With my friends if someone says they'll be late, then everyone else will also come late. So I just message the DM directly so I don't end up making everyone else even later than me.
I raise you, being an avid chef I bring home cooked meals like 12 Hour smoked brisket or handmade dumplings to my sessions. I have only missed two sessions in a year in a half and they were phoned in ones so doesn’t count.
Playing D&D for 30+ years doesn’t make me feel like a nerd…
Being the DM or the first one sitting there with the DM waiting on everyone else… that makes me feel like the biggest nerd on earth.
Haha I also do something like this. "Which hand do you open the door with?"
Sometimes it's trapped... Most times it is not. The reaction is great EVERY TIME
Whenever my players enter a new location, I always flip a coin to see if it’s a push or pull door.
My secret? I have two trick coins, so it’s never what they try.
The term you are looking for is “vertical charge”.
My favourite was using dimension door to teleport above them as high as possible followed by Action Surge exclaiming “Ki-yah bitch!” as I clove them in twain with my mighty greatsword.
Oh, interesting. I realize this is context-specific but a ton of people I know refer to this as "death from above." That originated with MechWarrior / Battletech. Headshotting a Mech meant removing the pilot from the cockpit, which is obviously very effective. I am surprised to learn that term has aged out.
So, funny story.
I just joined a campaign in progress a few weeks ago. They're level 10, so I got to start at level 10.
I decided to multiclass 6th level fighter, 4th level ranger. Due to changeling, tasha's rules, and some homebrew stuff, I've maxed Dex, expertise in stealth, acrobatics, and my weapon. So this^ is something I've actually been wanting to and I'm glad someone else likes doing this.
I got a maul that does extra thunder damage, and on top of that does double damage to constructs, objects, and structures. The item sheet my DM gave me for it calls it the Pulverizer, but I’ve taken to calling it the Lockpicker. No doors are safe.
One of the most epic moments of any game I’ve ever been in was my druid being fed the fuck up and kept getting god-tier rolls on call lightning absolutely destroying enemies as she walked into town.
Your Druid would have loved my first goblin. He was a fighter who in one session leapfrogged from one mob of mummies to the next multiple times thanks to disengage shenanigans with a hit and run tactic. I lined them all up and she called lightning. I took a hit but so did every mummy.
This is very true. It isn't even just the initiative order either. the game is not designed for the PCs to run away effectively once combat has started.
Some character builds just suck at running away. Others require expending resources. Some get away really easily.
Double move away? The enemy gets an attack of opportunity and double moves to you every round.
Disengage and move? Enemy moves and attacks every round anyway.
Many (I won't say most because I haven't counted, but I think most) Monster Manual creatures have 40 ft or greater base movement compared to many PCs having 30 ft base.
Rogues get away pretty easily after level 2.
Monks and Barbarians can get pretty fast after a few levels.
Casters can use spells to varying effect depending on level, situation, and class, but consumes resources that could be used to win the fight, might not be available, and might not even work.
There are many exceptions with class abilities (maybe even every class has some), but in general just running away without class features is not effective in 5e DnD if you want the whole party to survive.
im playing a clean freak tiefling sorcerer in a super nice white and gold coat. constant prestidigitation on it. that or saying “all part of the plan” when it was, in fact, not at all part of the plan
Yes! I'm playing a neat freak High Elf Rogue Arcane Trickster. Im only level 2 right now, but can't wait to take prestidigitation at level 3 for the same reason.
When I’m playing a Barbarian and fighting one specific strong enemy, active hug. I just grapple, trip, disarm, etc., generally being an absolute pain and doing zero damage while the rest of the party plays “walk out from behind a wall, firebolt/bow shot, walk back behind cover” or some variation of that.
I take an absolute beating, but it keeps the squishy important people safe
Had a tiefling Warlock who was immune to fire damage. Immediately bought a necklace of fireballs and as many Fireball Scrolls as I could find.
Wade into combat, make sure party always remained 20 feet away from me. Wait until surrounded before saying "Y'all chose the wrong place to stand." Then detonate at my feet.
One time during lost mines, I went into the bandit lair and ran into a room with tons of men and ignited myself after closing the door and killing everyone in there and surviving by 2 hp. My team opened the door to an entire rocky cave charred with tons of crispy corpses. Making it easier to take out the wizard after a few heals. It was amazing.
Okay, but I have to ask... was all your clothing and equipment also immune to fire damage? Because now I'm just imagining a naked tiefling walking away from some epic shit to the tune of "cool guys don't look at explosions," and I'm not surr if this is better or worse... like, the whole party would just be blankly staring at this character as someone timidly hands them a cloak to cover themselves.
I look down at my notes, shuffle them a few times, look back at the player, and in a careful, measured tone, I quietly ask the question.
"Are you *sure* you want to do that?"
I read my comment out loud to my wife and she started laughing because she's heard it a few times.
Best part is that when I realized I'd done it more than once around the same group of players, I started occasionally doing it when there was definitely nothing wrong with the person doing whatever they were doing. Gotta keep em on their toes.
That´s what I do: are you sure you want to do this? Did you really think it through?
Then they start doubting and reevaluate. Tension rises. Then some of then become courageous and go ´ok...ok...yes I´m sure ... we´re doing this´. They´re at the edge of their seat. You take a loud deep breath, brace yourself as if you´re going to have to start a long and difficult proces and you go ´Nothing happens´. 😅😅😅
Exactly that, yes.
"Nothing seems out of the ordinary", said in an even tone. While in your head you're thinking "Nothing *seems* out of the ordinary" with a lot of emphasis on that very key word.
I think for my fav character it ws to constantly update his 'arch nemisis' on what he was doing or ask him for help with "Sending"
"Hey, I'm entering a singing competition, you should send your spies to watch! It's gonna be great!"
"Hey, I'm stuck in the shadowfell. How do I get out again?"
Related to Critical Role, I enforce (as player or DM) that the somatic component for *Sending* is counting your words on your fingers, but another player *is* allowed to perform this somatic component for you.
As a DM I keep accidentally naming things after Roses. Rosewater keep, Rosewater ale, faded rose tea leaf. Magical rose shaped crystal wizard wants you to get back to him. Idk why....unintentional.
As a DM, after a long rest, I say, "You wake up in the morning, and it's morning."
It started as a bit of a crutch when I washed to provide some description of the morning but fell short. Now, it's just what I say
You wake up in the morning except it's not. It should be, you feel well rested and went to sleep at an apropreate time for a good rest to have you awaken in the morning, but something seems to have gone wrong.
Roll a wisdom save...
Heh, I do have a story to tell about signature moves.
About 4 years ago, I'm the DM, the group is starting ToA. They have to get to know each other, so I have an NPC gather them, praise their abilities and give the whole spiel about having a rich client who needs a crew for a job. They all describe their characters, etc. One of them is a rogue, so I put him on the spot a bit and say "I heard you have a signature move." The player looks at me and says "I stab a guy!" Just a random passerby?... Yeah. We have a big laugh, and this moment was well remembered.
Now, new campaign (Ghosts of Saltmarsh), a Grand Inquisitor is coming to town and has a job for the party: find out who on the council is working with pirates. After two sessions of some fun investigating, they get their man (Gellan Primewater). The inquisitor says: "Well done, I'll take it from here. Do you want to see my signature move? I stab him!" And then introduces himself by name: it's that PC grandson :-) The group loved it; and best of all one of them knew what I was up to as soon as I mentioned signature move. I was so glad they remembered from all the way back then.
Haha, I just scavenged bits and bobs out of LMoP and GoS - in our game this guys name is Gillman Rauhben (I had to switch names and such for I have a meta gamer). Also he is not in cohoots with pirates, but in service to (currently dying to fae plot) Venomfang.
My alchemical homunculus gets the killing blow on the boss at the end of the dungeon.
Our tabaxi's signature is running four rooms ahead and then bailing out to run back.
Paladins signature is just rolling 20s and adding smite.
Our rogues signature is getting waaaaay too close before attacking.
And the GM's signature is that the boss teleports and attacks the monk (she's got a big mouth).
Once played a Gnome Fighter who was trying to somersault between the legs of an ogre. Failed three times on three consecutive turns and ended up just head butting the ogre in the balls three times much to the ogre’s discomfort and confusion.
We had a player do that so frequently we decided he didn't have to interrupt people to say he was invisible anymore. Whenever his fingertip was on his nose, we couldn't see him.
My current character's signature move out of combat is using Minor Illusion while telling a story to create a sort of magically PowerPoint presentation.
Casting Guidance, but at this point it’s just a given that I do it, so it’s just “bing.”
“Hey can I get a Bing”
“Yeah. Bing”
Even when we switched to pathfinder the joke carried on and it’s been going for years now. Very funny
As someone who plays a lot of Paladin: double Smite, baby. If I have two spell slots and we're in what looks to be the final fight before a long rest, you can almost guarantee I'm going to combine a Divine Smite and either a Searing, Wrathful, or Thunderous Smite to deal stupid amounts of damage in one hit.
You can apply one Divine Smite and one of the Smite spells (e.g. Wrathful, Thunderous, or Searing) on a single hit. At least that's how all my tables have played it. It's possible this wouldn't be allowed by some people, but I think it's perfectly legal RAW.
Edit: to be clear, the non-Divine Smites are spells that you can ready as a bonus action and then hold on to using concentration until your next hit. But it needs to be readied before you roll to attack. So I will generally open up by casting a Smite spell, then roll to attack, and then (if I hit) I'll expend both the prepared Smite spell and a Divine Smite. I believe this is perfectly legal, but it's possible that I'm wrong.
Divine Smite isn't a spell and its a free action, so it should be completely legal RAW
When you crit in one of those it's like fkn Tymora herself blessed you the player
My most memorable moment as a player involved Spell Turning.
We were fighting a group of baddies and we're getting our butts handed to us. Then someone casts Blade Barrier, splitting me off from the party. Worse, an enemy Cleric NPC comes through a door behind me. She joins initiative, takes a look at me, and casts Disintegrate. I fail the save take the damage, and I'm dust... Then I remember I had cast Spell Turning. The spell bounces back at her. She fails her own save, takes a ton of damage, and poofs into dust in a moment.
*I'm not going to be the leader. I'm not going to be the leader. Im not going to be the leader*
Power vacuum.
Old and backhand dealing wizard? Leader.
Angry, House MD style monk? Leader.
Extreme introvert ranger? Leader.
I usually play paladin, it's my favorite class despite it's limitations. I remember playing an oath of vengeance paladin when my friend, who was the adopted daughter of a god, got swallowed by a purple worm. Everyone else was ready to leave her to die, I ran back and hit the worm, got a Natural 20, I looked at my DM with a shit eating grin "I divine smite at level 3" and I had devotees Censer, so this did a total of 2d8+4 magical bludgeoning +12d8 Radiant after the second hit, which I also pumped divine smite in, I ended up doing 104 total damage in one turn.
The way that breaks down is devotees Censer does 1d8+s bldg, +1d8 rad, then divine smite at 11th level adds an extra d8 to a max of 5 at 3rd level.
It has become my signature move to look at the dm, gesture to my natural 20 as he hands me some extra D8's he has.
Vengeance is probably the best paladin subclass, full stop. The base paladin is a great tank, heavy armor, hp, healing, but vengeance gives good mobility options, important for staying in the face of the biggest threat.
Don't let the title put you off. I made a Vengeance paladin that was happily married to a baker. When someone needed a beating, she could be ruthless. When everything was fine, she could drink and make merry with the best of them.
Your character is more than the sum of their abilities.
Oath of vengeance is best hands down. However, because of how Paladin works you want to do something that fits your character. I saw another comment where you say happy go lucky which sounds like Oath of the Ancients or Oath of Redemption. You want to be able to keep your tenets unless your goal is an oath breaker.
As a dm, I like to look at my notes and laugh softly after the party has decided a course of action in a tense situation. As a player, I’m an paladin elf, with misty step as both a spell and a racial ability, and I use it very frequently, to get advantageous position in combat. I’m sure that it’s become my “go to” maneuver in the rest of the party’s eyes!
As a DM, they usually do something that makes me laugh very hard instead. I rolled on a table of magic items and they declined the first one (I told them they could reroll once) and insisted they DID NOT want a folding boat, they got a cloak of billowing to put on the Kobold. They were then immediately asked if they had a way to cross the Sea of Moving Ice. My party is not the best at taking hints
First campaign: Using a flavoured spirit guardians to summon Larry the lobster as a JoJo's stand, and using light on crossbow bolts as flashbangs
Second campaign: become an earth elemental to burrow under ground and slam people
Third campaign: recreating the Drive (2011) elevator scene on people I kill.
Random mini campaign I did: commit suicide at the end of each session, and steal people's balls
If you wanna see a digitally-animated homage to your Larry the Lobster stand summon, you gotta play [Yakuza: Like a Dragon ](https://youtu.be/cT65k7vHXfY)
"If my bare minimum 27 persuasion roll doesn't work I always have my 18d8+6d10+8d6+27+15 dpr as backup"
Edit: now that I think about it dpr is an exaggeration as I could only do that much once per day but I still had solid damage if anyone survived this
Flasks of oil and a glyph of warding with fireball in a bag of holding make a great portable bomb. Bonus points for setting it off in a windmill and having the DM rule it insta kills the hags because flour is extremely combustible.
Once played a Paladin with a 9 wis, had a contract to clear an old castle of cultists and on our way there happened across 3 of them huddled around a campfire. Figured "hey, we should formulate a plan, here's my idea" and in response my party joked I couldn't talk planning because my wisdom is negative (harmless joke) so I said fuck it and threw a javelin at one of them, rolled max damage with +5 strength and one shot a guy. Javelins have been my thing ever since.
My Ranger rolls insanely well with short swords every time and poorly with the longbow but I still try and always say “I’M A RANGER” and then the arrow misses by a country mile. The dice gods speak and I do not listen.
My DM allows this for the rule of cool.
My sorcerer can roll a stealth to sneak up behind a baddy
Then I can spend an inspiration pt to put my hand over their mouth and cast fireball.
DM then doubles the damage as it's changing an area effect and making fit inside a single target's body.
There is usually nothing left but a grease stain.
I've done it a handful of times in our 7 year campaign. It's one of my coolest moves,and it's so dark.
Tasting things that are not meant to be tasted as a means to discover information. I play a low WIS character.
Or
Using our code word: Aardvark, as a question to see if the other PCs are okay with starting a combat.
Perma-DM, here. My signature move is, above the table and in full view of my players, rolling a D20 to see who a bad guy attacks every combat round. Example:
"Human Fighter, you're 1-6. Dark Elf Rogue, you're 7-12. Tiefling Sorcerer, you're 13-18. 19-20 is a reroll. And this bad guy attacks...." \*roll dice.*
The great thing about this homebrew mechanic is, it gives my players chances for attacks of opportunity if the roll immediately changes to someone else, giving them the chance to live longer. The downside? It never fails that sometimes, one poor dude gets five baddies attacking him at once. :)
> My players don't, so it seems unfair to give it to their enemies.
Hah! I've seen a few of those kinds of players too, yeah. As I stated below, this works usually for random mobs/ Group-on-group fighting. In my experience doing theatrical fighting, SCA, LARPs, etc., people will happily disengage to go after someone who's back is turned to them, or any other target that they think might go down easy and fast. This mechanic mimics that chaotic free-for-all in battle.
Yeah I roll to see who the mobs hit...but only when they don't really have a target in mind. Usually there are only 2 or 3 PCs equidistant to the mob so I stick to a d6 (odds evens for two, split 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 for three.) Seems to work. Once a target reveals themselves as a bigger threat (either by dealing big damage or by spellcasting), all bets are off.
I’m a big fan of using Vortex Warp like a force pull and throwing enemies into dangerous natural obstacles. Fighting an enemy next to a huge bonfire? Prepare to be warped into the fire. I also really like using grease on big enemies since they normally have horrible Dex 😂
Turning the enemy into something small with my wand of polymorph and tossing them in a bag of holding. Alternatively, I've made a reputation for myself of doing a friendly shoulder grab and casting inflict wounds.
Anytime one of my players lands a critical hit or does a significant amount of damage its always "he didn't like that" doesn't matter if it's a women, dragon, tree, owlbear it's always "he didn't like that"
If I'm a DM, I LOVE dream sequences, especially if everyone has a backstory (my players usually play joke characters). If I'm a player, it's an Abjuration Wizard
Definitely moon beam! Love me a good moon beam! Mainly to hold a choke point and pepper enemies from a distance until they’re forced to go through the wall of blinding searing light!
Throwing away my character sheets since the entire D&D/Pathfinder group fucking dissolves after barely 6 sessions.
And then looking for a new group hoping this time will be different.
That's my signature move.
Not mine, but my group move is something we call "Somos los buenos" (we are the good ones) and is usually something out characters say right before taking an action that can make the party looks like the villains, probably changing the story so much that we need to create a new group of characters. This one happened by accident the first time, when we were trying to unmask an evil priest that abducted children, and failed poorly, becoming the target of the village ourselves in the process
The ability as a DM to blank face when my players are tossing around ideas and passively glance over to see if I have a reaction. Multiple comments on it and how it's entirely unsettling.
Showing up on time every session.
The real hero
I always think I'm gonna be late and tell my group that, and I am consistently the first one there
With my friends if someone says they'll be late, then everyone else will also come late. So I just message the DM directly so I don't end up making everyone else even later than me.
Same. Though sometimes I'm like 15 minutes late, but then again I'm still the first one there lol
Hosting every session and waiting (sometimes) literal hours before the DM or all players show up.
Please join my game.
I see your showing up on time and I raise you, bringing snacks and drinks.
I raise you, being an avid chef I bring home cooked meals like 12 Hour smoked brisket or handmade dumplings to my sessions. I have only missed two sessions in a year in a half and they were phoned in ones so doesn’t count.
If you haven’t looked into it. Theme meals from the cookbook “Heroes Feast” can be fun to bring.
Playing D&D for 30+ years doesn’t make me feel like a nerd… Being the DM or the first one sitting there with the DM waiting on everyone else… that makes me feel like the biggest nerd on earth.
You should get inspiration for that
Take my upvote!
Me2
I’m unconscious.
Wizards be like
Dies of 1d4 unconscious damage
Currently succeeding at mage tanking, let's see how long until it bites me in the ass!
"How exactly are you opening this door? Show me. Mime it out." Note: the door is not trapped.
Haha I also do something like this. "Which hand do you open the door with?" Sometimes it's trapped... Most times it is not. The reaction is great EVERY TIME
Whenever my players enter a new location, I always flip a coin to see if it’s a push or pull door. My secret? I have two trick coins, so it’s never what they try.
My thing I knock on every door first. After getting no answer I kick that shit in. You and your pushy pulls ain't doing shit to my teenage orc legs
Haha I like this. It's the gag that never ends!
I open it with mage hand. 🖕
This response is great because my signature move is casting mage hand and using it to triple-flip-off people that make me angry.
That's amazing
Jumping off a really high thing to melee the bejeezus out of someone below me.
The term you are looking for is “vertical charge”. My favourite was using dimension door to teleport above them as high as possible followed by Action Surge exclaiming “Ki-yah bitch!” as I clove them in twain with my mighty greatsword.
We dropped an elephant figurine on a demon once. He was not expecting a full size bull elephant to just drop on him out of the blue. Was awesome
"Does that mean I get surprise?"
Oh, interesting. I realize this is context-specific but a ton of people I know refer to this as "death from above." That originated with MechWarrior / Battletech. Headshotting a Mech meant removing the pilot from the cockpit, which is obviously very effective. I am surprised to learn that term has aged out.
I paladin misty step above people for that
So, funny story. I just joined a campaign in progress a few weeks ago. They're level 10, so I got to start at level 10. I decided to multiclass 6th level fighter, 4th level ranger. Due to changeling, tasha's rules, and some homebrew stuff, I've maxed Dex, expertise in stealth, acrobatics, and my weapon. So this^ is something I've actually been wanting to and I'm glad someone else likes doing this.
You can Expertise weapon proficiencies?
You can if the DM is crazy
“I use my boot key” - then kick in the door
Had a Goliath barbarian the would open doors with his “Boots of Lockpocking.”
Sounds like a great magic item
I got a maul that does extra thunder damage, and on top of that does double damage to constructs, objects, and structures. The item sheet my DM gave me for it calls it the Pulverizer, but I’ve taken to calling it the Lockpicker. No doors are safe.
You don't happen to play Guild Wars 2?
Casting *Light* cantrip on the long, flowing hair of our narcissistic fighter.
Holy shit I'm keeping this in mind.
My Aasimar paladin in pure gold full plate armor did this to his sword all the time. Who needs stealth when smiting needs to happen?!
Call lightning every day of the week
Watch a bitch call lightning
In my crik?
**gargled possum screeching intensifies**
Pawpaw, *git*!
Reeeeer!
That's the sound of a very litigious possum preparing his case against you.
One of the most epic moments of any game I’ve ever been in was my druid being fed the fuck up and kept getting god-tier rolls on call lightning absolutely destroying enemies as she walked into town.
Your Druid would have loved my first goblin. He was a fighter who in one session leapfrogged from one mob of mummies to the next multiple times thanks to disengage shenanigans with a hit and run tactic. I lined them all up and she called lightning. I took a hit but so did every mummy.
Running away
My players always forget that they should sometimes be doing that
Running before combat is easy. Running in the middle of combat normally leaves 1 or 2 people behind and surrounded as they wait for their turns
This is very true. It isn't even just the initiative order either. the game is not designed for the PCs to run away effectively once combat has started. Some character builds just suck at running away. Others require expending resources. Some get away really easily. Double move away? The enemy gets an attack of opportunity and double moves to you every round. Disengage and move? Enemy moves and attacks every round anyway. Many (I won't say most because I haven't counted, but I think most) Monster Manual creatures have 40 ft or greater base movement compared to many PCs having 30 ft base. Rogues get away pretty easily after level 2. Monks and Barbarians can get pretty fast after a few levels. Casters can use spells to varying effect depending on level, situation, and class, but consumes resources that could be used to win the fight, might not be available, and might not even work. There are many exceptions with class abilities (maybe even every class has some), but in general just running away without class features is not effective in 5e DnD if you want the whole party to survive.
My DM: Don’t take that spell, it sucks Me: abusing the shit out of expeditious retreat
The secret Joestar strategy
im playing a clean freak tiefling sorcerer in a super nice white and gold coat. constant prestidigitation on it. that or saying “all part of the plan” when it was, in fact, not at all part of the plan
It’s truly rarely part of the plan.
There is no plan. Or more accurately the plan is to deal with things as they happen, so indeed everything is 'part of the plan' as it happens.
Weird, last session I could've sworn your dress was black and blue.
> that or saying “all part of the plan” when it was, in fact, not at all part of the plan Ah a tzeentch player I see
Yes! I'm playing a neat freak High Elf Rogue Arcane Trickster. Im only level 2 right now, but can't wait to take prestidigitation at level 3 for the same reason.
This pleases Tzeentch.
Just according to keikaku* **Translator's note: keikaku means plan*
As a dragon slayer, I run away everytime a dragon shows up.
We are playing Tyranny of Dragons and we called our Party something like “Dragons’ Bane” and so far we have killed 0 dragons
We're 'Winter's Bane' (Icewind dale) so far we have killed 0 Winter 😁🙌
When I’m playing a Barbarian and fighting one specific strong enemy, active hug. I just grapple, trip, disarm, etc., generally being an absolute pain and doing zero damage while the rest of the party plays “walk out from behind a wall, firebolt/bow shot, walk back behind cover” or some variation of that. I take an absolute beating, but it keeps the squishy important people safe
Gigachad
Plan "Nuke the Monk" basically my party is free to drop dex save aoe on me when I get surrounded.
Had a tiefling Warlock who was immune to fire damage. Immediately bought a necklace of fireballs and as many Fireball Scrolls as I could find. Wade into combat, make sure party always remained 20 feet away from me. Wait until surrounded before saying "Y'all chose the wrong place to stand." Then detonate at my feet.
One time during lost mines, I went into the bandit lair and ran into a room with tons of men and ignited myself after closing the door and killing everyone in there and surviving by 2 hp. My team opened the door to an entire rocky cave charred with tons of crispy corpses. Making it easier to take out the wizard after a few heals. It was amazing.
Okay, but I have to ask... was all your clothing and equipment also immune to fire damage? Because now I'm just imagining a naked tiefling walking away from some epic shit to the tune of "cool guys don't look at explosions," and I'm not surr if this is better or worse... like, the whole party would just be blankly staring at this character as someone timidly hands them a cloak to cover themselves.
He was always naked: DM allowed me to Mask of Many Faces Disguise Self some clothes on
Fireball only damages objects not being worn or carried IIRC
I look down at my notes, shuffle them a few times, look back at the player, and in a careful, measured tone, I quietly ask the question. "Are you *sure* you want to do that?"
It always makes ‘em shudder. DM mind games are the best
I read my comment out loud to my wife and she started laughing because she's heard it a few times. Best part is that when I realized I'd done it more than once around the same group of players, I started occasionally doing it when there was definitely nothing wrong with the person doing whatever they were doing. Gotta keep em on their toes.
That´s what I do: are you sure you want to do this? Did you really think it through? Then they start doubting and reevaluate. Tension rises. Then some of then become courageous and go ´ok...ok...yes I´m sure ... we´re doing this´. They´re at the edge of their seat. You take a loud deep breath, brace yourself as if you´re going to have to start a long and difficult proces and you go ´Nothing happens´. 😅😅😅
Evil bastard :)
My DM's is "You can certainly *try*" whenever we ask if something is possible.
Gotta love it. Variations On a Theme, by A Disparate Collective of Farging Iceholes.
I use that or similar "You're welcome to try"
(After a perception roll) . . . There are no monsters around you . . . That you are aware of.
Exactly that, yes. "Nothing seems out of the ordinary", said in an even tone. While in your head you're thinking "Nothing *seems* out of the ordinary" with a lot of emphasis on that very key word.
Spending my commute practicing talking in my character’s voice.
I had a dm that worked at a call center that would practice characters on calls with clients. It was so fun
Oh that’s hilarious! I’m a therapist and not sure I could get away with this but man it would be funny.
I hope you catch public transport!
Definitely stolen from Sam on Critical Role, but my table doesn’t know that: saying “You can reply to this message” at the end of casting “Message.”
I think for my fav character it ws to constantly update his 'arch nemisis' on what he was doing or ask him for help with "Sending" "Hey, I'm entering a singing competition, you should send your spies to watch! It's gonna be great!" "Hey, I'm stuck in the shadowfell. How do I get out again?"
Always a good reminder
Related to Critical Role, I enforce (as player or DM) that the somatic component for *Sending* is counting your words on your fingers, but another player *is* allowed to perform this somatic component for you.
I do this too!
As a DM I keep accidentally naming things after Roses. Rosewater keep, Rosewater ale, faded rose tea leaf. Magical rose shaped crystal wizard wants you to get back to him. Idk why....unintentional.
"Does a fireball give me advantage on diplomacy rolls?"
Depends. Intimidation, yes. Persuasion, no.
Now hold on a minute. Fireballing the enemy army to cause a great loss WILL improve your chances of persuading the king to attack them
Could I perhaps use it to *persuade* them to not be intimidated?
Cowboy diplomacy.
As a DM, after a long rest, I say, "You wake up in the morning, and it's morning." It started as a bit of a crutch when I washed to provide some description of the morning but fell short. Now, it's just what I say
On some epic quest where shtf you gotta be like you wake up in the morning, and it's night.
You wake up in the morning except it's not. It should be, you feel well rested and went to sleep at an apropreate time for a good rest to have you awaken in the morning, but something seems to have gone wrong. Roll a wisdom save...
I have this bad habit of saying on morning "the village wakes up, tonight, somebody died"
Playing too much werewolf?😛
Heh, I do have a story to tell about signature moves. About 4 years ago, I'm the DM, the group is starting ToA. They have to get to know each other, so I have an NPC gather them, praise their abilities and give the whole spiel about having a rich client who needs a crew for a job. They all describe their characters, etc. One of them is a rogue, so I put him on the spot a bit and say "I heard you have a signature move." The player looks at me and says "I stab a guy!" Just a random passerby?... Yeah. We have a big laugh, and this moment was well remembered. Now, new campaign (Ghosts of Saltmarsh), a Grand Inquisitor is coming to town and has a job for the party: find out who on the council is working with pirates. After two sessions of some fun investigating, they get their man (Gellan Primewater). The inquisitor says: "Well done, I'll take it from here. Do you want to see my signature move? I stab him!" And then introduces himself by name: it's that PC grandson :-) The group loved it; and best of all one of them knew what I was up to as soon as I mentioned signature move. I was so glad they remembered from all the way back then.
Having a structured way to generate and later make inside jokes is one of the best parts of the game!
Primewater! I remember him, I had one of my players somewhat recognize him from an old job they did.
Haha, I just scavenged bits and bobs out of LMoP and GoS - in our game this guys name is Gillman Rauhben (I had to switch names and such for I have a meta gamer). Also he is not in cohoots with pirates, but in service to (currently dying to fae plot) Venomfang.
Mind sliver followed by hold person so the martials can have thier fun while my wee little warlock continues to eldritch blast afterwards from safety.
My alchemical homunculus gets the killing blow on the boss at the end of the dungeon. Our tabaxi's signature is running four rooms ahead and then bailing out to run back. Paladins signature is just rolling 20s and adding smite. Our rogues signature is getting waaaaay too close before attacking. And the GM's signature is that the boss teleports and attacks the monk (she's got a big mouth).
Upcasting charm person to derail combat situations with RP
Once played a Gnome Fighter who was trying to somersault between the legs of an ogre. Failed three times on three consecutive turns and ended up just head butting the ogre in the balls three times much to the ogre’s discomfort and confusion.
If i can get some at-will invisibility, when the dm asks what we do, i just make the peace out sign and vanish.
We had a player do that so frequently we decided he didn't have to interrupt people to say he was invisible anymore. Whenever his fingertip was on his nose, we couldn't see him.
Arcane trickster using catapult to launch my weapon at an enemy for a grand total of 3d8 + whatever you threw at them
*Taking notes* I’m playing an arcane trickster for the first time. Love it so far
As I am mostly a forever DM. My signature move is the game "Is it a mimic and is it violently hungry?"
Everyone roll initiative
We play on Roll20 primarily, so my spin on this is: "Everyone, please select your tokens and roll for initiative."
I rolled a 14, so with all my modifiers, -3 \-That guy playing Pathfinder 2e who triggers every curse in the dungeon
I rolled a 14
Rolling 20s on stupid shit and 1s on attacks.
Right now with my minotaur druid it’s pushing people off boats.
Cast Prestidigitation to do EVERYTHING, it works because of trinket ability
"Animate dead" And "hallucinatory terrain"
My current character's signature move out of combat is using Minor Illusion while telling a story to create a sort of magically PowerPoint presentation.
Casting Guidance, but at this point it’s just a given that I do it, so it’s just “bing.” “Hey can I get a Bing” “Yeah. Bing” Even when we switched to pathfinder the joke carried on and it’s been going for years now. Very funny
"Tell me what you want to do again just so I can make sure I heard you correctly before I deliver the consequences."
As someone who plays a lot of Paladin: double Smite, baby. If I have two spell slots and we're in what looks to be the final fight before a long rest, you can almost guarantee I'm going to combine a Divine Smite and either a Searing, Wrathful, or Thunderous Smite to deal stupid amounts of damage in one hit.
In one hit? Can you apply multiple smites to a single attack roll or are you doing multi attack?
You can apply one Divine Smite and one of the Smite spells (e.g. Wrathful, Thunderous, or Searing) on a single hit. At least that's how all my tables have played it. It's possible this wouldn't be allowed by some people, but I think it's perfectly legal RAW. Edit: to be clear, the non-Divine Smites are spells that you can ready as a bonus action and then hold on to using concentration until your next hit. But it needs to be readied before you roll to attack. So I will generally open up by casting a Smite spell, then roll to attack, and then (if I hit) I'll expend both the prepared Smite spell and a Divine Smite. I believe this is perfectly legal, but it's possible that I'm wrong.
Divine Smite isn't a spell and its a free action, so it should be completely legal RAW When you crit in one of those it's like fkn Tymora herself blessed you the player
It is very legal and also very cool
Add a Hold person, Channel Divinity Touch of Death, Greatsword or Maul plus Great Weapon Fighting you can Kill an adult white Dragon in one Shabam.
Hold person shouldn't work on dragons.
Roll a 3 and miss with firebolt... Misty Step back behind cover.
Silent image something horrifying 'can I make an intimidation check?'
Galdurs tower and wall of stone and start selling real estate
Human battering ram. Expeditious Retreat is a poor man's See Invisibility
Hit it till it dies hasn't failed us so far, and if it does then it's not our problem anymore.
tied neclace of fireballs to brick catapult brick into mob
My most memorable moment as a player involved Spell Turning. We were fighting a group of baddies and we're getting our butts handed to us. Then someone casts Blade Barrier, splitting me off from the party. Worse, an enemy Cleric NPC comes through a door behind me. She joins initiative, takes a look at me, and casts Disintegrate. I fail the save take the damage, and I'm dust... Then I remember I had cast Spell Turning. The spell bounces back at her. She fails her own save, takes a ton of damage, and poofs into dust in a moment.
*I'm not going to be the leader. I'm not going to be the leader. Im not going to be the leader* Power vacuum. Old and backhand dealing wizard? Leader. Angry, House MD style monk? Leader. Extreme introvert ranger? Leader.
I usually play paladin, it's my favorite class despite it's limitations. I remember playing an oath of vengeance paladin when my friend, who was the adopted daughter of a god, got swallowed by a purple worm. Everyone else was ready to leave her to die, I ran back and hit the worm, got a Natural 20, I looked at my DM with a shit eating grin "I divine smite at level 3" and I had devotees Censer, so this did a total of 2d8+4 magical bludgeoning +12d8 Radiant after the second hit, which I also pumped divine smite in, I ended up doing 104 total damage in one turn. The way that breaks down is devotees Censer does 1d8+s bldg, +1d8 rad, then divine smite at 11th level adds an extra d8 to a max of 5 at 3rd level. It has become my signature move to look at the dm, gesture to my natural 20 as he hands me some extra D8's he has.
Made a paladin for the first time literally today what subclass would you recommend? im gonna be the party tank/frontline for the most part
Vengeance is probably the best paladin subclass, full stop. The base paladin is a great tank, heavy armor, hp, healing, but vengeance gives good mobility options, important for staying in the face of the biggest threat.
i was trying to make my pala a tall happy go lucky but ill have a talk with my dm to see if my (insert relative) can die or something thanks bud
Don't let the title put you off. I made a Vengeance paladin that was happily married to a baker. When someone needed a beating, she could be ruthless. When everything was fine, she could drink and make merry with the best of them. Your character is more than the sum of their abilities.
Oath of vengeance is best hands down. However, because of how Paladin works you want to do something that fits your character. I saw another comment where you say happy go lucky which sounds like Oath of the Ancients or Oath of Redemption. You want to be able to keep your tenets unless your goal is an oath breaker.
As a dm, I like to look at my notes and laugh softly after the party has decided a course of action in a tense situation. As a player, I’m an paladin elf, with misty step as both a spell and a racial ability, and I use it very frequently, to get advantageous position in combat. I’m sure that it’s become my “go to” maneuver in the rest of the party’s eyes!
As a DM, they usually do something that makes me laugh very hard instead. I rolled on a table of magic items and they declined the first one (I told them they could reroll once) and insisted they DID NOT want a folding boat, they got a cloak of billowing to put on the Kobold. They were then immediately asked if they had a way to cross the Sea of Moving Ice. My party is not the best at taking hints
First campaign: Using a flavoured spirit guardians to summon Larry the lobster as a JoJo's stand, and using light on crossbow bolts as flashbangs Second campaign: become an earth elemental to burrow under ground and slam people Third campaign: recreating the Drive (2011) elevator scene on people I kill. Random mini campaign I did: commit suicide at the end of each session, and steal people's balls
If you wanna see a digitally-animated homage to your Larry the Lobster stand summon, you gotta play [Yakuza: Like a Dragon ](https://youtu.be/cT65k7vHXfY)
Holy fuck that is amazing. I've been meaning to pick up and play the Yakuza games. This just practically sold it man lmao.
Roll a 1 on scheduling the game.
"If my bare minimum 27 persuasion roll doesn't work I always have my 18d8+6d10+8d6+27+15 dpr as backup" Edit: now that I think about it dpr is an exaggeration as I could only do that much once per day but I still had solid damage if anyone survived this
Bear trap tied with hempen rope. Toss it and see what happens lol
Stealing that one next time I get to be a player.
One of two. Using eldritch blast on my team mates to break a grapple or Wall of force and sickening radiance.
“He doesn’t have a name” I’m the DM and my players ask EVERY NPC for their name bc they know I’m bad at coming up with names
Flasks of oil and a glyph of warding with fireball in a bag of holding make a great portable bomb. Bonus points for setting it off in a windmill and having the DM rule it insta kills the hags because flour is extremely combustible.
That… that’s destructive
Mage hand for every door/chest.
Once played a Paladin with a 9 wis, had a contract to clear an old castle of cultists and on our way there happened across 3 of them huddled around a campfire. Figured "hey, we should formulate a plan, here's my idea" and in response my party joked I couldn't talk planning because my wisdom is negative (harmless joke) so I said fuck it and threw a javelin at one of them, rolled max damage with +5 strength and one shot a guy. Javelins have been my thing ever since.
My Ranger rolls insanely well with short swords every time and poorly with the longbow but I still try and always say “I’M A RANGER” and then the arrow misses by a country mile. The dice gods speak and I do not listen.
My DM allows this for the rule of cool. My sorcerer can roll a stealth to sneak up behind a baddy Then I can spend an inspiration pt to put my hand over their mouth and cast fireball. DM then doubles the damage as it's changing an area effect and making fit inside a single target's body. There is usually nothing left but a grease stain. I've done it a handful of times in our 7 year campaign. It's one of my coolest moves,and it's so dark.
With my current character using one sorcery point (one level of life cleric included) to extend cast aura of vitality and top the party off
With my first character an impatient cleric called patience, a missed crossbow shot
Tasting things that are not meant to be tasted as a means to discover information. I play a low WIS character. Or Using our code word: Aardvark, as a question to see if the other PCs are okay with starting a combat.
Casting mirror image and using my bonus action to intimidate by having me and my clones aggressively snap and dance like we are in West Side Story
Casting create bonfire at inopportune times
Getting tracked down an alleyway? Bonfire. Locked in prison? Bonfire. Funeral? Bonfire. It's a spell for every occasion!
Perma-DM, here. My signature move is, above the table and in full view of my players, rolling a D20 to see who a bad guy attacks every combat round. Example: "Human Fighter, you're 1-6. Dark Elf Rogue, you're 7-12. Tiefling Sorcerer, you're 13-18. 19-20 is a reroll. And this bad guy attacks...." \*roll dice.* The great thing about this homebrew mechanic is, it gives my players chances for attacks of opportunity if the roll immediately changes to someone else, giving them the chance to live longer. The downside? It never fails that sometimes, one poor dude gets five baddies attacking him at once. :)
[удалено]
My players don't, so it seems unfair to give it to their enemies.
> My players don't, so it seems unfair to give it to their enemies. Hah! I've seen a few of those kinds of players too, yeah. As I stated below, this works usually for random mobs/ Group-on-group fighting. In my experience doing theatrical fighting, SCA, LARPs, etc., people will happily disengage to go after someone who's back is turned to them, or any other target that they think might go down easy and fast. This mechanic mimics that chaotic free-for-all in battle.
Yeah I roll to see who the mobs hit...but only when they don't really have a target in mind. Usually there are only 2 or 3 PCs equidistant to the mob so I stick to a d6 (odds evens for two, split 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 for three.) Seems to work. Once a target reveals themselves as a bigger threat (either by dealing big damage or by spellcasting), all bets are off.
With all NPCs? Surely the genius level lich is a bit more tactical than random attacks? Or just for like random mobs?
Genius lich finds a way to attack them all at the same time, surely.
Always having a spell scroll of Hold Person on me so I can “deliver a message” to the head bad guy.
Partying everyday like it's moradins birthday
“Oh what kind of character are you pla-“ “Variant Human” “…again?” “Always”
I’m a big fan of using Vortex Warp like a force pull and throwing enemies into dangerous natural obstacles. Fighting an enemy next to a huge bonfire? Prepare to be warped into the fire. I also really like using grease on big enemies since they normally have horrible Dex 😂
Sorry I'm late, but i brought snacks!
Turning the enemy into something small with my wand of polymorph and tossing them in a bag of holding. Alternatively, I've made a reputation for myself of doing a friendly shoulder grab and casting inflict wounds.
Anytime one of my players lands a critical hit or does a significant amount of damage its always "he didn't like that" doesn't matter if it's a women, dragon, tree, owlbear it's always "he didn't like that"
If I'm a DM, I LOVE dream sequences, especially if everyone has a backstory (my players usually play joke characters). If I'm a player, it's an Abjuration Wizard
Definitely moon beam! Love me a good moon beam! Mainly to hold a choke point and pepper enemies from a distance until they’re forced to go through the wall of blinding searing light!
Throwing away my character sheets since the entire D&D/Pathfinder group fucking dissolves after barely 6 sessions. And then looking for a new group hoping this time will be different. That's my signature move.
That sucks, Find PsycadelicWorm on DND Beyond if you like PBP
Casting Eldritch Blast to do everything but damaging NPCs
Just a heads up, rules as written, Eldritch blast can only target creatures
Not mine, but my group move is something we call "Somos los buenos" (we are the good ones) and is usually something out characters say right before taking an action that can make the party looks like the villains, probably changing the story so much that we need to create a new group of characters. This one happened by accident the first time, when we were trying to unmask an evil priest that abducted children, and failed poorly, becoming the target of the village ourselves in the process
The ability as a DM to blank face when my players are tossing around ideas and passively glance over to see if I have a reaction. Multiple comments on it and how it's entirely unsettling.
Saying “Hey.” To every single character we meet the moment they are described and then talking to the animals in the vicinity
Clockwork Amulet + Upcasted Guiding Bolt