which shows what all the numbers are supposed to be.
Edit: for your given example, there isn’t an ice shield spell, but there is a spell called Armor of Agathys that covers your character in frost. It gives you 5 temporary hp, and if a creature hits you in melee range (they roll higher than your AC) they take 5 damage.
Each spell has a specific description of its effects. You can cast spells at different levels depending on how strong they are, and it costs spell slots (resource points) to cast them.
Oh, so it is like an RPG videogame but on a board. Sounds much more fun than modern videogame though.
Thanks!
Videogame turn combat is actually borrowed from TTRPGs. Old D&D editions (mostly 1e) had a combat system that was pretty close to what you'd find in a modern RPG videogame, just within the constraints of the table.
So the d&d rules are fairly vast and can't be summed up all here but, the tl;dr of it:
Every attacking spell or attacking action has an associated mechanism for whether it hits or deals it's damage. Loosely, it's always one of these 3:
-
You roll (a) dice, you need to beat bad guy's static number to hit them
-
You have a static number, bad guy needs to roll (a) dice and beat your static number to avoid or reduce the damage
-
You hit unless they specifically have an ability that makes this not the case
So, for example, "I make a melee attack with my sword against the bad guy" The bad guy has a static number of 17, I roll a (total of) 18 - it hits! Now different dice are rolled to determine damage dealt, based on the weapon.
Or
"I use magic missile on the bad guy" This spell just always hits, that's kind of its shtick. So it hits and I roll for damage, unless they counter it somehow
Or
"I use fireball on this bad guy" My static number is a total of 17, bad guy rolls a 23 - he is still hit by the fireball but will take half the damage (rounded down) when we roll for damage dealt.
Hope this helps!
I did this once. Lost Mine of Phandelver, the dragon encounter.
I did a pretty dramatic bit of roleplay with the dragon beforehand where he tried to bunch them all up before opening with his breath attack.
They were level 3. They never stood a chance. I read out the number and it would have been an insta-death (no death saves) for multiple members of the party, with everyone else unconcious. Luckily, they didn't hear me well, and when asked to repeat it I lowered the damage considerably. No insta-deaths, one stayed conscious, along with the powerful NPC they had recruited to help.
When I ran Thundertree, I had a backup plan where if my party all died I’d have them wake up jailed somewhere else in the tower with none of their gear or magic items. Venomfang would be sleeping and they’d have to escape from their cells somehow and sneak out of the tower. Maybe Venomfang would wake up while they were escaping and there’d be a tense escape sequence.
Instead, my party managed to somehow kill the young green dragon at level 3 before he could escape. They rolled multiple crits in a row and the only casualty was a weak npc. They rode that high for a while.
Then I introduced them to Strahd.
Me when I kill a PC for the second session in a row (these cyclops are no joke).
Resurrection arc incoming
I mean, in Eclipse Phase death is just the beginning of the party getting sidetracked.
Cool, you just took 12 damage past actual death. Good thing the stack protecting your mind is made of sterner stuff, I sure the rest of the party will... run away? Oh. Oh wow.
Ok. So you wake up lying on a table in a nondescript, decently lit, windowless meeting room. A voice is coming from a speaker mounted on the wall asking you to answer some questions. You feel oddly compelled to answer even though you have no idea who it is.
Other than that you feel fine, Your body seems intact, You know your name, remember the battle - though for some reason you're missing a color? Like you can see the carpet, you know what color it is, but you can't express to yourself what color it is? I mean you know the three basic colors that make up every thing else are Red, Blue and C̵͇͍̥̉̍͑̂͂́̔̓̆͊̎͒̉́̾̅͌̈́̽́̍̈́͊̈́̓̆́̄̒̈̕͘͝͠͝ŕ̷̡̛̼͉̟̞̥̤̬̦̪̥̭̤͎̫͕͖̪̻̂̉͑̈́͗̈͌͗̀̊͆́͆̀̄́̂̇̉̊͑͌́͂̎͛̿͐́͊̈́̀͌̚̕͠a̸̧̜̯̤͇̼̙͖͍̭̘̜̫͖̟̔̂̎̀͆́̈́̃̐̽̀͛̍͘͘̕͜͠c̷̰̱͇͊̇͊k̶̛̛̛̛͍̙͗͆̐͌͛̒͒͐̈͌̊̈́̂̐̃͌̎̋̐̿̔̓̈͑̆̀́̓̆̕̕͜ę̷̛̛̫̯̗̖͇̻͍̘̺̰̖̙̱̽̇̀̔̅̊̓̾̓͐͌̕͝d̷̡̡̢̡̛͙̥͉̼͎̳͎̩̭̠͕͇̭͉̭͈̫̻̮̹̻͉͈̭̞̻̟͙̤̳̥̂̔̽͒̔̓͆͒͗̂̕͝ͅͅ ̸̧̨̪̗͉̺̫̜̹̮̣̙̗̙̳̣͇͖̪̝̫̪̺̼̙̮̦̳̮̮̳͉̬̜͒̿̽́̎̃͆̒͌̂̇̈́͛̐̌͌̓̋̔̽͑̍͐̀̏̐̊̉́̀̑̚̕̚͘̚͘͜͝͠͠ḃ̶̨̡̨̡̨͈̖͕̬̺̯̺̤̘̭͕̜͚̙̼̺̬̟̺͓͉̖̬̮̦̭̘̯̦͔̻̣̖̗̫̹̭̳͋̎̔̓̈́͆̌̃̂́̃͐̾̌͑̂̾̕̚͘͜͜͝ͅͅy̵̢̧̨̢̟̬̫͚͙̹̥̲͕̻̲̮̺̯̦͎̘̼̙̗̩͕̠͖̗̘͍̩̣͎͖̫͎̋̇̓̊̆̅͒͆̈́͐̏̅̓̚ ̸̢͉̞͖̘̤͕͙͙͊̅́̿͗̓̐́̊̈͐̆́̀͋͋̈́͒̈̏́̇̇̂̍̑̔́̚͘͝͠ṭ̵̨̨̢͔̺̟̙̦̥̤͍̻̆̿̄͂͋̆͋̋̋̓̾͐̿͜͠ḩ̴̨̡̢̭̪̘̳͔̤̤̞͉̖̘̼̫̝̬̻̣̣̞̖̘̜̤͇̩̺̠̭̓̉̊͋̕͜͜e̴̡̧̢̢̨̧̹̼̝̳̰̪͍̺͔̮͍̪̣͕̼̖̪̳͓̹͈̞͓͕̪̘̬̼̮̍̈́͜͠ͅ ̷̢̡̨͖̲͇̮̙͔̳̹̼̭̫̹̗̩̠̪̗̹͖̖̬̦̝̜̲̺̖̫̌͊͛̿̐̄̇͋̂͐͆̇͛͑̓̌͆́̈́̇͊̐̐͒̇̚̕̕͜͝͝͝͝ͅͅͅm̵̨̺̙̮̣̘̖͖̙̲͉̦͇̜̘͓̘̲̜͉̦͕̞̯͉̣̟̦̦̳͂̋̽̌̽͗̀̊̈̈́̽͑̐̓̃̌̈́̈͛͆̈̚̚̚͜͜͝͝͝͠͝͠ͅͅè̸̢̢̨̛̩̝̯̥̮̪͍͇͔͇̫̱͓̣͓̺̱̥̤̰͔̟̪͙͚̱̖̮͖̯̺͙͚̮̞̩̠̝̰̦͙̟̄̾̂̀̆̋̽̆̓̀̉̇̆̏̓̂͊̊́̏͗̆̇̈́̅̎́̔̇̈́̕͘̕͜͜͝͠m̴̧̡̨̨̢̳͈̥̺̱͚͙͓̹͈̩̻͍͔͙͙̳̯̹̺̠̺̰̏̔͆̾̈́͑̍̉͒̃̂̇̀̂̾͒͐̍̈́͌̀̿̎̓͗̐̿̔̒̈́̇̎̈͘̕̕͘͘͘̚͘͠͠͝͠ȩ̸̧̨̮̬̜̠̤̳̬̟̤̰͓͕̥͉̺̲̙̱͍̭̙̳̲̬̻̻̹̹̤̄̎͆̏͌̐̊͑̃ͅ ̶̠̲̙̥̌̿̒̍͂͘ͅs̷̢̢͕̞̹̮̰͕̣͕̪̜̉̔̓̒̾̐̅͗̑̈̓͆͋͆̆́̔̽͆͑̒̀͑͒̾͘̕̕͜͝ͅͅẗ̴̙̮̭̬́͒̎̎̽̕ȩ̸̛͖͖͚̜̫̘̳̥͑̈́̊͊̌̇̍̏̈́͊̀̅̿̈́̾̌̀̽̃̆̔̋a̵̢̨̢̱͕̘̼̜̙͎̮͎̙̟̰̮̮̺̻͚̻͍̥͍͔̣̠̲̱̘͔̹͆́̀̀̿ͅͅl̵̨̡̢̨̡̛̞̻̪͖̞̠̲̬̝͖̖̼̞͎̝̹̳͚̘̭̠̻͕̙̗̞̝̹̜͔̽̔̓͒̿͂͌́̔͊̏̈́͆̇̂͂̀̂͋̂̋͋̉̓̕̚͜͝͝ę̸̧̧̢̨̡͔̻͉͎̬̠͕̤̥̳͉͙͍͈̯̯͎̪͈̲͔̭̪̝̣̭̰̰̜͇̤̠̙̤͍̖̙͒̓ͅͅr̸̛̤͎͐̓͊͆̈́͐̽͌̇́̎̑̓̏̽͌̈̉͌̄̂̆̚̕͘!̴̡̧͍̼̬̙̫̫̭͓͓̖̮̭̠͉̠̱̫̪̫̼̪͉͎̳͖̘̩̭͇̩̣͔̣̦̩̰̗̬͉̰͙̯̎̄̔̐̓̉͛̈́̍̀̿͒̀̒͊͂̈́͆̅̑̓̆͑͗̉͐̑͗̆̉̉̍͆̏̂̕̚͜͜͜͝ ̸̧̢̧̢̛̻̪̰͇̱̬̙̖̹̬̝͍̩͔͔̝͚͖͚̌̎̿́͋̓̉̍̽͂̓͝ͅB̴̧̫̮̻̱͓͓̰̟̼͈͈̈͆̑̓̀̊̐͐̍͛̾̍̈́̔̂́̔̈̑̀̄͒̏̋̈́̍̑̆̐̄̀̈͛͂̋̿̒̕͜͝ų̴̡͚̙̰͉̥͕̩̘̻͚̻̫̲̜͇͕͚̘̙̰̼̣̰̜̈́̆͒̏̆̊̈́͂̀̎͑̅̍̏͆͘͜͠ͅy̴̧̨̩̜̬̤̯̖̬͉̦̥̙̟̦̣̣͇̯̬̤̞̰͖̺͔̻͙̟̯̟̣̗͙͕̒̋͒͆̿͛͊̓̐̆͜͜͝͝͠ͅͅ ̵̨̢̨̢̧̛̛͍̻͚̞͙̦̥̺̙̙̠̝̲͉̱̜͔̦̲̱͈̲̟̬̰͍̣̮̳͈͓̩̪̻͌͗͒͐͆̒̎̀͐̋̑͂̓͋͑̈͋͛́̇͋̓̈́̏̏̌́́́͘͘̕̚͜͝͝͝͠ͅͅà̶̢̳̺̤͚̘̫̦̜̠͈̣̭̝̺͉̻͈̟͔͚̪͔̮̺̈́͛͌̑̍̉͐͌͛̿̓͌̾̃̾͒̓̈́̑̀̓̔͗̈́͆͒̚̚̚͜͠ŗ̵̗̩̺̩̳̝̪̊̔́͑̏̔̉͌͛̄͐͌̀̀́͌͊̽̈́̅̉͘̕͠g̷̨̧̧̢̪̯͓̪̭͈̗̪̪̹̹̣͓͚͙̳͙̝̯̹̥̩͓͔̳̘̳̮͎̥̘̺͕̪̹̞̥͓͔̯̞͖̰͂ͅo̶̡̻̝̘̝̣͍̳̘̹̬̘̜̤͈͕̿͒͛͌̋̀̀̑̎͑͛͂̿͌̃̊̃̑̿̎̂͗͗͌͌͐̂̈́͊̑̔̈̔̎́̎͘̕͝c̵̨̧̢̢̨̡̥͎̰͙̭̞̤͔̫͍͓̬̞͖͚͔̯̱͕̦̝̲̫͉̳̙̝͜͜͜͝ͅo̵̧̢̡̨̖̟̫̫͍̭͔̻͈̰̙͓̘̙͇̣̟̥̘̼̠͔̬͖̔̍̑͜͠ͅḯ̵̡̧̧̨̛̛̛̖̣̝̝̝̠͓̬̥̫̬̯͎͕̣͍̜̮̝̦̂̋̉̈́̅̏̅͆̀̈́̌́́̒̏̎̊̌̀̂̉͑͆̾̾͋̐̋̀͒̓̅͂́̈́̕̕̚͘ͅn̸̢̮̫̤͎̟̳̘͚͎̞͖̟̫͓̠̳̫̜͓̆͑͊̌͐̉̓̂͑̓͑̌̓̃̓̆͊̄͘͘̚͘͘̚͘͝͠!̵̨̡̡̤̲̘̲̯͓̪͔͓̖̥͍̜͉̬̫̫̹͈̠͇͚̤̰̥̈́̂͌̿͌̄͝ but - wait - that's it. that's the one you're missing.
The voice coming out of the speaker is getting more insistent.