The Gaming Den

Hiram McDaniels wrote:I just read the Mystic class UA article, and I noticed that all of the saves against psionic effects are INT based...which makes perfect sense because the game needs more INT saves and they have to go somewhere, right? right?

We can't let CHA become the god stat

So as it stands now what's the best class for hitting things with a sword now?

Hiram McDaniels wrote:I just read the Mystic class UA article, and I noticed that all of the saves against psionic effects are INT based...which makes perfect sense because the game needs more INT saves and they have to go somewhere, right? right?

Considering that half the creatures you fight have very low INT, and very few of them have very high INT, it seems like Mystic might be a good choice if your DM let you use material from web articles. He won't though, so it doesn't matter.

OgreBattle wrote: So as it stands now what's the best class for hitting things with a sword now?

Bursty swording is probably going to be best served by Paladin. Ol' Reliable is probably some combination of Battlemaster Fighter and cherry picking other classes to taste. The web article Mystic Path of the Immortal is something to keep an eye on for it's official debut should such a thing ever happen, though - if it's anything like the current preview, it'll be a contender.

Edit: peppering in some Warlock to Paladin is pretty hilarious, since it allows your lower level Smites to reset on Short Rests instead of long and provides a TON of utility if you do 3 levels for Pact of the Book.

OgreBattle wrote:So as it stands now what's the best class for hitting things with a sword now?

Mixing Paladin with Warlock is indeed like Peanut Butter and Jelly, but I personally like Cleric + Monk better.

Do War Cleric 3/Open Hand Monk X. At level 3, you get the Bounded Accuracy breaking Guided Strike (+10 to hit, declared after seeing your roll, 5 times per long rest). At level 5, you get on 2 attacks per round (+1 if you spend Ki, +1 more at level 8). At level 7 you get to Save or Stun people and at level 20 you upgrade that to Save or Die. You don't have to use monk weapons, but if you do you're Single Attribute Dependent on your Wisdom score.

It's worth pointing out that acquiring the Shillelagh cantrip with the warlock/paladin means that all your attacks function off Charisma, which is also your spellcasting stat. It's also worth noting that hex is great for damage output.

Kryx at Giantitp did an OK analysis of damage per round of many class combinations here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... =919545212

Some of the math seems clunky and some of the assumptions weird, but it's the best comparison I've seen in the wild. Unfortunately, the table doesn't include the paladin or make any great effort to account for resource expenditure rates. But it seems like a good starting point.

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/scag

Looks like the first of the actual 5e splat is set to come out 1 year after core.

Odd that they're bringing in Green Ronin Publishing - is the D&D department gutted that badly?

In apparent conflict with their stated "No Setting Books" policy, today Wizards announced the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, giving FR specific sublcasses, subraces, backgrounds, etc.

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/scag

This is going to be the real debut of the Swashbuckler, along with Purple Dragon Knight, and I guess Bladesinger.

CapnTthePirateG wrote:Odd that they're bringing in Green Ronin Publishing - is the D&D department gutted that badly?

Where have you been for the last year? The D&D department is like 5 guys who work there part time.

That could be good. Green Ronin is perhaps not the best writer for d20 material, but they do some good stuff. Given that Hasbro/WotC clearly has no interest in producing a professional product, if they started to simply manage the brand and license out the writing, I would honestly prefer that to them continuing to pump out shitty editions.

Prak wrote:That could be good. Green Ronin is perhaps not the best writer for d20 material, but they do some good stuff. Given that Hasbro/WotC clearly has no interest in producing a professional product, if they started to simply manage the brand and license out the writing, I would honestly prefer that to them continuing to pump out shitty editions.

This is exactly what they've done since the release of the Core books. All the adventures and players companion content have been authored by licensed third parties with developer oversight supposedly coming from Mearls & Co at WotC.

Who IS the best source of d20 material then?

I honestly don't know. Green Ronin has longevity, but d20 isn't their moneymaker anymore, they've got M&M and Dragon Age. But I have no clue who the best source for d20 is (other, perhaps, than the Den) so I try not to make absolutist claims.

Welp, I bought a copy of the PHB and now feel vaguely ashamed of myself.

Although I honestly thought that reaching out to third party publishers like this was a first for D&D. Is the D&D department even sustainable at this point?

I had completely forgotten the adventures had been outsourced. I think D&D as a brand is still totally viable for WotC, but I think within the decade there will be no department, just, like, a head of brand that makes sure that the companies they outsource to don't fuck up the brand's fiction du jour.

D&D will continue to have no exhibitor hall presence at GenCon (they quit in 2013, and quit sponsoring in 2014) and have outsourced convention events to Baldman Games (no you haven't heard of them, nor should you have). From this description, it sounds like they're using the same pathetic setup, about 16 tables in a castle facade pen, in the very spacious and very vacant organized play area in Hall D.

Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford will occupy space and produce greenhouse gases from 3-4pm each day at a special table in the play pen. It has not yet been disclosed if there will be a dunk tank, or just baskets of rotten vegetables provided.

I feel like ordering a funeral wreath to be delivered to their play pen.

I feel like gathering a couple copies of several dozen franchise retail and fast food places and shipping them to them.

Do people even give a fuck about Driz'zt anymore? I just read this press release for Rage of Demons and what I basically got out of it is "DMPC: The Adventure Path."

An escort mission with an old, fat, has been Driz'zt might be kind of hilarious, actually.

Actually I'd prefer an oversexed, lecherous and leering Driz'zt that's constantly hitting on every member of the party. They're trying to stop demon lords and he's just trying to nail as many succubi as possible. Just gettin' weird with it.

Basically if Driz'zt was Zapp Brannigan. Come to think of it, that's a way to fold in your idea too.

Nah, that's Elminster, from what I hear. I don't know what Salvator is like in real life, other than unable to take criticism.

However, I can make the lecherous Elminster idea work too. I'm thinking Lolth captured Driz'zt's soul at his death and he became an abyssal petitioner, and Eilistree asks the party to recover his soul and deliver him to her realm. Have Lolth or some other Abyss dweller capture Elminster the same way and fold it in.

Oddly enough, in real life, Salvator is a man with a voice that's hypnotic. Seriously, he could talk about anything, and you listen to him. Dude talks much better than he writes, and he writes okay.
Boy, that panel I went to with him on it was weird, though.

I've never read a Driz'zt book, or heard him talk, I've only heard about him whining to Wizards about people saying mean things to him about his book on the internet.

Prak wrote:I've never read a Driz'zt book, or heard him talk, I've only heard about him whining to Wizards about people saying mean things to him about his book on the internet.

Here you go the voice of Salvaotre:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKRS36WWn_o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg97b7P5jKM

Wow, still going to the Drizzt well, huh? the idea of a Good PC from an Alignment Evil Race/Species had been considered a hackneyed eye-roller half way through Third Edition, if not sooner.

5E: Not 5 Fresh Ideas In The Whole System

My uncle is asking about 5E and Pathfinder as games for his teenagers.

Did they ever write skills for 5E? Like does the DMG or the full PHB or something have DCs for anything? Are there mechanics for crap like weather and swimming and breath holding and so on?