Pens and Papers

[KONGO]

My players are the worst negotiators of all time. Wondering if I should try and teach them or if I should just let them morph into a cadre of ass kickers.

[GhostMachine]

So I'm planning on introducing a friend to D&D with a one-shot based on Shadows over Innsmouth... basically a seemingly normal sleepy town that's actually controlled by a sinister cult of half-human half-...something abomination-y. Problem is I'm not sure what route to go with it. I'm thinking either using nerfed Yuan-Ti or maybe some tieflings. Any suggestions?

Kuo-toa, since they're now pretty much the D&D version of the creatures from Shadows Over Innsmouth.

I considered that.... is there a half-kuo-toa template that you know of? Or would I have probably have to homebrew it?

Homebrew, I think.

[KONGO]

So I'm running a game right now where the level cap is 6. Got 6 people in the party at level 2 and my issue right now is, as said, they basically reduce every confrontation of every kind to violence. I'm thinking of bumping up the challenge, but I'm also running a no-magic, low-tech game, which restricts using spellbeasts and such. Would it be too much to ask them to handle level 6 enemies? Everybody has vaguely similar health (set health from the get-go, only increase by feats), so them getting knocked out quickly is not a huge problem as the other guy won't have a ton more health than them.

I guess basically I'm asking how many level 6 people there should be. Should it be fairly common? I'm coming around to that opinion, especially as they'll hit level 6 relatively quickly if we keep playing. Still, though, not sure if feats are going to be enough to make the guy a threat. Obviously he'd have supporters but I'd like this "miniboss" to be a formidable fighter in his own right.

[EWB's Best Poster.]

Does alchemy still play a role in your game? Some of those items can really stop a low level party.

[Ruki]

When a monsters attack says "Melee: 2 claws + 15 (damage here)"

That means it gets two attacks at +15, right?

[KONGO]

Yes, but I'm not sure if it has to do full attack to get them.

@Rider: Yes and no. I do want alchemy but I haven't figured out how it'll work yet, so all the alchemical stuff has been unused so far. Got new players so they're not clamoring to use sunrods and such yet anyway. Sometimes I wonder what'll happen if these guys go play a more regular game after being broken in with this lunacy... then I just think about something else.

[Ruki]

I assume it would be a full attack.

was just looking at undead monsters to throw at the party in the one shot...thinking of having the big bad be a vampire (minus domination) or a Lich Shade.

[EWB's Best Poster.]

If its just the one baddie, keep the dominate. Then have one of them turn on the group. Even the very threat of it will make them think about preparations. Which is great.

[EWB's Best Poster.]

http://www.dxcontent.com/MDB_MonsterBlock.asp?MDBID=786

That and some ghouls or something would make a great fight.

[Ruki]

So...I wanna throw in some puzzles into my one-shot and main game...but the problem is...I have no idea how to design a puzzle.

How do you go about making yours? Or do you just steal them from online (I found one that someone created...it's basically just mine-sweeper, and if you step on a 'bomb' you take 1d6 damage)? And do you have any awesome ones you are willing to share?

[EWB's Best Poster.]

Riddles are always fun. Or a room with many things that need to be done cooperatively in a certain order, so they have to discuss and reason it out and work as a team.

[Ruki]

Riddles are always fun. Or a room with many things that need to be done cooperatively in a certain order, so they have to discuss and reason it out and work as a team.

So like...one person to pull a lever to raise a platform, so that someone could press a button that opens a door? But, a bit more complex than that, haha.

[KONGO]

I'm trying to think of as many different generic fantasy "dungeons" as possible. The list I have so far is:

- Forest

- Swamp

- Cave

- Ruins

- Crypt (standard underground dungeon)

- Mountain

Can you guys think of any other settings? Don't want to do cities/towns/castles that are inhabited, anything uninhabited of that ilk falls under Ruins. Any help's much appreciated.

[Ruki]

I'm trying to think of as many different generic fantasy "dungeons" as possible. The list I have so far is:

- Forest

- Swamp

- Cave

- Ruins

- Crypt (standard underground dungeon)

- Mountain

Can you guys think of any other settings? Don't want to do cities/towns/castles that are inhabited, anything uninhabited of that ilk falls under Ruins. Any help's much appreciated.

Gotta have a desert, lava (maybe the mountain is a volcano) and ice dungeon as well.

[Sousa]

Pipe World.

[TKz]

I'm trying to think of as many different generic fantasy "dungeons" as possible. The list I have so far is:

- Forest

- Swamp

- Cave

- Ruins

- Crypt (standard underground dungeon)

- Mountain

Can you guys think of any other settings? Don't want to do cities/towns/castles that are inhabited, anything uninhabited of that ilk falls under Ruins. Any help's much appreciated.

Gotta have a desert, lava (maybe the mountain is a volcano) and ice dungeon as well.

I think you're both forgetting the most important dungeon of them all.

The Sewer.

[EWB's Best Poster.]

Do not do under the sea. I have found the words "underwater adventure" to be a death knell.

And you don't have to be generic. Just because you say ruin, going from one to another means a lot. Maybe ruins of one is a city that lies buried under another built on top of it, only stone and broken metal. Whereas ruins for another could be a salvage from a great flood long ago, where wood rots and gives way easily.

By just switching the materials its made of, you can change the whole feel.

For instance you say forest. I change it to jungle. Still trees but the wild life, temperature, humidity... Change it again to swamp. Same thing, just another twist of the same setting. Swamps instead make you think of gators and hag witches.

[KONGO]

It's not for a D&D game per se. Asking for generic settings precisely because I want categories, not specifics.

[EWB's Best Poster.]

Well then ... Jungle. Add jungle.

Aerie too.

[OctoberRaven]

So here's what I got for a homebrew Half-Kuo Toa race:

+1 STR, +1 CON, -2 CHA (basically half of what the full KTs get and no WIS bonus)

Medium Size

Land Speed 30 Feet (They don't have quite the stubby legs full Kuo-Toas have)

Darkvision 60 feet (maybe low-light instead?)

Water breathing

+2 Racial Bonus to Swim and Jump

Can always Take 10 on Swim checks

Level Adjustment +0

Seem about right? I'm trying to make it so a single 1st level Half-Kuo Toa Fighter is CR 1.