The Level Up Gateway 5e Character Builder - Lazy RPG Talk Show

[@Pelusteriano]

For anyone interested in the math behind rolling dice in D&D, Matt Colville has a great video from his "Running the Game" series titled "Dice Math" where he explains how probability and percentages work in 5e. If anyone's interested in that, that's a great place to look to.

[@user-re5dl3ir3h]

Love the dirty tricks list! Great, great stuff! Also, I'm very excited about the Level Up A5E Gateway character creator. I know it won't be available for a while yet, but this is something A5E desperately desperately needs. A5E is such a great system. The A5E Gateway also needs a method to add 3rd party A5E content in it, but in a way that doesn't harm the 3rd party creators. Perhaps a way for the users to add their own options into the tool, but which is only visible for the users of that specific campaign, so that 3rd party content isn't visible to everyone everywhere (who might not have purchased the sourcebooks for that content). Either way, the screenshots of the Gateway look fantastic, so I'm very happy to see a glimpse of what they're aiming at.

[@Wraithing]

35:00 Thanks for all the years of effort in helping to make running games easier for GMs and, thus, more fun for all of us around the table. You're appreciated, Mike.

[@GaaMacgfx]

"I quit" LMFAO I wasn't expecting that

[@ryanpulis]

same!

[@kamphuis89]

Great content! Thanks for being awesome. Just want to say I have printed the statistic table (and several other tables from other sources) and use them as cheat sheets. Just having this table and basic knowledge of monsters makes my prep so much shorter and improvising while playing so much more streamlined. Recently players all said it was a cool story arc but it was just pure improv and random tables. Felt amazing getting these compliments, that they enjoyed the game and also thought it was part of the story.

[@KenSexe67]

Awesome episode as always. A couple of things I do that are "lazy"...I use static initiative but expanded so that lair monsters always go at the top of the round and boss monsters go on a 20. This allows for these creatures to be more likely to go first more often. With regards to introducing new characters I use something I borrowed from Cypher where I ask the player how he or she knows or is related to another player in the group. This is for more experienced players though and for less experienced players I use your tip.

[@DanielMcVicker]

Mike, callers are useful in my experience because they end the discussion and move the players into action. It gives a clear decision from the players to the DM. A lot of times when I'm running, many plans get discussed but no one ever says "I'm going to do X with Y" or "The group is going to continue forward, cautiously, despite the dangers". This helps keep group cohesion and stops debates from completely taking over the session. In many sessions I play, I have unofficially taken over a caller role, just because I know it helps the DM to have clearly defined actions. (edit: IMO, the best callers are other DMs).

[@CloakerDM]

Instead of -3 roll 1d6 for powerful or iconic foes, I just add 1 point of damage to the static for every # over the AC hit. For example, a hit of 19 vs AC 16 add +3 to avg damage. To avoid rotation strategy in Shadowdark-style round table initiative, the GM always rolls with ADV (to keep up with the fact that PC are rolling 4+ D20s to the GM's 1) and if the winning result is an even number, go clockwise from the winner. Odd go counterclockwise. Best initiative system I have used in 40 years. Great vid as always.

[@f.a.santiago1053]

D&D Basic edition is something I've been talking to my friends about for some time. To me, it would look like a bit like Shadowdark, with a healthy number of simplified character options. Also, I would TOTALLY buy this IMMEDIATELY! *Edit: HAH!! You mentioned the same thing!! XD XD XD

[@TorkkSC]

For me, there's a few shortcuts (or 'tricks', not all are necessarily 'shortcuts' lol) I do that help me a lot: When writing scenarios, I'll note down three things in summary: list of NPCs involved in the scene, list of threats in the scene, list of things that can be found in the scene (this can be treasure or quest items but I more often put down some dressing to help me describe the scene better or remind me more of what I had envisioned for the location. After this short list, I'll have the rest of the scenario written with more information on those three things as needed. I recreated the lists of names from the back of Xanathar's as a spreadsheet and print that out for every new campaign. That way, if I'm caught off guard with needing an NPC name I just select a random one from that list and cross out the name to indicate it's been used. I'll write down the name in my notes, whatever voice or mannerisms I used in three or so words, and anything else that I might need to recall about that random NPC later. Obviously you can use any list that you can find online, but I am quite partial to this list as I really enjoy the name selection WotC provided. For how I do initiative, if it's a planned encounter I pre-roll the initiative and just get the player's initiative. Unplanned encounters I roll initiative like normal. I like your idea a lot, but I'm addicted to rolling dice and will usually avoid reducing dice rolls on my end lmao, it's half the fun for me. Additional encounter trick: for preplanned encounters, I handwrite out the monster's ideal strategy during the planning stage. I don't often refer to this in play, but since I prewrote what they'll be doing, it usually sticks in my head better to more easily roleplay as the monster and worry less about what abilities it has. This is most often useful for boss monsters with numerous actions/features and/or spells. If a monster has spells, I'll also pre-print the spell descriptions instead of looking them up mid game or use spell cards if I hadn't needed to give any to the players. Last major thing I do is heavily utilize clocks/timers. While they can be a bit more work, most often this takes in the form of setting a die on the table face up and counting it down for the players, or keeping a tracker on a page in my notes for longer form timers. The players are well aware of any time crunches, and this helps keep the plot moving and helps manage the amount of rests they take if they know they need to complete a quest/dungeon before a certain amount of time.

[@willmendoza8498]

Luck points sound cool. Almost identical to Kids on Bikes’ adversity tokens.

[@TheVTTDM]

One of my dirty tricks is sliding damage done to monsters/NPCs. Sometimes I misjudge how tough I made a monster (or, rarely, how weak!) and I can tell from the first round that the pacing of the combat will be less than optimal. Adjusting hp on the fly can be a little more difficult than simply adjusting how much damage a character has done in MY math. This is largely because I use VTTs and it's very easy to do. It works brilliantly. I've had no complaints from players. As you've mentioned, the players like to hit things and do damage. I attempt to keep damage from different weapons and their modifiers relative to the other weapons other PCs are using. It's related to "lower AC and raise HP" except that it's my tool for when I've overcorrected on the HP.

[@Ellohir]

54:50 Here in Spain, before the 2014 was licensed and translated, we got a 5e SRD game called Eirendor that was like a Shadowdark light. It used some of the base classes from the SRD, but simplified them to only 10 levels. No skills, only ability scores. They used 3 saving throws (Fortitude, Reflex, Will) like 3e, and instead of spell slots it used mana points. Everything was simplified. It even simplified the gods to 3: Light, Dark and Nature. It used tags, and the magic items increased in power by growing their affinity to the character. The game was discontinued after just 2 books and half a dozen adventures, but it was an excellent idea, very well executed. I wish someone did a game like what you mentioned, I love Shadowdark and DC20 but they're a bit too dark, and a bit too complex respectively. But I guess in the future we will have lots of 5e variants, just like we have lots of OD&D/BX retroclones with relatively small differences between them now.

[@Deadshot15]

Thank you so much for your compiled dirty tricks. I have been doing monster initiative as 10 + Dex for the past few sessions and that's been a nice change but maybe I'll go a step further with go on 12. I've also been hesitant on using static damage so the variant you suggested might be the way to go as well. Looking forward to the A5e character builder as well. Great video!

[@flow6694]

I would immediately hop on that basic edition, great idea!

[@dontuserachelslurs]

every time i see heritage instead of species i'm baffled why wotc didn't go with heritage. it's such a nicer word for this use

[@Anticitizen2501]

I can't agree more! Imagine asking someone, what species are they? 😅

[@jellybunz8357]

I think they avoided it on purpose so people don't say they're copying Pathfinder 2e (which they should anyway, it's a better word!)

[@Wraithing]

@dontuserachelslurs - Fascinating how words affect different people differently. Me, I see all the 'new' ancestry and heritage terms, and my eclectic, fuzzy mind goes straight to Ahnenerbe. Unsettling. Bit more chilling than cosy, historical gift shop marketing. Although, get past the lavender, lace and tartan chintz, real world cosy gift shops can harbour some nasty, little ideas. Not sure WotC can win, whatever they do now. Obviously there's science, but I wondered if they chose species-in part-because of their (2003) 3e D&D book Savage Species.

[@jasondincauze3629]

Heritage, lineage, ancestry… So many better options than the immersion-breaking species.

[@BetterMonsters]

I've got some magic numbers I use that I think feel good in 5e: 1. Monster AC should be in a range your players hit 50-80% of the time 2. Players should succeed on saving throws they are proficient in 50-80% of the time. 3. Most solo threats should hit your most heavily armored PC about 50% of the time. Mooks should hit them closer to 30% of the time. 4. A solo threat vs a party of 4 should be able to drop a PC from full HP in a turn if it rolls well. 5. A solo threat should have enough hit points to survive 3-4 turns of what your party can dish out.

[@raycojosecanogonzalez8016]

As someone who just recently started listening to your podcasts, its funny how you put so much emphasis in getting to keep our products despite of the company (WOtC in this case) intentions. Makes me wonder how many times this has been an issue in the past.

[@SlyFlourish]

3e, and 4e

[@unknowncomic4107]

I have been using a static initiative for many months now. Works great.

[@HughRGlen]

My list: bookmarking Sly Flourish videos. ;) Seriously. But seriously, in 5e I find everyone "punches above their weight" (even in my campaigns where I limit certain options and stick fairly close to suggested magic item allowances which are VERY low compared to most tables) so here's my "trick": every monster gets maximum HP to make combats beefier but if bad rolls goes against the party or the combat flow feels sluggish, I give myself the leeway to let the monster die on any hit once they've dropped below half (the default HP by RAW). Not much of a trick but with the "punch above the weight" issue in 5e I find its a good way to throw the players a bone without feeling like I'm giving them a free pass.

[@garion046]

Thanks for reminding me of the forge of foes table. Starting a game and that is going to be very handy if i dont have something built in the VTT!

[@kafka0622]

I'm going to back City of Arches even though it is a 5e product. Luckily Cypher makes it crazy easy to convert.

[@SlyFlourish]

It’s a very open product. You won’t have trouble running it for any fantasy setting.

[@southron_d1349]

I'll get out some pencils and colour in my copy of Shadowdark.

[@_girafff_6612]

Great show as always! I'm exactly looking for that heroic version of shadow dark: we're a new group of rpg players and 5e rules are hard to get and keep in mind for a few of my players. I'm looking everywhere for a shadowdark where pc are less likely to die, real heroes with a story and where the world is wonderful. If it could be in french, it would be THE BEST 😂😂

[@HereComeMrCee-Jay]

If by “heroic” you mean easy to stay alive and be successful, Shadowdark can handle that easily if you, for example 1) Lengthen the death timer, 2) Lower the DC to stabilize a dying character, 3) grant max HP per level, 4) give out lots of luck tokens, 5) use low DCs in general. Keeping characters alive is easy. If you make any game easy though, the challenge becomes keeping it interesting and engaging for the players.

[@AvengerYouT]

Dragonbane and Shadows of the Weird Wizard sound both closely like the game you would create as a hypothetical product developer in WOTC, except they are not rooted in D&D standard rules, like Shadowdark is.

[@SlyFlourish]

I have both and hope to play them soon!

[@lachrymalquietus]

55:53 Yes please! Basic 5e with optional modular expansion. What's the status on Lightning 5e?

[@watcherdm]

I notice you often miss markers when you record, I was wondering if you had ever tried using audio queues like clapping (something that creates a visual spike in the audio) so you can easily visually identify these while scrubbing during edit. Great content as always, cheers.

[@michellejulia384]

Really good show again 😊

[@johnwilson121283]

I use hero points on checks where success is necessary. Whoever rolls highest gets a hero point to be used later to automatically succeed on a roll. I use gold coins with them and they seems to like it, but any player can only have up to three, so it's somewhat balanced too.

[@Benz74M]

One "trick" I use during combat encounter is to roll the Hit Dice of important creatures in that fight that drop to 0 hp ; if the HP is higher than average, I adjust the remaining HP. If not, creature drops to 0 hp. In this way, I feel I'm still playing the monsters "RAW" without simply fudging the numbers. (i.e., the random roll assures a certain objectivity, with the players still possibly dropping the creature to 0 hp.)

[@taejaskudva2543]

All of the maps in the Dyson Delves bundle come from the free maps available on his website, correct? So beyond providing a means to give money to the creator and a charity, what is the benefit of getting them like this instead of simply going to his website? Knowing how to take advantage of possessing them in this format to create ease of use or make them map searching more convenient vs going to the website would definitely be a help.

[@mithren86]

I love using knave 2 for random rolls to give me ideas for a monster, flavour wise, then just chuck that over FOF generic stat block.

[@adambusenbark63]

I use the stats on the DM screen you released/something similar for pretty much ALL of my monster stats. I find laying out a generic statblock that hits the key points i want for a given monster lets me focus on adding cool abilities and the like.

[@kahlinwhatley8640]

For monster AC I use a base of 10 and then add 3 for each attribute that makes them hard to hit. Fast? +3. Armored? +3. Exceptionally Skilled? +3. Why +3? Because on average, advantage gives your d20 rolls +3.

[@ryanfedewa1613]

I'm most interested in City of Arches if it will have FVTT support! :)

[@SlyFlourish]

All of the maps will be fully VTT compatible

[@junderlandgames1186]

57:00 sounds like ICRPG

[@MattSchieler]

What the heck, I use "luck points" (sort of) but I didn't even know it. Granted my version is still different. They are given out still like "inspiration" is given but there is no cap to how much you can have. I also made it 5 to reroll instead of 3. They gain 5 points just for leveling. I try to promote good roleplay with inspiration but some just don't feel comfortable so they still get some at certain levels or milestones

[@Nick-dc6ix]

Could we call the new game HeroBright?

[@lonic123]

Thanks

[@jpri26]

Did you ever talk about the Chains of Asmodeus adventure on DMsguild?

[@CecilQuetzalcoatl]

How do you use maps for in person play? Do you print them out and have characters move their tokens? I use a dry erase grid, but I don't draw the entire map out, only for combats. The rest of exploration happens in theater of the mind

[@SlyFlourish]

little diagrams on a dry-erase mat

[@LangyMD]

I bought a custom table with a TV built into the surface, but that's not something everyone is able to do.

[@jonhemphill7661]

I think I got one dirty trick and one trick that I don't use anymore. I don't give penalties for players for rolling one but I do for enemies. I used to be creative with these penalties but now I just give the players an attack of opportunity on the enemy. I guess if they are not in melee range you break their weapon or something but usually I ignore it.

[@jonhemphill7661]

The trick I don't use anymore is success with penalty if the players roll is one off. I first did this every time but my players were not thrilled by it. Then I played as a choice for players to either fail or succeed with penalty. However 90% chose failure. It was also hard to think of penalties so I just stopped doing it.

[@davec1]

I bought the Dyson bundle but have to say the complete lack of any way to search for particular maps massively reduces their value to me.

[@SlyFlourish]

I find viewing thumbnails works best for me.

[@davec1]

​@@SlyFlourishthat thing you made a while ago with some maps of his with thumbnails that could be resized was great, thank you for that!

[@DocEonChannel]

Wait... you mean not everyone is like me, and thinks spending 2 hours making a character by hand is part of the fun?

[@loganmcgee18]

"Marker"...? was that a look under the hood?

[@SlyFlourish]

doh!

[@gedece]

My best trick is play another game. No, I'm not trying to avoid the question. really. Play another game, learn what works there and what you can get back into your game. You'd be surprised the changes that can make. For example, you play Shadowdark and notice the mortality, but also that there is no hammer a player can buy, so if they want to fix a piton into a wall they need to get creative. now I ask, other than the hammer, can you take something else from the shops in your game that would flare creativity around it from the players?