Shadowrun
Off-topic => General Gaming => Topic started by: MijRai on <01-17-15/0114:02>
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So, anyone around here playing the newest iteration of the classic? I recently picked up the player's handbook, was sort of curious as to what other folks think. I love what I've seen so far, especially the Oaths for paladins. A free-love holy-power hippie in plate-mail is completely possible now! (That is an over-exaggeration, just so you know.)
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I played it a bit with my gaming group. The character creation and classes are solid, and bring a lot of life to stuff. I like their new balance attempts (every stat caps at 20, AC isn't raised to infinity, etc) to keep it feeling like stuff that is dangerous stays dangerous and your character wouldn't become a god among men by level 9.
The change of spellcasting with the introduction of ritual spells (utility spells that, if you know but don't prepare, you can simple cast with a time consuming ritual instead, spells like Tenser's Floating Disk and such) was a nice touch. I like the changes to the Bard class, and Fighter has a clear and effective niche.
Only thing: when we played, there was no DM Guide and only a prewritten adventure. Don't play that adventure. It's very poorly written. In particular, there's a point where it sets up for your group of level 1 or 2 players to duel a level 4 half-dragon fighter in single combat, and have him one-shot a character and then leave (first taking the time to strike them while they're down, to make it more likely the player loses the character), and if you kill him, he literally just gets replaced by a differently colored version of himself.
Maybe it'd go better for you guys but for my group, it was a trainwreck (although the DM was bad, objectively, so that didn't help). If the DM guide is out now, or if you'd just wing it, the game is very worth trying out though.
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I've heard the first campaign is pretty good as well. The dragon one? A friend of mine has done some of the art in it, and got a copy with his paycheck. From all he's said, it's a fun one.
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Mmkay. Like I said, went badly for us, but either way I wouldn't have it reflect on the game in general.
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Been running a dungeon-crawl with the 5th edition rules and haven't had any complaints...so far. Certainly better then 4th. :)
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Dungeon crawl, you say? What kind?
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I was never a fan of D&D, could never get into it. So I can't really compare 5th Ed with the previous versions. What I know is I've tried 5th edition with some friends, and actually had a wonderful time. For the first time, I'm actually entertaining the thought of starting a D&D campaign now, so at least they managed to convert me :)
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I was never a fan of D&D, could never get into it. So I can't really compare 5th Ed with the previous versions. What I know is I've tried 5th edition with some friends, and actually had a wonderful time. For the first time, I'm actually entertaining the thought of starting a D&D campaign now, so at least they managed to convert me :)
I liked 3.5 and I like Pathfinder. WotC lost my business initially on creating 4th and has now permanently lost their chance at any of my money with 5th.
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Personally, I love what I've read on Fifth. The stream-lining was done in a good way; it got rid of how stupid-high the numbers were getting, among other things. My first RPG was the FATE system, which was a little too streamlined for my tastes, but this has just the right amount of crunch to it. The advantage system is also quite interesting. The de-emphasis of magical loot is great as well, the actual value of a '+1 Sword' is much higher in a thematic sense now, not just in price. I also love what they did with the paladin options.
My main issues are the halfling art (watermelon sized heads, creepy-ass twisted mini-hands, feet the size of hands, and legs that might be 1/4th the total height?), the class system (I'd honestly take a Storyteller or Shadowrun style system over it, much more flexibility, so it's a problem with all D&D type stuff to me) and how they did tone down some of the writing and art for what tey consider a more 'kid-friendly' approach.
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My main issues are the halfling art (watermelon sized heads, creepy-ass twisted mini-hands, feet the size of hands, and legs that might be 1/4th the total height?), the class system (I'd honestly take a Storyteller or Shadowrun style system over it, much more flexibility, so it's a problem with all D&D type stuff to me) and how they did tone down some of the writing and art for what tey consider a more 'kid-friendly' approach.
Hah, sounds like you're just to spoiled by Shadowrun's grittier and mature themes too. Going back to the "generic fantasy setting for all ages" can never be the same. I know once I read the SR4A book the first time, I was like "...This is my new favorite setting, it has everything I will ever want."
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Hah, sounds like you're just to spoiled by Shadowrun's grittier and mature themes too. Going back to the "generic fantasy setting for all ages" can never be the same. I know once I read the SR4A book the first time, I was like "...This is my new favorite setting, it has everything I will ever want."
Partly, I guess. Shadowrun, Exalted and 40K top off my favorite written RPG settings overall (not exactly in that order, it varies from mood to mood). Other than that, I tend towards homebrew, dark fantasy, maybe some elements of horror.
NOTE: I don't like the anime aspects of Exalted all that much. I much prefer the Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern and South-East Asian aspects (particularly the Hindu ones). The Aztec-esque saurian people who rip out the hearts of criminals as offerings to the gods are badass as well.
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Reading through the PHB right now. As this is the first time I've ever had my own copy of any D&D books don't exactly have anything to compare it to. Primary thing that stood out to me was a very clear attempt to buff up fighters to make them absolute beasts in combat. Also that most of the classes has some kind of magic capability; aside from your standard wizards, sorcerers, and warlocks, the othe classes have the potential to learn magic. Either it's stuff right out of the box (paladin and druids) or you could get as sub classes (the rogues' Arcane Trickster, monks' Way of the Four Elements). Not sure what to think of that. Unfortunately, it's going to be a bit before I get to actually play this stuff and run it as DM since I'm already neck-deep in my SR campaign and starting up a Vampire chronicle.
Also, still have yet to hear a credible explanation of why some would rather stick to Pathfinder. Aside from "PCs are overall stronger and more fun to play then 3.5"
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I suppose that I should say something here, since I run the DnD encounters tables at my LGS. 3.5/pathfinder is great for extremely complex and powerful characters. 4.0 is still the fastest running system, and it introduced a new generation to rpgs, due largely to the simplicity of the system. 5.0 is closer to 3.5 than 4.0, and has gone a long way towards making characters, weapons, and threats relevant across the spectrum of experience. Yes, tyranny of dragons could have been better written, but that is the metaplot adventure, not the ruleset. All in all, comparing the three, I would have to say that 5.0 is the best. And that's coming from one of the "game geezers" on here (started with DnD before ADnD was available, started running shadows in '90). Take it for whatever you think it's worth.
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What I like in any game-system, be it D&D 5th or Shadowrun or any other, is two things. If a player, enjoying playing the system. If game-mastering, running a good story and keeping my players on their toes. ;D
Been playing D&D since 2nd edition and don't mind Pathfinder. 'Course I read a ton of fiction, (fantasy, sci-fi, ectra...), and also an admitted cinophile; so spinning a good tale for my group takes precedent over straight hack'n'slash or pillage/burn campaigns. ;)
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I ended up making the kids of the 3.5 character I used. Love the reintroduction of the Dragon lineage for sorcerers. Albert I miss Favored Soul but that was not really a core class... Anyone play any interesting campaigns?
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Well, I've decided to bite the bullet and start a campaign in my area (since the game I was supposed to be in was cancelled an hour before we were supposed to meet). Going to start with the Hoard of the Dragon Queen (I read it, and I don't see where the problems are yet) and branch out into my own campaign once I and the group I gather get to know the system. Any advice from people who've got some 5th Edition experience already?
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What I have done in running that adventure for the Encounters system in my LGS is to make it as fun as possible for my players. I now run three tables for this, and each one has a different personality. I have done things like make travel have random encounters such as a giant spider ambush or pirate/bandit attack to keep travel from being boring. The first couple of episodes can get very long in the environment of official play, as I had to keep adding players, and thus had to run more of the individual scenes, so that as many as possible had leveled by the end of the episode. If you are not running it as official, then you should not have this problem. if I were running this at home, I would select the scenes that I liked and that I thought my players would enjoy overcoming the most, and just use those. There is no need to use everything the adventure has. Would you like to know my procedure for character creation?
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I'm running it at a local game store, but it's not anything 'official'. I'm just gathering a small pack of players to loose upon my foes and laugh as they cower in terr-
Oops, I went off on a tangent. Anyways, I'm just running the Hoard of the Dragon Queen to start while I polish up my homebrew setting/campaign, and to weed out the inevitable negative players. So, I'll be going by the book. Thanks for the offer on your version of character creation, but I've got that covered.
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OK..I ran a short run 5th Edition campaign over November-December, and am now playing in one being run
by one of our players. The system is rather straight forward. It basicly has a kind of tiered system, as well.
1st and 2nd Level characters are still the msot basic there are, with 3rd level where most pick their special
option. Healing Word should be the go-to healing spell for anyone who has access to it, as it is both ranged,
and is cast as a BONUS ACTION(meaning that it is cast, and you can drop a cantrip or do another action). Cantrips
(aka 0th level, always have them, cna cast them indefinately) spells are actually dangerous. The variant human,
which is just +1 to any two ability scores, then any skill, and then a feat is a truly great option to take, as is the standard
human that just gets +1 to all ability scores. So, either way, for once there is a mechanical reason to take a Human.
Bard has been changed to a full on spell caster, not a dabbler, though they have no offensive cantrips. (my solution to
this? I made a Human, took the Magic Initiate: Warlock feat, and got 2 Warlock Cantrips and a 1st level warlock spell to
cast once a day n addition to my bard 1st level spells.) That they made it that a Bard picks at 3rd level if they are going to
be loremasters or fighting bards helps address the old problem of a bard being not particularly good at anything.
One thing I really like is how it makes classes that have to prepare spells, and spontaneous casters better defined. The
Spontaneous casters have a limited number of spells they can know, while the prepared casters have a limited number
of spells they can prepare. However, unlike previous editions, yu do noot have to prepare a spell multiple times. Say you
can prepare 5 spells a day, but can cast 3 1st level and 2 2nd. Well, you could prepare magic missile, identify, and thunder
wave, and shield from 1st level spells, and only Melf's Acid Arrow from 2nd. That means you can cast any of those 1st level
spells up to 3 times if you had to, or Melf's acid arrow twice, or you could cast Magic Missile twice as a 2nd level spell..
Because, in this edition, you can cast a spell as a higher level, using up a slot of that level, and get more effect out of it.
One thing I miss are bonus spell slots for high attributes. However, that is not that big a deal..since Cantrips are so powerful
now. (There are cantrips that deal potential of 1d12 or 1d10 damage at first level! And their damage goes up as you hit
certain levels.)
One thing I don't like is that the highest end plate armor is rather low AC. However, that armor worn by a Fighter with Defender,
and who takes the Heavy Armor Mastery Feat is going to be darned hard to hit, considering the proficiency bonus caps at +5,
and a strength or dex of 2o(the maximum) caps it at +5 bonus.
Their concept of an XP budget is also a useful tool for GMs. Figure out how much XP the PCs should be getting from an encounter.
More, it helps work out a balanced encounter. Do not throw a 14 goblins and a Goblin Chief, for example, against a party of 6 level 1's,
for example, because that is 150 XP for each player..50 XP more then a deadly encounter..
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Thanks for the advice! Let's see...
Healing word = Good.
Humans = Good.
Bards = Full Caster.
Better Definition between Spontaneous and Prepared.
I did the math on armor already, you can get a max of 21 with Defender (+1), Platemail (18, you can't add Dex to Heavy armor), Shield (+2). There's a few other AC boosters and magic items that can improve that, but not by too much.
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I did the math on armor already, you can get a max of 21 with Defender (+1), Platemail (18, you can't add Dex to Heavy armor), Shield (+2). There's a few other AC boosters and magic items that can improve that, but not by too much.
Well, when you add magic armor and shield, you can get +3 from each, for a 27, then add a ring of protection for another +1, a cloak of protection for another +1, and just to make it hard to kill you, a ring of regeneration and heavy armor master feat. So that's a 29 AC, damage reduction of 3 from normal weapons, and regeneration, all on a fighter that can potentially have improved critical and the survivor feature. Combat monster, anyone?
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I did the math on armor already, you can get a max of 21 with Defender (+1), Platemail (18, you can't add Dex to Heavy armor), Shield (+2). There's a few other AC boosters and magic items that can improve that, but not by too much.
Well, when you add magic armor and shield, you can get +3 from each, for a 27, then add a ring of protection for another +1, a cloak of protection for another +1, and just to make it hard to kill you, a ring of regeneration and heavy armor master feat. So that's a 29 AC, damage reduction of 3 from normal weapons, and regeneration, all on a fighter that can potentially have improved critical and the survivor feature. Combat monster, anyone?
There is a solution to every problem.
And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.
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I did the math on armor already, you can get a max of 21 with Defender (+1), Platemail (18, you can't add Dex to Heavy armor), Shield (+2). There's a few other AC boosters and magic items that can improve that, but not by too much.
Well, when you add magic armor and shield, you can get +3 from each, for a 27, then add a ring of protection for another +1, a cloak of protection for another +1, and just to make it hard to kill you, a ring of regeneration and heavy armor master feat. So that's a 29 AC, damage reduction of 3 from normal weapons, and regeneration, all on a fighter that can potentially have improved critical and the survivor feature. Combat monster, anyone?
And then you just hit him with stuff that needs a Wisdom or Charisma or even a Dexterity save. It is not going to be full proof, mind you, but
those are going to hit for at least half damage, which is better then no damage.