DEAD Waterdeep: Dragon Heist! (5th ed)- OOC

[Spectrum]

Thanks for all the interest in the game. I'm moving on to talking about characters.

Take a mad romp through the wards of Waterdeep as you uncover a villainous plot involving some of the city’s most influential figures. A grand urban caper awaits you. Pit your skill and bravado against villains the likes of which you’ve never faced before, and let the dragon hunt begin!

Rulebooks in play:
Players Handbook
Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Volo’s Guide to Monsters
Xanathar’s Guide to Everything

Remember folks, I'm a learning GM and trying to make this an easy way into the game. Please help me keep things easy and straight forward. The less stress we have, the more chance of the game staying strong!

Our cast:
Gunmetal_Rainbow, Autumn Dämmerung, human, Twilight Domain cleric, acolyte
MacynSnow, MARCO BRENNAKOVIC, human, fighter, soldier
jmucchiello, Delphne Brookesbed, high elf, rogue, criminal
Vivid, Lady Marigold Albrect, human, shadow sorcerer, charlatan


Bill from Accounting, ????, halfelf, bard, ???

Handouts:
Life in Waterdeep and Breaking the law
Noble Families and Guilds
Factions in Waterdeep
The Yawning Portal
The Yawning Portal, pt 2

[jmucchiello]

I'm up for Dragon Heist. Not really a fan of Strahd.

[MacynSnow]

I'm up for either one, as i'm an old nerd and love D&D in general.

Played here, i hope(otherwise i couldn't apply)....

[Spectrum]

Played here, i hope(otherwise i couldn't apply)....

Correct. Just easier bookkeeping over there.

[MacynSnow]

Played here, i hope(otherwise i couldn't apply)....

Correct. Just easier bookkeeping over there.

Coolio!(sorry, my Son tends to use this word & i picked the habit up )
I've got two PC's that i could use for 'em....

CURSE OF STRAHD:
Ser Nathaniel Trevelyan -- Human Noble Fighter(Banneret)= Heir of the Barony of Restenford(in the Kingdom of Memnon) is technically my oldest character i got. I've made this Fighter up for every single Dungeons and Dragons product ever created(he was originally just called Ser Nathaniel). I know this guy inside & out, but i unfortunately made him a fairly stereotypical "Knight errant"....

DRAGON HEIST:
Sergeant Marko Brennakovic -- Human Soldier Fighter(Battlemaster)= A Calvary Officer from Eltirel, he's currently taken a leave of Absence from it due to the death of his Father(one of Eltirel's Horsemasters). I built him using a "Draw fire" methodology; High AC with a Large Shield and The Protection fighting style ...

Let me know what you think!

[Gunmetal_Rainbow]

I'd be interested in some 5e. I don't use D&d beyond though. Is it like Roll20? Would we be playing here? Or is it just for character creation, and if so, is manditory to use?

[Spectrum]

Thanks for the excitement

Sounds like people are less enthused by D&D Beyond. Maybe it isn't as handy a tool as I thought. I mentioned it at the hope that it would make some bookkeeping and information sharing easier.

As far as chargen goes, I was thinking core+1 and pointbuy stats.

I'm new(ish) to this version of the game. I've been listening to a lot but I don't have much experience in running this version. I've run before, but its been a while.

As far as which adventure- most people seem pretty neutral with jmucchiello leaning towards Heist. I'm going to give it a few more days, probably Wednesday or so before making the call.

Thanks again for all the interest.

[MacynSnow]

Thanks for the excitement

Sounds like people are less enthused by D&D Beyond. Maybe it isn't as handy a tool as I thought. I mentioned it at the hope that it would make some bookkeeping and information sharing easier.

As far as chargen goes, I was thinking core+1 and pointbuy stats.

I'm new(ish) to this version of the game. I've been listening to a lot but I don't have much experience in running this version. I've run before, but its been a while.

As far as which adventure- most people seem pretty neutral with jmucchiello leaning towards Heist. I'm going to give it a few more days, probably Wednesday or so before making the call.

Thanks again for all the interest.

Don't let us fool you Spectrum. D&D Beyond is a nice bookkeeping system for a GM, it just has a lot of extraneous stuff in it for the player to slog through.

Is it cool if i just stick with Standard Point Array(15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8)?, it's easier for my bookkeeping for some reason...

The system itself is very nice, imho, and seems like a nice mix of 2e's Kit based system, 4e's Class abilities & 3e's D20 system. My only personal gripe was how the Player's Hanbook seemed unfinished & incomplete, but like i said, it's just a personal gripe. It's also really simple to learn and dive right in.

[Gunmetal_Rainbow]

Core+1 sounds really reasonable. I think adventure league uses that standard. Point buy or standard array both work for me.

Also, Heist would be more my preference.

[MacynSnow]

Core+1 sounds really reasonable. I think adventure league uses that standard. Point buy or standard array both work for me.

Also, Heist would be more my preference.

Out of curiosity, what's Core+1? I'm not familiar with the term...

And why Heist? It's only a level 1-5 game. Strahd's is much longer(technically 1-15, but reccomended start of 3) and has a bit more meat to it,imo...

[Gunmetal_Rainbow]

Oh, it just means when you build your character, you can use anything from the phb, and them you can choose a single extra book to take content from.

For example, if you wanted to play a hex blade warlock, you'd use core + xanathar's guide to everything, but then could not use anything from any other book. (this doesn't include magical items though since that's loot)

[MacynSnow]

Ah, thanks Gunmetal! Really appreciate it...

[Spectrum]

Sounds like I'll have tons of support when the game starts. Go gentle with me. I'm new!

I'm leaning heavily towards a 1-5 campaign.
It gives a clearer stopping point.
There are a lot of 5-10 stories that look interesting- I'm not reading for that level of complexity yet.
I have a few ideas that I want to develop myself.

So basically, looking for a story/group that will help me develop more confidence in the system.

[MacynSnow]

Sounds like I'll have tons of support when the game starts. Go gentle with me. I'm new!

I'm leaning heavily towards a 1-5 campaign.
It gives a clearer stopping point.
There are a lot of 5-10 stories that look interesting- I'm not reading for that level of complexity yet.
I have a few ideas that I want to develop myself.

So basically, looking for a story/group that will help me develop more confidence in the system.

In that case Spectrum, don't run Strahd. Much as i love the setting & general storyline(me & Castlevania are old friends), it's set up more as an Entire Campaign location. The lower level one are definitely better for building familiarity and Confidence. The one's i know off the top of my head are...
Lost Mines of Phandelver(level 1-5)=I've ran this one twice, but never finished it(games fell apart due to rl player issues). It's a nice, if a little railroady, set-up and has a rather decent Player homebase location.

Dragon's of Icespire Peak(Levels 1-5)=A "Director's Cut" version of Mines, this one actually does a better job explaining the set-up & getting the PC's involved imo. Again, it comes across as a little too Railroady for my tastes, but that's just me...

Hoard of the Dragon Queen(Levels 1-7)= This was part of the terribly maligned Tyranny of Dragons set, this one tend's to be a bit unfair to the PC's starting out. Now to be fair, i could see how the writer thought i'd be awesome to happen, but it really needed to've been playtested more imho...

Those are the only one's I'm familiar with off the top of my head that aren't 1-12 or 1-15...

[jmucchiello]

As far as chargen goes, I was thinking core+1 and pointbuy stats.

Why limit the number of books you can draw from at all?