What did your PC do last time he/she had significant downtime, user?
>Bloodrager
>Rounded up peasants and trained them for a month to become 0.5 level barbarians
>Picked the most NE motherfucker out of the group to lead them
>Months later in gsmr, group becomes terrifying band of glory seekers
>No one wants to deal with them - npc or pc - due to their tendency for "collateral damage"
> long story short I created a band of npc murderhobos
Got incredibly drunk, met Tymora the Goddess of Good Luck (her patron deity), and woke up the following day not only with no hangover, but actually healthier than she had previously been (Blessing of Health, +2 CON).
Being an autistic savant he is, he did nothing but craft magic items for two years. After the downtime was over, he started gifting those magic items to everyone who would take them, PC or NPC.
those downsides are fucking atrocious, user
>you lose all your items
>you gay married an ugly person
>you are the target of a theft or scam whenever you enter the city you donated in
the real kicker is the special events table
>you started a fire that burned down the whole fucking city
>you are a pig for the first week of the adventure
>you joined a fucking cult even if it didn't make sense for your character to do so in the slightest, potentially breaking paladin oath etc etc.
>everything you touch becomes pyrite and is worthless, and IT MENTIONS NOTHING ABOUT DISPELLING IT
>rolling for downtime
>not playing through it
Thou art indeed a batch of tiny sticks for burning, my good man.
>those downsides are fucking atrocious, user
Aww, widdle babby don't like it when his chawacter gets huwt. He's gonna cwy.
Man up, user. Shit happens to you when you when you're a wealthy vagabond who gets blind drunk at parties he throws, or otherwise starts flashing around huge amounts of cash. What matters cash, anyway? Gold is literally the least valuable resource available to a player character.
Second point, remember as well to add your level to the d% roll. It becomes literally impossible to be mugged for all your money starting at level 5, for example, since at that point your minimum result is 6. Even when blind drunk, people know better than to fuck with you.
Third point - do you know how many Conan stories begin with him penniless and without anything more than his clothes and a sword?
Final point: no one is forcing you to roll on these tables. You rolls your dice, you takes your chances. If you have a chance to end up with a pretty sweet magic item, a noble title and the brohood of the king, or a unique spell known by no one else in the land, then the downsides need to be appropriate as well.
I prefer to think of them as events that spawn adventures. Getting mugged, for example, seems like a great hook to try and deal with the city's thievery problem.
Oh, also, I was far more merciful than I could have been. Witness HIGH LIVING, from the Conan d20 RPG.
>getting mugged
So, wait, let me get this straight: my priest-champion who would spend his time praying and doing chores in the local temple, with the highest passive perception and insight of the party, somehow goes into a place of ill repute and gets mugged?
What exactly do you mean woth this? Is it an automatic
>You lose x amount of gold
or something? Or do we roleplay him being confronted by the mugger, who clearly wants to fight the 6' 5" black man with a badass scar on his eye and a breastplate clearly showing, as well as a big longsword poking out from the side of his mantle?
Normally it's the same. Visits his editor/publisher and passes off the latest copy in his series of books he records the party's adventures in. "Millien Faux: Bard at Large"
Next is the side series between him and the party Goliath who gets shit faced day in and day out "Milly and Mo's Drinkin' Round the World"
You are, expressly, too drunk to fight back when the mugging occurs. Interpret that however you like. Regardless by level 5 you're badass enough that even blind drunk you can fight off any muggers anyway.
This is not a That DM moment. You are not ever required to roll on the table, and you can see full well the consequences of a poor roll at the outset. You are the one who decided that the chance of getting mugged was worth it since there was a much greater chance of getting a sweet new magic item or winning a small fortune in gambling.
>somehow goes into a place of ill repute and gets mugged?
Your priest is the one who expressly chose to go carousing (drinking, gambling, and whoring), rather than spending time doing research, spending time engaging in philanthropy, or just sitting at home reading a book.
I'll say it again:
YOU ROLLS YOUR DICE, YOU TAKES YOUR CHANCES.
>Someone says "Dude, this seems kind of shitty"
>Immediately blast into insulting him for daring to criticize you
Have you tried killing yourself? If you won't, then leaving the thread would also be helpful.
I come from a different era of RPGs, one where if you stand a chance at having something really good happen to you, then you should also stand a chance of having something pretty bad happen to you.
But, fine, let's play it your way. Given that the Carousing table's best result is an increasingly-likely-as-you-level chance at getting a free magic item in an edition where such things are notably rare, what is a good option for its increasingly-unlikely-and-in-fact-very-swiftly-impossible worst result?
>I come from a different era of RPGs
Whatever you say after this could be completely and factually correct for all I know, but just reading that has given me a stroke.
My point is that I don't believe in coddling. While I'm not full-on Gygaxian "no save, you all die" DM, I don't see anything wrong with player characters having to deal with the consequences of dumbass decisions.
Rolling on the Carousing table explicitly means that you've decided to spend one (or more) nights spending 10 gold pieces (per night) for the express purpose of booze and hookers and gambling. Remember that 10 gold pieces is 100 silver pieces, and most SKILLED commoners earn just 1 silver piece a day. A single night -of carousing means you visibly spent more money in just a few hours than most people make in three or four months of hard work.
After flashing around that kind of money and drinking yourself under your own table, you DO NOT get to complain if you wake up and all your stuff has been stolen.
Go back to gargling dicks.
A scathing rebuttal, sir.
Someone isn't to keen on having their work critiqued/ is stupid enough to think that that people will just suck your dick here.
Also holy shit that's a dumb idea, you rp out down time, dont just be a slave to dice and roll for everything you do, what kind of retard does that?
>Someone isn't to keen on having their work critiqued
Critique implies that they've made at least some attempt at offering suggestions to fix it, rather than just complaining at the low chance that their characters might suffer what are by and large minor setbacks, often while not paying too close attention to what they're complaining about anyway.
Take this guy, , for example.
>>you lose all your items
There is at most a 4% chance of that happening, at level 1, when all your items are mostly worthless/easily replaceable anyway. It is impossible starting at level 5. And the result still notes that it is possible to track down your crap.
>you gay married an ugly person
There is a 5% chance of accidentally wedding someone for most of an adventurer's career, and only a 50% chance of the person being innately unappealing, so in other words a 2.5% chance. Frankly the roleplaying opportunities make it worthwhile.
>you are the target of a theft or scam whenever you enter the city you donated in
The thieves or scammers still have to actually make successful checks to do anything to you.
>you started a fire that burned down the whole fucking city
There is a 6% chance of getting ANY special event, and then only a 10% chance of getting the "conflagration" one, and then only a 33% chance of burning down the city. This translates out to a .5% chance. At most.
>you joined a fucking cult even if it didn't make sense for your character to do so in the slightest, potentially breaking paladin oath etc etc.
I don't know of any paladin oaths you would have broken. You were suckered into the oath, and you are free to try and leave the cult.
And all of it could have been avoided by *not rolling on the damn tables*. You're not compelled or forced.
>>everything you touch becomes pyrite and is worthless, and IT MENTIONS NOTHING ABOUT DISPELLING IT
It in fact outright states that it can be dispelled via Remove Curse right in the "Magical Mishap" entry.
Let's see...
>Enchanted his entire mansion to resist catastrophic blasts from failed enchanting experiments
>Expanded the mansion's basement to "underneath the entire estate" and made it into his crafting/enchanting workshop
>Made a garden, complete with several rows of medicinal herbs
>created homunculi in the form of vines, trees, and bushes to keep pests out
>Learned several languages, including a few dead ones, through a combination of dreamscape shenanigans and knowledge magic
>Went to school for medicine, and converted a part of the mansion into a doctor's office, specializing in prostheses and the regrowth of limbs for injured children.
>Created and Enchanted some gear for the party members, including enchanted shoes for the horse and a sleeve for the snek.
>Reconciled with a woman who's linked to -and as powerful as- a Gaira dragon, and had his mind and body damn-near destroyed in the ensuing make-up sex.
>convinced assassins sent by his former magic teacher that rather than waste their time trying to kill him -they had failed consistently for over a week- that if they could find out where his teacher was, no killing necessary, they'd get double what the teacher was paying, plus expenses.
He has a lot of downtime, seeing as he's a DMPC, and only there for the party of two in a support function and for bad things to happen to.
Here is some advice on how to fix your list.
Delete it and go program a video game.
chaotic good half elf druid
became a cat,adopted myself to a nobleman, proceed to slowly indoctrinate all his kids to follow corellon rather than kord and induct them as learner druids. Revealed myself during a bandit attack on their country estate, scared of the bandits, got the nobleman to consider defecting to the winning side (mine, my side is the winning side) because kord gave him a +1 hammer for all his life but corellon gave him a cat that turned into a talking tiger when he actually needed help.
eh damage to a character comes in more than the health point variety. heal it or work around it.
>bard
>traveling on some interplanar train going through the Void just to reach a nation on the other side of the planet
>out jewed a merchant in the gift shop that was trying to rip him off, got a ton of potions and a cloak from a priest of a fire god
>researched some demon lord in the train's library since we might get in her bad graces
>had a degenerate foursome with three demon sluts despite serving the goddess of light and positive energy
Tried to increase primal-urge
Since the st is a Dick you had to explain how you did this, in a plausible manner.
I tried several methods, but he kept being a bitch.
Long story short,
My character fucked wolves.
>everything you touch becomes pyrite and is worthless, and IT MENTIONS NOTHING ABOUT DISPELLING IT
That's on the table that can be dealt with via Remove Curse.
Got himself thrown into a fucking fridge for two and a half years
He was pissed
>My point is that I don't believe in coddling.
>I believe in potentially randomly fucking players over for no reason.
There is nearly no reason to do carousing.
>Lose everything
>Lose a lot of gold
>Have to duel someone
>Have to escape from an NPC
>Worthless charisma check bonus
>Worthless ally
>Get some money
>Get more money
So out of those four are bad, one is effectively worthless, one is probably pretty useless and two just get you a bit of money. The only real good option is to just go into a coma because apparently people hate charity for some reason.
>It is impossible starting at level 5. And the result still notes that it is possible to track down your crap.
Too bad at level 1 an adventurer robbed of everything is effectively dead. No armor, no weapons, no gold, and party is too poor to buy back their equipment or equipment of similar quality. Have fun running naked at the enemy with a chair leg.
>There is a 5% chance of accidentally wedding someone for most of an adventurer's career, and only a 50% chance of the person being innately unappealing, so in other words a 2.5% chance. Frankly the roleplaying opportunities make it worthwhile.
Hurr hurr you married a man but you are also a man, isn't this hilarious? I probably would just stab the faggot and fall, I'm not going to roleplay breaking up with a man because apparently drinking makes my character gay. Also, everything has a 5% chance of happening, using the fact that each option has a 5% chance of happening isn't a defence of shitty options.
>There is a 6% chance of getting ANY special event, and then only a 10% chance of getting the "conflagration" one, and then only a 33% chance of burning down the city. This translates out to a .5% chance. At most.
Not a defence, if the idea is so absurd that you need to justify it with "it is really uncommon" than its a shitty idea.
>And all of it could have been avoided by *not rolling on the damn tables*. You're not compelled or forced.
The whole point is that the tables are shit. If not rolling on them is the best choice than they shouldn't even exist.
>Have fun running naked at the enemy with a chair leg.
How about possessing nothing AND having a level of exhaustion AND being restrained when outside of your prison cell WHICH CONTAINS, among other things, a mad quaggoth, and ornery orc, and a derrange serial killer derro?
Welcome to Out of the Abyss, Chapter 1, Level 1, 0 Experience. Enjoy your stay.
My point, in case you can't tell, is twofold.
1) It's not like published material can't leave you in an even worse condition without you getting any say in the matter at all; and
2) This should not be much of an impediment to an actual adventurer.
>Hurr hurr you married a man but you are also a man, isn't this hilarious?
Potentially. Could also still be a woman if your character is gay. I don't judge.
>I probably would just stab the faggot and fall
Ha, nice try, but you don't "fall" if your first response to accidental marriage is "murder". You're already Evil and just didn't write the correct thing on your character sheet.
>because apparently drinking makes my character gay.
Could just make him bisexual. Or the whole thing could have just been a joke. Maybe the other guy isn't gay either and is just as troubled as you. Or something.
>Also, everything has a 5% chance of happening
Nnnno, it doesn't. For example, the "black out" option has a 10% chance, the "no effect OR DM's choice from above/below" each have a 16% chance (combined 32%), the "special" option has a 6%, and getting a 101+% has a 1% chance at level one which increases as you gain levels, capping at a 21% chance at level 20.
The total "bad" options (02-47) have at level 1 a 46% chance of happening, but the odds gradually decrease as you gain levels. By level 20, where your minimum result is 21, the "bad" results only have a 26% chance of happening, and the worst possible results gradually become less likely, then impossible, as you gain levels.
Turned the evil laboratory of a mad scientist the party had defeated into a distillery. Then accidentally poisoned some people who tried the first batch with traces of heavy metal due to not properly cleaning the equipment we reused.
It's ok, we managed to blame someone else for it.
>if the idea is so absurd
It's hardly that absurd. Do you know how often London used to burn down? Fire was a serious threat in Medieval times. And burning down inns by accident is a classic staple of tabletop RPGs.
>If not rolling on them is the best choice
Not rolling on them is your choice. Personally my character has had a chance to roll on them 5 times. 2 times I ended up with "nothing happens". Once (at level 6) I blacked out, but the joke was on the pickpockets since I had just spent all my gold anyway. Then once I got a magical item (bag of holding), and once I got a Blessing of Health.
The entire point is that it's a gamble.
I'd like to take a moment to backtrack now.
>Have fun running naked at the enemy with a chair leg.
A javelin is 5 silver pieces and deals 1d6 piercing damage. That's respectable enough. A quarterstaff is even cheaper, 2 sp, and deals 1d6 bludgeoning but can also be wielded two-handed to instead deal 1d8.
Padded armor is 5 gp and a shield is 10 gp, so together that's 15 gp and 5 sp.
I don't care how poor your 1st level party is, you can afford 15 gp and 5 sp.
Alternatively, since we've already established that you're a murderer at heart what with your reaction to unexpected marriage, you could always mug some guy.
You could also work an honest job for a few days to build up funds. the PHB establishes that this gets you enough to live a modest lifestyle without having to pay 1 gp per day. Collect that money but live at a lower level and you're turning a profit.
Like I said, if you're going out for the express purpose of getting blind drunk, there are probably going to be effects from doing that. You *do not* get to complain.
Buffed her armor, washed her cape, cleaned the focus lenses on her blaster pistols, then joined her mates in the ship mess for banter and mooched booze.
>I believe in potentially randomly fucking players over for no reason.
No, the players believe in potentially randomly fucking themselves over for no reason if they choose to roll on the Carousing table. No one is making them do it, they could stay at home and read or something.
>Worthless charisma check bonus
I bet you're the kind of person who skips all the cinema scenes in video games, too.
>Worthless ally
The ally is expressly "powerful". While what that means is up to the DM, it could be...
- A member of the wizard guild's ruling body;
- The local lord, or the local lord's child;
- The head of a powerful guild;
- The master of a large, profitable sea vessel;
- Or anything else the DM interprets to be "powerful".
Using some in-universe examples, if you're Carousing in Baldur's Gate, good candidates would be Nine-Fingers Keene (head of the thieves' guild) or Ulder Ravenguard (Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate).
If that's useless to you...you're really, really boring.
>Get some money
For free. It's free money, no risk to life and limb required. Well, almost free, there's the initial 10 gp investment and I suppose you might just break even. But perhaps you make some contacts while gambling, or something. If the worst thing that happens is "nothing", that's not exactly bad.
>Get more money
Or a level-appropriate magic item. That's how my own character ended up with a Bag of Holding, for example.