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S3 Ep 10: New Year, New Mailbag! · Bards and Barrels

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Today on Bards and Barrels, we dive back into the mailbag.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: And there's the opening crack.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's time for another episode of Bards and Barrels.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: How we doing, boys?
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_03: Taking a drink.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um feeling pretty good about myself.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: I just cracked it left-handed.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, look at you.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Left-handed crack.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: A left-handed pole.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm one of those weird left-handed people.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: You're going left-handed, feel something that's first there.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_03: You feel inadequate or adequate?
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_03: My left-handed crack is definitely not there.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: And stay tuned for a bonus episode where we can hear cracks.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: This went off the rails.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: Good night, everybody.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you later.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, no, no.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: Just kidding.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: Alright, it's time to dive back into everybody's favorite episodes.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's time for the mailbag.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_03: Oh shit.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_03: You're gonna be fine.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_03: It is always kind of a okay.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: Here we go.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's fine.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: You guys like to complain, but you enjoy it too.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: This is when Ross puts Brent and I on the spot.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Indeed, yes.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's a prep.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: And look at the questions ahead of time.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I do.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then I just chime in like I know things, but of course I know things because I look the things up.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's fine.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I spent 20 minutes earlier looking.
• 1:35
  unknown: Yep.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Anywho, now that we're done complaining about that, uh, there will be more.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: Don't worry.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: I have no doubt.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well, maybe no palading questions tonight, but I don't want to promise that.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_03: Alright, crack that bag open.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, here we go.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, first question of the night.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: And Phil, I I feel like you're gonna do great at this one.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: How long would you spend prepping for a three to three and a half hour game session?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_03: That is a very loaded question.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: I guess we've all DM'd now, so we we can all give our opinions on this, but how long?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_03: Well, so my my view on this has probably changed over time.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like I used to prepare a lot.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like would spend probably well, if we're gonna run a three-hour session, I probably spend about two weeks prepping-ish.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_03: Not like full days or anything, but a few hours a day prepping.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um and I always over-prepared because the shenanigans you just don't ever count on, and sure, I would say about half of maybe what I prepped we would actually get through as a party.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_03: So now I prep three-hour campaign.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_03: I maybe prep or three-hour like session, I maybe prep three hours-ish, maybe, and we still usually don't make it through everything.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: So I've changed a lot of that, but our campaign has changed too.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_03: So it's very much not just DM driven anymore, a lot of it is PC driven, so that changes the amount that I prep.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: It's much more minimalistic now.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: I would say it very much depends on how you are playing too.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: True.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you are running a book, like a pre-made module, that is one thing, and you need to spend some time reading and prepping that material.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you're coming up with your own, you could do more, you could do less.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you're playing in person, just with theater of the mind, maybe not as much.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're playing on uh what we've switched to is using Fantasy, Foundry or Foundry, excuse me.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um Foundry, there's some setup there that you're gonna have to spend extra time there.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it depends on how you're playing.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_03: That being said, I so like for our one of our last sessions, I did spend a good amount of time in Foundry, um, but it's still pretty new to us, and it did take me, you know, quite a few hours, like putting in the time, yeah, to get everything set up.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: So that is something to take into consideration.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Some of that was first time setup though, yep, right?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_03: It was, it was, but even like now, if we're gonna set up different like maps and things, it'll still take me a little bit more time, but it's uh you're not talking hours, right?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: I might spend an hour putting a map together.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_03: Sure, yeah.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: I I agree with what you said, Brett.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's like when you're running like the pre-built books or you're you're running any of those campaigns, you certainly feel like you need to read like the next three steps for every possible option from where you're at.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: Just so it's like if they choose this, I'm ready for that, or if they choose this, I'm ready for that.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's like that that gets tedious, but it's like on your side now, Phil, like going to a homebrew and where we're really driving the story.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: You just you know the general story arc, and so you just are more of a guide now when the time comes where like there's a wall, and it's like I need to step in and do a little directing and then let you guys take it over again.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: And there's not necessarily major decision decisions that we're gonna be making, I wouldn't think, that you don't wouldn't be able to foresee.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, one of the biggest differences in it too, right, is when we were running a published adventure, there are kind of key components that sort of need to happen to drive the story along.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_03: So you have to know enough of like, okay, if this falls apart, you know, how do I reintroduce this major story component?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_03: Which at times, you know, you have to prep for, and it can get a little forced.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_03: I like the flexibility now of okay, like I I roughly know what message I need to deliver and how that's gonna be delivered.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: Quite frankly, I don't really know yet.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_03: You know, like we'll see what's gonna happen, and then I will decide in the moment of like, oh, that's my moment, like this is where this comes in.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I would recommend if like for the person asking this question, you know, if you're gonna run a published module, read the entire thing at the beginning so you understand from start to finish what the full adventure is like, so you can kind of start picking out what's important, and then you will still have to, you know, reread sections as you're prepping for your individual sessions.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: But I would say you don't have to consume no scam scam, have a general understanding for sure.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: I think the nice thing is, uh, and we're taking a little more time on this question, but I love this topic uh for Phil.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: You know, with with homebrew, and I and I don't know if the context of this question is from a homebrew or for somebody running a book.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: So I it's it's hard to judge here, but it's like for where we're at in our homebrew right now, like my character, my main character, is not with the party yet that he joined right at the end of the last session.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: So I actually helped Phil right at the beginning of that.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like you didn't have to do as much prepping.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_02: I had like this brainstorming session with myself where I came up with this idea, and then I sent you and you're like, Yep, great, that'll work.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, perfect.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like you just needed to understand the concept of what we did.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: Boom, we ran with it.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, which was really cool.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_03: And even for as we were kind of putting the homebrew pieces of this campaign back together, we had individual sessions, which lasted anywhere between one to two-ish hours, um, which obviously was some of that was just BSing, but uh that prep wise, I really just had like four bullet points, I think, per person, and then sort of kind of fit those pieces in as they came up, and none of them quite went the exact way I thought they were going to, but I also I wouldn't change any of them.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like I all think they went great, and I'm very happy with how they turn out and being able to pivot like in a campaign.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_03: If you're writing a published adventure, by all means, you know, do that to get your feet wet.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_03: I would encourage you, if you're interested, to step outside of that once you're done with the published adventure and you know, see if you can get your party involved in that storytelling experience or find ways even within the published campaign to start bringing in some of their aspirations as player characters too.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_03: So it's not just, hey, here's your goal, go and do it.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: I I do think it it it it is gonna depend on your party a little bit because you you made me think of something.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's like if you have a party that's very driven and likes to interact with the world and interact with each other, they're gonna spend time doing things that they want to do, which means you're probably gonna have to prepare less.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: You're gonna have to be a little bit more off the cuff a little bit, potentially, but you can prepare less.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: Whereas if you have a a group that's like, okay, we did what we were supposed to do, what's next, you're gonna have to prepare more because you're pushing them through the paces of here's the next thing, here's the next thing, here's the next thing.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: Hate to railroad players, but there are parties like that that that they just want.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: Where do we go next?
• 8:38
  unknown: Yep.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say if you have a party that's kind of they're doing their own thing and eventually they're gonna get to your storyline, have some pre-built or like some resources available to you that you can pull up quickly and generate a a tavern or generate a bar or a store with supplies that are available in the store.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you just Google like D tavern builder or D shop builder, they're gonna have some options for you that you can pull up on the fly in the middle of your campaign when your party takes you where you're not expecting.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, totally.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's a great use case for AI, which I know we've talked about before, too.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_03: Right, just throw in a quick, like, hey, these are the different player characters in the party.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_03: I need three items that could benefit each of them and just kind of get you a rough list that could still be on topic, right?
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: Like relevant to your players, not just hey, I picked some random magic items and they don't really line up with the players.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: So, next question.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: This one that has a little more context with it, so prepare yourself for that.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, would you allow a PC to wear armor underneath another set of armor?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: Now, here's the context for this question.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's a theory uh that this person has about crafting a character that would be like an owl in or an arocoker, so like bird type species, um, where both these races allow them to fly.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: And so what they would like to do is with this character would essentially they can't fly with heavy armor on, so it would be a way where they can cast off the heavy armor and then still have some protection underneath versus losing their armor completely when they go to fly.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think this is anything that's really laid out in any of the books, as far as I know, about wearing two sets of armor.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: I think you'd have to be very specific as far as like you can't wear two sets of plate armor.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_02: And they and they say that it would be like a set of heavy armor and a set of like light armor.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I think you could wear like maybe leather under plate armor or something like that, potentially.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: I just thinking through it, I would my initial gut reaction was absolutely not.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: And then I thought about it a little bit, and I would allow leather armor to be worn underneath like plates or maybe even chain mail, with the understanding that it does not benefit you double or advanced protections.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_03: It doesn't stack regardless.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_03: Even though you have two layers of armor on, I don't care, you don't get both protections.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: I would only allow you whichever the outer layer was so your chain mail or your plate armor, or if you donned that off and you were flying, adjust your leather.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: Then I would probably allow it with that caveat.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Man, there's so many.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Ah, this is a hard one.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I because this really comes down to game balance of what you're gonna allow and how it's gonna stack up and overwhelm whatever every other balancing that's in this game.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, because you also when you run into like taking off the armor, that's there's time involved.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I I would guess that there is some other homebrew here.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's it's insinuated a little bit that they might be able to like hit something like an Iron Man type thing where they like hit a button and it ejects the heavy armor and then they can take off kind of thing.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: I was picturing more like Forrest Gump where he runs out of his little like leg braces things.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but okay, each do each of their own.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um Iron Man.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_03: Brett made a point though, too, about the balance.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_03: And one thing that I didn't initially consider, right, is flying is kind of already a buff.
• 12:34
  unknown: Sure.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_03: Because it gives you some movement that not a lot of other people have.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_03: So if on top of that, while you're in flight, if you're also harder to hit still, I do feel like maybe it becomes unbalanced.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like you should be vulnerable when you're in flight because you're focused on you need a nerf there somewhere.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you're gonna allow them to be able to like tap their chest and have this armor plate appear or disappear, what's the negative to balance it out?
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_03: There has to be something else.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what that is yet, but I would make this not an early game item.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, for sure.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: No, this has to be like 15s, for sure.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: And you're gonna need to heavily give I think you need to really lean into a nerf on this.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like make it a big decision when you're gonna pull that out.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: They shouldn't be doing this day in and day out.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: Boy, I I don't know though, because it's like I'm gonna bring up a paladin for a second.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like it's like the problem is like their holy nimbus ability is like at 20th level, so this will be way down the line.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: But it's like there's nothing in that that says that they lose the ability of their armor when they fly, they gain the flying ability while having everything on them.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: Now, in that case, it's more of a celestial wing type thing, angelic wings that appear.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's not like wings of like a bird person, so that's maybe slightly different.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: I agree, and if you want to give them some sort of a magic item that lets them cast um mage armor or whatever, something like that, I would probably think that that could potentially work, or um bark skin or something like that.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_03: Or cooldowns on like you can use this once per long rest.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_03: I think there just needs to be some limitations.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_03: I agree.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like and maybe it costs an action.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like I know it may be a button or something, but bring action economy into it.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Or something we've talked about previously, just amongst ourselves, is you could add a level of exhaustion.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh when you have to.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so I should know that the in the description, I may have like in in my brain simplifying this to ask the question.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: They did say that they would use their action to cast off the armor.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: So they are already saying that they would have to so it's like they they wouldn't be able to like lose it and fly in the same turn.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_03: Well, flight is movement, so you could Yeah, that's true.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: So then it would have me there.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: It would have to be like Iron Man where like nanosuit compresses down into itself type of thing.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_03: But I think it should.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_03: It should take a full action.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_03: Like you couldn't do that and attack in the same turn.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, heck.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_03: That would be two actions.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's fair.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_02: So back to the original question, would we allow them to have two sets on?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: Because we've gotten away from that a little bit.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Only if you're ready to play game.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like as DM, you've got to be ready to fight back.
• 15:33
  unknown: Yeah.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_03: My short answer is yes.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_03: But it's a really long answer.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_03: But yes.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and I think I think you summed it up the best, Phil, is like if you're wearing leather armor and plate armor over the top of it, you don't get the benefit of both.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like you're only ever wearing one at a technically, you're only ever wearing one at a time.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: You only have the hard benefit of one.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I see.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: That's a sure note.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: So if they're not stacking, it doesn't bother me as much.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, yeah, so you lost one, you used an action to get rid of it, you're flying, you have leather armor.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: So what?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't bother me.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: And if it does bother me, then I create something for the bad guy to help defeat that.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_03: Well, like if you can do it, so can the monsters.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_03: Correct.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_03: So okay, I love it.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_03: Great compromise there.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good question.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Any any other thoughts on that before we move on?
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: I want I want people to write in the comments about the some of these.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like these are good questions.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Brad.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_02: See, this isn't so bad, is it?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we have 15 to 20 minutes of this to go downhill.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't he say he didn't have questions about Paladin, but guess who brought it?
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: It technically wasn't a question, so you know what?
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm flipping you off right now.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Who talked about Paladins flying?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: I said I didn't have any questions.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_02: Didn't mean I couldn't bring it up.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh a new player of mine wants to play a variant human, half half human, half vampire.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know much about vampirism in DD and wanted to know if you could help me with character creation.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh really need some help with this one, is how they end that.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_03: They want to play a half vampire, half variant human?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_03: Half half variant human half vampire.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, I don't know if you can be be half vampire in DD.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_03: So there's there's a dam here.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: Which is in essence like vampire.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_03: It's not true vampire spawn, but alm almost treats that way.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's in um Van Lichten's guide to Ravenloft, I believe.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um which is a playable um race in there.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_03: I would look into that potentially and see if it has the components that you need.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_03: If not, I w am curious which parts of the vampire vampirism?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_03: That was the word, which parts of the vampirism are appealing to them.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um I would say primarily lean into the human elements, but there has to be some sort of a desire, whether that's doesn't even necessarily need to be like a bloodlust unless you want to go true vampire form, but some sort of an insatiable or uh drive that has to be met on a regular basis.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: That goes back to the last question.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: You have to have a nerve to have a buff.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like you gotta keep it balanced, so level that out.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_03: Easy things like for vampi sunlight sensitivity.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like there's some things that you can boil into that that should be pretty easy.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, look up what vampires have, like what sort of features and traits that they have, and then kind of bring in a couple of those cam components, whatever the whatever the pieces the player wants, like why do they want to play this character?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_03: There has to be a reason.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_03: Like what components of the vampire do they like?
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: And make sure you're talking to your DM about any of this as well.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because the campaign setting would make a major difference with that balancing in this situation.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: It's just interesting.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: I was while you guys were talking, I was just reading up on dampers a little bit.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: And it to me, it still would be very hard to play half one, half the other.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh a dampier basically is is somebody on their way to becoming like a full vampire.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's like they have a grip on life yet, but they still hunger for certain things.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_03: But that would be a fun role-playing experience because you could be like the human side is trying to fight that hunger too, but at a certain point, like it's almost like a I don't know if it's a constitution or wisdom, or like you have to make some kind of a save of like, you know, you're right here for this kill, or like you're alone in an alley with this person, you know, like can you fight the hunger?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Or what if it's a two-faced thing where you flip a coin and one of them comes out?
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_03: Oh that would be cool.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: That would be cool.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Almost you don't get the decision.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um almost like uh lycanthropy.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_03: Like, because you can do a change there too, right?
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_03: Something along those lines.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: So I I almost see like this would be more of a progression.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like maybe boy, this is this is where you could get really good.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: But it's like levels one through three, you you maybe are a human who has been bitten where the effects have not taken that the the the downside has not taken effect yet.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: Then like three through eight, you become a dampier where you flip the coin, and then at some point you fail a roll and you just become vampire spawn.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: That would be interesting.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: What if it's just your level minus 20?
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: Or 20 minus your level.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're level four, if you roll a what it would be, 16 or lower?
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: 16 or lower, you are you stay humid.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you go above 16, I love that because then the rolls get progressively harder.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: As you level up, yeah, yeah.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: And to me, that's a con that would just be a constitution save because you're trying to resist it.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: The hunger almost in essence.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's like it's it's almost like a sickness.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: If you're sick, you roll constitution to see if you're resisting.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: God, I almost want to do this now.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: I know this would be really cool.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: Please role play them differently too.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like that adds so much to your story of after development.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Let us know how it goes.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_03: It could be challenging to be part of a party.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_03: Like it would be.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: I I think it would add some very interesting dynamics, especially like if they don't know, but then they they like slowly like recognize the signs of it.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_03: But that but then I'm thinking like, okay, so how could the party assist?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what could they do to help give you advantage on those roles?
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, because well a cleric should be able to Is there a trigger that causes it?
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: Or or like if you have a cleric or a paladin in the party, like giving off like radiant energy, as like whenever you're around them, it hurts them.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: So like the farther up they get, they but then they don't want to be around you.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_03: That's an interesting dynamic.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_03: Paladins are or of a protection, so what they have.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: There are some.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: Possibilities there.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: We are down several alleyways on this now, but it's dark and I like it.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: Hopefully that answered the question.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: Good luck.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, goodness gracious.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um okay, so so next question here.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, bonus crack.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Bonus crack.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Phil.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, your advice on DMing for a wizard player in 5e.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: That was a right-handed crack for the wizard.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: He didn't he didn't switch to play South Paul, this one.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_03: I use my left.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_03: Well, how do I determine a like wait a minute?
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_03: I use my left finger, I held can with right hand.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_03: So is that considered?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh no, it was left-handed then.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_03: Oh then all of my cracks are left-handed.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes!
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: I I use left finger, held can in right hand.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Why why use mini word when few word do good?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_03: I was trying to process, alright?
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_03: Give me a break.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, it's okay.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_03: Kevin is Kevin from the office is always welcome on the show.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_03: This feels super unnatural.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_03: Like hold the can in your left hand and try that.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: I do that all the time.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_03: No way, really?
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: I crack with my right hand all the time.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh no, I'm right handy cracker.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is one thing I do.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: You are left-handed.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: I am left-handed.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: Amidextrous.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: Just what a game is.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: Ambidextrous?
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: You're ambidextrous.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_03: That thing where you can use two hands.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: I am left-handed and I don't crack left-handed.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: So how do you like that?
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_03: This is the only thing I do left-handed.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_03: You're a switchcracker.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: Switch something.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of cracks in this episode.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_02: Alright, back to the questions, and we're totally leaving that in this episode.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: Your advice on DMing for a wizard player in Vive E.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: We're starting a new campaign, and a couple of a couple of the players are looking to play wizards.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: We have never had a wizard in the party or at the table.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_02: Looking for your advice on DMing for a party with one or more wizards, as it seems to require slightly more input and work on part on the part of both the player and the DM.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: Fun ideas, rules to keep in mind, anything like that would be helpful.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'd say you should check out our episode on the wizard class review.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, you should.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: That'd be a fun way to start.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but no two wizards are necessarily the same.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: They can go very different ways on based on what spells they have available to them.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_03: That's what I think would be hard, maybe, and maybe that's kind of the general idea, is that it could be challenging as a DM because the array is so wide of like what could happen, like what spells can be prepared.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_03: You have to deal with uh counter spell potentially, maybe might be a difficult thing too.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_03: But as the DM, you also could use counter spells, so like it goes both ways there.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_02: I I think one thing this this is where a session zero would come in super handy because like if you sure you like you can have two wizards that are very different, they're still generally picking from the same spells.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like if you're at a session zero, just don't both of you pick mage hand, chill touch, uh, and light all as your same uh as the exact same cantors because it's not gonna do you any good if you all have the same spells.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like there's certain things you can work out to make it easier.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: None of the things that we are gonna suggest, though, are gonna make that spell list shorter.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's still gonna take time, you're still gonna have to read through spells and end up picking whatever.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: I would say when you're picking bad guys to throw at this party, uh, don't rely only on melee enemies.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because your wizard or your wizards are gonna sit in the far back, they're gonna cast spells from distance.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: Give them a little bit of hesitation or a little bit of something that can occasionally throw some damage at them, so they're not immune to everything.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_03: And throw enemies at throw enemies at them too that can outsmart them, right?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_03: Like throw some things out there that can flank them, or people that are like hidden and can hit from the back because your wizard is a weaker character.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: Or battlefield control where they get drug into the battle.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, this is one of those instances instances where we try to to do the we try to answer questions and do things as simply as possible.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: So if you don't have a book, you don't necessarily have to have it.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_02: But this would be a good example where having the monster manual would be super helpful because, like, if you're running a one of the starter sets or something, they're gonna give you the basic monsters that you're fighting in any given encounter.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: For something like this, where you need something a little bit more, it's nice to have the monster manual to throw in something just a little bit different.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_03: So one thing to know about most spells, right?
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of spell casting requires a verbal component.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_03: So if you can find a way to eliminate like a silent spell or you know, something to kind of not allow the wizard to speak, and also ways to break concentration.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of their spells are gonna focus on concentration.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: So, one, don't forget those concentration checks.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because if if something messes up their concentration, you can make them roll to lose focus on that spell.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_03: Find monsters that specifically can disrupt concentration, like in devils.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, sure.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_02: I I think the one flip side to everything we're saying though is if if we're talking like you these are new first, excuse me, these are new first player characters.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: I I would not go super hardcore right away because there's so much in a wizard that you need to learn how to do.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: Don't don't if you're if you're running that first goblin encounter in uh lost minds, don't go throwing some some major monster in that first goblin encounter.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like you it's gonna take a little time for your wizards to really learn how to buff themselves and do use their spells effectively.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: In that instance, have one ranged goblin that can shoot an arrow at the wizard and just give them a little taste of oh shit.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: And odds are the wizard's still gonna go down.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but it's just enough that it's a little bit dangerous, but it's there.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_03: And I, if you're gonna run that encounter specifically, I would recommend uh Keith Amon, I believe is how you pronounce the last name.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_03: His book called The Monsters Know What They're Doing.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_03: It specifically talks through kind of that initial encounter how to make those goblins like super effective.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: That one encounter in that book is worth buying that book for.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_03: I agree totally.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, last question for the night.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um boy, we've we've had some longer ones.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: Usually we get through, I feel like 10 questions-ish.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_02: We're not getting anywhere near that tonight.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, you're sorry, that was the same question.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so I know everyone complains about railroading, and I'd like to see a discussion about it because realistically, what's wrong with that?
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_02: Isn't the DM story isn't it the DM story that you're playing?
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: And if you want complete autonomy to do whatever you want to do, just get don't you just get a PC game and play by yourself?
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: Because as a group, you want that experience, you want to experience a story.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: No, uh, I'm not picking a side as as much as I would like to see pros and cons of both.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry, that was a little hard to read.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it kind of sounds like you're picking a side.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I'm not gonna judge you for that, so don't worry about it.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, so this one's interesting to me.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_03: Is I've recently been reading through um the Game Master's Guide to Proactive Role Playing, and it talks a little bit about this.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_03: How the game by design is written that some great catastrophe is happening or a call to action is happening, and heroes have to rise up and quash evil, right?
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_03: Most of the time that's how the game is written, that's how it was designed.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_03: And you almost have to it can become Railroady, right?
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_03: Like that, just by necessity, you have to go and meet this challenge, and you almost have to start restructuring your games instead of necessarily giving that control to the DM to raise up these monsters that the players have to then go and slay, or a big bad evil guy that they have to go and thwart those plans.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_03: Some of that actually develops out of character-driven goals.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_03: So once you've created a character, you know, what does your character want to accomplish long term?
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_03: And then how does that play into things coming up that the party can kind of address instead?
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_03: It becomes a narrative on that side of the table instead of on the DM side.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um railroading.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: With with this, depending on how you guys are playing at your table, you could railroad your players or you could not.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: Really, I think a lot of it comes down to do you have a deadline?
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like, do you need to wrap up your campaign or your one-shot or whatever in a certain amount of time?
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't, get to it eventually.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let the players go off on their little side quest to rescue the the the halfling that got abducted by some goblins or something like that.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: If you do have a deadline, like if you're doing a one-shot or uh you're doing a multiple groups that need to come together type of thing, you need to be there at that at a certain time frame.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like you need to finish on this date.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: At that point, you kind of have to railroad them.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it's probably tough luck, Buttercup, but this is this is what that campaign is.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_03: I will say too that a lot of published campaigns, not that they're written necessarily to be railroady, but a lot of it are like fetch quests, like they're items of descent that kind of go that way.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, there's a specific order that you have to go and do things, and you can't move on to the next item until you've done this one.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_03: And sure, they can feel that way.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_02: And and that's that's what I was gonna bring up.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: Especially with like newer parties and in any published novel, like they give you the reasoning for going on it, they set you, they basically set you up for whatever you're gonna do, which it feels very railroady.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_02: And if especially if you're a new DM, it it's gonna feel like you're just giving your players something to do constantly.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_03: I would say though, if you're if you're a new DM and a party of new players, that that isn't necessarily a bad thing right out of the gate, because it gives you some structure.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like how does the game kind of typically play?
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one off-the-wall resource that you could go back and look at is go to your library, because that's probably one of the few places you'll find this, and check out one of those books, choose your own adventure and read through it, and read through it again again, and read through it again, and choose different ways to get to the ending, and think about that as running a campaign.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: You can get to similar endings with various ending types in similar fashions, and use that as kind of a baseline of what can you do to mix it up with just a little bit, but you get there, things might change along the way, but you can still get to that same spot.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's a good idea.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I think if if you've if you're a DM and you've run at least one published campaign, I would highly suggest just sitting down and doing like a one-shot that is completely homebrew.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like have have a beginning, middle, and end in idea and let your players drive the story, and then you'll have an understanding, a real good understanding of the difference between railroading, picking your own, making your own choices in a campaign, and like true chaos chaos.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's really true though, because it's like you have no idea and you're just basically reacting to it, and and that's where that collective storytelling uh really comes into play, is in a homebrew.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: Because like if you okay, eventually we need to get to point A, but otherwise you're just reacting and helping guide your players to the next thing and throwing in a few people that can help guide them along the way.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_02: That's exactly what you're looking for, and that is not railroading to me.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: But have multiple endings that you're okay with, I would say.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you're gonna do a one-shot that's kind of freewheeling, be okay with the story not going the way you thought and ending it somewhere else.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think my advice in that case would be never be too specific with your ending.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like your ending is gonna be facing this guy, but how it comes out is up to you.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_03: So it's not even that.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_03: It's like here are a group of potential people you may be facing at the end of this campaign.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_03: And we're gonna find out.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_02: And this is why uh Phil sends us snaps that he's doing some brainstorming on the session randomly every now and then.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how he's taking more time to prep for some can some sessions than it's fine.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_03: But it is, it's brainstorming.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's the fun, right?
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_03: It is okay.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, that's gonna do it for this episode of Bards and Barrels.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_02: You can listen to past episodes of the show anywhere podcasts can be found.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_02: See, it's fine.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_02: You did great.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: Then there's more questions.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_02: You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube at Bards and Barrels.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_02: You can email us questions at excuse me, you can email us questions, bards and barrels at gmail.com.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'll get it out eventually.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you later.