D&D Campaign 2: D&D Harder

[Wrathbone]

If I were ever to DM I have no doubt I'd be a flumph

Just wondering what Wrath and Mantis think they are. Pretty sure WB is a mindflayer, but not sure about Mantis...

I'm a mindflayer behind the scenes and a flumph at the table. These days I treat preparation as idea-generation because I tend to end up improvising in the moment.

[Mantis]

Probably the same to be honest. I meticulously design the area and characters and then just have to wing it as I go along because it's impossible to predict the high speed tornado that is the party.

[Bird]

Is there still time/space for me to jump on this? Definitely would like to carry on after our heist campaign finishes, I think it will leave a void

[Wrathbone]

Yeah definitely!

Not sure if we want to rethink the sidekicks if we’ve got a party of 4? If people are attached to them maybe they could be non-combatants, like an entourage that follows at a short distance? I’m just thinking 8 characters in battle (not counting enemies) is going to be hectic.

[Mantis]

Yeah that'd be cool.

I wasn't bothered about having the sidekick for combat anyway, just wanted him for character flavour really. It'd be nice to have them there for RP purposes only (easy for me seeing as my sidekick was going to be a mute), but I'm fine if people would rather we just dropped having them entirely.

[Sly Boots]

Yeah, mine wasn't for combat either, but given my character's central mechanic of self-harm I was looking to them to be a bit of a healbot. I guess we could just try to manage healing via short rests etc?

[Raid]

I had built mine into Opus' story and character development, and he was originally intended to be the party's meat (bone?) shield, but I do think if we have four players and four sidekicks, combat encounters are going to be a bit much, especially when I start producing minions too.

From what I remember the original idea behind us having sidekicks was that we lacked any sort of healing ability in the party, but then I think we managed without any in the Unmentionables campaign.

[Wrathbone]

Maybe the sidekicks could act as the B-Team, having their own minor side adventures or going off to perform tasks and then regrouping with you periodically. Or they could simply slink off into the background when combat starts, a bit like how Waffles flees and later reappears if things get too hairy. I think there's obvious RP merit to them so I don't think ditching them entirely is the right way to do it.

As for healing, not to push Bird in any particular direction, but if he were to pick one of the various classes where healing is an option (e.g. cleric, bard, druid or paladin) then it wouldn't be as much of a concern. Or we could just make healing potion shops more prominent.

[Raid]

It'd be nice to not have our party's healing ability be the DM's responsibility like it kinda was with the Unmentionables. I'm still keen on picking up the druid initiate feat (which lets me take cure wounds) at the earliest opportunity because it suits Opus' backstory, but a wizard really isn't going to be a good healer, and I don't want to multiclass this time around.

We've definitely got options, but I'd much rather Bird played whichever class he wanted and we'll work something out. We could be playing these characters for years (although now that I've said that we'll have a TPK in session 1), and I wouldn't want to feel hamstrung further down the line.

[Bird]

I was going to ask about playing one of the weird animal races but it sounds like I'd be the odd one out if I didn't

I need to buy the extra book and double check I can do it but I was thinking of going for a Harengon bard

But if we need it I could go Cleric, looking at the list I think trickery domain could be fun for a Harengon?

[Sly Boots]

Bard could be fun!

[Bird]

Well the symbol for the trickery god is a pair of antlers which makes me a little more keen to take cleric:

[Raid]

One of the things I've never mentioned about Arctiss because it's never really come up is that his Fey-Wanderer subclass means he has a small visual affectation. He never talks about it himself because he doesn't think it suits him (and like most things in his life it was accidental), but he does actually have small horns or antlers. It's one of the reasons he tends to keep his hood up.

[Bird]

Finding a suitable hooded Tabaxi portrait was extremely difficult without venturing into furry art. Don't look at my browser history.

I'm finding a lot of stuff on deviantart like absolutely ripped rabbits with washboard abs and cum cutters. I might just use one of them.

[Sly Boots]

We're going to need a name for the party.

Looking at the races we're playing, I'm leaning towards the Mighty Anthropomorphic Power Surprisingly-No-Rangers