[OOC] DnD 5e - Beginner's Game

[Ermine]

I'll put up the OOC here, I guess. Just so we have it. Most of the stuff is going to be based on the characters, so the rest of the info has to wait. I'll make a homebrewery "book" once we have some more information, since I can hold all we need on there AND make it pretty.

Homebrewery Article: All the public information I have collected about our world and characters.

If anyone wants to playtest the classes and stuff I converted/made: It's right here. I don't really expect anyone to do so. Obviously. And if you DO, expect lots of changes throughout. It doesn't have everything I've made for 5e so far (like the hexslinger fighter archetype, but I know that one's balanced just fine), just the stuff based on Dreamscarred Press' non-psionic stuffs for Pathfinder. (Also, that is what I mean by a "homebrewery book").

I'm cool with 3rd party and Unearthed Arcana stuff. I have a lot of it (well, ALL the Unearthed Arcana so far), but if I don't, just make sure I see it. I'd prefer, since it's a game with beginner players, to use the stuff from the core book, but totally understand if those are boring or whatever. I mean...I did make homebrew stuff, which means I had other things I wanted and couldn't play. -shrug-

Character Creation Steps:
0. We will use Myth-Weavers for our sheets, since they're nice and clean, and don't have excess detail. I may even just copy sheets over to the homebrewery page for us and update as we go.
1. Choose a race for your character. If you don't like any of the races available to you, I'll help you find others, design you what you want, or just say "use the stats for this but it's really this other race." The last one's for if you want a new race, but it would share basically all the abilities of an existing race. Subraces are also an option, of course.
2. Choose a class you want for your character. See #1 for other stuffs related to that.
3. Allocate ability scores. We will be using the standard set instead of rolling (my favorite) or point-buy solely for simplicity. This means you will put these numbers in whichever ability score (strength, dexterity, etc) you wish: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. This step can be Step 1 if you prefer, but having the other two steps first makes it easier to decide where to put them, unless you have a clear idea in mind.
4. Choose a background for your character. Again, perfectly willing to work with you to make another, but they cover most of what you'd probably want just fine.
5. If there's anything you want to buy, you get some starting gold from both your background and class (the class gold is listed in the equipment chapter) with which to buy stuff. Both because of #7 instead of the usual "either."
6. I will roll a random trinket for you to start with. Go ahead and attach whatever meaning you want to it. If you end up with a silver raven statuette, for example, maybe you worship the Raven Queen (which is not listed in the book for some reason, but is an unaligned goddess of death, and seasonal goddess of winter), or killed someone who worshiped her, or maybe you were saved by a mysterious stranger who gave it to you. Maybe it has no meaning and it's just something fun you have (I personally like the square of fabric that unfolds into a stylish hat, which is even funnier because the person who has it in our group is the dragonborn). It may not even have meaning or be interesting at all to your character. I'd really prefer it wasn't this last one, so I'll reroll if it's something you absolutely do not want. Keep in mind, they're usually not particularly useful.
7. We're starting at 3rd level. Use your class's suggested HP (so for classes with a d10 hit die, this is 6) per level, adding Constitution as normal.

At any point during this list, feel free to describe your character. The minimum, of course, is an age, height, weight, hair/skin/scale/feather/whatever color, and sex. Can expand with gender, sexual orientation, notable scars, notable birthmarks, a picture, etc. We do want to know what your character looks and acts like. Thankfully, the "what your character acts like" part can potentially be covered with random rolls from your background.

@Monster@JBRam2002@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Mesonyx@CaughtInTheRiddle
There we go. OOC post AND a character creation guide. I will gladly answer (and ask!) questions now~
Questions such as: Do you guys want to level up with experience, or all just level up at the same time at certain points in the story? Won't be much of a difference. Since this is on a forum, and "missed games" aren't as much of a thing, it's basically just me asking "do you want me to track experience or do you want to do it?"

Character Questionnaire

These questions are all directed toward your character to see their opinions and worldview - and what in the world they have seen! The more you say, the more I have to work with, but if you don't have much to say, that's okay, too. These are just to get you thinking about it, not to make you uncomfortable in any way.

1) Why do you adventure? If you weren't an adventurer, what would you do? Is this your first adventure? What do you think of the non-adventuring life of most people?
2) Do you have any nicknames? Did you have any while growing up? Why were you given these nicknames?
3) What inspires your choice of clothing?
4) Where were you born? Where did you grow up? Where do you live now? (keep in mind, you're making up places for this)
5) Who were your parents - do you even know? Are they still alive? If not, what became of them? If so, do you get along with them? Are you yourself a parent? Have you ever been? Are you married?
6) What training do you have? Were you an apprentice? A student? Self-taught? When and how did you first learn you could do what you do?
7) What other jobs have you had?
8) What are the important moments of your life? (As in like the "where were you when JFK was shot/the towers fell/whatever other major events there have been" type of moments, both good and bad)
9) Do you have any likes? Dislikes? Hobbies? Goals? Especially goals. Have they changed over the years?
10) Who/what is your most valued person? Possession? Concept? Have they changed over the years?
11) Why are you that alignment?
12) Is there a line you won't cross, no matter what? Things like "I'll kill people, but only if they deserve it" or "I'll never kill a child, even if they're responsible for the deaths of hundreds, or possessed by a demon."
13) What is your greatest fear? What would make you happiest?
14) What is your stance on the new technologies of clockwork and firearms?
15) Why do you care about the team? Do you even know all their names? (This question can wait until the group questions are answered)

If you want your character to be world famous, with all their history well-known, I guess you can share the answers publicly, but I don't expect that. PMing lets it be a surprise to the group, and trust me, the answers I've gotten so far are AMAZING, and will be so much fun. Even when they didn't have much in them, and didn't answer all the questions, the answers added SO MUCH to the story. Seriously, you can answer one question with one sentence and still help out a lot. The more you have, the more I have to work with to make this more fun for you and get a feel for what you want in the game.

Answers to the character questions are going to come up in the story at some point as subplots, or just added texture to a main plot (like if we end up in Ainford for Evyrless, or meet a huntress with a certain link to Lorenthar).

Group Questionnaire

These questions assume we are a group that has adventured together at least once, and determine the overarching plot. These are for after all but #15 of the character questions have been submitted because, face it, it would be weird answering them without any of the world information available.
1) You defeated a dangerous enemy, though they are still out there somewhere, gathering strength or forces. They hate or fear you now, at least to some degree, or at least you've got their attention. Who or what was it?
2) During this event, you destroyed something important, or valuable to us. What was it?
3) You paid a high cost for this victory. What was it?
4) You found signs that this incident was just the start of something bigger. What were the signs?
5) All things considered, you impressed a powerful entity or organization, and they now fund your endeavors. Who was it?
6) Why do you all trust each other? Was there ever any mistrust between members? Why do you remain together?

[Monster]

Alright I'll take a shot at creating my character, but as an answer to your question -- again, I'm newer so my answer may have less weight..

However, I think that leveling after certain points may be easier in a PbP forumn. Again, though, I'm on the fence until we get more of a response from others.

[JBRam2002]

@Ermine As for leveling up, I'm again good with whatever. I have had experience with both. Personally, I like a good mix of real EXP combined with plot-bonus EXP. For example, if we're in a dungeon that is for some reason taking a little longer than normal (meaning we run face first into every encounter instead of trying to be sneaky), then we should get some bonus EXP from the extra combats. With only plot-based leveling, things like that generally aren't rewarded. (Alternatively, sometimes EXP is rewarded for clever avoidance of combats. Up to GM.)

Some important questions for character creation:

1. What level will we start at? I've started a few campaigns at lvl 1, and usually it's not much fun (or unique) until we get to around lvl 5 when Extra Attack and stronger cantrips begin. That's just my personal opinion. On the other hand, starting at lvl 1 can give new players a chance to feel out their characters before being dropped into harder, more strategic combats. Of course, it's also much easier to die at lvl 1, since your HP is so low.

2. Will feats be allowed? Technically it's an optional rule, but I've never been in a campaign where they were not allowed.

3. Less about character creation (unless playing a rogue or similar), but will flanking automatically grant advantage? And on the same note, how will combat be handled in PBP? Will we have a map, or use our imaginations for the combats?

I have more particular character-creation questions, but I feel most of those are specific to me or my character, so I'll wait til we get that Discord chat up and running. Speaking of, I have plenty of free time tomorrow, so if we got that chat up sooner rather than later, I can probably get most of my questions out of the way by then.

Dice Roller

[Ms Ravenwinter]

@Ermine Would i be able to join the fray, perhaps?

[The Harbinger of Ferocity]

@Ermine, I do not mind either form of experience tracking. While I do think individually tracking the experience is for the best, for the sake of simplicity rather than being at a table, you tracking it and just telling us when we do level up would be easiest. I am not fond of milestone type experience, because it often plays explicitly into "dramatic convenience" from my personal encounters with it, so there is no point in exploring or fighting monsters other than the essential ones.

On another note, I do think the best "world" in mind is one that has a healthy balance of low fantasy up to sword and sorcery, avoiding the extremes of high magic and epic fantasy where the world tends to be pretty inexplicable and eclipse anyone who lacks access to those resources. A scenario where magic is still arcane, mysterious, novel but to some extent accepted as a factor of life, with peoples' opinions of it varying and there not being a great number of druids, clerics, wizards and so on; a town might rely on a lone wizard they know several days away for their magical insights, but he is still there, rather than in hiding.

To transition again, I think it would be wise everyone announces what class they would like to play, just so those of our group new to the game have their chance to lay claim to something they want to learn and the rest of us can then find something we know we like and work with it from there. The reason I say this is because this is a Beginner's Game - it is even in the title now - and I personally would want new players to fill the role they feel most interested in to help them better learn it. Not that we cannot have two clerics, two defensive fighters or two rogues, but so that at least for myself I know what I should play to assist the group.

This go around I would like to play a Battle Master or Champion fighter, a Hexblade warlock or a Circle of the Moon druid, but I am not expressly dedicated to them; I can and will give or take on them. I just would like to know what the rest of the party thinks.

And yes, it will be feline themed. Either as a Tabaxi or a refluffed half orc.

There's just no avoiding that.

[JBRam2002]

@The Harbinger of Ferocity Good points all around. I agree with the majority (although I am a bit of a fan of high fantasy). As for class, I was also considering the Hexblade warlock, but I'm going to take a look at the Akashic classes Ermine made. Some of them look quite interesting. If I don’t do one of those and warlock is taken, I may try either one of the new UA sorcerers or the UA druids, depending on need.

In short, I'm flexible.

For new players, I personally recommend classes that do not have a large number of options for each round, at least for the beginning. These "simpler" classes would include Assassin rogue (positioning keeps this class fresh), Battle Maater Fighter (extremely fun to play, and gets more complex over time as you learn), Barbarian (both archetypes - smashing good fun), Champion Fighter (possibly the simplest archetype overall, but very powerful), or maybe a warlock if you want some simple spellcasting. If you are unsure of your abilities, I would avoid any class that prepares magic instead of learning a specific number of spells (can simply get overwhelming), or any class with a large variety of options like bard or beast master ranger. That is not to discourage people from playing those classes; just bear in mind that they are more complicated and will likely need a lot more frequent questions.

[The Harbinger of Ferocity]

Hexblade is all yours if you wish to go that route, @JBRam2002. I fortunately have options, but at least the archetype is seeing discussion despite how relatively new it is; the warlock desperately needed it as was. @Ermine does have some interesting classes, but the formatting for me seems off, as I cannot read the second half in the slightest owing to some sort of error.

[JBRam2002]

@The Harbinger of Ferocity The site being used (Homebrewery) sometimes has issues with various browsers. I suggest trying a different browser and seeing if it works. Chrome is working for me currently.

[Ermine]

@Monster Being newer gives it more weight. The game is for newer people. Opinion noted~ (if anyone else that's new responds, and everyone new is for it, I'll go with milestone instead. When I do it, it's still based on experience gain, just on my end instead of everyone tracking it).

@JBRam2002
1) I planned on starting at level 1 because it's less work for the new people, but I prefer level 3, when everyone gets (or already is, in some cases) less boring, to start. I'll leave that to the group to decide.
2) I love feats. No limits as long as they're not deliberately OP 3rd party ones or something. Which means the optional human is a thing people can do if they choose.
3) Flanking will be automatic advantage. Logically. ^~^ As for maps or whatnot...really should. <.< It does make it easier to track, especially with this growing group.
Also, if you go with Akashic, they may be SUPER OP. Unsure yet. They need the most playtesting. When I first made the Exemplar, I was just piling on options for them, then evaluated. They could hold 4 greatswords (two created from glyphs, two held with the hand glyphs), two laser things (eldritch glyph), two daggers, and two longswords. That needed to be scaled back lots. I didn't do nearly as much evaluation of the Akashic. But DSP themselves told me it was cool so far, so that's always nice. Only saying this because if you choose it, I may be nerfing it lots during the game. Thought I'd give that warning now. (Personally, my favorite is the Sovereign Initiator. So named because the class I based it on was the Harbinger and I picked another Mass Effect-related name as a placeholder...then kept it. Also, I find playing them to be exciting (did a tiny bit of playtesting with that one. Initiators DO start boring, only having a single niche (at level 1, anyway) use of the akasha they gain)).

@Ms Ravenwinter Sure. ^~^ It's not TOO many people yet.

@The Harbinger of Ferocity Very good points. <.< Umm...yeah, I think regular experience tracking is better for now, then, with everyone tracking their own. Also, HATED hexblade when I first saw it for some reason. Then when I was doing the survey about it, realized it's not bad AT ALL. Personally prefer Raven Queen when I consider the fact that warlocks may be casters, but only really need one cantrip.
Also, I don't have that issue with it. What sucks is the second half has the class I made instead of just converting. >< Hopefully using another browser fixes it. Then again, like I said, I don't really expect anyone to use them. I was just putting them there and hoping I'd be lucky. ^//^

[JBRam2002]

@Ermine Yeah, I noticed the Exemplar could probably use a little nerfing :P I might take a closer look at it and suggest some nerfs later on. Right now, I'm working on a Hexblade build. The trick is to focus on things that the Warlock isn't normally known for doing... so that could be interesting. I'll probably also create a build for Exemplar and see which I like better.

Also yay, more people! Welcome @Ms Ravenwinter!

[Ermine]

Exemplar has beem nerfed a LOT. Doesn't need much now.

[Ms Ravenwinter]

@Ermine Would I be able to name my character after my current forum avatar? It's her predetermined DnD name but I can understand that there might be some issues if my character and I share names.

This being addressed to the party at large, would I be able to play a support caster such as Druid or Bard? (I'm not too fond of playing Clerics. Though a Raven Queen Cleric would be devilishly fun)

[Ermine]

Raven Queen~ So much love for her~ Wouldn't bother me necessarily about the name, though, as long as you're cool with following game rules. Would bother me more if you played an elf named Mapleleaf Twinklebottom. But it would bother me less now that I said it.

[JBRam2002]

@Ms Ravenwinter I certainly have no qualms with a druid or bard instead of a cleric. Although 5e does have some really interesting Cleric Archetypes. I always like having a bard ally.

[Ms Ravenwinter]

@Ermine What about a Drow or Tiefling named Malthael Shadowheart? :3

[Ermine]

@JBRam2002 Have to admit, 5e bards are awesome. If for no other reason than [i[]vicious mockery[/i]. What's better than killing someone with yo momma jokes?

@Ms Ravenwinter Now that's just silly. The last name would be "Do'urden," anyway. Which is super amusing to me because "Tylaer" means "the blood pits," (well, "the pits, blood", techically) and "Do'urden" means "Walkers in the Darkness"...so Tylaer Do'urden basically means "Fight Club"...
Godendar, though, "Clan of Black Hearts" is probably closer to "Shadowheart", but Shadowheart just makes me think of a jrpg that I really like (the sequel is better).

[Ms Ravenwinter]

@Ermine Edgy jokes and Mr. Durtons aside, I'll stick to Evyrless. It's just edgy enough for my tastes.

[Mesonyx]

Raven Queen~ So much love for her~ Wouldn't bother me necessarily about the name, though, as long as you're cool with following game rules. Would bother me more if you played an elf named Mapleleaf Twinklebottom. But it would bother me less now that I said it.

@Ermine

*Slowly deletes character name*

I think I'll go for a bard. No idea how to play one, but hey! I'm a noob anywho. So, if I got it right, we start at lvl 1 right? I might ask some help with character creation when I'm really diving into it.

[JBRam2002]

@Mesonyx The biggest thing I'll say about bard is that Bardic Inspiration is your bread and butter. Since it's a bonus action, you can use it pretty frequently (although until lvl 5, you're very limited on number of uses since it recharges on a long rest instead of a short rest... that changes at lvl 5 with Font of Inspiration). However, you want to make sure that you aren't using your bonus actions for other things, like spells or an offhand attack.

There's a pretty in-depth chapter for how spells work, and each spell explains what exactly you need to cast it (components, casting time, duration, etc). If the spell says Concentration, you may only have one Conc spell active at once, so keep that in mind. You don't want to load up on buff spells that are all Concentration and only be able to cast one at a time.

Bards generally won't be dealing much damage (or really feel very useful) for the first few levels. However, they get extremely powerful in terms of spells and Inspiration as time goes on. They have access to only one damaging cantrip (lvl 0 spell that you can cast an unlimited number of times). Taking Spell Sniper as a feat would give you the ability to get an additional damaging cantrip and extend your spell range, as well as other useful things. The War Caster feat is also extremely useful if you go College of Valor, as it will allow you to cast spells that have an S component (most of them) with a shield or weapon in your offhand, and gives advantage on Concentration saves (which you would have to roll whenever you take damage while concentrating on a spell - very useful).

Of course, since you're watching Critical Role, you already know a bard. Scanlan is a Lore bard, and is probably the best example of the stereotypical bard I can think of. Bards are often known for their hedonistic tendencies, and they generally either sing or play an instrument. Since they have a lot of Charisma (needed for their spell casting), they are usually fairly good at Cha-skills like Deception, Persuaasion, Intimidation, etc. They also get the Jack of all Trades ability which means they're pretty decent at almost every skill, unless they have a low ability score for that skill. Generally, they end up having to put the least points in Strength, Intelligence, or Wisdom (not necessarily in that order), so they are often seen as weaker and not the wisest or brightest in the bunch (Scanlan shows that beautifully in several cases). Constitution is useful for Concentration checks and HP, and Dex is useful for several skills, Initiative, AC, and any finesse or ranged weapon's attack and damage. This is all just standard or typical info... feel free to deviate to match your character.

[The Harbinger of Ferocity]

@Mesonyx, all classes in Fifth Edition are fairly simple so need to worry about being "new" to them. Bards are your classical jack-of-all-trades class and have the ability to cast spells, which they would normally do in combat to use their turns as well as grant a bonus called Bardic Inspiration. You can either focus on spellcasting or armed combat with a bard, the former giving you more things to do and options than the latter. My advice there is to use your abilities liberally, but not all of your higher level spells unless you really think they might be useful in that scenario. Generic advice, I know, but you do not have a large amount of spells to use so cantrips are going to be your forte much of the time.

To my awareness we are starting at 1st level as @Ermine said, although I strongly advocate we abandon that sooner rather than later as the low levels of all versions of Dungeons and Dragons are usually very lethal unless we have a steady supply of short and long rests; our characters do not yet have much endurance or many options and lucky rolls from the enemy can be easily fatal. Because this is a beginner's game, I would worry none too much about it though, but it is good information to learn and understand now while it is new to you.

Thus far it seems we have...

A bard, a druid and a warlock - is that correct?