rules are more guidelines depending on how much leverage your dm gives you. I agree Jocat. Also big fan sub

The rules are really just like the pirates code. Rule zero is there for a reason

“And now you know how to break the rules correctly, you’re welcome.”

What happens when you break that rule though? Hmmmmmmmm??!?!??

Rules of D&D. They're more what you call...guidelines.

Learnable by every class! unless you are a Barbarian. you have no chill.

Why don’t you make videos?

He came here to drink G-Fuel and throw Fireballs, and he's got plenty of G-Fuel because of the sponsorship

I'd just slap my self with sleep

ah yes, 'non-combat'... heheheheheheh...

Honestly, based on a good majority of comments I see on the D&D vids I watch, roleplaying is simply underused in general.

Hell yeah

Damn right ! It's a missconception that the R in RPG stands for "roleplay", it actually stands for "repeatedly" !

I try to role play when fighting but it always ends up with me doing the combat rounds in my character's voice

​@@Vher_ Role Playing Game As in its a game where you play a given role, namely your PC, whether you actually act out that PC is your prerogative, but you are experiencing the game world through your PC, so you are ultimately playing that characters role. not Roleplay Playing Game Repeatedly Playing Game also doesnt work

I didn't! Library and pdfs for the win!

12:34 The books are more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules.

Exactly. The same goes for writing. You learn the rules of writing so that you know when to break them. Having something unexpected and out of nowhere happen is generally not good writing, things should be set up and pay off. But if you know *why* that is, and you know what you want to do, then you know *how* to break that rule to get the effect you want. If you just have random shit happen all the time for no real reason or purpose other than "because!!!" it won't be very interesting or good.

@@1218Draco just like the geneva conventions

@@mrmarciniak9992 hold up

I didn’t know you watched him

F

He is ... The One With Calligraphy.

I love the irony, Phil. You rock.

by the way, any examples of D&D Deadpool? Is this about build, personality or behavior?

That would be pretty gamer

It is called The Undying Patron.

This would be pretty rad especially given that one of Strahd's motivations is to find a successor. If you work out the patron mechanics such that they are gaining the power as a gift rather than being *actively* granted power, it'd work very nicely. Good idea!

We vampire the masquerade now bois

Here's a hot take: compared to the lore about him, and how bad ass he's made out to be, 5e Strahd is a bitch

I accidentally adopted this view while reading, and got super confused when he dropped the squeezymonster and it fell upwards.

He's actually a drider.

@@OokamiKageGinGetsu wait but all driders are fema-

@@charlieblank3393 SILENCE!! It's 2021, he can be whatever he wants to be, Lolth be damned

I actually looked at the roof after I read this

I love this so bloody much.

great concept

This just struck me as I read your comment: a half-elf will likely have their human parent die before they reach adulthood, and the elf parent will almost certainly have to bury their human spouse and children they had together, due to the difference in the species' lifespan. Your comment was funny but now I feel sad :

@@exantiuse497 If you like anime, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is about this. I mean, even if you don't like anime you could probably get some nice moments from it.

That's why all other Playable Races are lame compared to Dwarves, Gnomes, and Elves!!! Seriously, in a world of Magic why are there so many races that their average lifespan is less then 100 yrs?! Even in real life people can potentially live 100+ years!

As a native, CT is pretty close to hell

I like this clark guy

Flock of Cows

Florck

@@pipower314159265 me too, and i agree.

Sounds like fun

@@Lycaon1765 it's a good time

That's genius

@@weefslider tysm

Have a Dispel Magic loan officer threaten the wizard every now and then.

hey, it looks likes me especially the energy drink part

So just a modern day normal person but beautiful

...Can I use this character in LMoP..?

@@thebutterscotchkid2481 Yeah man, I'd be honored. Mine was a rogue, but the character works as any class.

@@yosoydave8521 Not my elf. He was Battle scarred, eye-patched, grimy and dirty. You might call him ruggedly handsome, but not beautiful.

That’s just a rules attorney.

@@Dualis58 Good Take!

That's one form of Rule Lawyers. The other is someone yelling at you that your playing the game wrong because you didnt follow every rule that they've memorized. When one of the rules is in fact to disregard the rules and make your own if you want.

Rule Advisor

Yeah, that sounds about right. I look at checking the rules as more of a "hm, this is what the book says about xyz, how can we apply this to abc?"

is it an owlbear? he hefty

I wonder where he got that from

That owlbear do be vibin' doe.

Wow, Jacob pinned Tulok and Jocat’s comments but not yours.

Got you fam www.bonfire.com/fat-owlbear/

This comment is so perfect.

Definitely. Same with beings like archfey. Watching matt mercer rp artagan in critical role is a perfect example of a lucidly insane being with some wierd quirks

@@dancook6114 And that guy found a luttle girl and gave her magic powers...

That makes sense for either my High Elf Druid or my Shadar-Kai Undying Warlock.

I appreciate you

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

@@neruneri my favorite is Guts from Berserk. I’ve never met a character that hit all the “lone wolf” character traits that made me empathize so much for him. I actually cried a little reading about this character. And his transition from “DONT TOUCH ME!” And “I work alone,” to traveling with a full on D&D party is so gradual and subtle and in character as he develops it’s amazing. The way that he bonds with his party members and gradually opens up over time is beautiful, and by now in the series he’s practically an extrovert. Plus his backstory makes his ways pretty understandable. Sorry for the rant, I love Berserk.

Only if the character actually goes on that arc. If they don't stick with the rest of the party for most of the game then it's a problem in most games.

@@quendi5557 ye that’s what I said

@@maximillion322 ye. I suck at communicating that I agree.

Amen

Be a Rules Paralegal: there to help out when needed, but never butting in.

This, someone who knows the RAW and double checks when we veer off the rules is wonderful. Someone who selects certain rules (or only reads a few select sentences from one *cough* *cough*) is the worst.

hmmm... rules devil/warlock and rules angel/paladin?

@@squibbies7015 is everyone Ok with it @ your table? depending on how stuff is going, it might be better if you just offer the DM your services & wait for when he/she asks you the ruling. you do you.

there are also basically no spears.

You can re-flavor a lot of weapons to be other weapons, but it's true there's a vast overabundance of SWORD by default compared to other weapons.

A lot of magical weapons have enchantments that can easily be applied to any weapon. Sword is just the default because most characters that are melee centric use swords. There should be more bows though.

And don't even get me started on the fact that a never-ending quiver isn't a thing yet

Not to mention there's not a single magical (non generic) Sling or Crossbow

This right here. I was going to have a enemy jump over a character to get to another and have it roll acrobatics because I didn’t know how that worked and someone pointed out there is a table for how far something can jump which I then used to correct it. You should have to know when it’s mechanically important or important for a cool molment

Also and here is the key, there’s a difference between a rule traditionalist and a rule lawyer. Rule traditionalist are okay, and can help the DM, a rules lawyer is only in it to get what they want.

I'm usually the GM for my group, but as a player I find myself as the defacto 'rules reminderer'. My GM appreciates it, and whenever he changes the rules or states otherwise I roll with it. It's the difference between going 'Hey the appropriate skill is X, hee's why' and 'Well actually I want to roll X'. If my GM says no roll Y, I'm rolling Y regardless.

I know the rules pretty well, whenever I point something out it's- paraphrasing - 'RAW, it's this, but its what DM says'. Never had a problem. I DM from time to time and then I forget half the shit the pcs can do because I'm focused on the enemies, having a 'rules lawyer' is great because they relieve some of the mental load on the DM, and for fucks sake most players still don't know how their own class abilities work so DM's need all the help they can get. Also, a fellow player reminding people to make concentration checks helps alleviate the 'DM vs players' mentally.

A lawyer serves his client, not justice. If he does not try to get the best possible outcome for his client, he is not a good lawyer.

Hey never say those words again

Yea when I play a young elf I will play it like an adult with the mind of a child as that is what elves in their 20s-30s are

@@joybreegaming8781 no its not. That was the whole point of what I said. They mature at the same rate of humans, but culturally elves dont view that as very fast at all

@@blockhead134 I realised my before words seemed kinda rude I just found the last few words to be strange in phrasing lol

I would say they age slightly slower than humans. I usually run it as basically when they’re children, they age one year’s worth for every year and a half or so. So, for example, a 15-year-old elf would be equivalent to a 10-year-old human, etc.

I mean .... I guess. It’s designed to be the best cantrip in the game specifically to balance a class that can have weaker spell casting output than other full caster classes. I think a warlock virtually has to take both the cantrip and agonizing blast just to be balanced. While a third level wizard/sorcerer/cleric/bard/druid has 6 spell slots to work with if the group gets attacked at breakfast ... that warlock has 2. That’s 33% the capacity for support or damage dealing. It’s worse if this isn’t the first combat since your last rest. There are types of cleric and wizard that still get access to spell damage die plus attribute modifier damage (8 for light clerics, 10 for evocation wizards) so even having access to that invocation isn’t especially useful for balance for half of the warlock levels. At that point the benefit is the damage type. I feel like what you’re saying is the same as saying ... you can make a mechanically weak character. And you can! You’re weakening yourself and forcing the DM and other players to make up for the imbalance you bring to situations. You can play someone who is evil and actively working against the party goals. It will make for memorable moments ... is that the game people want to be at though?

@@zero11010 A hexblade Warlock won't nerf himself by not taking Eldritch blast. Warlocks biggest nerf in 5e I feel is the increased duration of short rests meaning they basically never get their spells back. Whoever made that change didn't consider Warlocks at all. If you change it back to the old short rests they're balanced, they have fewer spells but they can use them in every fight.

@@Gufnorkian I’ve built out but never played a melee warlock. I can’t get myself to want to do D8+DEX melee damage on a class with mediocre to poor armor class instead of attacking with D10+CHA damage when CHA is the main attribute and what you want to be stacking anyway. I see that the temp hit points from a fiend patron will help with certain types of fights. Melee attacks scale fine until level 10 and then they start getting out paced dramatically by the evolving cantrip. It feels like a ranger with a sling instead of a longbow. If the class had some modifiers for AC and combat ability I’d love to more seriously consider the pact of the blade. I still think it’s better than a beast master ranger or the elemental monk. But, that doesn’t mean I want to try it.

@@zero11010 Hexblade lets you use CHA on your attack and damage rolls in place of STR or DEX at level 1. You also start with Hexblade Curse for +2 damage, and access to Wrathful Smite. And hexblade can evolve their melee attacks in the same way others can evolve EB. Extra attacks, teleporting melee strikes, different curses, etc.

Its

As my own group's rules lawyer, I'll have to try to remember that!

I mean ... some kind of negative modifier on the roll though to target two with a target one ability, right? Or ... do people just get occasional cleave attacks because they don’t know any better and ask for it? Or .... but, I really want to hit him, can I have advantage because I want it?

I'm now imagining some wrestler barbarian walking up and yelling "Do you know what the Grok is cooking!" before elbow dropping a goblin This idea is now out in the world

Why did you buy a rulebook if you're just going to do freeform?

@@mrosskne the rulebook states the dm can change the rules as they wish, it is but a loose guideline, at the end of the day they are your God *and they have run fresh out of mercy*

Hot take: Beer & Pretzels story romps are just as, if not more, fun. Drunk story-telling and roleplay can often be more compelling in amusement factors than drunk wargaming.

@@Yawyna124 of course they can be. It really just depends on the group and what they're in the mood for. I'm just sick of seeing this narrative that everything that happens in an RPG session MUST serve a narrative purpose

hot take: Pretzels don't go well with beer.

@@LegDayLas preach

@@LegDayLas blasphemy

I did not want to play Bones-McGee before, but now I kind of want to

This is exactly why I don't like the custom origins in Tasha's. Minmaxing is fun with constraints, not when I can make every gnome, tabaxi and aasimar basically the same as variant human.

+

Had a DM who rule zeroed the as written effect of control water. As in, the spell no longer was able to do about half of what the text allows it to do. Now, that is a fine thing for the DM to do before the game starts, or after discussion with the players. But this was mid encounter, because the player used it as a solution to a 'scary chase'

oh, yes, definitely as both the DM and the rules lawyer, I do see the value have someone to help with housekeeping rules, rulings and precedents

I think it's fine, in some cases great, when a DM does their own ruling, as long as the DM is aware of the "correct" ruling in the book. The bad thing is a DM that's not aware of the actual rules making up rules on the fly, because it can screw over some classes/character and make the DM seem unfair.

I will also rules lawyer in favor of my DM. There is another player that on occasion will get very passionate about their view on how something should be ruled, even after the DM has given what should be his final ruling. I will pop in with where its at in the PHB or show the Sage Advice where it clarifies so we can move the game along.

I cringed so hard I cracked a rib

The horse that guy is so large that I think he legally qualifies for the Mammoth Rider Prestige class form Pathfinder. That is how high his horse is he can legally mix systems.

@@Immoralsalvage No one horseman should have such power...

On one hand, if everyone uses the same rules, it is super easy to jump from one group to another. Everyone knows whats what and how to play. On the other hand people aren't playing professional sports, they are playing a game to have fun.

@@AgentDRJ Yah, they probably should be called Guidelines instead as that what they are, if the DM says otherwise, you should probably follow the guidelines.

As someone running an artificer, I chose to take a level in forge cleric to get the extra cantrip room for mending. The forge blessing feels like an artificer ability too so now I can upgrade more of my annoying party's gear.

I'd say that depends, not every artificer would want mending though. You can play an artificer without mending.

@@freepalestine2434 That sounds really cool.

@@quendi5557 It probably would be in a party that wasn't so miserable :p

@@freepalestine2434 oof. You still having fun?

there should be more differences between weapons

@@aldoushuxley5953 yep. I actually like the idea of keeping them fairly consistent, to ensure that someone picking one weapon type over another isn't taking a massive build-breaking disadvantage because of the choice. However I think they went a bit far in that direction, at the same time as somehow still messing it up a bit (looking at you, "why-even" light hammer / sickle... and especially looking at you, "necessarily superior" rapier). They could easily have made more variety from playing around with a few additional weapon abilities in exchange for a wider array of damage stats. Some of my favourites I've home-brewed include "hefting" which means you can't move in the same turn you attack with it, "momentum" where you have to use an action to wind it up and it winds down when it strikes, "hazard" where if you miss with it you take the attack yourself, "hooking" offering a weapon grapple (kinda like net but for lassos, hook swords, reaper scythes and mancatchers too), oversized / undersized just like the previous-edition rules for that, "impaling" which gets stuck on a crit and requires an action to pull out again, and "contact" which has a range of touch and doesn't require an attack roll.

@@Torthrodhel I completely get it. There is enough stuff to optimize already, and adding another element into it could just break the game. But as it stands right now, some options are just simply better than others. Why would I ever use something different than a longsword? (apart from feats like PAM and GWM) Why would I ever use a dagger instead of a shortsword? I think, there should be slight differences between the weapons. For example, a dagger could have +1 to hit, and -1 to damage. That way, the dagger offers precision in exchange for damage. The same could be applied to crossbows compared to longbows (although that might be gamebreaking because of the archery fighting style). I really liked the weapon feat UA. I hope they bring that one back

Precision / damage difference would be a great way of doing it. Damage randomness / non-randomness would be another way to split things up. I always thought there ought to be a difference between absorb type armor class and dodge type armor class (a set of full plate mail being "the same" as an agile naked monk always seemed a bit too out-there for me). So different damage types could apply differently to those, too. I got a neat published homebrew, that's a set of weapon upgrade rules. I almost never buy stuff like that (especially digital-only stuff) but I like it because it bumps everything up in different ways, to roughly-equivalent levels. I mean technically you could want a dagger if you want a throwable finesse light weapon. Like if you want to dual weild something without getting the dual weilder feat that you can also throw even though dual weilding is very poorly optimised for throwing without that feat. So... a kinda self-defeatingly niche situation. But why's the light hammer just worse than a dagger? Why's the sickle just worse? Dart, at the very least, counts as a ranged weapon and so triggers different types of ability even if you use it in melee. And what's even the point of half the single-handed martial weapons when they have to sit next to rapier? Why's that one bumped up without penalty when none others are? I honestly just tend to pick weapons based on what feels right for the character. But it would be really nice if their attributes felt in line with that too. More varied and a bit less often-necessarily-suboptimal. I've heard some GMs just allow players to reskin one weapon as another. That's a nice enough fix, but it doesn't really sort out the damage type is the problem with it. Sometimes there just isn't an optimal pick that fits. So all in all I just take the optimisation hit and feel good about the character fulfilment despite it.

@@Torthrodhel completely agree. Plate armor should honestly just give disadvantage to dex saves. And maybe in return, you could get resistance to slashing and piercing, but weakness to bludgeoning. (since a swordslice does basically nothing against plate armor). Imo there are not enough monsters with resistances/ not enough differences between the physical damage types. Apart from skeletons, the damage type doesn't really matter honestly. How much cooler would it be, if specific weapons would be better against specific monsters (also makes str better, since carrying multiple weapons would be an advantage)

Shush!!!! It's def not 2:20 am yet

Plot twist: Your sleep paralysis demon is actually Jacob.

@@fawn4348 Plot twist: You are the demon and you were about to haunt someone but then you got sleep paralysis and Jacob started talking at you and now you can't escape.

@@benjoe1993 Extreme Plot Twist: You are Jacob and you find a sleep paralysis demon about to haunt someone, then take the intiative and haunt the demon, and trapping it using the power of hot takes, but then a human comes out of no where and starts to give you some horrible hot takes, and you find that you cannot leave nor show distaste toward his opinions.

Clerics and to a lesser extent wizards. The sorcerer can't even be the only one to be able to change spell damage, the wizard had to have that too.

I agree and don't agree. a reminder of rules sure, however "actually he cant to that because it says here on page eventyhundredandblahblah" is fucking infuriating. my tip for new DM's keep your rulings consistent. if you let one player swing across the bridge because they got a CR19 dexterity check. make sure you do that for other players as well. I have a player that reminds me of the rules. and every time I tell them "yo I get you. I understand. but this is my call. however I will take that recommended skill check type. you're right (insert skill name here) might be better for this".

@@cobaltblu4196Yeah, that what he mean by soft rule lawyer, people who know the rules and could remind everyone in the table if needed, those kind of players are very helpful

@@alphahollow5642 very!

But that's not rules lawyering. Rules lawyering is "um ackshually"-ing any deviation from RAW to the point of being obnoxious, & ignoring or denying Rule Zero. What you're talking about is just having a player or two who have read the rules.

@@epsilon-eleven my point exactly, "soft rules lawyering"

Not to mention you just invalidate Pact of the Sword by going Hexblade, and that’s probably the only subclass that cares about having actual weapons. Sure, it’s an option for other subclasses that might want to use weapons, but honestly no warlock has the HP for that...

@@eddiemate the thing is that we have had the SAME 3 PACT BOONS SINCE 5E RELEASED IN 2014. I didn't invalidate anything. It's just more boon options would be nice to have at this point in time for 5e.

Ty 7689 No, I don’t mean you as a person invalidate anything. I mean going Hexblade makes going for Pact of the Sword completely meaningless. I should’ve worded that better.

@@eddiemate The fix for that is giving hex warrior to the blade pact instead of having it as a hexblade class feature. This also solves some of the multiclass abuse. More pacts would be nice though. I would like to get a third eye on my head, and then gain features from that. A pact of mutation would be pretty interesting

@@eddiemate Hexblade is the only warlock subclass that really benefits from Pact of the Blade. They pretty much need it to get the full benefits of Hex Warrior, so they can only afford to skip it if they're going to drop the knight part of their magic knight build.

Don’t try to poison undead or constructs and then you’ll be fine. Other than those, most of the monsters you encounter are not immune.

@@SmawCity And fiends, and really any of the 95 monsters in the Monster Manual that have immunity to the fucking thing. Poison should be much more lethal, especially when used against people. Jacob's point of there being "so many different types of poison" doesn't really account for the fact that the ones that can actually kill someone outright when poured in their stew or put on an arrow don't come into play at levels where the party has so much HP that it's not going to kill them anyway, or they cost so absurdly much that it's just not worth it.

I think that Poison in combat can be nerfed. Immunity to Poison damage? Sure. But immune to being Poisoned? Less fun.

I actually used a petrification poison to capture a person of interest and store them in our bag of holding. It's basically fantasy carbonite.

If I was the DM, I would let you make a research quest to find out something the monster is weak to. When you think about it, "poison" is just "stuff humans are weak to". Like silver for werewolves.

"Haha, we got your money"

@@grantflippin7808 Not really. It shows how to do it in a way that balances with the rest of the rules, instead of just doing what a lot of That Guys do at some point & insist that their half-demon, half-angel, half-dragon is an immortal god with every spell in the game & immunity to all damage.

Sometimes it feels like the "hurr durr rules bad" guys are the same that want to make demigod characters and get away with it lmao, they want the equivalent of cheat codes, rule bending should be for the sake of the story/fun, not so you can two-shot a tarrasque

i think i am that guy

@@XPtoLevel3 "He's the guy"

@@XPtoLevel3 You're not alone

I think it is a more interesting setting but it should not be the default one

@@XPtoLevel3 i think all setting should be supported so theres a good choice like making official moduals for ebberon and other ones

Unless the dm specifically rules otherwise. Then again your problem seemed to be less about ruleslawyering and more about a cheater at your table

It sure as shit felt like cheating at the time. Not to mention no one else got this I have components so free spell shit only the monk did. Is why I specifically mentioned being miss labeled as one

A DM that didn't understand the rules entirely and a player trying to take advantage of that fact (or who also simply didn't understand the rules, and was frustrated when they found out that monks actually suck ass :p)

@@cassandramuller7337 Yeah the probelm was cheating but what about when it isnt?Following basic rules is needed to games even be a game and sometimes this basic rules are most importent in different situation. Anyway i mostly see the both side,rules or freedom of creativity, is eathier choas or ordor. which one you chose?

@@cassandramuller7337 But D&D has to have a social contract. If the players can't trust the DM to at least *mostly* play by the rules, they have absolutely no influence of what happens in the game. The rules serve to keep everyone on a level playing field.

I agree, if the DM or a Player has forgotten how some rules work, then that is really helpful.

Yeah, our party has a player that we literally refer to as the "true dm". He's just a player with really good memory of rules.

@@RiptidePen imma steal that analogy.

@@RiptidePen hey, it's continuing with D&D tradition.

Yes! I was in a group where I played with them for months and I don’t think I remembered a single character’s name. One guys characters kept dying and it was never like, a big deal. Now in my current group we all have our own campaigns (forever dm said he wanted someone e else to and instead of like, voting we all just started building campaigns independently so now we have like 5) and it’s basically a competition to see who can make the group cry hardest with dramatic RP shenanigans

As a Knowledge Cleric I'm glad that our DM has included a lot of exploration and other non-combat encounters because it makes my otherwise okay-at-best character feel like an absolute god. Going to the store to buy stuff is like "what price shall I demand today with Suggestion?" and being good at everything non-combat makes me the natural leader of the group... so much so that I'm consciously trying not to make all the rolls first because the other guys low-key envy my 30+ rolls on History and Arcana :P

The problem is that combat will kill the character and the other things won't.

@@TonkarzOfSolSystem you speak to a baroness in a wrong tone and don’t wipe your feet, you will be executed tomorrow You sneeze in front of a quest giver and don’t cower your mouth, quest denied Social situations can be infinitely more deadly than combat, because it is possible to build a character that is impossible to kill in combat, but you cannot be immune from social situations, because unless the dm plays them like “roll me competing charisma, uh the baron loses the argument, plus one thousand gold, roll charisma, three thousand, time to depart guys” it’s gonna be aimed at the players.

@@user-qp4ru6el2s Of course you can "roleplay right now or rocks fall and everyone dies" the players, but DM fiat deaths are not fun for anyone.

It is not good. The poisons are one use only, hard to get and very expensive. Also, remember that they only apply to one attack. For the insane costs, it is almost never worth it. There also aren't really a lot of rules for making your own poisons, especially simple ones. If you want to be the Ranger guy, who knows which plants to eat, and which to avoid, and want to make poisonous arrows (most plants are poisonous), that is basically impossible if you follow the DMG.

The main problem is how pricey they are. Like, sure, getting it off of a natural creature can be cool, but a lot of the more fun or even relatively useful ones are like 500gp to 1,000gp for a SINGLE dose.

Poison resistance being so common doesn't help much, either.

One word: assassination

@@aldoushuxley5953 DC20 nature to harvest poison ...play a lv1 rogue expertice in nature and you are done...wait for the dm to throw snakes and ...profit? Even if you fail you can take proficienct in poisoner's kit and take no damage

I have a player in my game who is a complete Rules Encyclopedia. he has a genuine compulsion to correct me. and honestly I am so so SO greatful for it. the reason I don't call him a Rules Lawyer is simply because he accepts all of my rulings. even bad ones, and I respect that

The virgin rules lawyer v. The Chad rules shepherd.

Also: The first thing you did to him when he laid down was throw a beholder at him.

Sniper: I've got eyes on the target... 5 klicks North... He's laying down... He's got some weird squishy toy things. I think he's... Talking about D&D hot takes? Command: You're free to take the shot Sniper: No wait... I wanna see where this goes.

Jodie Hobbs kinky...

Logang

It depends on the situation.

@Rainergunvikes were you the dm?

Except saying poison is great when 95% of everything has resistance and 90% have straight up immunity. If a monster has fire resistance 9/10 times it has poison resistance or straight up immunity. Ghost of saltmarsh is the worst.

Reminds me of Wendy from Don't Starve

Being the rules lawyer as a DM is hard, because I think it throws off my friends when I fudge a rule or try to be lenient and they expected me to go full lawyer, but that's not what makes DMing work. I can't spend 14 minutes looking up resources every time I happened to have forgotten exactly how grappling works. Makes the game suck. Being the rules lawyer as a player is also hard because none of my friends who DM know the rules well enough. But the bright side is, as a player, I can be on the spot for them, and I offer up the rules on a quaint pillow for them to use or not at their discretion. It is as you say - arguing the rules AT the DM is unacceptable. Being there to help the rules slide on through as you all play is a lot like being the player that takes notes or draws the map. Just helping out the table to make the game run more smoothly.

@@trident042 For stuff like that I use post its with how the rule works. They are life savers.

I agree with this on so many levels it's not even funny.

@@trident042 I feel this same thing but for a different reason. When being a DM and explaining some of the rules, or how something does not work, it feels like I am taking something away from that player. I try to balance it all out, but trying to remember all of the rules is difficult. As a DM you sometimes have to make judgement calls, which goes against the rules, but my biggest problem with the game is that it feel almost to reliant on a strong DM. The players really have to rely on the DM's knowledge for the game to work, and the whole thing falls apart if the DM does not deliver a strong enough: story line, encounter, or retort for why something is happening. This game can be really difficult sometimes.

It depends really. If a DM has this idea "this is MY campaign (not the whole parties) and MY rules (we are playing 5e not john5e) and we do things my way" ive had DMs who literally think since they are a DM the players must play the way the DM wants, progress the way the DM wants, follow only rules the DM wants. Huge problem i think in DND is how people think its the DM's campaign and not the parties. Most rules if controversial whould be party discussions not "rule 0 cuz im better and smarter than all of you cuz i am a DM."

Wait He's lying down on a couch?!

I thought he was sticking to a carpeted ceiling with static electricity! Honestly that should be next episodes schtick

it's a ceiling

I just assumed he had spider climb... or reverse gravity. You know... wizards.

I don't know why but I love it

You.. You understand the good side of the minmax.... sad that 50% of minmax players I've met just bulldoze over the party

I did that to the extreme. My sorcerer probably has the most potential to vaporize the rest of the party, but they insist on taking the most roundabout way to solve a problem "for the sake of science" Like yeah I could cast fireball at the extremely clumped together Yuan-ti who haven't spotted me above them, or I could drop on top of one of them and fireball a pillar, causing the room to collapse.

You must have gotten really unlucky with your dms cause that's just inflexible and lazy on their part. I mean if you were in the shadowfell or the elemental plane of fire, I'd get it but otherwise...?

I had problems with a DM in the past that did that but with like everything, I feel ya (Rip devil's sight)

Yeah, and for the most part anybody else can do it too. Outlander Fighter: "I use my knowledge and skill in foraging to find food for the group" Barbarian: "I wanna find food and water for the party... I rolled a 13 Survival Check" DM: "You find enough food and water for everyone"

Then get a nice tasty pizza and eat it in front of the DM. Don't share with anybody until he agrees to let you forage for your party.

@@mandykarevicius9746 now that's just torture hope your party isn't good alignment

High fantasy is fun and all but damn I would love to be played for once. Idk if its 5E itself since how easy the game/rules are that inspires high fantasy.

true, but another system might fit that feeling better, COC for example. The mechanics always influence the feel of the world and the characters in it

Simulationism in general, where the players are simply agents in an internally consistent gameworld (as opposed to being the most important people in the universe), is a really interesting approach to TTRPG design. 5e is kind of disappointing when it comes to giving you tools to run games like that. I have way more fun "playing" my antagonists against the party within the confines of some sort of ruleset than designing them out of thin air, and my players feel more organically empowered when they arrive at a solution by learning and using that internal logic to their advantage. It also means I don't have to waste my time designing arbitrary puzzles, because now *anything* can be a puzzle by virtue of how it interacts with the simulation.

THISVIDEOEASSPONSOREDBYGRIMHOLLO-

Honestly it just depends on how well the DM runs it and what kind of game the players want to play.

Let me introduce you to 3.5. Probably other editions as well. The "+2 AC shield" in 5th edition is just dumb IMO. 3.5 had bucklers. shields, tower shields, and all kinds of flavors for them

@@HipposaurusRex Ah. Maybe they'll follow suit into 5E if people want them.

@@MistaOppritunity it's pretty easy to homebrew them in, but I just dont get why they got rid of them in the first place. Shields add so much flavor to a character, and just having a flat ac bonus irked me. But yeah, it would definitely be nice if they added them back in

Hot take: the weapons and armor list are just common equipment that are most common, says so in the book, PHB 144 and 146. You give those players as many bucklers and tower shields as they want, you give 'em those compound bows that add their STR ability score to the damage (that's actually a thing that's even in one of the modules as something an adventurer has, even).

You mean like, oh, just saying a +1 shield (for a total of +3 AC) is a bigger shield? They took out the half-dozen shields because people only used the best one that was available for their class, so it was unnecessary crunch (and allowed for the infamous levels of munchkining & powergaming that plagued 3.5).

“...And then his skeleton melted from his body and the cleric was never heard from again! Anyway that’s how I lost Pelor’s patronage.”

The problem is that Clerics don't "fit a role". They can fit all of them. I'm OK with versatile classes but when you can successfully finish a campaign with 4 characters being exactly the same class with different domains you kinda miss the point ofmthe game IMO.

Healers in almost every game are typically above balance as most all players wouldn't want to play them, as it is more entertaining to play the character that effects the objective more, more directly (typically killing baddies)

especially if it happens all the time. I have a player who always makes the 6 int wizard and then complains about not being as strong as the sorcerer

I like to go opposite of the stereotype because I find it more fun. Like my abstinent, frontliner, holy-man Bard. He started out as a joke but had some nice depth and good development. Stereotypes are fun too but I generally have a harder time with character development.

@@onecrazypig8423 stereotypes are there for a reason though. Classes are not something arbitrary, but basically a broad job description. Just like you won't find many stupid physicists and fat small basketball players, weak fighters and dumb wizards probably are a rarity. You can write many different characters around a wizard. I don't see how making him stupid makes him any more interesting. If anthing, it just makes your character more unbelievable. (unless you play an old wizard professor, who has gotten Alzheimers to explain their low int, that would be pretty funny and make sense)

I'd still appreciate having more bards who won't interrupt everything to try to fuck every NPC or monster we run into.

@@TheHellspawnHero you cool if I just go after the dragons though right?

Hot Take: It comes and goes. It's in the way that you use it. Boy, don't you know.

Yeah, the character building and strategising parts of min-maxing are super fun, but the 'I make everyone else in the party redendant' is a big issue. I think when done responsibly and in a game that's designed to make it less problematic (e.g. breaking 5e with min/maxing is pretty hard, but doing it in pathfinder is super easy unless everyone's on the same page about power levels and letting people have their niches) it can add a lot to the fun though.

I just min-max when it suits the character, I don’t give much of a care to how perfectly attuned they are for combat or something.

Okay, wanting your character to be powerful combat-wise isn’t wrong, but making combination that make absolutely no sense in the setting like making a elf fighter (samurai) rogue (assassin) in a setting that haven’t got a non-Japão and whitout a backstory that would somehow make it possible and never roleplaying your character is bad.

Arthur Yeah, that kind of stuff is a really fine line. Sometimes games forcing you to make obscure changes to your character's personality and backstory to accomodate your bizarre build can be a really fun creative exercise. The issues start arising when people just make a walking stat stick comprised of all the OP character options from various obscure settings books - although I feel like the real problem kinda comes back to the walking stat stick/bad team player issues. Like, if said hypothetical player had made a poorly optimised Samurai 4/Time Traveller 3/Pharaoh 2 for a game set in fantasy europe, and asked if they could reflavour them as just a cool swordmage with a time manipulation/desert theme to their magic, I'd personally be totally ok with it.

Didn’t he immediately get shot by the pirate that made the rules?

@@DeathnoteBB no the rules were made by a group of pirates. Jack sparrow shoots him hours after Barbossa mentions that to Elizabeth

Yeah I want a magic great-club!

Imagine Güngnir in D&D

My DM gave me not a magic spear, but an exotic one. It functions a nornal spear but once a day it's ability can be activated. You throw it and it summons a lightning wherever it strikes, dealing 3d6 lightning damage on top of whatever damage the spear does +modifiers

@@THEPELADOMASTER isn't that just a javelin of lightning?

@@billybobjoe5039 you can use it as a spear. But if you try to use it's power without throwing it you'll receive the lightning damage as well, as you'd be too close to the impact zone

Because copyright laws suck. Anti-checkmate!

because you can't mod skyrim without the base game... but you can play what you'd call DnD without purchasing any of the books...?

@@nickromanthefencer you could code your own game if you were smarter

@@nickromanthefencer I rigged doom on my casio watch, call it skyrim...

@@Depleted-Uranium lmao

The most egregious examples are warlock pacts and sorcerer metamagics, neither of them has had a official addition since 5e came out.

THANK YOU the sorcerer wizard druid and warlock leveling charts are just blank as fuck

I bet you love TASHA'S. I hope next books follows the same idea of adding more options

@@robertjohnpecayo8642 It'd a step in the right direction but, at least to me, they didn't provide enough for the comment to be obsolete. Hopefully they do add more for sorcerers and warlocks, while also introducing other systems for other classes, so that we get a more modular game.

Feats was a 3.5 trap that 4E and 5E tried to avoid.

rules lawyers are only good if the help is actually wanted

@@omnical6135 I mean, at that point it's a different scenario to construct entirely. Cuz tables/DMs who don't want help from a Rules Lawyer are either already well versed in the rules and want to keep the flow of their game running smoothly, or people who *think* they know the rules when in reality they don't. Perhaps it's not wanted at the table, but more often it's needed. Again, not many issues arise if you just talk about it after the game.

@@Scrittus I have a player at my table who knows the rules much better than I do, Everyone knows this is the case. But unless it's clearly a misinterpretation by me, They don't interrupt the game, However I do often ask if they agree with my ruling.

@@BramLastname this is me in most of my games. Unless the rule being used wrong is affecting a huge part of the game. Like a spellcaster adding ability modifier to damage or a martial class forgetting to add. I'll usually bring it up after the game or give my opinion when asked. . Otherwise its just a new homebrew ruling that we using and whatever the DM says goes.

@@omnical6135 The help is good whether you want it or not. You will play correctly or not at all.

Warforged Cleric of the Forge = infinte AC

Amber Dantzler My AC is MAXIMUM!

This is what my group does when either the dm or or more than one player can't make it lol

Good luck passing my DC 24 Wis save to hold person at Level 5 against my RAW Changeling College of Eloquence Bard. Enjoy the crits.

@@Khaons MAKE IT STOP!

The funny thing is this isn’t a hot take either lol

@@navels553 you’ve defeated me, sadge.

Also, pretty much every single take in the video is correct.

Eh, I'm not so sure. Most of the time, I don't see people saying minmaxing is wrong. It's usually amateur essays on why it's bad for the game/groups. That's a bit different than "your fun is wrong", unless you consider it to be acceptable to have fun at the expense of your group/DM in some situations.

Min-maxing is fine if you're in a game specifically built around min-maxing, are with like-minded players, and the fact that you intend to min-max has been laid bare prior. Then your DM can construct really challenging scenarios that put all of the players' builds to the test. It becomes more questionable, however, when you're the only min-maxer in the group while everyone else is playing casually, or doing rp-centric, sub-optimal builds. Your character will excel much more frequently than everyone else and it can really suck the spirit out of the game when all but one of the players are reduced to side characters. It can also mess with the difficulty of the campaign. Depending on whether the DM balances the encounter difficulty around your character's higher stats or the group's sub-optimal builds, you either end up with situations that are way too easy for your character and thus get boring for you, or you get a proper challenge while everyone else is constantly getting shredded apart or making no significant impact, thus frustrating them because they can't keep up with your stats. There are exceptions and a skilled player could probably pull off an optimized character who is also engaging to play with and doesn't vacuum up all the glory. But in general, if the game's not built with min-maxing in mind, it's something one should be careful with. It's definitely a legitimate concern that warrants consideration.

​@@geybackgeybackson2838 If you are playing "casually" and also get frustrated when other characters do better than you in combat, then you are setting yourself up for a bad gaming experience and should probably evaluate if your playstyle is in direct contradiction with what you actually want from D&D.

Davvy chappy has an interesting video on this topic called power doesn't exist or something like that. Your point of view has merits, but i don't agree with it and that video articulqtes better than I could why.

@@sassyviking6003 davvy's video strawmans all power gamers by implying "people power game for easy wins" when that is the farthest thing from the truth so he is completely unconvincing because his argument only exists to confirm the belief that "power gaming is bad" rather than offering legitimate criticism

i feel like that would be more dex than strength because of the precision, but tbh in the end it is whatever the dm says it is

Medicine is now a charisma check charm the hell out of the virus Or i guess placebo them and convince them theyll be okay but sickness seduction is cooler

@@SilverCraftLPx Who said he did it on purpose? He just shoved it and hoped it worked. Strength + Luck = best doktor

@@DapperestDave As a bard main... i love this.

I would allow that, but increase the DC, and if you fail, the player would have to get an extra 1d4 damage.

My kitsune wizard walks around being smart, but the actions I make make it look like I'm an idiot. So much so that my party decided that they wanted to send the Bard with me so I didn't do anything stupid. I made a bomb. (but also the "cure" for a zombie disease)

@@agamerdoesthings9317 did the bomb work?

I agree. Yeah sure your cringy, but at least your interesting. Also cringy characters are just people that fail at being cool. So If you try to make a cringy character, you might accidentally make them cool.

Whenever I play any RP game I always make a parody of edgy characters.

I played fighter that started off as a farmer conscripted into a war. He experienced horrors that would break most men. He deserted and became a brigand and eventually desecrated a temple. He was designed to be a test for the cleric and paladin down the road. Normally, he'd be an edgy-boi annoying character. But I played him as seeking some kind redemption and good in the world. He turned out to be a great player and really tested the paladin and cleric's convictions and inspired the rogue to actually become good instead of just doing penance to avoid a death sentence. Halfway through, he left the party to become a priest and we made him a recurring NPC. One of the best characters I've ever played.

Well, it can overshadow other characters. Fpr example, if you come up with a simmilar type of build as another character, but you are way more effective in combat, it can hurt the other persons fun. Everyone should feel like they can contribute and not drag the other people down or be able to be replaced by someone else who does it better. You shouldn't go overboard with it compared to the others, and you need to let them have a fair share of moments to feel efdective and useful. If everyone is min/maxing, this won't be as much of a problem, as well as if you are not dealing damage but controlling the enemies so your team take them down one after another, or by buffing your team. And you should avoid being in the same niche as another character and they are already filling that niche, but if they need help filling that niche (for example they are healers but can't keep up healing everyone needing it), itmight even make it more enjoyable for them if you help fill that niche, especially if you're min/maxed and they can be a little more relaxed and have fun.

@@JonathanMandrake if you had said that you can unbalance the game I would be on your side. 100% If one person made a bad character or just doesn’t do as much as another … that’s a part of the game and is important. Rolling an insane AC23 level 2 tank is a problem. Just like if one person does double the damage of ANYONE else it’s a problem. One person who feels bad because they don’t do as much as someone else isn’t a thing that grown ups should feel responsible for. Maybe I’m just old and too used to playing with adults who didn’t grow up with participation trophies. (That’s a dig at parents and society not people who happen to be young and not in control of how they’re brought into society in an absurd way.) I do think that a second person in the exact same niche can be an issue. That niche can’t be generic though. A group can be fine with more than one spell caster or more than one divine caster or whatever. However, a second their subclass rogue where the adventure rewards a given play style and only one is optimized for it will always make the other feel bad …. But it’s just a game and they can change their character around. If the fighter has 4 skills and 3 of them are in stupid things and also he learned arcane knowledge but there’s a wizard … it’s not the wizard’s fault that the fighter built a bad character and only has one applicable skill that someone else is better at.

@@zero11010 Lmao, participation trophies, ok boomer

You: NANI

google: your free trial of life has expired

Sean Treadway This is having chronic pain in a nutshell.

I googled nausea in the morning, because I feel sick if I eat breakfast too early and Google told me I was pregnant🙃

I don't think I had an edgy phase yet.

Rule lawyering can be fun when you're trying to talk the DM into something that's up for interpretation or explaining how the roleplay might lead to a certain event happening or why you should get advantage on your next roll. The key, like most things is just not being a dick about it.

The game was also made with an explicit "these rules are just suggestions, change them if they aren't fun for your group" clause built in.

Yes as long as whatever the DM decides is applied consistently so pcs can make informed decisions.

The first category is fine only if the DM and the other players agree with this want, if not it's annoying for everyonz.

that's what the death penalty was invented for

Warlock say the line!

Yeah even if you're making a melee fighter with a warlock dip for hexblade, EB is still worth taking. It is after all the best damage cantrip in the game. Even if you're not going to use it all the time it's nice to have in your back pocket just in case. I agree with the guy who said it should be included in the class, and with Jacob in that it should be different depending on your patron.

My hexblade will fight you.

I'm the DM and god I hate the 12th level warlock and his triple enhanced eldritch blast attack every single round.....

There should be more magic items that aren't just swords. Having a pseudo-vorpal heart-seeker spear, bow, or crossbow would be awesome.

We need a magical blow dart gun that doesn't deal much damage, but has some kind of secondary effect.

I don't get why they don't just make blueprints for weapons instead of individual magic weapons. Why couldn't there be a flametongue bow or spear for example?

​@@runedoom Maybe. Or reusable magical ammunition that has special effects. Cool stuff like that.

Not sure if it counts, but Javelin of Lightning?

fire has it even worse

Sean Wisniewski Most of them are pretty reasonable however like you cant poison a construct.

If you are going to play Curse of Stradh, maybe don't use poison...

Don B Actually fire is the most common resistance/immunity

@@donb7519 Not really. More things are resistant to fire, but a hell of a lot more things are straight up immune to poison. In terms of fire resistance, there's a feat that lets you ignore resistance to it and other elemental damage in official DND. Poison, however, isn't under the protection of that feat. Poison is so much more gimped in DND than fire under these circumstances.

@Eitra Ardania Double damage or double *dice*? Crit fireball seems like a bad idea regardless, but if they use dice doubling instead of total damage doubling then the green flame blade ruling is perfectly consistent: On a crit, you can roll all dice twice, but flat modifiers aren't doubled. Green Flame Blade's extra damage is a flat value, no dice are rolled.

The game people choose to run are their own, if you have a problem with it, take it up with them.

@@professorkhepri Sure, but the you have people telling you how much D&D sucks, and when you start prying on the reasons you discover that they were not playing D&D. The problem is that most people think they are very good at coming up with gaming systems and they really really are not.

Or your Barbogue that he can't use a rapier with strength because it's just silly. If it bothers you so much, Bill, call it a one-handed Estoc! I'll even dress him like a matador!

Or if your DM is using an NPC to spam Anti-Magic Field on you even though you're a 4th level wizard. I just wanted to cast some spells, man.

"Guys, please don't puke on the couch, guys, come on"

Too bad half the players I've played with aren't mature enough l get past the "Imma bone them" stage!

@@Mariusweeddeath Dang that sucks. I'm in a campaign, (it's about to end soon) where I'm playing a blood hunter. And that blood hunter is in a relationship with the Palidan of the party. Even though it was never planned at the beginning of the campaign, as well as the fact that they had separate moral codes, their relationship actually made sense bc of the fact that they played so well off of each other. The blood hunter has gone through an entire character arc since then, and it really works out between the two. Unfortunately, most PC relationships go too far, or people don't understand that it's a game and take it too literally and seriously. It sucks that your players are like that, and I hope that one day you experience a party where a PC actually works

That's up to the players honestly. I'm not changing my campaign an iota to accommodate for that, but I have no problem with them interacting with each other how they see fit, and spending their down time as they wish.

@Michael Fox lol

I was a guy playing a female character (battle master fighter with great sword) and over time she fell for one of the party members (male human warlock, everyone he loves dies), we managed to not only have a successful campaign but that character canonically retired and had their kid (he died sacrificing himself to break his contract with his patron). PC romances are absolutely viable

Their long lifespan provides a wealth of narrative opportunities. I already have an idea for an Elf Drunken Master Monk.

actually played a sort of lore-keeper elf bard that got saddened by people around her aging and dieing so early that she started her career as a bard wanting to gather stories of all the people she came across, to give them a sort of immortality via text. Really liked the concept, didn't really get to explore it much bc we were playing a pre-written module but maybe I'll revisit the idea some day in a more open-ended campaign.

I have a half elf Acrane trickster called myst, that went to a wizard college for a couple years before it was burned down and pillaged by orcs, when returning to his royal family life, he has learned of his parents deaths, both killed by orcs, inheriting his fathers tophat (look i know a tophat) and his mothers signet ring, he learns these orcs have done this since he didnt pay off his fees to a crimelord, the orcs were originally payed to join him, now being ruled by him, Myst owed these fees since he wished to exile his brother for abusing his power, so he has now taken on a nomadic lifestyle learning tricks along his way, drinking off the memories and buying free drinks for adventurers telling thier own stories, he rarely talks about his own path, rather trying to help others on thier way, only stealing from the abusers or the wicked. Edit: Any more suggestions or anything for my character

Also, take into account super young Elves around the age of a young adult human. Time for some hyper ass extreme curiosity over the most random things! Ahaha!

So after 200 years with humanity they became suicidal? Fair enough

A warlock whose power originated from the Shadowfell is a warlock of the Hexblade. Or Undying. Since the Shadowfell has super-undead magic-y stuff.

i think he misspoke

He was talking about Vampires

PAK215 In my first reply I missed something. Aberrations (in most settings) are from the Far Realm. Great Old Ones don’t have to be aberrations though.

A +3 isn’t even a good stat unless you’re playing with point buy

Wanting a high main stat is normal. It is when they start to multiclass in order to make an undebatable character that is the problem. Or make broken combos.

yeah I thought the point of RPG was not to play yourself, why would I want to not be awesome a things?

@@doubeld.7536 Thats the difference between power fantasy, and some table tops you have to min max, I know few played it but 3.5 needs some minmaxing. Games where the game is harder enforces min maxing to some degree.

@@doubeld.7536 if that's how people want to play the game and the dm is chill then no, it's not a problem.