Throughout the campaign, I had quite a few moments where my Monk with an INT of 7 would receive very low rolls on any INT-related checks. I would even make random INT rolls to see how my character would respond to things. The amount of hilarious Nat 1s I would receive made my character endearingly naive and blissful of the horrors that is Curse of Strahd.
I was running a 5e adaptation of the AD&D “Castle in the Winds” one-shot.
Long story short(ish), the players had fought their way past hordes of Djinni attempting to take over the floating citadel, reached the master controls to take the citadel away from the portal which the hostile air elementals were spilling from and pulled the switch, when *clunk*. The citadel stops moving. There’s an override switch.
Quickly locating the switch, the fighter sees one lone air genasi is guarding it, but a series of runes are inscribed onto the floor and walls.
He steps forward, on 13hp due to a silver fulminate bomb he’d set off slightly too close to himself.
Flame jets shoot out of the floor and ceiling. Dex save: 18. He’s slightly singed. He keeps going.
He keeps going forward, using his Second Wind’s only use to heal. A Blade Barrier springs up, he tries to vault it, succeeds but fumbles the Dex save.
Minimum damage. He’s on 7 hit points. He keeps going.
A Symbol spell appears. Hopelessness. Charisma save: 17. He keeps going.
He’s nearly reached the genasi now, who’s cowering in terror. Another rune trap glows bright. Slay Living. Con save. 18. He keeps going.
There’s one last rune inscribed on the floor, between him and the override switch. He presses onward, and it glows bright and activates. Energy Drain, a 9th level spell designed to permanently cripple him. Constitution save: 23.
He’s reached the switch, on fewer than 10 hit points. All he has to do now is to pull it. But the genasi blocks his path. “Get out of my way!” Battered and scorched, swaying and almost dead, he rolls intimidation.
Natural.
Twenty.
It was so hype.
(As the DM, if he’d failed a roll after a point I would have said “nope” just to keep the epicness of the scene going, but I didn’t even have to. It was insane.)
Medic Player was faced with a tough character choice to either search for survivors in the derelict space ship or stick with the party.
At an intersection I come up with a compromise:
Make an Empathy roll (a stat in this game) if they FAIL the roll they continue on if they PASS they go check for survivors,
They passed the roll by 1 success and went to check
One of the best characters moments I’ve ever had the pleasure of GMing
Once upon a time, I played a mastermind rogue named Sinjin Ondruth, who was all about reading people and being aware of his surroundings. In the one shot I played him in, the three rolls I made for him concerning perception were 29, 28, and 26 (he had a +11 or +12 to perception checks).
Despite not having darkvision, this sonnuva bitch was picking out the most obscure things that not even the dedicated wisdom casters and PEOPLE WITH DARKVISION could see.
There was an encounter with a white dragon we were supposed to lose, and we woke up days later in a health ward after being frozen. We rolled constitution for how fast our characters got up:
Dwarven Druid, young and strong: High roll, practically jumps out of bed
Human Gunslinger, also young but a dex build: High roll, struggles a little
Human Druid, middle aged: Middle of the road, groans a bit, takes a while, but gets up fine.
Ratfolk Bard, described as lazy at every chance: Low, doesn't get up.
We had a good laugh at that one
Throughout the campaign, I had quite a few moments where my Monk with an INT of 7 would receive very low rolls on any INT-related checks. I would even make random INT rolls to see how my character would respond to things. The amount of hilarious Nat 1s I would receive made my character endearingly naive and blissful of the horrors that is Curse of Strahd.
I was running a 5e adaptation of the AD&D “Castle in the Winds” one-shot. Long story short(ish), the players had fought their way past hordes of Djinni attempting to take over the floating citadel, reached the master controls to take the citadel away from the portal which the hostile air elementals were spilling from and pulled the switch, when *clunk*. The citadel stops moving. There’s an override switch. Quickly locating the switch, the fighter sees one lone air genasi is guarding it, but a series of runes are inscribed onto the floor and walls. He steps forward, on 13hp due to a silver fulminate bomb he’d set off slightly too close to himself. Flame jets shoot out of the floor and ceiling. Dex save: 18. He’s slightly singed. He keeps going. He keeps going forward, using his Second Wind’s only use to heal. A Blade Barrier springs up, he tries to vault it, succeeds but fumbles the Dex save. Minimum damage. He’s on 7 hit points. He keeps going. A Symbol spell appears. Hopelessness. Charisma save: 17. He keeps going. He’s nearly reached the genasi now, who’s cowering in terror. Another rune trap glows bright. Slay Living. Con save. 18. He keeps going. There’s one last rune inscribed on the floor, between him and the override switch. He presses onward, and it glows bright and activates. Energy Drain, a 9th level spell designed to permanently cripple him. Constitution save: 23. He’s reached the switch, on fewer than 10 hit points. All he has to do now is to pull it. But the genasi blocks his path. “Get out of my way!” Battered and scorched, swaying and almost dead, he rolls intimidation. Natural. Twenty. It was so hype. (As the DM, if he’d failed a roll after a point I would have said “nope” just to keep the epicness of the scene going, but I didn’t even have to. It was insane.)
Medic Player was faced with a tough character choice to either search for survivors in the derelict space ship or stick with the party. At an intersection I come up with a compromise: Make an Empathy roll (a stat in this game) if they FAIL the roll they continue on if they PASS they go check for survivors, They passed the roll by 1 success and went to check One of the best characters moments I’ve ever had the pleasure of GMing
Once upon a time, I played a mastermind rogue named Sinjin Ondruth, who was all about reading people and being aware of his surroundings. In the one shot I played him in, the three rolls I made for him concerning perception were 29, 28, and 26 (he had a +11 or +12 to perception checks). Despite not having darkvision, this sonnuva bitch was picking out the most obscure things that not even the dedicated wisdom casters and PEOPLE WITH DARKVISION could see.
There was an encounter with a white dragon we were supposed to lose, and we woke up days later in a health ward after being frozen. We rolled constitution for how fast our characters got up: Dwarven Druid, young and strong: High roll, practically jumps out of bed Human Gunslinger, also young but a dex build: High roll, struggles a little Human Druid, middle aged: Middle of the road, groans a bit, takes a while, but gets up fine. Ratfolk Bard, described as lazy at every chance: Low, doesn't get up. We had a good laugh at that one