thank you for talking about things and making it bluntly known what side you're on (the right one), the speaking out and helping make aware of situations is so appreciated, all eyes on Rafah, we need more people and influencers speaking up about everything
The project is called Operation Olive Branch! They verify the gofundme pages as well to make sure its not scammers pretending to be in Gaza. If anyone reading this can donate please do, even if its only $1 🙏 this isn't political, it's a humanitarian crisis and innocent civilians deserve to live!
Thank you both so much for supporting Palestine💕 it means a lot that you two continue to speak up for communities and people! And Mags you are spot on; the US government has confirmed that the reason they are going after TikTok because of how well Palestinian activism is doing in comparison to propaganda
Re: the first opinion, in my homebrew world all races exist but come from different continents or planes, so I think it's absolutely valid that some races will stand out in a crowd and be more recognizable in certain areas - you just have to communicate that with your player so they know what they're getting into
Thankyou for speaking up about Palestine 🇵🇸🙏 the censorship is horrific at the moment. I attended a peaceful protest at my university yesterday and they threatened to call the police on us and suspend students simply for using our right to freedom of speech!
Also 100% right about the algorithms being suppressed. Meta has been deleting comments, taking down my posts, deleting accounts that are showing on the ground footage in Gaza on Instagram.
2. I love rolling a dice in front of my players, but don't tell them what I was doing it for. Then I leave the dice out for them all to see, before moving the number down one every few seconds during roll play.... 😈
Thank you for talking about it. I genuinely only found out about what's been happening because of a TikTok comment. Looking at my following page it was everywhere. It's actually a joke.
I have actually eaten grass as a child too. Don’t know why I think maybe it was the texture I liked? Stream the other day was amazing. I got to contribute by putting together Whismur Dickvision and I’m so glad everyone thought it was funny! Love the pod and the stream.
Commenting because you know what, algo's be damned. I'm so glad you both AND this community speaks on things like Palestine, the rights of all people, creating safe spaces, not being perfect, etc. but having a voice and sharing it, lifting it up, and talking serious stuff while we still have a good time as a community, the serious has a spot in it as well. Bless both of you and EVERYONE in the community.
Penultimate: Multiclassing in D&D doesn't make characters boring. It's just a bad subsystem that the Subclass system attempts to rectify, and does a bit, but in a more clunky way where you get less benefits than you would from a full secondary class.
I’ll back you up on the specific grass that had that sweet nectar in it. I definitely did that all the time when I was a kid. Weird to think about now, but yep that was a thing
Regarding the "players should have one dump stat/low stat": I don't think that's necessary the case specifically, but I agree with the principle. The way y'all talk about it, it's about not potentially taking over every role/roll(lol) in the group, and potentially creating interesting/funny moments and RP. I'd just say that doesn't have to come from a low stat! If a player can't really justify a negative ability score between the 6 for their character in a way that feels fun to them (i.e. "Well, I don't really think it'd be fun to be dumb/weak/infirmed/unaware/unlikeable/clumsy or however you'd play the low stat), then those goals can be accomplished in other parts of their character. Like a melee STR Fighter, for instance, will already be low on proficiencies (barring being a half elf or something) and ranged combat options. Boom, there's stuff that leaves gaps in what they can do without the player feeling like they need to be innately worse at some stuff. That's the big thing for me - I think many players might see a low ability score as a more innate, unavoidable flaw when compared to something like "I don't have magic that makes RP easier" or "I'm not trained with lockpicks". This is not universal, totally do what's fun for you, just wanted to offer that perspective!
I once played in one RPG session in uni (barely even qualifies as a full session) and was arrested instantly because of the eye colour I picked in character creation. Apparently that choice mattered a lot.
So I would like an opinion on something. I have a character, her whole thing is, she's an AC tank, she protects people and takes the blows others can't defend against. She has a homebrew ability based on misty defense that allows her to intercept an attack ment for another person. We rolled for stats, and her mai stat is DEX. She's a Devine soul Sorcerer being played as a Cleric. When we first set of (level 3) she had a defense of 20AC, (mage armour + Shield of Faith) We are now level 9, And becasue the DM has showerd us wit gold and a shop that has almost any magic item you could possibly want she is now sitting at 24 standing ac. (29 with shield) I will also add, she is 3 levels in Warlock for reasons, so her spell level is limited to 3rd. Items she has. Ring and cloak of protection and a shield given to her by her Goddess and the shield allows her to be able to weild it. Now I will point out, our Bear totom troll barbarian fighter/paladin Multiclass has a standing AC of 20. The issue... My DM has accused me of power building her. I NEVER asked for the shield, I only baught the ring and cloak becasue there was nothing else to spend my gold on (had like 5k gold) Since getting the shield, she has forgon using Shield of Faith, opting for spirit gaurdians instead to help keep targets off of the squishy wizard and rogue. I will also add, this is the same DM that 'balances' 'bosses' by making them able to do damage equal to the health of a Con 18 fighter X the number of players. So, am I a power builder for making a dex based caster ?
1. Depends. In lots of cases if someone wants to pick a race that stands out they want to be a MC, or go for very specific minmax build, maybe I'm unlucky. 2. (dice) Agreed mostly, it's such a good drama source. It creates tension, a sign that something big is happening and that check is not regular "I try to pick a lock", indicates that like whole attention of PC is focused on what's happening. However it requires a game to be dramatic. In more casual play where RP is replaced with OoC jokes, it's not really entertaining. 3. (DM who doesnt play as player) Doesnt sound unpopular. The term "forever dm" literally describes this phenomenon and not in negative way (lke "murderhobo") 4. (failure is an requirement not option) Agree in heart, but not so in brain. It's hard to say how unpopular it is. I want to say it's popular, but then again plenty of DMs give out magical items that conveniently boost the stat. which in practice makes it unpopular. Also being able to fail incentivizes teamplay, in theory. In practice it leads to "face of the party" situations where only one player will take the role of the talker. 5. Don't mind it, but it requires a good DM/module. 6. (short combat) Hell yeah. 7. (multiclass = dull) I feel personally attacked. Don't care, will multiclass in future. 8. No. Just no. Just no. It destroys the game. At this point you might as well do nothing but ask for a kingdom again and again and again.
Opinion 1 (Choosing unusual character races comes with extra challenges): This actually makes sense. Just because the race exists in the world, doesn't mean that it's common. And members of this race are going to face challenges that other races won't. In the books, Drizzt Do'Urden faces fear and hostility because he's a drow. And the drow have a very well earned and unpleasant reputation. So naturally when a player makes the choice to play a drow PC, the DM SHOULD have the NPCs behave similarly. And for larger races, like the hippo people, elephant people, ogres, half ogres, Goliaths, etc, they're going to have various difficulties in regular society. Businesses that have clientele which are almost exclusively humans, elves, gnomes, dwarves, and halflings, aren't likely going to be able to accommodate these larger humanoids. The late great Andre The Giant had similar problems in real life. Hotel rooms and restaurant restrooms are designed for average sized people. People born with dwarfism can adapt more or less, but they're adapting to a world designed for people bigger than they are. People born with gigantism have to try and adapt to living in a world where everything is designed for people much smaller than they are, which is far more difficult. A dwarf sleeping in a regular size bed just has extra space to move around. A giant in a regular size bed has to choose if his head or his feet are going to be dangling off the edge of the bed as he tries to sleep. And that's just with giants. Imagine what being a centaur is like. Or a wemick. Or a minotaur. Choosing a more outrageous character race is fine. But many such races do and should come with added complications.
Using the Drizzt example, this all hinges on the assumption that they’re playing in a canon accurate Forgotten Realms setting. Lots of people don’t include racial discrimination in their fantasy worlds because they deal with it in real life and don’t want it in their fun escapism time. It’s wild to say it SHOULD be included by DMs in the name of realism, when dragons exist.
@@SheBeast-OG So, if you're playing an RPG set on modern day Earth, and a blonde haired, blue eyed white PC wearing a Nazi uniform walks into a bar in black Harlem, NY, you'd play it like all the black patrons in the bar are NOT going to kick the PC's ass? I kinda doubt that. There's suspending disbelief, and then there's being ridiculous. Fantasy worlds have evil races. Whether they're evil due to nature or nurture, a PC from that race or culture would certainly face discrimination from their typical enemies (which in fantasy worlds would be the typically good aligned races and cultures). And if a player makes the choice of playing such a character as their PC then they're also making the choice of taking on such discrimination from NPCs as a challenge to overcome. If they don't want their character to be discriminated against in game, then they shouldn't have chosen that race for their PC. The DM should communicate this to the players ahead of time, either during a Session 0 or before, but it's still the player's choice to take this on, complications and all. If we were playing Ninjas And Super Spies, and the game is set during WWII, and you choose to play a black Jewish lesbian, knowing full well that the campaign is going to be the PCs sneaking into Nazi Germany, you pretty much gave up your right to complain about getting gunned down on sight by the enemy, because you chose to play the worst choice of character you could possibly have picked for that game. A blonde haired blue eyed Jewish lesbian? That would work. But once you insist on your character being black, you signed your character's death warrant. That's the consequence of your choice of character. (Actually, that character wouldn't even be chosen for the mission and you'd have to write up a new one as your initial character is left behind in the United States or Britain, that or spend the whole game session sitting around doing nothing.) Fantasy worlds of D&D are worlds where the concepts of good and evil are absolutes. This is why there are spells that detect good and evil. There are weapons that bypass the damage reduction of good or evil creatures (typically outsiders). There are magic items that react certain ways when used by people of certain alignments, such as The Holy Avenger. Certain monsters are designed to be evil by nature. And if you choose to play as one of those monsters, then people who those monsters usually prey upon are likely to treat your character with discrimination, even if your character chose to go against the customs of their heritage (as Drizzt Do'Urden did) or if it happened by accident (a Chaotic Evil orc put on a cursed Helm Of Opposite Alignment without knowing what it was and became Lawful Good). Maybe an Ogre-Magi cast a spell in a Wild Magic Zone and the Wild Magic Effect was the caster's alignment changes to the opposite, so Lawful Evil becomes Chaotic Good. But if that Ogre-Magi were to walk around in his natural form (Ogre-Magi are natural born shape shifters), he'd likely get attacked before he can explain that he means them no harm. If any member of a typically evil race were to go out and about pretty much anywhere in any published world, they would likely be attacked on sight. Unless it's a city that, according to the lore, is tolerant of such races as long as they come in peace (such as Silvery Moon in The Forgotten Realms) it's what a player should expect when making that choice.
So without doing anything crazy with like inflating stats with the Tome of Leadership and Influence, using a standard 4-person party: Persuading Character: Custom Lineage with Skill Expert for +1 to Charisma and Expertise in Persuasion, 6 Fiend Lock / 3 BattleMaster Fighter / 3 Redemption Paladin, ASI Charisma +2 to bring Charisma to 20 - Fiend lock provides Dark One's Own Luck for +1d10 to an ability check, BattleMaster provides Commanding Presence for +1d8, Redemption Paladin provides Channel Divinity: Emmisary of Peace for +5 to Persuasion. Supporting Party Member 1: Any Artificer with 20 INT for Guidance +1d4 and Flash of Genius +5. Supporting Party Member 2: 11 Spirits Bard / 1 Any Cleric. Bard provides +1d10 Bardic Inspiration, and a chance at +1d10 Tales of Clever Animal. Cleric provides Ceremony for Coming of Age +1d4. Supporting Party Member 3: Divination Wizard for Portent. Before Portent, even if we roll a 1 on every bonus die, our minimum bonus to Persuasion is +29; maximum bonus is 69 (nice). So the Portent only needs to be 16 or higher to garauntee a DC 45 Persuasion in the worst-case scenario, and is completely unnecessary in the best-case scenario. And this isn't even considering any other possible racial features or feats on supporting members that could add to the out come. Obviously you could go crazier with even more levels, but if you're level 20 taking over a kingdom is small potatos. And considering how much Portent plus your flat bonuses can carry the roll, you could probably pull this off a minimum of level 7 (for Flash of Genius). So go out there and find DMs who let persuasion do anything. The power is yours.
Final Opinion: The "I ask the king for his crown" scenario is so stupid to me, because imagine a player doing that and it works. So now that character is just the king of that nation. They're effectively out of the game forever; they have a country to run, after all. They need to prove they're qualified, and impose laws and arbitrate justice and all sorts of other things; no time for adventuring when you're doing your kingly duties.
First Opinion: I mean, if you're talking the standard D&D canon world, a luxodon would stand out in somewhere like Neverwinter, which is mostly human-adjacent races. It makes sense. Like if you run a homebrew world, and someone comes to you with their own homebrew race that they made up, are you suddenly going to populate the entire world with their race that their character is currently the only example of, if you've already developed the world without that race in it? Or are you going to say "You can be this race, but they only exist in this one small community and are very rare and don't really travel much outside of where you come from"? It's possible that the player wants to stand out or be unique by playing a weird race, but did so without considering the ramifications of that, and now that they can't sneak around and hide themselves, they're frustrated about it. Their race choice is just as much their fault as it is the DM's fault for not including every possible race option in the game in their world.
Thank you for speaking about Palestine. I'm sure someone has said it now, but Operation Olive Branch is amazing, and if you want to amplify it, you don't have to wait for a family to be assigned. You can choose a family on the sheet to support. They verify the gofundmes. Even if you can only donate a little, share a family's gofundme with others who might be able to donate
Character optimization is the problem. Finding ways to max out the numbers leads to a very small selection of "correct" character build that will make the game unfun for any players who choose not to play optimally.
I normally listen to the podcast on RU-vid music but i noticed it wasn't updating with this episode yet now that im listening to it on RU-vid I can't help but wander if its because of the you guys speaking about Palestine ( thank you for doing btw) but just disheartening that they would do that if thats the reason this episode hasn't shown up yet.
I think the first one is a popular opinion, but not the right opinion. Be inclusive or don't punish me for wanting to be a hot Tielfing necromancer you know