Quote from: Opaopajr;771288Adventurers who want to level up and game the lack of wandering monster tables?

Lack of wandering monsters? The starter adventure has them. They are not particularly GOOD random encounter tables but they are there.

I only noticed last night that you only recover up to half of your HD after a long rest. Until now I was under the impression that you got all of them back + the full HP top off, which seemed like A LOT even for hi-octane Micheal Bay D&D.

So that mitigates that rule a little bit, but maybe still not enough. Sacrosanct's version seems workable.

I do really like the added resource management that comes with burning Hit Dice during short rests though.

As for the 15-minute thing I'd hate to be stuck in a group with people that bickered over when to take rests, or with someone who nova'd every battle and insisting on breaking afterwards. It should be a fairly simple group decision based on circumstances and common sense. "If these two need to rest, we'll rest. Dave, stop blowing your wad every fight or you're going to get left behind."

And if it's the entire group doing it they get a boot to the head.

Quote from: Raven;771295As for the 15-minute thing I'd hate to be stuck in a group with people that bickered over when to take rests, or with someone who nova'd every battle and insisting on breaking afterwards. It should be a fairly simple group decision based on circumstances and common sense. "If these two need to rest, we'll rest. Dave, stop blowing your wad every fight or you're going to get left behind."

AKA my gaming group through all of 3e.

Sigh.

'Ok, the cleric nova'd! Now it's time to hunker up in a magic shelter until tomorrow.'

That's kinda funny. I haven't used a wandering monster table in... fuck... forever.

in the back of my head, I kinda know what's appropriate in the area of where the PC's are. I kinda just wing-it. I sort of think of cool monsters/encounters that could happen in a given area, or during a trek, I just let the landscape just dictate itself.

Forest with lots of wild game? This might be a good place far enough from civilization (but not too far) for a camp of poachers/orcs/goblins or whatever.

Or if I'm feeling like the PC's are getting sloppy, or feeling secure -how about an interesting positive encounter with a built-in adventure hook I make up on the spot just to divert them when they get to their destination. A random battle-sight, a lone dying person who pulls out a sealed scroll tube with a powerful lord's stamp on it...and a one-word destination/name.

I've never been big on random tables - but I recognize they have their uses.

As Marleycat stated, we're still doing Basic. when the PHB lands, then the quibbling will be in full force. Heck, if it's as modular as it COULD be... people might be playing very different styles of game at each individual table. I think that's a *good* thing.

I never experienced the 15-minute thing or Novas. Simply because my PC's generally respected their characters abilities not as "superpowers" - but as things hard-won in the game within the context of the world we played in. It would be like the fucking Pope running around taking selfies of himself while he did Create Water on the children of Rome during the summer. While it might be fun to do as a one-off, generally at that level they were too concerned with dealing with real problems in the game. Of course everyone has their own view of heroic-fantasy, mine tends to run towards - big powers = big responsibilities. The key is to give them not just what they can handle, but what they've earned, both the good and the bad.

Quote from: tenbones;771302That's kinda funny. I haven't used a wandering monster table in... fuck... forever.

in the back of my head, I kinda know what's appropriate in the area of where the PC's are. I kinda just wing-it. I sort of think of cool monsters/encounters that could happen in a given area, or during a trek, I just let the landscape just dictate itself.

Forest with lots of wild game? This might be a good place far enough from civilization (but not too far) for a camp of poachers/orcs/goblins or whatever.

IMO, what you've just described is the thought process that goes into making a good wandering monster table, not reason you wouldn't use a wandering monster tables.

I'm OK with the healing conceit if it coincided with what I was using for my setting. Like, medieval Band of Brothers party comprised solely of Fighters, moving from battle to battle over the day. Then a party of 1st lvl Fighters using Second Wind every other hour is understandable for a more heroic mood.

The challenge is modulating the mechanics to my needs. And to be honest the product is too new to tell. I have my ideas how to dial up or down healing rates, but I need experience with the baseline product to not only know what needs adjusting, but how.

Though I do have my concerns about the interconnectivity of other mechanics to Short Rest. But integrated mechanics is something that usually concerns my inner DIYer. Separate mechanics may be fiddly, but being discrete avoids many unintended consequences.

So far it looks like the fighter and warlock would be affected most by altering short rest by itself.

Quote from: Natty Bodak;771306IMO, what you've just described is the thought process that goes into making a good wandering monster table, not reason you wouldn't use a wandering monster tables.

Well yeah... but then it kinda defeats the purpose of *needing* one. At least for me.

But I totally get why people use them. It's just I never considered it until it was brought up. I've just been doing this for so long, it's kinda second-nature. I'm always on the cruise for good monsters to use though. Don't you guys still peruse Monster manuals just for inspiration?

when I first started GMing... I used the wandering monster tables so much that my players knew exactly what roll got what monster without me even saying anything (I rolled in the open).

After a while all those ecology-articles in Dragon and wildlife shows sort of gelled... LOL

Quote from: tenbones;771431Well yeah... but then it kinda defeats the purpose of *needing* one. At least for me.

But I totally get why people use them. It's just I never considered it until it was brought up. I've just been doing this for so long, it's kinda second-nature. I'm always on the cruise for good monsters to use though. Don't you guys still peruse Monster manuals just for inspiration?

when I first started GMing... I used the wandering monster tables so much that my players knew exactly what roll got what monster without me even saying anything (I rolled in the open).

After a while all those ecology-articles in Dragon and wildlife shows sort of gelled... LOL

I do but I love tables full of random stuff. It's why I'm hoping 5e can replace FantasyCraft for me. That game is awesome but it doesn't have the support I prefer and it's 3x which I have grown to loath as a GM
.

Quote from: tenbones;771431Well yeah... but then it kinda defeats the purpose of *needing* one. At least for me.

But I totally get why people use them. It's just I never considered it until it was brought up. I've just been doing this for so long, it's kinda second-nature. I'm always on the cruise for good monsters to use though. Don't you guys still peruse Monster manuals just for inspiration?

when I first started GMing... I used the wandering monster tables so much that my players knew exactly what roll got what monster without me even saying anything (I rolled in the open).

After a while all those ecology-articles in Dragon and wildlife shows sort of gelled... LOL

I'm a card carrying member of the compulsive sourcebook reader support group. I love poring over sourcebooks for inspiration!

I wonder if we expect different things out of wandering monster tables. For me they are a way to take my thoughts about what monsters might be encountered in a certain region, along with a short blurb about what they might be doing, and the put it into a randomizer. This lets me do some of the creative work up front, and then have it be random. I'm not particularly prone to being overly narrative, but doing something like this is a little safety valve as well as a preparation aid.

Quote from: Marleycat;771432I do but I love tables full of random stuff. It's why I'm hoping 5e can replace FantasyCraft for me. That game is awesome but it doesn't have the support I prefer and it's 3x which I have grown to loath as a GM
.

Marleycat you are spot on. Same with me. I should be careful to say when it comes to random tables, I'm specifically talking about wandering monsters when I say I don't use them.

I will happily use a random table for loot, or other things. I obsess over what's roaming around an area even in random encounters because a big part of how I GM is getting the PC's used to a certain norm in their "territory". Anything out of place, or uncommon, is a notable event. Where it appropriate I do a lot of land-management for those powerful enough to claim territory. So I sort of obsess over that in my mind. Even when they're adventuring.

When it comes to FC... I can't love that game enough, but like you, I want MORE MORE MORE of it. Alas...

3.x/PF is dead to me. PF2.0 will certainly get a look. I'm *really* hoping 5e pans out as well as it appears to be. /toes crossed