We can post our zany and powergaming questions for our wonderful GM Roberto the Grande here.
Ok Mr GM, I assume we can hide in heavy obscured and in full cover but can we hide when:
1) lightly obscured area, such as dim light, patchy fog, or moderate foliage
2) half cover has a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity Saving Throws. A target has half cover if an obstacle blocks at least half of its body
3) three--quarters cover has a +5 bonus to AC and Dexterity Saving Throws. A target has three--quarters cover if about three--quarters of it is covered by an obstacle
1. Usually no. But there may be very particular circumstances where I allow it on a case-by-case basis. For example, if an orc is standing down a hallway and you want to sneak across the hallway when he isn't looking. By RAW, the orc would auto-see you. But with a little handwavium, I might grant you a Stealth check (with a higher DC or maybe at Disadvantage) to sneak across the hallway fast enough so he doesn't see you and quiet enough so he doesn't hear you. But for the most part, the answer is no.
2. I would say it depends. For example, if you hide behind half-cover, laying down to the ground behind a very low wall, and a bunch of orcs pass by, then I might say, "Yes, you can hide." But if you are in the middle of combat, you cannot use your allies (who grant half-cover if you're standing behind them) to "hide" from an enemy that knows you are already there. That's an auto-fail.
3. I would say this is closer to "heavy obscurement" than your other examples. I'd probably usually say, "Yes, you can hide behind 3/4 cover." But the enemy cannot know you are there. If the enemy knows you are present, then the enemy just has a harder time targeting you with its attacks.
For clarification, if you are a rogue in the middle of a hallway, you can't hide as if turning invisible. That's not how hiding works. And even when you do hide successfully, the bad guys always get advantage on Perception checks if they already know you are out there somewhere. Hiding is not invisibility. It is mostly useful for executing ambushes or for avoiding detection when you don't want to be found by a nearby enemy.
Hey guys,
Just want to let you know that I purchased the 5E Midgard Heroes Handbook and the Margreve Player's Guide, both from Kobold Press. Basically, between those two books, I just added over 350 spells to the compendium, and an ENORMOUS number of new class, race, background, and feat options. It's pretty incredible. Just an FYI for you guys since you are all leveling up.
All Best,
Rob
One last announcement: while you cannot change who your character is, I will allow you to mechanically "re-build" your character from the ground up one last time, now that you have all reached 3rd level and gotten a handle on the type of campaign that I'm running and we have seen our party members finalized. Just let me know if you are gonna rebuild your character and I'll give you a new sheet to work from. (And make sure you transfer all of your items and gold to the new sheet when you finish the rebuild.)
All Best,
Rob
Hey guys,
I just realized that I will not be able to play this upcoming Wednesday, Aug. 11th, as I have a family commitment that I cannot avoid. We will have to resume game on Wednesday, Aug. 18th. So, we all get two weeks off.
All Best,
Rob
I will create a new character sheet for you so you can play around with it. Just transfer your gear and gold afterwards.
P.S. When rebuilding your character, you have to be the same character. In other words, your hero has to be the same race and roughly the same role/function/class: you could change your subrace (from mountain dwarf to hill dwarf), or you could change from one class to another class that has a similar role in the party (from sorcerer to wizard, or from fighter to barbarian).
For example, if you were playing a mountain dwarf fighter named Rath Ironfoot, you could slightly alter your character to be a hill dwarf barbarian, since those two things are similar enough. He's still Rath Ironfoot with the same personality and the same experiences. But you could not switch to an elf wizard or even a mountain dwarf druid. Those things are too different.
This is more of a "character tweak."
I was wondering if you allow earning certain feats in special ways like training or a reward in a quest. I want Tough for Trev (may be War Caster as well).
Hi Jaymes,
Not usually, no. Human variant and character improvements are the only way to do it in this game, my preeeecious.
All Best,
Robert
Hey Rob please set me up with a new character sheet. I would like to play around with the new stuff added.
Ok I'm done with my remake of Wick. Slight changes, ready for your review, and delete the other one. I'll stick with Wick 2
Hey Mister GM
Wanna talk about crafting magic items. I read the DMG and Xanathar's and wanna confirm what I understand.
DMG requires you to be a caster and be able to use any abilities the item does. You also have to be a certain character level: Common./Uncommon 3rd level; Rare 6th level; Very Rare 11th; Legendary 17th.
Each item you can make, requires a formula (recipe) to know how to make it.
Xanathar's says you need to find a special material from a CR monster or encounter depending on the level of the item: Common CR 3 or less; Uncommon CR 4-8; Rare CR 9-12; Very Rare CR 13-18; Legendary CR19+.
Someone can help you make the item (half the time) if they are a caster, have sufficient levels and the Arcana skill.
Questions
I assume we can use the research DT action to get a formula make a specific item?
Maybe you need a piece of lore per level of an item? Common 1; Uncommon 2; Rare 3, etc.
When we are out adventuring can we collect the needed components after defeating a monster?
Make an Arcana check DC equal to monsters CR +5?
Can we buy the components and or formula from a magic college like in Bard's Gate?
Components cost 10gp x CR of item? Formula 50gp x rarity of item?
Can we add abilities to an existing item?
I assume no item can have more than one attunement ability, you cant add an ability from a different item category if it doesn't make sense (no boots of missile snaring for example) and some things just wont work together (evil items and good items for example)
Thanks for any responses!
I will need to read the sections in the DMG and Xanathar's to answer this. Give me a few hours/days.
Okay, I read through the DMG and Xanathar's. They actually both have different rules for crafting items and magic items. As the DM, I have to pick the one I want to "roll" with. While the DMG rules are simpler, I think I prefer Xanathar's. I like some of the ideas they have. For example, you do NOT have to be a spellcaster to craft magic items under their rules, and they just have flat values for workweek times that are easier to calculate. Also, they focus more on the PC's needing to complete quests/adventures to get the various components to make a particular magic item, which I also like. So, we will go with those. Ignore the Crafting rules in the DMG going forward. We will only be using Xanathar's.
To craft a magic item, you must meet the following requirements:
So, to answer your questions:
1. Depends on the item. Some items might be a simple research downtime to discover. Other crafting recipes for more common items, like potions, might be something you can get as a favor from the mage's guild, if you have contacts there. And still, other recipes for very complex and rare items might force you to do some downtime just to discover a part of the needed recipe and it might give directions for where the rest of the necessary ingredients may be found. Etc.
2. The monster must be tailored to the item. This is determined by the individual crafting recipe/formula. The recipe/formula will tell you what monster you must seek out (and why).
3. Maybe. Depends on the item and the necessary ingredients. See the item's recipe for instructions.
4. No. Once an item is made, that's it.
Roger and thanks for the clarification.
Will you allow custom item creation?
I want items that are based on existing items. Examples:
Hey Byron,
1. I might allow custom item creation, but only on a case-by-case basis. You would submit what your intention is to craft, and then I would review it and give you an answer as to whether or not it would be possible. If it is, then you will have to start looking for the "crafting recipe/formula," just like any other item.
2. It depends on the downtime activity. The guidance spell is meant for a single check within 1 minute of "game time" from when the spell was cast on the target. If the downtime activity depends on a single roll that represents a long period of time, the answer is a hard no. But, if the downtime activity depends on a single roll that represents a single moment in time (like the way the spell works), then the answer is yes.
Got a few good questions from Stan and thought it would be best to answer them all here. I also included the final question in order to clarify how Stealth works in 5E, so that you all have a solid explanation.
1. Can you use Wisdom (Insight) check to predict an NPC's next move if you are familiar with said NPC, having met and interacted with them before?
The answer is yes, based on the skill's description in the 5E PHB (p. 178). I would rule that, the higher you roll on the Insight check, the more accurate your prediction will be considering what you already know about the person and the situation. But remember: this is not a crystal ball. Even on a roll of natural 20, you won't know for sure what will happen in the future with this skill.
2. What is the criteria for darkness?
This comes right out of the PHB (p. 183). There are three categories of light: bright light, dim light, and total darkness. The descriptions below apply to creatures with normal vision.
Bright Light = day light from the sun (whether through clouds or open skies) or light from a source of illumination (torches, lanterns, and fires).
Dim Light = shadows, a boundary between a source of bright light (like a torch) and the surrounding darkness, or the soft light of twilight, moon light, and dawn. Dim light creates a lightly obscured area. Creatures in dim light have Disadvantage on Perception checks that rely on sight and suffer a -5 penalty to their passive Perception scores.
Total Darkness = night time outdoors without moon light, an unlit dungeon or subterranean area, or an area of magical darkness. Total darkness creates a heavily obscured area. Creatures in total darkness effectively suffer from the blinded condition.
3. How does darkvision work?
First, darkvision allows you to see in dim light as if it were bright light instead. This means you can see normally in dim light without penalty, at least within the limits of your darkvision (usually 60 feet).
Second, darkvision allows you to see in total darkness as if it were dim light instead. In other words, you do no suffer the blinded condition while in total darkness, and you can see up to the limits of your darkvision (usually 60 feet)... BUT you suffer Disadvantage on Perception checks and a -5 penalty on your passive Perception score, meaning its very hard to find secret doors or hidden traps, for example. Furthermore, you can't discern color in total darkness, only shades of gray.
4. How does the Gloomstalker Ranger's Umbral Sight ability work?
Well, the ability reads: "You are also adept at evading creatures that rely on darkvision. While in [total] darkness, you are invisible to any creature that relies on darkvision to see you in that darkness" (Xanathar p. 42).
So, here are a few examples to show how this ability works:
Example #1: The gloomstalker ranger is in total darkness. A regular human with normal vision walks nearby in a dimly or brightly lit area. The human is effectively blinded from seeing the gloomstalker ranger in this case.
Example #2: The gloomstalker ranger is in total darkness. An orc with darkvision up to 60 feet walks by. Normally, the orc would see into the total darkness that the ranger is standing in and treat it as dim light, meaning the orc would automatically see the ranger if the ranger wasn't hidden, and if the ranger was hidden, the orc would get a Perception check to notice him (but at disadvantage, because the area is treated as dim light).
However, because the orc can only see the ranger due to his darkvision ability, that means the orc treats the ranger (who might be standing there openly or might be hiding) as invisible. Even if the ranger fired an arrow at the orc and wasn't hiding at all, the orc would not be able to see the ranger. The orc would only know that an arrow came out of the area of total darkness and approximately which direction it fired out from.
To combat this, the orc would need to light a torch or some other source of illumination, which would turn the area of total darkness into an area of dim light or bright light (depending on how close the orc got with the torch). At that point, the ranger would automatically be spotted if he wasn't hiding, and if he was hiding, the orc would get a normal Perception check to spot him.
Example #3: The gloomstalker ranger is hiding in dim light. An orc passes by. The orc's darkvision works normally in this situation because Umbral Sight only activates if the ranger is in total darkness. In other words, the orc would get a Perception check to spot the ranger in the area of dim light without penalty, because the orc's darkvision allows him to see in dim light as if it were bright light. And in bright light, the orc does not suffer any penalty on his spot check.
Example #4: The gloomstalker ranger is outdoors in the woods. It is a full moon or a night full of starry twilight. The outdoors area is treated as dim light. Therefore, his Umbral Sight doesn't usually work. However, there might be patches of total darkness, in delves hidden by heavy foliage, or other obvious situations (on a case-by-case basis; the player should ask the DM if he can see any patches of total darkness on the map).
Example #5: The gloomstalker ranger is outdoors in the woods. It is a cloudy night or a new moon. The outdoors area is treated as total darkness. Therefore, the ranger's Umbral Sight works, allowing the ranger to remain invisible against creatures using darkvision to spot him. However, any amount of torch light or another source of illumination would end this effect, so long as the area the ranger is in lies within that light source's radius.
So, to recap: this ability only works if the ranger is within total darkness. If he isn't in total darkness, it doesn't activate.
5. How does Stealth work?
There are several factors which affect your ability to use the Stealth skill to hide from enemies: illumination, obscurement, and awareness.
When you are in bright light and you try hiding from (or sneaking past) a creature that is looking in your direction or can already see you, then the creature automatically spots you without needing to make a check.
When you are in bright light and you try hiding from (or sneaking past) a creature that is not looking in your direction all the time or that might turn away to look in another direction at random intervals, then you get to make a normal Stealth check opposed by the enemy's Perception check. This check represents your chance at sneaking past the creature when it isn't looking at you; if you fail, the creature turns and spots you while you're in the open, or you possibly make a sudden noise which draws its attention and causes it to turn and see you.
When you are in dim light or light obscurement (patchy fog, dungeon furniture, underwater, or moderate foliage) and you try hiding from (or sneaking past) a creature that is looking in your direction or can already see you, then the creature automatically spots you without needing to make a check. The one exception to this rule is that Wood Elves have a racial ability which allows them to hide in these conditions.
When you are in dim light or light obscurement (patchy fog, dungeon furniture, underwater, or moderate foliage) and you try hiding from (or sneaking past) a creature that is not looking in your direction all the time or that might turn away to look in another direction at random intervals, then you get to make a normal Stealth check opposed by the enemy's Perception check, which suffers Disadvantage due to the dim light conditions; if passive Perception is used, then the enemy suffers a -5 penalty to it.
When you are in total darkness or heavy obscurement (opaque fog, opaque water, or dense foliage) you automatically avoid detection due to line of sight. Creatures that might normally "see" you within range instead are treated as if they suffer from the blinded condition when trying to notice you. However, if you are moving around at all in the darkness and there is a chance the creature might hear you, you get to make a normal Stealth check opposed by the enemy's Perception check, which suffers Disadvantage. If the creature succeeds, your movement makes a noise, which raises the creature's awareness that it is not alone. The creature knows the rough direction of the sound, too, but it still can't see you hiding in the darkness.
If you try to surprise a creature that already knows you are there with a sudden attack or other similar action, you must first make a DC 20 Wisdom (Insight) check to successfully determine the most opportune time to attack the target. Then you would make a Stealth check opposed by the target creature's Perception check; if your Insight check failed, then your Stealth check suffers Disadvantage.
If you are in the middle of combat and an enemy has already spotted you before, and you try to hide from it, you must first break its line of sight to you by moving out of sight entirely. But even if you manage to do this, the enemy knows you are there. As a result, it gains Advantage on any Perception check to find you while you are attempting to hide from it, as long as you remain in the same broad area. In order to remove this Advantage effect, you would need to leave the immediate area and hide somewhere else; at that point, the creature does not gain Advantage anymore on its Perception checks to detect you, even if the creature follows after you in the same general direction that you fled.
Hey Rob, do you allow potion mixing? DMG pg 140. If you do, I assume the result are secret and you must use identify or some such to figure out what you created, unless of course you blow up!
Sure. And yes, the results are secret. I would say an Arcana check would be required to ascertain the mixture's effect.
Hey Byron,
I'm not interested in those rules, actually. I'd rather keep patrons in a roleplaying context, the natural back-and-forth between the players and DM.
All Best,
Rob
Few quick questions Mr. GM.
Thanks!
Hi Byron,
1. Unless I have the book uploaded into Roll20, the answer is no. Those herbs come from a product I don't own, unfortunately.
2. No, the manuals are not consumables. This is because they recharge after 100 years, as described in the text.
3. Concerning such items, the Dragonsmith feat reads: "The cost to create these items is ten times the normal cost of the item." So, I would rule that, yes, they might be available for purchase, though not easily found. And they are expensive, as defined above, because nobody is going to sell them at the exact amount they spent crafting the item.
Cheers,
Rob
Hey Mister GM, wanted to confirm that damage from a spell is a spell source, so even if its blunt or slashing, its considered magical. So my dagger cloud song will hurt shadows normally.
Here is a post about it
Hey Rob, what kind of action is it to drag someone? Item interaction?
If it is, I assume I can grab someone and drag them with my movement, then still take an action?
Thanks!
Picking someone up = action due to complexity (it's basically a grapple).
Carrying & moving = if the carried character's total extra weight on top of your current load makes you encumbered (5 x STR score), your movement speed drops by 10 feet.
I am confused.
Isnt carrying capacity STR x 15? Large is x2 to that so STR x30 in effect.
Is there a difference between dragging and picking someone up?
Basically I want to use the gem and have the large Elemental drag me, then let me go. Move to the shadows and whirlwind, then drag hunter.
So dragging me is 10' of movement (item interaction), then double movement as it moves me. Lets me go, moves normally, then 10' of movement to drag hunter (item interaction) and double movement as it drags him.
Is that possible?
Your Strength score determines the amount of weight you can bear. The following terms define what you can lift or carry.
Carrying Capacity. Your carrying Capacity is your Strength score multiplied by 15. This is the weight (in pounds) that you can carry, which is high enough that most Characters don’t usually have to worry about it.
Push, Drag, or Lift. You can push, drag, or lift a weight in pounds up to twice your carrying Capacity (or 30 times your Strength score). While pushing or dragging weight in excess of your carrying Capacity, your speed drops to 5 feet.
Size and Strength. Larger creatures can bear more weight, whereas Tiny creatures can carry less. For each size category above Medium, double the creature’s carrying Capacity and the amount it can push, drag, or lift. For a Tiny creature, halve these weights.
The rules for Lifting and Carrying are intentionally simple. Here is a variant if you are looking for more detailed rules for determining how a character is hindered by the weight of Equipment. When you use this variant, ignore the Strength column of the Armor table in “Equipment.”
If you carry weight in excess of 5 times your Strength score, you are encumbered, which means your speed drops by 10 feet.
If you carry weight in excess of 10 times your Strength score, up to your maximum carrying Capacity, you are instead heavily encumbered, which means your speed drops by 20 feet and you have disadvantage on Ability Checks, Attack rolls, and Saving Throws that use Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.
Hmmm. I guess I never clarified which version of encumbrance we were using in the house rules. For simplicity's sake and because I hate bookkeeping, we will use the simple encumbrance rules.
Still, even if we are using the simple encumbrance rules, dragging a creature would normally cut your speed in half. That is going to naturally slow you down. And grabbing that character would be an object interaction. So, you would spend 10 feet to grab the character, then you would move at half speed from that point forward until you let the dragged character go. The dragged character would move along with you, obviously.
If your total weight carried & dragged is greater than your capacity (as described above; 15 x STR score), your total movement speed is reduced by 5 feet.
Grabbing someone in order to pick them up and hoist them over your shoulder is different than grabbing someone in order to just drag them. (One is a lot more work than the other.) That means it is an Action to grapple a character and hoist him up, but it is merely an Object Interaction to grab and position that same person to start dragging them across the ground.
However, this particular example that you are asking me about brings in a new development: the air elemental is Large sized.
So, with your air elemental scenario, here is what would happen:
1. You would spend an Action to activate and break the elemental gem, summoning the air elemental within 90 feet of your current position. It fills a 10-foot cubic space. It has the stats of a CR 5 air elemental. The air elemental will get its turn immediately on your turn (because we use a side-based initiative system). You would need to issue verbal commands to it, though, in order for it to take any actions after you.
2. The air elemental is a large creature, which changes some of the rules that I described above slightly. (Using common sense.)
3. For the air elemental, grabbing you and tossing you over its shoulder is probably way easier for the elemental than it would be for Beau (a medium-sized creature) doing it to another medium-sized creature.
For example, when I scoop my 2-year-old son up and toss him over my shoulder, I can easily do that without even breaking my stride very much. I would imagine it's the same for a large air elemental doing that to you, a medium-sized creature.
Therefore, I would rule that, since you are not resisting it, the elemental would only need to spend an Object Interaction to grab you.
4. The air elemental is so big and strong that it could continue moving at normal speed with you over its shoulder. (This wouldn't apply to you guys, unless you were scooping up a creature that is smaller-sized. And this wouldn't apply to the elemental if it were trying to do this with another large-sized creature: if it did, it would have to drag that creature at half speed, just like you would with a medium creature.)
5. The air elemental can fly with a speed of 90 feet. So, the air elemental spends 10 feet to grab you (object interaction), and then it has 80 more feet of movement that it can take during its turn, plus one Action and one Bonus Action.
Maybe the air elemental moves 30 feet and then uses its whirlwind ability (action) and then spends 10 feet picking up Hunter (object interaction) and then another 40 feet to move away carrying Hunter and Beau.
Make sense?
Yup, thanks for the clarification!
Not a spoiler on what Beau will do next game... I am definitely running away, as you all guessed and angerly texted me about.
:P
Sorry your cleric died Blueberry, I liked him.
