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[scriver]

Velociducktor

[Criptfeind]

How the fuck do four 1st levels defeat a pack of Velociraptors?

They're size Tiny, so I think DnD velociraptors are actually compsognathuses... At best.

Still though.

I'm looking at the stats right now.  They're no pushovers, tiny or not.  Each of them can have as much HP as a level 1 fighter, and if at least two can gang up one guy that's four +4 attacks with advantage.  Should have no problem blending up the party one at a time.

Keeping in mind the difficulty exp scaling from multiple enemies, three velociraptors would be considered a "hard" encounter for 4 first level party members (an assessment I'd agree with). Two would be considered an easy encounter (once again, I think I could agree with that.) For how strong they are on the offense they'll go down to an attack or two. If they get the drop on the party it could be dangerous if they go after the squishier members first, but the tougher and harder hitting members like a fighter or barbarian will make pretty short work of them. If the party strikes first the raptors are fucked as they get blasted away by ranged attacks and even melee with their relatively slow speed meaning the melee PCs can close and attack on the same turn.

[Kagus]

How the fuck do four 1st levels defeat a pack of Velociraptors?

They're size Tiny, so I think DnD velociraptors are actually compsognathuses... At best.

Still though.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Giant death beast they ain't

Never doubt a bird's capacity to be an asshole.


So Compy was roughly 1m in length (snout to tail tip), Velociraptor was 2m, and Deinonychus (which was apparently also what was being described in the book with the wrong name, and the film just kept the fraud going for source accuracy) is 3m.

Seems like a pretty good Tiny, Small, Medium progression to me.

Keeping in mind the difficulty exp scaling from multiple enemies, three velociraptors would be considered a "hard" encounter for 4 first level party members (an assessment I'd agree with). Two would be considered an easy encounter (once again, I think I could agree with that.) For how strong they are on the offense they'll go down to an attack or two. If they get the drop on the party it could be dangerous if they go after the squishier members first, but the tougher and harder hitting members like a fighter or barbarian will make pretty short work of them. If the party strikes first the raptors are fucked as they get blasted away by ranged attacks and even melee with their relatively slow speed meaning the melee PCs can close and attack on the same turn.

So, would you say it's still reasonable for a 5th-level character to be able to summon 8 of them, twice a day?

[MrRoboto75]

Keeping in mind the difficulty exp scaling from multiple enemies, three velociraptors would be considered a "hard" encounter for 4 first level party members (an assessment I'd agree with). Two would be considered an easy encounter (once again, I think I could agree with that.) For how strong they are on the offense they'll go down to an attack or two. If they get the drop on the party it could be dangerous if they go after the squishier members first, but the tougher and harder hitting members like a fighter or barbarian will make pretty short work of them. If the party strikes first the raptors are fucked as they get blasted away by ranged attacks and even melee with their relatively slow speed meaning the melee PCs can close and attack on the same turn.

I might be still thinking in 3.5 ed CR.  But CR has always been a bit of a hot mess so who knows.

So, would you say it's still reasonable for a 5th-level character to be able to summon 8 of them, twice a day?

A 5th level could fireball 8 of them about twice a day.

[Kagus]

A 5th level could fireball 8 of them about twice a day.

Okay, so 8 giant bats instead. Gotcha. 4d10 hitpoints, 60' flying movement and 16 DEX.

[Egan_BW]

Realizing that DnD has fairly accurate, small velociraptors and remembering that XKCD makes me suddenly really want to run a campaign about dinosaurs. Dammit brain, I already have too many roleplaying concepts to choose between!

[Kagus]

Realizing that DnD has fairly accurate, small velociraptors and remembering that XKCD makes me suddenly really want to run a campaign about dinosaurs. Dammit brain, I already have too many roleplaying concepts to choose between!

Perfect campaign for a grappler!

[Mephisto]

[xkcd /]

Realizing that DnD has fairly accurate, small velociraptors and remembering that XKCD makes me suddenly really want to run a campaign about dinosaurs. Dammit brain, I already have too many roleplaying concepts to choose between!

It better feature dino riding. Throw out the rules from whichever supplement adds dino races. Create your own, including people riding velociraptors around like minibikes.

[MrRoboto75]

[xkcd /]

Realizing that DnD has fairly accurate, small velociraptors and remembering that XKCD makes me suddenly really want to run a campaign about dinosaurs. Dammit brain, I already have too many roleplaying concepts to choose between!

It better feature dino riding. Throw out the rules from whichever supplement adds dino races. Create your own, including people riding velociraptors around like minibikes.

Dark Sun it is then

[Egan_BW]

[xkcd /]

Realizing that DnD has fairly accurate, small velociraptors and remembering that XKCD makes me suddenly really want to run a campaign about dinosaurs. Dammit brain, I already have too many roleplaying concepts to choose between!

It better feature dino riding. Throw out the rules from whichever supplement adds dino races. Create your own, including people riding velociraptors around like minibikes.

Dinosaurs seem to be a part of the regular monster manual in 5e, actually. Some of them in the "generic wildlife and such" section.

EDIT: Okay, looking at the book I was wrong about them being generic wildlife, but there are six dinosaurs in the manual. All big ones, so not velociraptors. Allosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Plesiosaurus, Pteranodon, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus.

[Mephisto]

Dinosaurs seem to be a part of the regular monster manual in 5e, actually. Some of them in the "generic wildlife and such" section.

Sorry, I meant the one that adds mechanics for racing while riding on various 'saurs.

[scriver]

It better feature dino riding.

Faxed that fer ye

[Criptfeind]

So Compy was roughly 1m in length (snout to tail tip), Velociraptor was 2m, and Deinonychus (which was apparently also what was being described in the book with the wrong name, and the film just kept the fraud going for source accuracy) is 3m.

Seems like a pretty good Tiny, Small, Medium progression to me.

Nah man, you're thinking too much in terms of length when these feathery assholes have big long tails that are totally throwing you off. Thinking about in terms of just mass, the Deinonychus weighs about as much as an adult man, easily medium, the compy weighs a few pounds, easily tiny, but the Velociraptor also only weigh like thirty pounds, a fair wack below most small races. They fit in tiny, although it's sorta on the edge (like a dwarf).

So, would you say it's still reasonable for a 5th-level character to be able to summon 8 of them, twice a day?

It depends on how the encounter is set up, if the enemy doesn't have aoe and can't get to the druid, it's fairly strong. However aoe is going to send them all to dino hell. And it's concentration, which means you go up to the druid (Who now can't have his barkskin on) and smack him hard enough and there's a fair chance the spell fizzles out. Giant bats are a bit less vulnerable to aoe, but also less dangerous. I do like that idea more though, with the flying and such the druid would have a better chance of being able to escape from the fights as the bats saw to it.

[Kagus]

Hmm. This bestiary reference I'm using seems to have listed the Stench Kow's stink aura DC as being 26. I'm not sure how that happened.

That's definitely not the kind of DC you'd expect to see on a CR 1/4 beastie...


So... Celestial Warlock 6/Dragon Sorcerer 6... Get double your CHA mod in bonus damage on fire attacks! Splitting your build straight down the middle with 6 levels of Warlock is totally worth getting 8-10 bonus damage on your Fire Bolt, right? Right?

Supposedly, Crawford in his enlightenment has confirmed that you can use a warlock's pact magic slots to fuel Divine Smite, in case you wanted to pump those out every short rest rather than every long rest.


Still fiddling with different character concepts... Much as I'd love to do a grappler, there aren't a great many designs that seem to work at early levels, at least not when only using base books. Been thinking I might just try some form of druid, as they seem to be pretty decent, even if not quite as ridiculous as they may have been in earlier versions. Certainly got a lot of versatility, and rolling a versatility-focused druid named Bagatrix seems as much a reason to play a character as any.

[GiglameshDespair]

Hmm. This bestiary reference I'm using seems to have listed the Stench Kow's stink aura DC as being 26. I'm not sure how that happened.

That's definitely not the kind of DC you'd expect to see on a CR 1/4 beastie...

A little higher than in my copy of Volo's guide, yeah, which lists it as the slightly weaker DC12.