5e hardcore rocks


#1

I’ve been going through a lot of osr stuff recently and am enjoying the things I’m seeing. I quite like the look of black hack 2e and decided to go through hardcore mode properly this time as I only just skimmed it before.

I decided to test out the monster converter. Oh my god! It’s pure genius. I have made an orc, orc chief, goblin, goblin boss and ogre in like 2 mins. So impressed with it. Not sure how powerful things get with bigger monsters and if I can use this for icrpg but it’s great so far.
One thing I’m not sure on is what they roll for damage in hardcore mode. Is it what’s stated on the monster bio, or is it their hit dice? If I use it for icrpg I may just do weapon damage +CR. Who knows lol.

I like the advantage /disadvantage vs icrpgs easy and hard. Purely just because it gives less numbers (something my players prefer even though its not exactly difficult).

I don’t really have much else to say on it really but I just felt I needed to display publicly my appreciation for it.


#2

Okay so I just looked at a red dragon.
CR 17.
:heart: X17 (170hp)
AC= 27
Rolls +17
Xp= 3400.

Please tell me I’ve done something wrong lol. Ac27!?


#3

I’d have to read into it more myself but off hand that looks right.


#4

No wonder its called hardcore lol. Need like twenty players to fuck with a dragon. Love it


#5

As it should be. It is a dragon!


#6

Oh absolutely, those stats are no joke. I hope the players have a backup character on hand


#7

https://www.latorra.org/2012/05/15/a-16-hp-dragon/


#8

Love that article. It helped me learn pbta so much.

Well it’s actually a dracolich that my players have to deal with (and my stand alone solo campaign I’m doing in the North of the continent).
Well it’s actually 32 of them. Some people should not roll on random tables.

Sure hope they retrieve the control undead artifact from the first session that they threw overboard and is at the bottom of the ocean somewhere. (it’s been stolen by underwater creatures). Or we’re all doomed.


#9

Boy, sure would be a shame if this highly important artifact was carelessly tossed overboard.

bloop


#10

Lmao. Yeah it was used by a pirate mutant thing to control his skeleton and zombie crew. My son, knowing how powerful it was said “this is too dangerous for anybody to have” :sweat_drops:
I was proud of him in a way.


#11

I’m running the Dungeons on Demand modules with the hardcore rules and it switches between being easy to kill monsters and one hit putting characters down. And that’s just with Goblins.

The thing to remember is that the characters will never go beyond Level 10. A CR 17 Red Dragon is there as a cool finishing boss, but they are going to have to find a Plot Specific way to defeat it because weapons won’t work against its scaly hide and many spells won’t affect it. HOWEVER, I said most spells won’t affect it and it is important to remember that magic becomes superpowered with these rules. Cantrips become very powerful in defeating enemies and spells like Scorching Ray can kill multiple PCs in one turn. But having a plot weapon that lowers that AC through questing would be pretty fun and rewarding.

Another thing not to forget is the rest of the D&D 5E rules apply and that Dragon likely has Legendary Actions. Taking on something with those abilities is a surefire way to make the characters ex-adventurers.


#12

Gravedigging here, but you said you used the monster converter. is this a table or a website? I didn’t see a link. TIA.


#13

ole Hankerin wrote a book called 5e Hardcore Mode… he talks about a method for making monsters, quick and easy… page 15 REAL CHALLENGE RATING… you can find his book on DriveThruRPG

Game On!