5e Dwarves: Talking 'bout mechanics

The session summary reports provide me with reference material as I move the campaign forward, and put the events of the game in narrative form, but they don't really give me the chance to talk about the session from a mechanical or DM perspective.  I personally find this kind of information really interesting to read about, but it makes for a really long post if I include it in the main summary.

This session was a chance to try out Lair Powers.  I set up several of them for the Purple Worm - an effect that knocked everyone prone if they failed Dex checks, a rocks falling from the ceiling damage effect, a caustic slime burning anyone attacking the worms effect and a swarm of tiny wormlings swarming everyone effect.  I didn't want these effect to be overwhelmingly powerful, but on reflection, I could have probably bumped them up a bit.

There aren't stats for a Purple Worm in the materials available yet, so I grabbed some different powers from existing creatures, and tried to make a CR 8 monster.  The party is level 6, but there are 5 of them, so I thought this would be a good challenge. 

Lesser Purple Worm

Gargantuan Monstrosity , unaligned 

Armor Class 11

Hit Points 135 (10d20+30) 

Speed 30 ft., burrow 40 ft. 

STR 20 (+5) DEX -3 CON +3 INT -2 WIS +3 CHA -4

Senses Tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 13

Challenge 8 (4000 XP) 

Amphibious. A lesser purple worm can breathe air and water. 

Actions 

Multiattack: The Lesser purple worm can make one bite and one sting attack per turn

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (2d10 + 8) piercing damage plus 5 (1d10) poison damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the worm can’t bite another target. 

Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Swallow. As a bonus action, the worm can make one bite attack against a Medium or smaller target it is grappling. If the attack hits, the target is swallowed, and the grapple ends. The swallowed target is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the toad, and it takes 15 (3d10) acid damage at the start of each of the worm’s turns. If the worm dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse using 5 feet of movement, exiting prone.

On reflection, Str and Con should have been higher, and damage probably should have been higher across the board.  I was also thinking about adding an automatic "Overrun" attack for anyone close to the worm.

For the wormlings, I just used the Giant Toad stats.

Couple of notes from the combat:

The Eldrich Blast knockback is pretty powerful, although houseruled that it doesn't effect the Mama worm on the fly.  Sure, nothing in the description says that there are size restrictions on the knockback - but as I said in the session "That's why I'm the DM."

I ruled that the rogue couldn't sneak-attack the Purple Worm, since the worm has tremorsense and knows exactly where everyone is at all times.  Once Hilbo engaged it in melee, I allowed a sneak attack, but I'll have to review exactly how that works.

My basic policy as a DM is that if a rules questions comes up, I make a fast ruling that keeps things going forward.  If somebody knows the rule, I listen, decide if it makes sense, then make the call.  At the end of the session, if anybody has an issue with the ruling, we discuss, check the book, and decide on how to run it going forward.

In the case of the sneak attack and knockback calls, nobody seemed too bothered by them, so we didn't re-address.

Now comes the BIG THING.  Hilbo used his magical item, his action surge and the -5 attack/+10 damage ability.  That gave him 4 attacks at +5 to hit (+5 from str, +3 from proficiency bonus, +2 from his magical maul, -5 for power shot), each doing 2d6 +17 damage (+5 from str, +2 from maul, +10 from power shot).  He hit 3 times in the first round.  When the worm attacked, he used a Riposte and hit, then he got 2 attacks the next round, hitting with both.  He did 124 points of damage total.  Whoof.  So if somebody bitches about fighters being underpowered, cordially invite them to shut the fuck up.

Of course, the worm is a classic brute - low AC, high hp, and this is an attack pattern basically designed to work against it, but still - very effective strategy.

The rest of the wormlings weren't much trouble - Hunger of Hadar and the difficult terrain formed by the dead Mommy worm made them come in stages, and the Eldrich bolt knockback pushed them back into the Hunger area.

The worm only got 2 lair effects off, the knockdown and the caustic slime attack, and the one attack it got off that hit didn't do too much damage, as dwarves have resistance to poison damage and advantage on poison saves.

All in all, the combat ran smoothly and quickly.  The Roll20 app is much improved in terms of speed of use, and the Initiative tool is handy for keeping track of init.  Each character got 1050 xp, which brings Korrum and Hilbo near level 7.

The rest of the session was pure role-play, which was great.  I ruled that Wanderer, who has minor illusion magic and sleigh of hand proficiency, was able to keep his thieves tools and a dagger on him, as they weren't stripped to the skin, and Sinder can summon his sword at-will.  So we'll see how they do with a classic prison escape scenario next session.

5E - Restarting the Campaign

Now that 5e has officially dropped, the Playtest group and I have decided to get back in the saddle.  The consensus was to restart the existing Dwarves campaign slightly after where we left off in the spring.

So players will be able to rebuild their characters with the current PHB rules or to make new characters that start at 6th level.  Most longer-term characters were 7th level (or about to hit 7th level).  One thing I noticed right away is that XP has changed a bit since the last playtest package - those characters that were level 7 are now level 6 again - albeit close to 6th.

I'll leave the comments open for the guys in the campaign to post on how they found the conversion process. What did you guys find?

Also, here are a couple of cool things we developed:

1) Courtesy of +Kasper Blomdell, the Changeling Race

Changelings
Language: A Changeling speaks Common, and two additional languages of their choice. 

Ability Score Adjustment: +2 to Charisma and +1 to either Dexterity or Wisdom

Size: Medium

Speed: 30 feet

Darkvision: See in the dark within 60 feet, in black and white.

Slippery Minds: Changelings have advantage to saving throws against spells attempting to charm or put them to sleep.

Shapeshifting: A Changeling may take on the physical appearance of any small or medium sized humanoid, though this ability does not change their clothing or personal belongings. They may impersonate specific individuals, or adopts guises of their own creation. This ability may be used at will, and lasts as long as the Changeling desires or until they die. Using this ability takes an action.

Natural Deceivers: Changelings natural affinity for deceit grants them Advantage on all Deceptions rolls regarding disguise or impersonation.

2) Courtesy of me - stats for a Riding Ram

Mountain dwarves have long preferred the domesticated riding ram as a mount, both above and below the ground.  It's thick coat, agile hooves and tough nature make it a great fit for both the environment and the personality of the dwarves.

A Riding Ram is about 3 feet tall at the shoulder, with a thick, smelly, tangled coat and massive horns.  It's cloven hooves are capable of surprising agility.

Riding Ram

not sure of the artist.  Sorry.

Large beast, unaligned (chaos tendencies)

AC: 13 (Thick hair, dex +2)

HP: 21  (3d10+6)

Speed: 50 ft (short goat legs)

ST: +3  DX: +2  CN: +2 IN: -4  WS: -2  CH: -4

Senses - passive perception 8

Languages - Goat-y Love

Challenge 1/2 (100 xp)

Agile Hooves:  A riding ram can move over difficult terrain with no movement penalty.

Thick Coat:  A riding ram has advantage on all saves dealing with cold, and disadvantage on all saves dealing with heat. Shearing a riding ram is best left to professionals, but yields 5 gp worth of smelly wool.

Trampling Charge. If the ram moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a horns attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the ram can make another attack with its horns against it as a bonus action.

Actions:

Horns. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.

Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage.

Random Encounters and Reaction Rolls: RERR?

My current D&D Next playtest campaign:  Dwarves, is a semi-sandbox.  By that I mean that the world is generally open for exploration, but I've developed a number of adventure hooks/events in most of the neighboring areas.  This gives the party quite a bit of freedom to explore the map and get into trouble, but also gives me some narrative structures that I can use to build encounters and areas.

Each area adjacent to the PC's starting area (Goldenhills Hall) has site-based, random and "story" based elements.  That means that any random encounters table has to pull double-duty.  It has to contain random encounters, true, but the encounters need to be linked to the story elements and to the site-based elements as well.

As a DM, I tend to work on the "you CAN talk to most things, but sometimes they don't want to talk to you" basis.  Having encounters that end in ways other than combat is an essential step towards creating a world that gives the characters options besides "I hit it with the rock!"  But realistically, not everything wants to talk.  AND you can't really use charisma is all circumstances.  You might be a charming motherfucking pig, but the Cave Lion don't care...

So that means that encounter tables have to carry quite a bit of weight.  I use a standard 2d6 reaction dice, but each encounter has a modification, and also notes whether Charisma can be used.  Temper all this stuff with a generous dose of common sense.  Obviously you need some way to communicate, even if it's lighting torches and throwing them at said Cave Lion (universal human symbol for "Fuck Off").

Encounters are rolled daily and nightly with a d6.  1 indicates an encounter.  I tend to add +1 or +2 to the actual encounter roll (d20) at night, since I keep fairly positive encounters at the low end of the list - nighttime encounters tend to be more hostile as a result. 

Encounter reaction table:  Roll 2d6 and modify, encounters with Cha can be modified by characters Cha bonus IF they can communicate.  Characters with Animal Handling can add their modified bonus to reaction rolls involving animals.

1-           Immediate Attack

2-3          Hostile, will attack if opportunity presents

4-5          Suspicious, will attack if threatened or try to flee.

6-8          Neutral, will talk, attack or flee depending on interactions

9-10       Wary, but willing to listen.  Won’t let guard down.

11-12     Curious, interested in talking, will approach.

13+         Friendly, interested, will approach and offer assistance.

This system is structured to work with a possible encounter bonus of around +/- 4 or so at the extreme.  A +/- 8 modifier would mean a purely hostile or peaceful encounter.

Currently, the party is exploring the Saltwind Flats.  The area is prairie and rolling grassy and rocky hills.  The main local inhabitants are the Ahten Nomads, who are currently under attack by the followers of Doresain, King of Ghouls, who have taken up residence in a local ruin/dungeon. 

Saltwind Flats Plains and Foothills encounters

Roll	Encounter	# Appearing	Reaction Modifier (2d6)
1	Ahten Nomads – Herders with stock and families	2d10	+4 (cha)
2	Ahten Nomads – Hunting Party	d6	+3 (cha)
3	Ahten Nomads – War party – well-armed nomads	d12	+2 (cha)
4	Animal Herd (1-2 Buffalo, 3-4 Wild Horses, 5-6 Wild Cattle)	d100	0
5	Plains lion pride – plains lions.	d4	0
6	Wolf pack	D10	0
7	Ghul skulkers, looking to carry off the unwary	D4	-8
8	Gnoll raiders, looking to kill and eat something	2d6	-4 (cha)
9	Air elemental, playful, but rough.	1	0
10	Slavers out of Hellonde	D10	-2 (cha)
11	Lizardman Raiders on raptor mounts.	D6	-4 (cha)
12	Giant snake out hunting.  It ain’t picky.	D2	0
13	Griffons on the wing.	D4	0
14	Ankheg nest.  It’s usually hungry	1	-4
15	Manticore.  It likes to eat people most of all	1	-6
16	Perytons out looking for something to kill	D4	-8
17	Wendigo.  Cannibalistic air spirits only come out at night.	1	-8
18	Roll again, you find that group recently dead.
19	Roll twice, and the two groups have just met.
20	Special

I keep a separate table for Special encounters.  Those are the weird, different stuff.

I find this system gives me a good spread of random encounters with a range of possible outcomes, tied to both the story elements and the regional "feel" that I'm looking for.

Talking 'Bout Teratic Tome

Recently, quite a few Indie RPG publishers jumped on the Pay What You Want train to what I can only hope was Profit-town.  Since I'm actually playing quite a bit of DnD right now, and since DnD Next is extremely OSR-friendly in terms of material you can use with it, I decided to spend a little money.

Teratic Tome.

One of the things I picked up was Rafael Chandler's Teratic Tome.  I always like having new monsters to
spring on my players,  and since most of them have been gamers for many years, they pretty much know all the standards and new monsters are a good thing.

So, in that regard, Teratic Tome certainly delivers.  There are lots of new monsters here, and a fair number of interesting ideas, but on the whole, I have decidedly mixed feelings about  the Teratic Tome.

Things I Like:

• Some of the art.
• The dragons.
• Story hooks built into many monsters.

Things I Don't Like:

• The rest of the art.
• All the story hooks are pretty much the same.
• That one story hook doesn't exactly work for DnD.
• The whole book comes off kinda creepy.

The Art
The art is generally good, although it switches back and forth between traditional fantasy and hentai in a way that is a bit jarring.  I don't really have a preference in terms of style, but I like a book to stick with one or the other.  Some of the artists are extremely good, great even, but just as many are solidly "meh".

More problematically, there are a substantial number of tentacled vaginas (vaginae?) in this book.  And by that I mean, at least 5, although I'm not going to take the time to count them.  There are also many creatures based on naked women.

Before you get up in my grill, I want to go on record as saying I have no inherent problem with the idea of tentacled vagina art or naked woman art.  I have an internet connection and a Reddit account.  I have seen things.  We all have.  The the vagina with tentacles is appropriately creepy-gross, and fits with the horror-movie theme of this book.

But.  There are no spiked penises here.  Or whatever the creepy-gross male anatomy equivalent is.  In fact, there are lots of creatures based on creepy versions of naked women, pictures of breasts and so-forth, but basically no creatures based on creepy versions of naked men. It all comes off as a bit juvenile.  All I think as I read through it is "wow, somebody REALLY liked that picture of the succubus in the ADnD Monster Manual".

The Dragons
Are awesome.  They are horrible monsters that bring the apocalypse.  I will steal this idea forthwith and I doubt I will return to regular dragons, except perhaps as spawn/offspring of these monstrosities.  The dragons are almost worth the price of admission.

The Story Hooks
Many of the creatures presented in the Teratic Tome aren't exactly monsters in the traditional DnD sense of something that you might run into in a dungeon and then kill for treasure.  They are more like story hooks with statistics.  Story hooks and stats come up with by a sexually repressed Japanese man, at that.

Let's take the Altar Beast, for example.  It preys on "those who dissolve the holy bond of matrimony" by possessing one of the people who want to get divorced, then emerging from their body to feed on anyone that "encourages and permits this sin."  It's a towering, purple, tentacled phallus with lamprey mouths (OK, I guess there are some penis-equivalents in this book).  That smells like strawberries.  Holy Fuck.  Leaving aside that this thing is like the fevered masturbation fantasy of Sara Palin after a weekend-long hentai binge, this monster is essentially the template for half the book.

Here is the template: People are being murdered.  Find out the connection and confront the monster that is using a victim to cause the murders.  We see this repeated maybe 20 or 30 times in the Teratic Tome.  It's basically monster design by template.

Step 1: Pick obscure god of something.  Step 2:  Creature created to punish sin.  Identify the sin using this handy chart.  Credit:  Catholics, of course.  Step 3: Random colors and smells.  Step 4:  Graphics by hentai design school with focus on variations of naked women.  Step 5: Profit?

Many of the monsters in this book are essentially the crib-notes for a horror movie.  Which is OK, I suppose, if you can pull that sort of thing off in your DnD game.  They rely on physical horror - monstrous shapes emerging from human bodies, awful eyeballs with spider legs, that sort of thing.  Problem is, I don't think that physical horror works well in DnD.

Characters who regularly go toe-to-toe with giant spiders or the walking dead don't really blink at a towering purple dong-monster.  Horror like this relies on the known and understandable - a human murderer, for example, turning out to be something alarming and inhuman.  But since alarming and inhuman is just a day at the office in DnD, it loses quite a bit of potential punch in this setting, so many of the monsters are less useful than they could be.

In Summary:
Horror-based retro-clone monsters.  Compatible with most versions of DnD except probably 4e without much modification.

If you run LotFP, horror or dark-fantasy themed games this is probably a good supplement for you.

Don't leave it lying around if you have kids.  The focus on female-nudity-based monsters may not be for everyone.

The dragons are awesome.

What I'm Gonna Do With It:
I'm going to reskin quite a few of these monsters into summoned creatures, demons or magical abominations.  I don't think I'll use the horror-element story hooks too much.  The dragons have already been incorporated into

D&D Next Monsters - Eaters of Men - Wendigo

Wendigo

Medium Undead

AC: 16

HP:  30 (5d10+5)

Speed: 50 ft.

Senses: Darkvision 120 ft.

Str: +3  Dex: +3 Con: +3

Int: -2 Wis: -2 Cha: -2

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Languages: Common

Wendigo are ghostly servants of the White Hand.  They are created by forcing a prisoner to devour his own cellmates, then slowly dying of exposure and starvation.  The feet are devoured by Ghuls, and the head is replaced with that of a deer or elk or buffalo in a dark ceremony.  Then the grisly spirit is sent out to spread death and terror in the name of the White Hand.

Wendigo live only to kill and devour their prey.  They hunt at night or in the dead of winter, and rarely venture out in the sun.  They prefer to strike from ambush, and will rarely fight large groups.

Traits:

Immunities: Wendigo are immune to disease, poison, charm, sleep and fear.  They do not sleep or breath.

Resistance: Wendigo have damage resistance 5 to non-magical, non-silver weapons.

Stealthy:  The Wendigo gains a +5 bonus to all checks to avoid detection.

Corner of your Eye: The Wendigo may move from concealment to concealment without triggering a perception check.  It may also hide in lightly obscured areas without penalty.

Actions:

Howl of Terror: The Wendigo can unleash a howl that terrifies anyone listening.  Anyone within 50’ of the Wendigo must pass a DC 12 Wisdom check or be Frightened.  Each round they may attempt to steel themselves by making a DC 15 Wisdom check as a free action.

Multi-Attack:  The Wendigo makes 1 bite and 2 claw attacks.

Melee Attack – Bite: +6 to hit (reach 5, one creature).  Hit: 9 (2d6+3)

Melee Attack – Claw: +6 to hit (reach 5, one creature.  Hit: 8 (d10+3) slashing damage.

Reactions:

Leap Away: When the Wendigo is struck in combat, it may leap up to 10 feet away as a free action without provoking opportunity attacks.

Encounter Building

Level: 5 XP:  500

D&D Next Monsters - Eaters of Men - Peryton

Peryton

Medium Undead

AC: 13

HP:  20 (4d8+4)

Speed: 30 ft, Fly 180 ft

Senses: Darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision.

Str: +2  Dex: 0 Con: +2

Int: -2 Wis: 0 Cha: 0

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Languages: Common

Perytons are special servants of the White Hand, ranging forth to seek hearts to sacrifice on the White Hands altar.  They prefer the hearts of sentient humans and demi-humans, but will tear out the heart of any creature.  They are formed by sacrificing a living man to the White Hand in a special ceremony, and thereafter cast the twisted shadow of the man they once were.

They retain rudimentary memories of when they were alive, and often seek out and kill those they knew or loved when they were living.

Traits:

Immunities: Perytons are immune to disease, poison, charm, sleep and fear.  They do not sleep or breath.

Resistance: Perytons have damage resistance /5 to non-magical weapons.

Vulnerability: Perytons are killed instantly if their shadow is struck by a blessed weapon, or by a weapon owned by the person they were when alive.

Horrific Critical: Perytons critical on rolls of 18-20.  If they kill an enemy with a critical, they rip the heart from their foe.  Anyone witnessing this must make a DC 12 Con save or be sickened (-1 all rolls) for 1 round.

Actions:

Melee Attack: Horn Gore +5 to hit (reach 5, one creature).  Hit: 8 (2d6+2).

Melee Attack: Diving Strike +7 to hit (one creature).  Hit: 12 (3d6+3).    The Peryton dives from a great height, striking with it’s horns.  All attacks against the Peryton receive advantage on the round after it delivers a diving attack as it strives to gain altitude again.

Encounter Building

Level: 4 XP: 250

D&D Next Monsters - Eaters of Men - Ghul

Creatures for the D&D Next Dwarves Campaign.

Ghul

Medium Undead

AC: 14

HP: 25 (5d10)

Speed: 30 ft

Senses: Darkvision 60 ft

Str: +2  Dex: +2 Con: 0

Int: 0 Wis: 0 Cha: -2

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Languages: Common

Ghuls are special servants of the White Hand, King of the Ghouls.  They are residents of the White City, and are summoned to serve powerful priests of the White Hand.  They excel at carrying off victims to be devoured later, and will attempt to do this to any paralyzed enemy.

Traits:

Immunities: Ghuls are immune to disease, poison, charm, sleep and fear.  They do not sleep or breath.

Resistance: Ghuls are resistant to necrotic and cold.

Actions:

Mutiattack: Ghuls make one bite and two claw attacks.

Melee Attack – Bite: +6 to hit (reach 5, one creature).  Hit: 5 (d6+2) and target  must make a DC 12 con save.  Failed Save: The target is paralyzed for d6 rounds, but may make 1 DC 14 Con check per round to end the paralysis.

Melee Attack – Claw: +6 to hit (reach 5, one creature.  Hit: 5 (d6+2) slashing damage.

Cannibalize: The Ghul can devour flesh from a dead or paralyzed opponent.  This provokes an opportunity attack if anyone is adjacent to them.  Automatic hit. Effect: 8 damage (2d6+2) to a living target.  The Ghul heals the same amount of damage.

Encounter Building

Level: 3 XP: 100