#lungguppies

[wilwheaton]

Have you ever tried (any version of) Shadowrun? You've probably gotten this question before, but I'm curious about what you think about the setting.

I like the idea of the setting, but I never got into it enough to play it. I was DEEP into GURPS at that time.

I know. I know.

[tetedurfarm]

Can I just say that looking at Rosette and your entire bunny body language post was amazing and kind of a treat to see? I babysat a few buns a couple months back and a well-meaning friend said I was abusing them by tucking them on their backs (to check nail length and ensure everything was okay low-side). They both snuggle up and snooze when on their backs because they've been handled since basically birth. I just really appreciate the clarification in such a well-documented and caring post.

thank you!!  i feel like in this day and age people forget sometimes we HAVE to make our animals uncomfortable for their own good, and that there’s ways to make them less comfortable (or even perfectly comfortable,) in these necessary situations and that putting animals outside of their comfort zone isn’t a bad thing.  after all, nothing about domestication is “natural”!

[r00ib0s]

what's the story behind the "a bastard" emoji thing? is it just idle character stuff? my ranger was recently charmed and nearly murdered one of the party barbarians in cold blood during a boss fight--i kind of want to do a riff on this image with her, if that's okay..?

god yes, absolutely do stupid dnd character memes

i just drew hal a couple thousand times and his face is basically :-3 on default, look at him, what a piece of shit

[americankimchi]

Opinion on either of the CR gnomes? Or both?

im gonna talk about scanlan :L

How I feel about this character

YA BOI SCANLAN!! BACK AT IT AGAIN AT KRISPY KREME

I FUCKING LOVE!!! THIS IDIOT GNOME WHAT A STELLAR GNOME WHAT A FANTASTIC BARD WHAT AN AMAZING FRIEND!!!!!!!

ALSO I CAN’T BELIEVE PANLAN IS CANON I FU CKGING!!!

/ASTRALLY PROJECTS MY ENTIRE FUCKING SOUL INTO SCANLAN SHORTHALT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All the people I ship romantically with this character

P I K E oh ym fu cfk…… 

also vax :L

My non-romantic OTP for this character

grog and scanlan the buddy cop duo we never knew we wanted

also vaxlan is good and pure and i can’t believe this fandom’s fuckin sleepin on this amazing dynamic y’all failed me big time

My unpopular opinion about this character

i was team scanlan the entire time i never disagreed with his reaction before he left like he said some bad things but honestly he’d died twice within the span of a day i think he’s entitled to some negative emotions at the very least

he’d also woke up post-death in a very humiliating position and that’s really fucked up if you think about it and honestly everything he said was true??? poorly worded and delivered in a very confrontational way but who here can say that anything he said was false??? imo i was firmly team scanlan and i rejoiced when he returned all y’all scanlan haters can miss me with that fuck shit

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I CAN’T FUCK GIN BELIEVE!!!!!! PIKELAN ISN’T CANON LIKE… OUT OF ALL THE SHIPS IN VM…. I THOUGHT……………. THE FLAGSHIP……………. I JSTU……………………… ????????????????????????

[hceinart]

is it okay to do a spoof/spin-off of your OC self-projecting doodle (with you posted as the original source)? i want to do a version where my D&D character breaks a chair over my head.

that doodle was rather personal so im sorry but im not comfortable with other people redrawing it to fit themselves :(

+ someone has already added an alternative doodle to the post, you can reblog that one if you like

so yeah, sorry and thanks for asking

[legendlarkpod]

You guys actually make me homesick for the Twin Cities, Starbucks coffee, giant drifts of snow, and even the pasty white butts hanging out as people repair their overheated cars.

Come on back. The endless winter is almost upon us. You can leave the cities, but the cities will never leave you~*~*~

[lungguppies]

Witches

I get the power trip of turning some trespassing douche wagon into a toad but be practical! A mule or pony would be much more useful.

[likeafoxdm]

A Super Weird Slime-Mold Monster!

I was spit balling with @lungguppies and we made a weird slime mold! enjoy! (The CR should probably be more like a 4 but... well just try it and you’ll see, its a weird one to figure out)

[dalish-farther-roam]

Dungeons and Dragon Age

Tonight we played both games, the dungeons And the dragons. And also I guess the... Age? Anyway, in my Dragon Age d&d game, a lot of shit happened and I wanna talk about it ‘cause I’m real excited!

The team FINALLY cured their lycanthropy before they transformed, possibly making the condition permanent. They sacrificed a super badass magic item to allow the wolf that infected them to return to her human state and reunited a family. It was touching, and the 3/4 members of the party with family issues basically pulled a Mustang. 

They set up a plan to find out who charmed the Ranger, @lungguppies‘s Aislinn, into trying and almost succeeding in killing our Berserker, @istehlurvz‘s Ozazli. 

They also identified some cool new magic items, were rewarded skyrim style with a sweet new weapon which means that my Reaver, Dirthari for this game and my monk, Amon, for my other game are both wielding obsidian weapons.  They also whipped out the two most powerful items they have found to identify, the Box of Suggestion, which is a trap I never expected them to pick up and take, which when opened, casts mass suggestion with the command “return the box to the pedestal and wait.” A clever trap that ensured most people would spend the next 30 days waiting and die of hunger. the mage wasn’t able to identify it without opening the box, so thats all the info they have still. They also broke out the Shattered Crown, an item they found upon the head of Kuul’Shok, the Unquenched. A powerd up Deathkiss using the crown’s power to make thralls it could drink from indefinitely, yet never feeling satisfied. It was once wielded by the Lost King of Orzammar, who was exiled for using it to control whole swaths of the populace, bending them to his will. It was broken, he was exiled and buried with the pieces. the demon found them, put them back together. When Aislinn wore it for like, a second once, she realized she could use it to make anyone do anything she wanted. Well, that power easily corrupts, as the history of the Crown shows. And when this kindly old scholar cast identify on it, he went a little... 

He really wanted it. “to study, to learn from” etc etc. The party wisely refused, and @ghostering‘s Cyrus, our rogue/warlock multiclass intimidated him, using a charge from special eye, a gift from his patron. It is golden, and magical, and had been confunding the mages who cast detect magic in his presence, as it didn’t quite show up in the spell but seemed almost a little blurry to them. The mage gazed into Cyrus’ eye and the Eye gazed back... the mage’s nose bled, and he passed out. 

The party won some cool items, lost one, identified a couple and maybe made a problem they’ll have to work out later. Oh, and upon returning to their Inn, they received a mysterious note, signed only “O.” asking for a clandestine meeting in the Blackfens at midnight. What awaits our heroes? Will the old mage simply move on and forget about the Crown? Will they be able to break it again, and scatter the pieces? Will our poor group of friends ever catch a goddamn break? Time will tell! 

[dalish-farther-roam]

@lungguppies @istehlurvz what language is this?

[momochanners]

Saline eyedrops don't necessarily with healing styes, but if you put them in the fridge (sealed in some kind of plastic to keep it isolated from foodstuffs), it can feel REAL GOOD on some sore eyeballs. This trick also helped my spouse's pain after getting lasik eye surgery. The rest is using hot compresses to improve blood flow. :\ Sorry! Hope it improves soon!

Thanks for the tip! The hot compresses have helped a lot, and the pain has mostly gone...though the lower lid does itch a bit. But I’ll keep this advice in mind should I be unfortunate enough to get it again T_T

[dalish-farther-roam]

I LOVE combo attacks! I would definitely allow my players to try something like these!

Hint hint @lungguppies @ghostering @istehlurvz

D&D: Teamup Attacks

A neat way to encourage teamwork and partnership midcombat: get a bonus when you combine your action with another character! You’ve probably seen things like it before in comics and action movies. The “fastball special” when Colossus throws Wolverine at an enemy. Hawkeye firing an arrow with Ant-Man hiding microscopically on the arrowhead. The ol’ one-two.

The mechanic I’m using for this is to let players use a teamup attack whenever two players roll the same intiative result, but you could feasibly let them do it if they ready their actions appropriately and make proper rolls for whatever they are trying to do. But otherwise, you just add some sort of condition or bonus damage to the attack, along with the regular damage from both players’ attacks. It’s that easy! After the first teamup attack, the players resolve initiative normally by figuring out which player has the higher modifier or rerolling.

The fun part of this mechanic is you or your players coming up with a special attack! Check out some examples I came up with below.

Fastball Special

Half-Orc Barbarian + Halfling Rogue: The Barbarian uses their strength to throw the rogue at an unwary enemy! The attack deals the regular sneak attack damage plus the barbarian’s regular attack damage, and then knocks the target prone.

Timber!

Fighter + Druid: The Druid casts Entangle or Thorn Whip or some such spell to wrap up the target’s feet, setting up the Fighter (or any martial class, really) to knock them down with a heavy blow to the torso or head. This deals the Druid’s normal damage from the spell (if applicable) and then the Fighter’s damage, plus knocks the target prone.

Shadow Boxing

Way of Shadow Monk + Assassin Rogue: Alternating attacks from each player jumping out of hiding and back into the shadows between each strike confuses the enemy. The target has disadvantage on all attacks during its next turn and cannot move more than 5 feet. It also takes the Monk’s and Rogue’s regular attack damage.

Nail on the Head

Great Weapon Paladin + Archery Ranger: The Ranger hits the creature with an arrow, and then the Paladin follows through with their two-handed maul, hammering the arrow deeper into the creature’s wound. This deals regular damage from the Paladin and Ranger plus causes the creature to bleed for 1d4 damage each round for three rounds.

Come to Deity

Paladin + Cleric: One of the players sweeps the target’s feet and the other whacks the back of their head, causing the target to fall into a kneeling position before the two holy heroes. The damage from both players coupled with their righteous auras causes the creature to become Frightened for one round.

Who Turned Out the Lights?

Fighter + Rogue: The Rogue pulls some of the target’s clothing or a bag over the target’s head, blinding them for 1 round if they are subject to such a condition. The Fighter and Rogue then wail on the creature with their attacks, each of which is made at advantage.

Soul Shred

Good Cleric + Fiend Warlock: The two players blast the target with spells of both fiendish and celestial energy, like an Eldritch Blast and Sacred Flame. The diametric energies surge through the target and vibrate enough to damage their very soul. The creature gains 1d3 levels of Exhaustion in addition to regular damage.

Elemental Convergence

Sorcerer + Wizard: The two spellcasters cast spells with different energy types simultaneously. The target(s) are Stunned for one round from their bodies trying to recover from the shock to their system. The creature or creatures take regular damage from the spells.

Harmonic Spell

Bard + Sorcerer: The Bard guides the energy of the Sorcerer’s spell with their musical magic, fascinating everyone who can see the spell (but not the initial targets of the spell). These creatures gain disadvantage on Perception checks and have their attention drawn to the spell’s effect, even if they were in the middle of combat, giving their enemies a chance to make Stealth checks. The Bard adds a die equal to their Bardic Inspiration die to the Sorcerer’s spell damage, without expending a use of Bardic Inspiration.

Arcane Epiphany

Wizard + Wizard of different school: The two Wizards combine the culmination of their studies to reach a magical revelation of sorts. They can each combine a spell from their chosen schools of magic to create a new spell, limited only by the imagination of the two players. For example, a Shocking Grasp and Phantom Steed launches an electrified steed at the target, becoming a regular Phantom Steed after the damage is dealt. The spell combines the damage of both base spells plus 2d6 damage, if either of the spells deal damage.

Rain of Arrows/Torrent of Blows

Ranger + Ranger: The two Rangers barrage the target with either their dual weapons or multiple arrows. The creature hesitates offering each ranger time for an additional attack in addition to their regular attacks, each at -1.

Look Behind You

Archery Ranger + Rogue: The Ranger and Rogue attack from hiding and use each other’s attacks to distract the creature from one another. The attacks deal a bonus 1d4 damage and do not reveal either player’s hiding place.

Beastcall

Bard + Druid: The Bard’s music combines with the Druid’s natural affinity to call a woodland creature to aid in the battle. This round, the Bard and Druid both deal damage from their respective spells or attacks. Next round, between the Druid and Bard’s initiative, a beast of CR 2 or less arrives to make an attack against a target the Bard and Druid agree upon, using the higher of the two characters’ proficiency modifiers to the attack and damage rolls. The beast then retreats back into the wilderness.

Eldritch Infusion

Warlock + Barbarian: The Warlock infuses the Barbarian’s open mind with the force of their patron to fuel their rage. The Warlock can use its action each round to maintain this bond. While infused, the Barbarian’s last attack each round deals damage equal to the Warlock’s Eldritch Blast damage plus 1d10 additional damage.

Dragoncall

Cleric + Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer: Through the Cleric’s exaltation to the draconic deities and the Sorcerer’s draconic origin, the two of you call a dragon to your aid. The Cleric and Sorcerer deal no damage this round. Next round, however, a Young dragon of the Cleric’s or Sorcerer’s choice arrives to use its breath weapon on a 15′ radius area they agree upon, using the dragon’s regular damage and saving throw. The dragon then leaves once its air raid is complete. (this one is a bit of a stretch, but I think that it’s fair if they forego their damage for a round to gain about 16d6 (possibly halved) damage on a small area.)

edit: It was also brought to my attention that Pathfinder’s Teamwork feats are a great example for these! Two I liked were Cover Fire and Harder They Fall. The former lets you use your ranged attacks to also use the Aid action, which i think still works in 5e. The latter lets you help an ally make a bull rush (Shove in 5e) attempt against a creature two sizes bigger than normal, which sounds like something that can be adapted! Even if you don’t use an explicit mechanic, always remember to think outside the box during he game and use teamwork to your advantage!

[lungguppies]

Okay, but imagine humans stepping into the galactic community and introducing other species to the A E S T H E T I C

alien: why did you set that adequately prepared ethanol-heavy beverage on fire human?

human: because fire makes it BETTER

[dalish-farther-roam]

@lungguppies I know you're often curious about how other dms prepare sessions and since I can't really show you any of my campaign stuff (they contain secrets), figured I'd share these!

Hi sorry, I was wondering where it was that Matt posts his DM notes? I’m new to critical role and I didn’t realise this was something that Matt does! I also really love reading all your CR meta, you’re so thoughtful and insightful!! Thank you so much!

Hey anon! He doesn’t post DM notes very often, but when he does, it’s on his Twitter. The ones he’s posted so far are (to my knowledge):

C2E50 (The Endless Burrows)

C2E17 (Harvest Close)

C1E60 (Hereditary and Hats)

I hope that helps! And thank you :D

[dalish-farther-roam]

Dungeons and Dragon Age this week

     A moment that I think got overshadowed by 1) the bare knuckles fighting tournament, 2) the guest PCs turned NPC from an amazing in-universe one-shot @lungguppies ran recently and 3) the new super cool fighty NPCs, was the Ranger (Aislinn) and @ghostering‘s Rogue/warlock (Cyrus) getting gifts for their barbarian buddies, one of whom, the Beserker ( @istehlurvz‘s Ozazli) had never received a gift and the other of which, my Reaver (Dirthari) hadn’t received one that was non-functional since her mother got sick years and years ago. They got her a cute new dress to fight in and they got Oz some dragon scale earrings, and even some armor for her dog, Rock. The barbs learned something about each other, and were reduced to tears and hugs instantly. This coming the week after a series of events I was concerned might tear a rift in the group.

      I love these nerds, and how they cling to each other, almost desperately. 

      In the end, Dirthari won the tournament by default, after Oz lost to a hulking NPC with a plain wooden mask who fucking DESTROYED her with TEN STRAIGHT HITS never dealing less than double digit damage. She didn’t go down after that assault, and seems to have won some respect.       Then That guy, called “The Breaker” for obvious reasons goes up against the reigning champ of this tournament; a teeny tiny dwarf lady. The bell goes off, and they stare each other down, motionless, for minutes. Then she drops into a stance and lunges at him, preparing to strike with only two fingers. Before the hit lands, The Breaker forfeits. “I know when I’m beaten.” he says. Then it is meant to be Dirthari against the champ, but she never shows up for that fight, and then Breaker is gone too. Oz splits the second place prize with the other 2 runners up, Di gets the title and the prize.        Oh, and yeah, the horribly magically powerful crown the party were struggling to figure out what to do with was stolen from them by a figure who managed to teleport away, which exactly 0 people in this universe are meant to be capable of. 

[dalish-farther-roam]

Any player may, at any time, roll to maintain composure. The player decides the DC and the outcome. We fail these rolls a lot.

@istehlurvz @ghostering @lungguppies

Reblog this with your favourite D&D house rules

A few of my personal favourites are:

The DM rolls a d10 for every new PC/NPC to see how attractive they are

If a player is absent from a session the DM will take their turns during combat and it’s referred to as ‘Jaegering’

Getting two nat 20s when rolling at advantage/disadvantage is a ‘legendary success’ and something godlike and occasionally encounter-breaking gets to happen

You’re only allowed to cast Thunderwave if you stick your hands out in front of you and yell THUNDERWAVE

if your character dies, you have to hand over your character sheet to the DM, who tears it up while sad music plays in the background

Our ‘luck’ d20 roll at the start of every new day of travelling has been replaced with ‘roll for breakfast without incident’