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[Kadzar]

My argument about cults is based on the fact that cult leadership and followers tend very strongly towards zealots.  Zealots are miserable characters, they have no real independent motivation, are incapable of reason, and will do anything to further their causes.  So generally a cult makes for a waste-of-time level group of badguys.  I can and do create much more meaningful and effective antagonists without ever pulling the 'evil cult up to mysterious shit' card.

I'm not saying evil cults are the best thing ever. I'm just positing that they can be done right, even if most people use them wrong. It's like when chefs try to reclaim ingredients or dishes that are poorly regarded. I think I read or heard about one who did something with imitation crab, using actually good imitation crab rather than the kind most people are used to and making a soup or something. The point is, sometimes it's nice to challenge yourself by making something people thing is bad into something good. Like when people make scrap sculptures.

And so, for zealots, you can ask the question of why they are zealots, and maybe is there some way they can be turned from their zealotry, or can you at the very least understand why they turned to zealotry in the first place. Or Maybe they are extremely devoted to their cause, but you have some objective that they can help with, and so you have to work with the cultists to solve your problem. It's not like they need to be main antagonists of an adventure.

[Neonivek]

The thing is that if you create a fake religion... you typically want zealots.

Though honestly the thing about cults is that often the head of a cult isn't a cleric but a wizard or sorcerer.

[Jimmy]

Give 'em the Leadership feat. Bam, instant minions!

[Neonivek]

Here is something I tend to mule about which is Charisma.

I often like to liken Charisma by the natural magnetism a person exudes. Yet it isn't an overwhelming one even at high levels.

Since someone who feels like they are at a vacuum going at your psyche isn't someone you can trust inherently. You wouldn't listen to someone who gave you this feeling.

Likewise someone with grace, beauty, and poise but lacks all tact isn't charismatic either, most Elves are basically this... All looks but no social tact.

Finally Charisma also represents a deep personal knowledge and ability to see into yourself. While Wisdom is essentially the opposite, it represents a deep personal knowledge about the surroundings (Intelligence being more memorization and outright logic to Wisdoms more intuition and common sense).

Wisdom is what animals use as intelligence (except in 5e where they can have intelligence scores of non-horrificness). A cunning animal has high wisdom, while a dumb brute would have little. Animals with intelligence of 2 have the ability to learn to a limited fashion and can be cunning as well but in a different way. While a Wolf might follow you until you are weak, a intelligence 2 animal might know to take your weapon away before you even fight.

[Bohandas]

I've got all these ideas for plot arcs and setting details and characters but I'm too ADD to properly DM a game (and don't have enough IRL friends who like D&D anyway)

[Neonivek]

I've got all these ideas for plot arcs and setting details and characters but I'm too ADD to properly DM a game (and don't have enough IRL friends who like D&D anyway)

Get someone to DM for you?

[NullForceOmega]

Starting to get very aggravated with my life.  Haven't gamed all month due to stupid things.  I'm a bit worried that the narrative will die.

[BlackFlyme]

New campaign. DM burned out on the Skulls and Shackles adventure. New winter-themed campaign instead. Missed last session though. There's six of us now, since Problem Player rejoined.

I'm a Brawler, there's a Warpriest of Desna, a Rogue, an Arctic Druid who has a wolf, a multiclassed Guntank Gunslinger/Tower Shield Fighter, and a multiclassed Magus/Boltace Gunslinger.

From where I came in, we were being directed by a guide into town. The townsfolk don't trust outsiders, so we stayed at the guide's house. The Druid's wolf tried to eat the guide's cat.

First day in town, the most of us tried to gather information. Everyone refused to speak to us. No info, no shopping, etc. While we were out trying in vain to speak to the townsfolk, Stibbins the Guntank spent the day building snowmen and making snow angels. Best way I can describe him would be to liken him to a Dwarven Space Marine, continually smoking and only communicating in a variety of grunts. If we were to ever lose him in the snow, we would just have to look for a deep trench and listen for a muffled grumbling noise, as there is no way in hell someone like that would be able to stand on top of anything other than the most frozen or tightly packed snow. For some reason he decided to make a roll to see how well he did at making snow angels. He rolled two 1s. His shield ruined the angel's outline, and he couldn't get back on his feet without help.

At the day's end, we went to the tavern for a drink. After a few cups, we started hearing voices telling us to leave town. Might have been tea enchanted to give off a suggestion spell, or it might have been townsfolk yelling at us from outside. Either way we trashed our table. The barkeep responded by pulling out a crossbow and yelling at us to get out of the bar. Stibbins didn't like this. He stood up, shot the barkeep, and started the encounter. His wife came out shortly after combat started, and demanded he put down the crossbow, and that we leave. Most of us complied. The Magus refused, as he was the only one who didn't fight. Apparently he liked his hallucinogenic tea. So the wife pulled out a scroll of command and forced him to leave. So Stibbins shot her, too. Then we had to talk the Magus down from burning the tavern down. Then we went back to our guide's for the night.

The next morning, there were guards at the door giving our guide shit for harbouring us. So we responded the only way we knew how; murder. We found a note on the guards for the guide to be brought to a nearby tower for punishment, so we went instead. And killed more guards, a guard captain, and a frost troll. Also, Stibbins took potshots at some birds.

And the DM wanted to move away from the pirate campaign because we were too murder-hobo.

[NullForceOmega]

...That's...that is just...I don't even know where to start, so I'm just going to say: What. The. Hell.

[GiglameshDespair]

...That's...that is just...I don't even know where to start, so I'm just going to say: What. The. Hell.

Sometimes you just have to make snow angels and murder everyone, and they were all out of snow angels.

[Bohandas]

I've got all these ideas for plot arcs and setting details and characters but I'm too ADD to properly DM a game (and don't have enough IRL friends who like D&D anyway)

Anyway, here's a few that you're welcome to steal for your own campaigns:

1.) The heroes arrive in the Avernus (the first layer of the 9 Hells) near the election for the Director of Domestic Affairs (or some si ilar sounding title), who controls the 0.75% of the later's resources not earmarked for military spending. The director is democratically elected, but the only two parties available to choose from are Stalinist communists or hardcore Nazis. And each party's candidate has pledged to purge the other party's supporters as their first official act.


2.) The commandments of Olidammara's religion are all phrases which, in our world, are associated with rap music, such as "Keep your pimp hand strong", "keep it real", and "Smoke weed every day"

[NullForceOmega]

Finally got the game rolling again.  Thief-girl gathered some very useful information on the current situation and managed to make a solid contact in the local crime ring, meanwhile paladin and leader got the next section rolling pretty smoothly (and avoided a pitched battle in the process.)  It's going to be interesting to see what they'll do next, currently the thief wants to split off from the main group to get ahold of a very important sea-chart.  I'd rather the group stay together because the next segment will be pretty involved, but if that's what the party goes with I'll have to make adjustments.

Fun fact about my campaign: the whole world is situated much closer to the elemental planes than is normal, so there are no gods, devils or demons.  Instead the 'deities' of this world are incredibly powerful elementals who have taken interest in what the nearby mortals are up to.

[highmax28]

My chaotic evil warlock who's patron is Baphomet just forced another PC into killing themselves. This one was a blind glaive wielder who was head of this elite guard. I have plans to convince her to become my character's apprentice

[Jimmy]

I've got a mental image of said blind glaive wielder spinning their weapon in a badass display of machismo and then promptly decapitating themselves as it slips.

[tonnot98]

I've recently made and described a weapon called "Benevolent Barry's Beatstick"

A design made by Barry himself. An ivory handle and an iron rod, topped by a platinum cylinder, encapsulated by a steel cylinder and surrounded by steel nuts.  2d8 blunt damage.