Top Five 5E Rules Nobody Uses...But Really Should! (Ep. 282)
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- Professor DungeonMaster reveals 5 rules from D&D 5E that are awesome--but very few players use or even know about! Even if you play OSR, you will want to steal these awesome rules!
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The idea of average damage speeds up the game.
Another that I like is giving monsters either minimum hp or maximum hp.
If an encounter is trivial give those Orcs minimum hit points so the fight is faster. If an encounter is epic give that Orc Chieftain and his body guards maximum hit points so the fight goes a few rounds. It's far better than average hp and less time consuming than rolling individual hp.
I've done this one, and it works for me as well. Solid advice.
One thing I’ve started doing is either rounding hits to nearest 5 up or down and it avrg out over a fight or just not even tracking actual hp for mooks and just track number of times they’ve been hit over a toughness level. Say orc mook can take 2 hits as long as the hit does more then 5 damage and a crit takes them out in one hit. Then orc mook veteran takes 4 hits over 5 damage or two crits. Then the boss has an hp pool I track. More or less taking the principal 4e minions and ranking them up
I've never rolled monster hit points. As DM I can just choose the values I want using the hit dice range as a guide (not a hard and fast guide either).
Cool ideas. Thanks!
Good for mooks, not for BBEG.
This has quickly become my favorite DnD channel
You have quickly become my favorite viewer!
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 bwah, you said you looved me!
More like TTRPG channel in my opinion. I am a 5$ patreon and I don’t play DnD at all.
@@Frederic_S thanks for your support! Lots of stuff going up soon. Maybe later today.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 you are welcome and thank you for everything you already taught me.
Professor! I’m stunned haha, I just finished editing a video that brings up the “cleaving through creatures” rule AND I also used two goblins for my example! Great minds, I guess 🍻
I finally beat YOU to the punch! I was editing my "hooks" video when you put out yours!
You guys need to run a one shot together like Chris(treantmonk), Colby (d4) and the dungeon dudes Kelly and Monty did. Would be great to see your gameplay rules in action. Thank you both for putting out such greatly informative videos for us.
I know one rule to few people seem to use:
The official 5e rules are just guidelines. The dungeon master always has the last saying.
That's right, the rules are basically the Pirate Code.
Agreed. Even using modules I always add some stuff or skip some stuff
YEP
“The Dungeon Master always has the last saying” It just baffles me how players love to argue against the DM though after they’ve put their foot down because the players want their house rule.
A GM who is consistent in their "rulings," applying them to the PC's and monsters alike will have a great "party!"
Average hit is clutch for saving time.
Static Initiative for monsters is a really great idea- a bonus from that is since AC is mostly built off of dex, you can use initiative order to communicate AC to players.
Crawford probably picked that up from Warhammer--he worked on 2nd Ed.
I am a big fan of using average damage for monsters as a GM. It’s much more efficient.
As a tip though, there are a lot of players that enjoy the uncertainty from damage rolls. If you’ve got a couple of those at your table, you can roll a d4 and add or subtract it from the average damage to simulate that uncertainty without much of a time cost.
Good idea.
I'll normally base it on how much they beat the AC by
@@anthonynorman7545 That’s a fantastic idea.
I tend to use average damage for mooks, but not bosses. I feel like to players that uncertainty from damage rolls is more desired when the boss is doing the damage vs the minions. Eg: casting disintegrate, vs what happens when a couple of skeletons stab you.
I play on RPOL and I have an initiative rule similar to Crawfords - the baddies have a static initiative. Players that beat the initiative get to act before the monsters, then the monsters act, then everyone acts, then the monsters act etc. Play by Post kind of benefits from less opportunities for players to be waiting around to do stuff. This way, Initiative becomes a kind of 'save' that they have to make to get the drop on the baddies. When monsters would be likely to surprise the players, players roll with disadvantage. Fast. Fun and keeps the post-rates up.
Cool!
Superb as always, Professor! Deathbringer's comment at the end was a real blast from the past! ;)
I do think your suggestions are good; however, on occasion, I do think DMs rolling dice for damage can be a suspenseful moment. One of my favorite things is a particular mechanic called the "exploding dice" rule, which I'm sure you've heard of, for certain either very strong enemies or particular magical weapons that are something of a gamble to use, where if one rolls the max on a die, one rolls it again, and can continue doing so until that winning streak is broken. It can mean on one round, an enemy gets 3 points of damage on a d6, and then the next round, they can get a 33 if the rolling streak is good! We see heroes suddenly unlock the inherent magic in a weapon or item, or their own "inner strength" as the crux of so many narratives...why might one of their enemies not have the same chance on occasion? It certainly ups the stakes, and for higher-level encounters (I'm currently playing a campaign in which the characters started at 10th level so that they could face very difficult and interesting opponents and actually stand to die much easier!), it can add that incentive to, perhaps, resolve certain encounters via other means than combat, which is my preferred method anyway. ;)
New School in NYC? One of my friends is an alum of there, actually! That's awesome that their mascot is the Narwhals! When I was at Sarah Lawrence in the mid-to-late-90s, we voted on the mascot because they finally got an athletic center, and we decided on the Griffins, which was my own vote out of the options given! Hurrah for classic mythical creatures as mascots for a liberal arts college! ;)
I've got one gripe with the monster initiative rule and that is whenever there are more than 5 of the same typee of monster in a combat encounter, I feel that having them all act on the same initiative leads to some potentially crazy nova damage. I always divide enemies that are the same type into groups of 5. it's much faster than rolling each monster individually and trying to track that, but at the same time it prevents 20 goblin archers from all shooting at the same time and doing up to 100 damage to that poor unlucky player who is the one guy who got spotted a the start of the combat encounter.
Solid advice.
I like rolling damage for monsters. I'm not in a rush when at a playing table so a little more variation in monster damage is just fine with me. I could imagine using it in a one-shot or a game with strict time limit (convention). But my players and I enjoy the "outsch! That really hurt!" or "Phew, that's just a scratch!" - moments when the damage is rolled.
If it works for you, I'm all for it.
The current campaign I'm in, our DM started out using average damage which was fine since the combat encounters frequently had many little (or not so little) mooks that may or may not be led by a miniboss, but as we've progressed in the story and levels lately we only have one small-scale, intense combat encounter per session so averaging hasn't been necessary. On one side it does help the dm save time and brain power for high enemy counts or sessions with multiple combat encounters, and as a player it certainly helps speed along the enemy turns back to us. That said, when each hit does pretty much the same amount of damage, or exactly the same damage, it's REALLY hard to not feel gamey (I know it's technically a game, but experiencing a campaign that isn't combat-centric for the first time feels more like a story we're helping the narrator/writer tell through and with us). When combat isn't frequent, and/or enemy counts are reasonably low, and when a particular combat encounter is supposed to be meaningful, for these I would argue against average damage. At the end of the day though, yeah do what works best for you and your group.
@@Frisbeehat I agree and will add, that now my players are level 8 and I often need larger groups of enemies, I tend to use 2-3 different types reskinned to look alike. The different attacks, feats and AC's are not that hard to keep track of, and the players are highly entertained when an enemy does something unexpected.
Yes it's a little more bookkeeping, but I'm not too interested in running or playing in a campaign without variant encumbrance. (Maybe a one-shot would be okay).
I use variant encumbrance for several reasons, one is versimilitude and trying to create a believable setting, and another is for game balance because I want there to be drawbacks if someone dumpstats an ability score.
I agree. Same reason I don't use 'group initiative', because it allows the DEX dumper more slack.
Very cool.
I also like encumbrance for the verisimilitude (love that word) and to add a little depth in the game. As a player, I'm also that nerd that likes the bookkeeping. As a DM, my favorite part is when the players discover a massive treasure hoard and cannot possibly get (most of) it back. "I told you we should have bought some mules.." I probably shouldn't get as much joy out of that as I do...oh well, it's the little things in life. I love the follow up quests that occur when they go back to get the means to transport the treasure and then return.
I have tried static initiative, but I don't like it because it tends to create walls of activity. When all the monsters are scattered through the players' turns it means the DM is acting for a minute or 2 at a time, but when you're using static initiative a whole pack of wolves will end up moving all at once, causing a big pause while the DM plays out half the game. This might work if you have a group that's okay waiting for a bit while the DM builds tension, but if you're worried that someone's going to start looking at their phone, or that two players are gonna get bored and start goofing around, a wall of DM activity is a surefire way to derail an encounter.
A DM I know has reservation about Proficiency Dice on the policy of 'If you aren't prepared for making rulings regarding results of 35+, don't use Proficiency Dice'.
I used to use the avg HIT number when we played at the table, and I loved it. Now that my group is all online, VTT's auto calculate all those things for us now.
One thing i did to save taime during game was pre-rolling initiative for monsters during prep. one roll per monster type. Gain the time saving during the game but keep the inpredictability of when the monsters are going to go.
I also like to DM with a laptop. So i use a digital inititative traker where i can quickly write the initiatives for each player and have the program sort them for me instead of asking arround by thresholds i just ask one by one their score and put the numbers in. I have prepared multipe lists before the game, with the initiatives for the monsters pre-punched. I can also quickly create a new one or add new monsters to one while the characters are rolling initiative. Even while playing in person, digital tools can help a lot.
I’ve fallen in love with Flanking giving a +1 to hit. It still gives you the more dynamic combats without giving the over the top bonus of advantage. I’ve run 4 campaigns with it and all my players have loved it
This is not an official rule, and I've posted it on a previous comment, but doggone it, it's a house rule I really love. Essentially, every creature has "hits" equal to their hp/5. And when a player rolls damage, 1-5 does 1 hit, 6-10 does 2 hits, 11-15 does 3 hits, and so on. This makes all actual hits do some significant amount of damage, so there's actually a point to throwing a dart.
I am working on a similar rule. My thought was a roll a d20 and add your bonus. If you get 20+, you score 2 hits. Otherwise, all blows score 1.
I would say the two big ones are with crits damage is maxed plus an additional roll instead of simply rolling dice twice and flanking. The fact that enemies also use these rules in a lot of game I played in also makes things more interesting.
10' Pole! 10' Pole! 10' Pole! OMG. That brought a tear to my eye. Ah, nostalgia. 😃 Thanks!
One way we have been increasing the "threat" of monsters to the PCs is by giving the PCs a number of Hit Dice based on the Proficiency Chart. So a 1st Level character will have two Hit Dice, and a 20th Level character will have just 6 Hit Dice. We DO reduce spell damages a bit to compensate, but using the smaller numbers really does help to speed up combat.
Another rule we have been using is the MODIFIED Proficiency System. Now, having No Proficiency gives you DISADVANTAGE on any task. Having a *Basic Proficiency will allow you a normal roll (modified by Characteristic bonuses) BUT you do NOT get to add your Proficiency Bonus to the roll as you only practice that skill just enough to avoid the penalty. *Martial Proficiency (for weapons) or Expertise does add your Proficiency Bonus to it. So casters get only Basic Proficiency with their weapons which means that the group's Martials will be better in combat due to their Proficiency Bonus added to the attack roll.
*Under this system, weapons no longer have a Proficiency Rating (ie you have basic or martial weapons). Instead, you now have Proficiency based on your class and things like a club or dagger can be used with either a Basic Proficiency level or a Martial Proficiency level.
I'll add one I just recently rediscovered by accident: Slower Natural Healing in the DMG. Instead of getting HP back on a Long Rest, you just get Hit Dice and can spend them, meaning it will take multiple long rests to get back up to full HP.
I like so much I had already half-incorporated it into my house rules for my next game. But now I can back it up that its an official option and I'm not just being a dick!
This is great! I’m going to be using most of these when I run my first game next week! Thanks!
Passive Checks exist in 5e already, which is the same thing as "static initiative" as it's exactly the same mechanic, and the rule in the PHB for Passive Checks can be applied to Initiative Checks (as with any other mechanics applying to Ability Checks) as they are simply a type of Dexterity Check...
Translatable Proficiencies ... I've played with a lot of Scouts, EMTs, engineers, ... people with actual skills that translate (somewhat) well to Medieval period. Scouts generally get proficiency bonuses for things using ropes, or rowing boats and canoes, orienteering, administering first aid to a character, etc. You get the idea.
Aloha Professor DungeonMaster - First time commenter, long time watcher. I absolutely love your videos - I like that they are short and focused pieces on reviews, rules, predictions, and table stories. I learn something new (or maybe something I forgot) every time - just as I learned about the follow-through hits in combat if you kill one monster and have extra damage. One other general piece of feedback on Deathbringer: when I first started watching, I used to skip the opening comments by Deathbringer to subscribe, buy my T-shirt, don't forget to recycle, etc... but slowly, his wit and charm won me over. Perhaps it was the love advice episode he did and the life-changing effect it had on me. Now I cannot wait for his hot takes on the current topic, deep thoughts on one DnD, favorite sonnets, and why the kids these days don't have to roll their own dice uphill to the DnD game in the snow like we did... and I definitely want to buy his T-shirt. Thanks again for everything you do for the community!
In my game everyone had one mulligan per session. You could use this to reroll hits, initiative, damage or give it to another player and they could use it to force me to reroll as well. This works out very well defensively to survive critical hits.
I've been using average damage for a few years now, and you stated all the reasons why its such a great idea! I might try that proficiency die!
The game I must recently ran used static to-hit numbers from monsters, so the players did all the rolling. I also then changed the rolls to be based off Reflex saves (or Fortitude of you're using a shield), and had armor provide damage reduction. I might go ahead and have monster damage be static as well, since the armor's reduction is now the variable in question.
"Turning damage into narration".
I homebrewed the Dungeon World system in a way that whenever a player rolls for a move on of the d6 is the damage, the other d6 one is their armor (none of these values goes beyond 6) and creatures deals fix damage.
So in a single roll the players are calculating the level of success of their action, the damage they leash out (if needed) and the damage they will take in that move (if needed).
So in a quick glance I can determine how effective their action is, how badly they hurt their target, and how badly they get hurt in return. And finally I compile these 3 things in a cohesive narration
The DMG is such an incredible resource full of super-cool ideas.
To be fair, there is a grim satisfaction seeing the look on players' faces when you have to dip into your DM bag to grab those extra d6s to roll for that fireball damage.
MWA-HA-HA!
I had a system that used something like hero points.
You get two d4s a session. You may add them to any d20 roll that you feel like you need a little extra luck on. If you succeed on both, you get a third (this is to encourage players NOT to leave them on the board, gotta leave time to use the third). There were some flaws and I retired the system, but when it worked right it was a lot of fun.
I created a Feat to put Hero Points on the dndb-sheets of my players. Great success!
Great video. All of these are good suggestions, particularly in a 4-5 player game. But there are some considerations for each that DM's might want to consider:
FOLLOW THOUGH MELEE DAMAGE: One concern might be additional damage from things like sneak attack and smite. I might add the stipulation that the conditions required can be met with the follow up attack. So for sneak attack, they have to be surprised or adjacent to an ally. For smite, if you took the bonus for being undead, fiend, etc, that all opponents are of a type that gives you the bonus.
HERO POINTS: This is something that is adding dice and math to calculations which (like rolling damage) slows the game down. Granted, it the dice and math aren't going to be on every roll, but it's still there. It's also another resource to manage and take into consideration during a player's action. A cool rule, but something to consider.
PROFICIENCY DICE: This is another thing which requires additional dice and math. Unlike Hero Points, this affects almost all die rolls.
STATIC MOSTER INITIATIVE: Not really much of a problem here, other than maybe the resulting bunching of initiative. When one side goes all at once, there are fewer opportunities to react to what's going on in a combat. Characters might whirlwind through a fight before any opponents have a chance to respond resulting in an anticlimactic fight, or the players could roll poorly and opponents might swarm a character and off him before anyone has a chance to heal or position against their advance. This is something that is more of a problem the larger your group is.
AVERAGE DAMAGE FOR MONSTERS: I will likely be using this when we return to an actual tabletop. Using a VTT, the VTT does the rolling and calculations, so there really isn't a time cost associated with rolling the dice and doing the math. I run a large game (8 players), and with more players in a combat, I need to use more (or bigger) monsters to challenge them. I might still reserve rolling dice for big enemies ... bosses and lieutenants, that kind of thing. But I think this will help a lot.
Another great video PDM. I use the Damage follow through rule but I'll definitely try the others now too. You've opened my mind to using avg. damage for monsters lol. I'll try it in my next session
Cool!
I dislike average damage, but you are still 100% right about it! Maybe the players get to choose which to take? Like a gambling thing.
Use average damage. At any time a player gets hit they can say "Roll it!" in the hopes of a low damage roll.
Monster crits always do double average damage.
Love this video. Almost makes me willing to play 5e ;) The only point I disagree on is average monster damage. I think it's a buzz kill that leads to video game style of playing. Rolling damage in the open is a super fun part of the game. I've seen it go both ways. A player thinking they are probably going to die is thrilled when the monster rolls a 1. A player who thinks they are doing fine groans when the monster rolls max damage. It take a competent DM seconds to roll the dice and adjudicate the impact. No way is "average monster damage" worth the trade off in drama for the minuscule gain in play time.
I agree with you. It depends on the group.
Bob just mentioned #5 in his newest vod as well
He told me. I finally beat HIM to the punch with my content!
A few thoughts.
I forgot about the carry through rule. I'll have to remember that one.
Our group currently doesn't use them, but I like the idea of hero dice, luck dice, and inspiration. (Although I wouldn't give an inspiration point just because someone rolled a 20. It needs to be earned!)
I don't like the idea of proficiency dice, especially the D12. A more proficient person should be more consistent. You shouldn't crash parking your car 1 in 20 times.
I will NEVER use average damage. First, anyone who has DMed for a while should have developed the ability to add 10 D6 in a flash. Also, there are dice apps so you can just click. Second, you defeat your own argument with the example of using damage to describe what happened.
Consider rolling a 4 with 3 D8. You can describe the character jumping back with a scrape along the ribs, or a 20, where they are driven down on one knee.
Then there are edge cases. What if the dwarf in question only had 15 hit points? With average damage, the dwarf is dead. But, with an average of 15 damage, if you roll the dice, the dwarf has a 50-50 chance.
You also mentioned that players like to gamble. When I'm shaking the dice, I don't know of any player who isn't thinking, "C'mon 3 ones! C'mon 3 ones!!!"
Anyway, my 2c. 🤪
I think PDM has finally found an initiative scheme I like...it still rewards someone for being faster, but quickens calculation.
Mallormars, Rice-A-Roni, and Mr. Belvedere - Classic!
But wait . . . no Turtle Wax? 😆
Average damage is also extremely useful for low level parties, when players are very squishy. It's not very fun (for the player) when an orc hits a 1st level character for 15 points of greataxe damage. Average damage helps mitigate insta-death while preserving the encounter threat. Once PCs hit level 3 or 4 I start rolling monster damage as usual.
This was very helpful... my group has twin barbarians, a brother and sister that use matching double headed battle axes ... l know they will love Rule#5... thank you.
Me Belvedere! Oh man... You are truly a man of my generation.. "Dungeon Craft... Come for the advice, Stay for his ad campaigns!"
These are really good, still reading my DM guide and I am in chapter 5 but these tools from the kit chapter 9 seem very cool
I'll use static/average attack values in my Werewolf the Apocalypse games :) I think that dice pool systems can benefit greatly from this approach
Thanks!
What I don't like about using the average monster damage, is the risk of metagaming. If the players know how much damage an attack will do (which they will figure out after the first couple of hits), they can calculate how many hits they can safely take before needing to heal/flee/etc. In short, it removes an element of uncertainty and suspense from the game.
I assume, add more monsters and make the monsters go after random heroes - that way, they won't be able to predict everything. And keep 100% random rolls on boss encounters.
@@azuretigers5562 Like the Prof said, you can just use it as a guideline. If the average is 15, then just pick a number right around there.
Even if they know how many hits they can take they still don't know how many encounters are left
You can always adjust it and you can always mix it up and throw dice on occasion. Just to keep them on their toes
@@robert_bbiii Sure, but in that case I might as well always roll the damage. I tend to roll attack and damage roll at the same time, so if it's a hit, I've already rolled how much damage it deals.
Liked and subscribed for the quality content. Commenting entirely because of the Mr. Belvedere shout out. Second best TV butler of all time, right after Benson.
I roll a FATE die with my monster to hit rolls. If they hit, the amount of damage done is modified by the FATE die result.
Plus sign = add a few points of damage to the average
Minus sign = subtract a few points of damage from the average
Blank face = Use average damage
This doesn't add much to the DM calculations and helps to add a bit of randomness to the monsters.
I DO THAT TOO! Cooooool!!!
Average damage was a life changer for me as a DM. I also use damage and HP on a sliding scale since I know what the median is, and if i want a stronger or weaker monster, I just use a number closer to the minimum or maximum amount of hit dice.
My players also love d6 group-based initiative in our 5e game, and even THAT rule is listed in the DMG and not many people realize it!
Loved this episode. You're the channel to watch for great advice on running D&D of any variety. By the way I loved your Deathbringer Deep Thoughts for today. Mr. Belvedere ad promo was hilarious and totally unexpected.
Thanks. Share the video with those you love. Or are mildly friendly with.
The most significant changes to my 5e games have been XP for treasure instead of combat and assigning a level of Exhaustion each time a PC reaches 0 hit points.
I've used average damage for monsters and Hero Points before. Might try using Static Initiative, since I usually group monsters together.
The last one saves a lot of time. When you only have 2-3hrs per session it makes a difference.
Love proficiency dice. It's really fun and my players love it. Also use the average damage on monsters. Speeds up combat so much. Do players metagame this a little? Sure, but I also think it makes them more open to crazy tactics when they can estimate the risks, which I feel increases the fun overall.
Static monster damage is a great speed tool. I allow players to choose a similar mechanic for dealing damage on their end. once they start rolling lots of dice, they can drop some of them and take average damage for them. 7d6 fireball? or 3d6+14? A lot of my players like rolling dice...but they hate rolling LOW...so many will pawn some dice to ensure at least an OK result when rolling.
Static Initiative - I think this could be used for Characters as well as Monsters
I always use the static initiative for monsters but if the monster is a boss I will add +2 to 4 for just the one.
I think next game I run I'm going to use static initiative and average damage. Though I think I'll still roll dice for more notable monsters (which should also be nice to tip off players that there's something more to that combat).
I like having the players defend against monster attacks rather than the DM rolling to hit PCs. It more fun to have the players rolling the dice and if something goes horribly wrong, it's because of a bad roll by the player instead of a great roll by the DM. It feels like it puts the fate of the characters in the players' hands.
That can be a lot of fun.
This a really neat idea! So you basically just subtract the monster's attack bonus from their AC and the player has to roll UNDER that # to avoid damage? Gives something to look forward to for those players that 'always roll low' on the dice! :)
@@jeremycraft2445 You can add 12 to the monster's attack bonus to get the target number to defend against the attack, then subtract 10 from the character's AC and what's left is the bonus (or penalty) to the character's defense rolls.
@@nlwintle My idea was basically to have the player effectively roll the To Hit for the monsters, but wanting to roll low (obviously). That seems simpler to me, although if you want to keep high=good, then your method obviously works. Cheers!
@@jeremycraft2445 There's no wrong way to hack an RPG as long as it works for your table. It's one of the things I love about the hobby.
I really enjoy your content. Favorite rule if you can narrate your actions better than the dice can roll once per session skip the roll. If you can explain what it is you want to do and it is awesome whether brave or dastardly and it is going to advance the story then I am happy to allow. Doesn't mean that you win the boss fight without a roll, but if you have a cool idea it guarantees each player gets an opportunity to shine in every session at something fitting for their character.
Cool idea!
I've been trying out being a dice-less GM. The players roll a defensive roll when monsters attavk and the players roll damage taken as well. And if there are any hidden rolls I need to make for things behind the scenes, I tell them to nominate one player to roll a "Fate" d20
I agree with you on everything but on the last two, the average damage and initiative, I use fantasy grounds and it makes that super easy so I don't need to dumb down The rules to use them. If I didn't have fantasy grounds I would definitely follow your advice there.
I never heard damage follows through or hero points! I'm adding those!
I never liked giving inspiration because it feels like favoritism even if I give it out evenly overall. If I give it to just one person, I feel pressure to give it to more people...
Damage following through will be so fun! I will do it for monsters against players too! ~evil laugh~
I go one further than Crawford, and unless every player rolls exceptionally well on initiative, I usually just put the monster in the middle of the initiative order. So if the players roll 19, 16, 11 and 8, I put the monsters after the 16. If theres a boss ill usually put them second in initiative and their minions at the bottom. My players have never noticed or commented
I would like fo say that I probably use most of these rules and my players love it. I love encumbrance, tracking arrows, food, water, etc.
The ranger tracks arrows in mine.. and, knowing a bit about archery. I have him roll to recover arrows, or salvage arrows from fallen enemy. Not all arrows are the same.. and consistancy is required for skilled archery.
Cool. I talk about the importance of that stuff in my Mapping video. It can save a character's life.
@@hendo5332 you could also dot quivers around the map like item pickups in a video game if say there was an ambush or a battle. Arrows would be deployed by the bushel in a battle because archers might carry about a dozen but go through them in a matter of minutes. Actually, might be a good idea to allow player-created item caches in a combat.
I'm going to try the proficiency die! My players will love it!
The 1d4 for proficiency and static initiative are hot ideas. Definitely going to implement those to my game! But the static damage dealt by non-PCs seems really washed out to me.
As the DM i always publicly roll my damage dice. It adds to the immersion to my players to really see just how much damage their PC is going to be damaged by, not just waiting for me to tell them a description and some number.
LOVE that cleave rule, never noticed it before! Do you think the 'undamaged' part is key? I mean let's say you've got an enemy down to 1 HP....slice through him and hit the guy next to him too?
These are great tip PDM. In one of your other videos you mentioned that bosses only need to be hit like 5-7 times, iirc. That really helped me getna greta basline for a boss. Are there any other meta or game developers tips or tricks like that to dispense?
I don't like using average damage as it removed those moments of extra tension when the players see you face as you roll a lot higher than you expected. I would however be much more inclined to use average damage if it had some inbuilt variance to. Something as simple as rolling an appropriate dice equal to roughly 20%-ish of the average damage, then flipping a coin to decide whether to add or remove that from the average damage. Still quicker than adding up 8 dice, but adding just enough variance to keep things more interesting. For the statblock simply: Bite attack deals 14 damage +/- 1d4.
Wonderful. Had no idea about some of these. I really like the carry over damage and the barbarians would too ;D
0:40 I made this rule a weapon feature called cleave.
I run my game on roll20 and unfortunately the Crawford initiative system would actually take a little extra time there because I would have to hand input the initiative. In a similar fashion the average monster damage is redundant there because it automatically rolls the damage for me and I do get that nice variable damage. Heck I take a little bit of extra time and instead of using the average hit points for most monsters unless it's a massive horde. I roll individual hit points for the monsters. This keeps things interesting even though it cost me a little more time during preparation. I like the idea of the hero points and I'm probably going to implement them though they will not be able to hoard it I will use them as from the DMG as I use a Homebrew inspiration system. Proficiency dice are interesting I just don't know if I want to implement them at this time
I still carry a 10' pole with me everywhere. I'm currently working in the library and I have it sitting next to me 😛
I guess I missed these rules, I'm going to start using them. I think my players are going to like them too!
I'm super resistant to the average damage per hit. I don't think my players will like it either.
Especially for massive monster damage I love rolling loads of dice and I'm gonna take my time with it and ask my players for their dice because I've run out. For particular monsters I load up my dice cup every round, like a Steam Golem with a boiler that heats up. The players can watch the damage accumulate without knowing when it will hit and it is glorious. But I agree that for lots of generic monsters the average is a great time saver.
Average damage is good when you play irl. It is really automated playing online. But when you have some sort of war game session and there are 50 orcs and 30 defenders, ofc it’s easier to use average damage!
Lotta fun energy, Prof!
My top rule that nobody uses is my answer to "Action Economy".
It's very simple.
I call it Counter Attack.
All it is, is that a missed attack always incurs attack of opportunity & missed counter attacks.
This makes it just as dangerous to swarm an enemy as it is to get swarmed, makes for some fun & bloody imagery, & negates a lot of player/dm cheese in combat.
You need to talk about sanity rules!
Magic Weapons each + add a dice to damage Fighter class love crit, passive CHA, Inspiration dice stack... 😏
Wow, Deathbringer likes Mr Belvedere? I used to watch that show.
Cool new intro!! Who did the a art?
Trade secret.
Now how would I play as Mr. Belvedere in DnD?
As always, thanks for the great videos!
So I am about to start a new campaign using Deathbringer as my base rules, just wanted to get something clear: so if I have 1 deathbringer die on level 1, If I don't use it this session I will have 2 next one?
Players handbook Pg 175 help action
Tl:Dr if you are proficient in the same skill as someone else in your party you can give them advantage on a skill check
Handling Mobs, p250 of the DMG. Makes it easy and effecient to have masses of enemies to throw at the heroes, without having tons of dice rolls.
i'm an old school d&Der, far as i'm concerned still no so thing as an addition number for the game, but always been confused by the 10' pole thing, how u carry that thing in a dungeon, let alone out in the open?
Definitely going to be using hero points
I only use average damage. I have 7 players, combat gets bogged down if I don't cut out as much extraneous fluff as possible.
Spell Components and VSM. Everyone just casts like they have focuses.
Static initiative and average damage I will definitely use.
Where are hero points in the books?
Can't remember. All the good stuff is in the DMG, in the back under "Optional Rules."
I'd try average damage. I'd probably roll it if the average would knock them out, though
It all sounds good.
Great content!
I cant bring myself to do avg monster dmg tho I see the potential benefits. Randomness is too important. I dont want my players to be able to know exactly the HP they will take on hit. Once 1 Ogre hits you, it becomes easy to plan for when the next one hits.
Fighter: "Well ogres do 11 dmg so I can fight with 3 of them at once and worst case scenario im taking 33hp a round."
Cleric: "worst case scenario i need to heal the fighter in 2 rounds"
I like to think I have pretty good players but hands down this would happen if I used average damage. It wouldn't even be discussed it would just happen subconsciously because its too easy.
I have posted about static initiative on your facebook group before, except I called it something like Initiaitve Checks or something. Where's my praise?
I use average damage and average initiative for monsters (average bonus + d20). If the monsters have a leader, they can use the leader's bonus if higher. All monsters attack at the same turn.
The cleaving rule sucks since it's only for "undamaged creatures".. i don't understand how a half-dead goblin can stop a cleave, while a fully healthy goblin cannot... it just doesn't make sense to me..
You should have Nabisco sponsor live from adhesive Tom's