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[Delta Foxtrot]

God I love galaxy trucker. The mad dash to building something resembling a space-worthy vessel, then having all your crew eaten on the first challenge thing due to poor quarters placement. Good times.

Lost half of my colossal crew last night because of an epidemic. It really is in a league of its own.

Here's a 40 minute playthrough of the game + two expansions, in case anyone wants to see some silly gameplay:
https://vimeo.com/67845608

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's usually not quite as brutal as the video makes it seem. Usually.

[Kadzar]

Hey does anyone know any board games where you can design your own spaceship and battle with them?

Traveler is a sci-fi DnD style game with the most recent iteration of it by Mongoose Publishing having pretty indepth and intense ship design/combat
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpgs/traveller/core-rulebooks-accessories/traveller-core-rulebook-722.html

Warhammer 40k rpg Rogue Trader also has some ship design/space combat in it.

Well, if you're going for roleplaying games, then Stars Without Number is an even more D&D-like version of Traveller (specifically Basic D&D). From what I know of Traveller, the rules are a bit less in-depth (there's only one type of drive, the spike drive, which goes from levels 1-6, and instead of powerplants, power is determined by the hull type), but there's certainly an element of ship-building there. And the PDF is free, so you can check out and use the whole base game without having to pay anything.

If you want to compare it to Mongoose Traveller, that has an online SRD, which will show basic elements of the rules without the fluff or book-style organization. Also, here's link to the American version of the Traveller core rules in you're from here or the conversion rate would work out better for you (doing an online conversion, it would cost $6 more for me to order from the British version of the site). It doesn't have an ebook version available like the British version of the site does, but the price for that is beyond what I'd pay for a digital format anyway.

Looking it up on DriveThruRPG, the PDF price is a bit better there, and it's very much discounted if you buy it with a book. Since it's on DriveThruRPG, the book version is almost certainly Print-On-Demand, just so you know. I've gotten books from the site in the past, and I'd say they're very good quality, but I've only ordered small black-and-white softcover books so far, so I can't give a fair assessment of larger or different types of bindings or how colors work out, other than for the covers, which are a very nice full-color printing. Although it seems the DriveThruRPG version of the book is in B&W anyway. Not sure if the officially printing is different.

[Aeax]

Hmm I'll be checking on all those games you guys suggested, and even if some of them are not exactly what I was looking for. I'm more looking for a straight tactical based game that allows you to design your own ships, maybe something like BattleTech but in space? X-wing is too, I don't know, themed based? I'd rather prefer something where it would be interesting if it was more open ended. I've actually found a very simple print and play game on this guy's website EasyStar, is very close. However, the gameplay seems very simplistic and I'm looking for something maybe more complex?

Eclipse and Galaxy Trucker are fun though.

[Kadzar]

Cross-posting:

Anyway, the reason I came here was to share a cool set of hex map templates made to work with the guidelines of the Province, Kingdom, Continent maps mentioned in the 5e DMG. It's not the exact size specified the DMG, (this set is the right size, although it doesn't have any sort of numbering on the hexes for reference) but it's the right scale and should work just as well for the purposes. You may or may not want to increase the amount of stuff you put on there, but, then, that's also true of the official setup.

Since I'm sharing Blog of Holding stuff, I figure I might as well also mention this nice random encounter chart template he made that encourages you to use random encounters that are more than just monsters.

Also, since I'm sharing hex map stuff, I figure I should share this thing that can make numbered hexes in any size you want, outputting it as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format. That same site also has a GIMP script that will let you make pretty TSR-style hex maps in GIMP, and a random generator that will output such a thing randomly. At it also has other things that aren't really related to hex mapping.

Moving on, we have Welsh Piper's hex templates which aren't made for the 5e DMG scales (especially since it came out several years before 5e), but it's a set of numbered hex templates, so it's within the theme here. And, anyway, he has a nice guide for making hex map terrain and such. (Part 1 and Part 2)

[Toaster]

And if you like Traveller and metal...

[scriver]

Its major weakness is that for the most part that d10 is all it is going to get unless the class gets something that allows them to apply more damage to it.

Whereas anyone who uses a dex score can turn that crossbow into a damage machine.

This, pretty much. The only build that improves it beyond 1d10 direct damage is going to have much better options for blasting. If you're in it for optimizing and want a cheap ranged attack UXLZ already underlined the typical method.

1d10? It gains dice faster than Fighters gain attacks. It ends up doing 4d10, just as Fighters end up doing 4dX+Z (over four attacks). The problem is that once again it forces Fighters to optimize to even keep up with what Wizards get by default. The martial one-handed weapons all do 1d8 damage (even the Longbow only does 1d8, by the way). Only two-handed fighters can get d10 or more base damage. Unless you go two-handed and/or optimize your attributes the Fighter won't be able to outdo the Wizard at reliable, every-turn damage dealing, which is what the Fighter is supposed to be good at. Add to that that it is elemental damage from a longer distance than most ranged weapons. And I simply do not understand why a Wizard should be able to use such a powerful weapon at will without any drawbacks at all.

[Neonivek]

Well the fighter can go up right against the enemy and take a hit while the Wizard can't, gets several skills that improve his turn by turn damage in other ways, and only ONE Wizard build gets to add his intelligence score to an attack.

We are also going to ignore the Barbarian because he laughs at this discussion

But sure... lets just use a typical fighter and give him four attacks versus a typical wizard... add in the scores.

Fighter has about a 16 strength and will max it out by the time he gets four attacks (without trying)... so 20 I believe is the max.

So the Wizard gets 4d10 max damage

While the Fighter gets 4d8+20 damage

But lets just assume the Wizard is the damage build... so

4d10+20 versus 4d8+20 seems a bit lopsided

But the fighter also gets magical weapons so... it will be something like

4d8+8d6+24 versus 4d8+20

Hmm I am noticing a damage gap between an optimized wizard and an unoptimized fighter here with just standard attacks...

[scriver]

The Wizard doesn't need to go up to the enemy as is, he can spam 1d10 attacks from 120 feet away. That's part of what I'm complaining about.

[Neonivek]

The Wizard doesn't need to go up to the enemy as is, he can spam 1d10 attacks from 120 feet away. That's part of what I'm complaining about.

And that Longbow fires 150 feet away, or 600 feet with a penalty.

[scriver]

A Longbow does 1d8 piercing damage, requires ammo, and is the very best ranged weapon. Which you pick if you want to optimize. Other ranged weapons for comparison: Sling - 1d4 at 30', Dart - 1d4 at 20', Javelin - 1d6 at 20', Shortbow - 1d6 at 80', Light Crossbow - 1d8 at 80', Heavy Crossbow - 1d10 at 100'. All of these except Sling are Piercing weapons.

I'm not saying the Wizard should not be able to cast a spell from 120 feet here, by the way. I'm saying he shouldn't be able to cast a d10 fire damage spell from that far away at cantrip level.

[Neonivek]

1d8+dex (average 8 ) damage at 150 feet for 0.025 a gold... with the option to snipe someone from 600 feet away at a disadvantage.

And the Javalin's beef is that you can use it as a melee weapon as well.

Versus 1d10 (average 6) at 120 feet

[GiglameshDespair]

It still comes down to the fighter's main trick is damage and the fighter requires magical gear to do better than a wizard's cantrip. The wizard still has all his other spells as well.

If I ran a 5e game, nerfing firebolt to 1d6 I think would be the first change I make.

[Neonivek]

It still comes down to the fighter's main trick is damage and the fighter requires magical gear to do better than a wizard's cantrip.

It really doesn't... Magic Gear just knocks the ball out of the park... Fighters out perform wizard cantrips pretty much immediately when it comes to cantrip power.

The nerf to 1d6 would be a hilariously bad nerf for the Wizard and would actually make the Evocation build useless (as you would make Evocation go from good to terrible).

The fighter's damage is 1d8+3 at first level versus a wizards 1d10... an average of 8 versus 6... and that is before applying the fighter's specialties that can add damage or give him a better chance to strike.

[scriver]

1d8+dex (average 8 ) damage at 150 feet for 0.025 a gold... with the option to snipe someone from 600 feet away at a disadvantage.

And the Javalin's beef is that you can use it as a melee weapon as well.

Versus 1d10 (average 6) at 120 feet

You are comparing the very best ranged weapon with a basic Wizard cantrip, which pretty much only reinforces my point that Fighter characters will have to be optimized to keep up with what Wizards gets by default.

And really, don't ignore that the cantrip does elemental damage while the Longbow only does Piercing, the very least useful damage type of all.

[Arx]

I've been playing a sorceror in a 5e campaign for a while, and I agree with Gig. I was actually going to go for a kind of warrior-mage feel, and then I realised shocking grasp deals as much damage as a longsword but uses a better modifier.

My DM has been experimenting a bit by making firebolt inflict collateral damage on friendlies standing too close to the caster or target though, which certainly changes the dynamic, although it doesn't really fix it.

It still comes down to the fighter's main trick is damage and the fighter requires magical gear to do better than a wizard's cantrip.

It really doesn't... Magic Gear just knocks the ball out of the park... Fighters out perform wizard cantrips pretty much immediately when it comes to cantrip power.

The nerf to 1d6 would be a hilariously bad nerf for the Wizard and would actually make the Evocation build useless (as you would make Evocation go from good to terrible).

The fighter's damage is 1d8+3 at first level versus a wizards 1d10... an average of 8 versus 6... and that is before applying the fighter's specialties that can add damage or give him a better chance to strike.

The thing is that wizards have other spells too. Fighters can't really compare to the raw damage output of spells like burning hands at low levels.