Like others have mentioned, HotDQ is very railroaded. I get the feeling that their first real adventure for 5E needed to be totally awesome and stuff, so it gets extremely linear. Also, the difficulty level is just insane. I don’t the encounters are well-balanced for a party of 4-5. Similar to many new MMOs lately, you want to start off as epic as possible before having them clear the rats from the cellar.
I’m having a tough time playing in the weekly D&D Adventurer’s League, as I rerolled as a Cleric at the behest of the DM. With 2 L1 spell slots, there’s not much I can do other than cast my Spare the Dying cantrip repeatedly. That’s pretty much all I did last week. Move, Spare the Dying. Move to next downed PC, Spare the Dying. 2 of them were Paladins who decided to keep on attacking instead of using their Lay On Hands, wanting to save them for emergencies. The Bard also decided to keep on fighting until she went down. After that encounter, they decided to split the party.
One of the Paladin players was miffed I only stabilized him rather than healing him. I told him he already had 2 death fails and still surrounded by kobolds. I went before him, and I suspect healing him would have turned the kobolds on him rather than ignoring the downed player and remaining focused on the Bard.
Yeah, I know playing in public events can bring their share of interesting people, but man. I should’ve volunteered to DM.
Yeah, My fighter also has some baggage and I definitely built him is such a way that he could function mechanically in his personality. He was born to a noble family but feels like he needs to live up to that title. That definitely has a impact on his actions both in combat and not. I specifically built him so he could make those foolhardy decisions he thinks he needs to in order to act with honor and bravery, without constantly being dead.
It’s a fun change of pace for me to play a character like that since my other fantasy character is basically a foppish mage who is more interested in creature comforts than being “brave”. Though he can be a bit foolhardy as well. There was one session where he actually left the party in the woods at camp to go into town and get a room at the finest inn. That led to some trouble. :)
And you better hurry up back from town Galadin, since I’m pretty sure we are going to be squaring off against a “real magic user” soon.
(Though I do wonder what Galadin considers Barthic? Or Varis for that matter?)
WoTC and Mark Mearls announce the Dungeon Masters Guide is delayed until December 9th (November 28th for those stores participating in the early release program). Bummer.
Yay for Kender! I hope they release a setting book for Krynn that includes Kender as a race. :)
Tasslehoff Burrfoot is my second favorite character from the Chronicles. Fizban is of course the best, and having the two of them together for a spell was RPG genius!
DB link includes printable 1" tokens for characters, NPCs and foes, statblocks for all, printable promo materials, GM’s guide, and, of course, suggestions for the most badass heavy metal RPG playlist evarrrrr.
Looks like Dungeonscape is cancelled, at least as the official digital app from Wizards. WotC is no longer in partnership with Trapdoor Technologies. Maybe Rob O’Boston or others can comment on their experiences with the DS beta? I heard that it was not performing up to expectations.
I wonder what is Wizards’ next plan for digital? There are certainly a lot of fan-made apps and webpages that cover portions of the game (initiative trackers, encounter builders, spell databases, form-fillable character sheets) but it would be great to have one overarching compendium of rules, items, creatures, characters, and adventures that double-check the math for you, pass secret messages to players, remind you of appropriate spells to get you out of a sticky situation, and order pizza in real life.
