Except neither Rangers nor Arcane Tricksters get any spells or healing at 1st level, so again unless there is little fighting or they can sneak around and hide all the time, a party consisting of 5 1st level pcs of those classes will eventually wear down.
Only real party of 5 1st level pcs that are all the same class that can thrive must contain a class that gets some sort of healing at 1st level. Bards, Clerics, Druids, even Paladins, but all the other classes will suffer.
Interesting idea, AJ, and thematically a party of fighters could be a squad of city watch or band of knights, etc.
Although I considered pitching the idea of running another adventure with the same characters at 3rd-level, so they'd have their bardic colleges, looking at it more closely I don't think this would change how the game plays significantly. The "game changers" seem to come around 6-8 level for most classes.
Just an FYI, I'm waiting for you all to ask questions in your investigation.
Back to Neil's game. I love the all-bard party. Movies that come to mind: Beatles HELP! as well as Bill and Ted's Great Adventure. There's lots of opportunity for fun!
It was great fun. And you know what, it's the first time ever I've seen a D&D party that made total sense. Everyone had a purpose to be where they were (to play a gig), to be in a party (they were a band), and everyone had their niche even though they were all the same class (because they all had a different position in the band).
Take your time. That takes precedence. We will be here when the world 'takes a breath' and you have a few moments. =I= still keep looking forward to some of them <weg>
I don't know if you'll be interested in this one, but last weekend we playtested Shadow of the Demon Lord (SotDL) by Schwalb Entertainment. I used the official starter adventure, Dark Deeds in Last Hope and I think we all agreed it was a success.
Not as hilarious as our arcane rock-band one-off but definitely more potential for a vari-toned campaign. The darkness of the setting reminds me a lot of The Lord of the Rings and the rise of the Shadow in the East, and ironically I found it makes heroism from the player characters more important, more relevant.
I guess it's like if you were running a game where the players are soldiers. WW2 gives that struggle a clarity of purpose, whereas the War on Terror, for example, would be very murky. Forgotten Realms can often feel murky, with the motives of states and authorities as unclear as the relationships between them.
Anyhoo, SotDL played very well. It's derived from 5e, but noticeable differences are an extremely flexible and holistic class system. More universal, tactical options open to any player with less abilities derived from classes. Simplified target numbers but expanded, deeper use of Advantage and Disadvantage (called Boons and Banes) and a perculiar initiative system that makes all the players look at the combat round ahead at the same time.
I liked the initiative system, the players liked the Boons and Banes. Monsters still aren't as fun to run as they are in 13th Age but are simpler than D&D 5e. (13th Age still stands out to me as the most GM-friendly D&D-derivative I've ever played.)
Actually I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I enjoyed the character creation process. Easier than 5e but challenging in coming up with a back story that fits.. but that was the fun part and we all ended up with characters that were interesting to play and with life stories that continue potentially. A good buy in to a game.
I have run Shadow of the Demon Lord before 5e came on the scene. I haven't tried the new version. It is a dark and gritty world, very much with a horror vibe. I like it.
It's a challenge to keep separate threads synced-up. Those in the Pipe are a slight bit ahead of the those at the Wink (a few hours in-game). In order to keep things together, I'm going to need to move the "Wink" thread forward at a more rapid pace. Apologies for what may seem to some as somewhat of a rush job there. I hope to move both threads to the morning quickly so that you may sync up again.
I want to be clear that there is no obligation for the players to stick together in the city, at least in this phase of the game. Arus wants to go to find Scimitar Sally, Kriv wants to see the Waterbaron. Sindar might want to check out the dilapidated villa. Bern might be looking for leads about the doppleganger.
Maybe, in a FTF game, I would try to constrain things more, but the PBP format allows a GM to run multiple plot lines. Many are weaved into this game. I hope it makes the game richer. Some objectives are shared by everyone in the party, like learning more about the giants and dealing with the disappearance of the young nobles. But some objectives may be faction related and not shared with other members of the party. Players should not feel like they are chained to each other.
I count on everyone to not metagame and you've been good. Please let me know (by roleplay) what your objectives are.
Before I set everyone on their way, I'm going to allow adjustment of who went where. I kinda nudged things in a direction and I should've not. So, there are 3 choices:
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