Session 0 and character creation

I may be adding important notes on my DMing (especially in this game) when I realize I missed to share that. Here is one - related to repeated skill checks. When a dice decided against you and DM have to narrate failure - it is not uncommon for players to want to repeat that roll. Why do we roll if we know we can re-roll bad rolls - some players may ask
I have an opinion on this one and quite detailed - you could read my opinion below , but could just ask me each time in game - can I roll this again

My detailed opinion - it depends!

There are different skill checks and different situations. If you try to climb a tree fail skill check, fall, take falling damage and then want to try again - I will welcome that and even reduce DC by 1 each time as you learn from your past mistakes.
If you do an investigation check or survival check and dice decides you fail - I will not narrate failure happen due to inability of a particular character. I will narrate that the situation/environment is unfavorable. I can't narrate environment suddenly changes when you or another PC rolls better number.

For example: when PC with +8 in survival rolls 1 on D20 scoring 9 to discover footprints of an animal I will not narrate this particular PC simply don't know how to do survival I will narrate it was either the heavy rain for footprints in dirt or a strong wind for footprints in the sands to disappear. And that is the reason I will ignore repeated skill checks you make for the same reason.

Positive example: PC makes a history check trying to remember something. Now I could narrate failure is because he was ill when topic were discussed at school, he didn't have the book to read or something. I will not allow the same PC to roll again, but will allow another PC to roll for the same goal.

Very reasonable.

Ok, i understand now

Cool.

Sounds good to me!

Technical Question:
Choosing a species and certain features of the Druid class granted various spells. Are all of these spells plus the ones that I am suppose to choose only the ones that are known or are they all memorized?

If only known, are the memorized number of spells limited by the number on the Druid data table plus the Wisdom bonus?

Most features that grant you spells will say how they interact with your preexisting spellcasting feature. All non-cantrip spells, for instance, which are granted by racial features, are always prepared (that is to say, they get prepared for free, they don't take up one of your preparation slots), give you a free casting once per day, and can thereafter be cast normally using a spell slot of the appropriate level or higher, the same way the rest of your spells work.

In your case, Elf gives you a feature that says:Since you are level 3, you know the cantrip and 1st level spell from this feature. I'm not sure which subspecies of Elf you chose, but assuming you went with Wood Elf, that means you know the Druidcraft cantrip as well as the first level spell Longstrider. Druidcraft, like other cantrips, is just always available and you can spam it as much as you like. You can cast Longstrider once per day without spending a spell slot, and after that you can use your spell slots on it as normal.

As for your druid features, I'm not sure what you took, but I guess you're referring to the Circle spells. That feature also tells you:Again, I don't know what you picked, but assuming you went with Temperate, that means you know the Shocking Grasp cantrip, as well as the first-level spells Misty Step and Sleep. Specific spells granted by features like this are all always prepared. This is also confirmed in your druid spellcasting feature, which says:Druids, unlike Wizards, do not need to "learn" their spells. They have access to the full spell list for their level, but can only prepare a certain number at a time. In your case, you're level 3, so according to the druid table, that gives you 6 prepared spells PLUS the afforementioned bonus spells granted to you by your species features (and possibly Primal Order: Magician if you took that from your druid features, or Magic Initiate if your background gave you that). This number is not affected by your wisdom modifier at all, that is a legacy rule from the 2014 edition.

Note that at 3rd level, we full spellcasters get access to 2nd level spell slots; you have 2 of those, plus 4 1st level ones. Just because you have 2 2nd level slots, that does not mean that 2 of your prepared spells must be 2nd level spells. You are free to choose 6 spells of either 1st or 2nd level in any combination. Most 1st level spells can be upcast, so your 2nd level slots would not be totally wasted. You could even prepare 6 2nd level spells, but you would only be able to cast 2 of them, or 1 of them twice.

I hope this helps; I get that it's a lot to take in, but we're here to help.

@Thorstmixx cover that perfectly well.
Just let me update - You have Magic Initiate from sage background indeed.

Read it here

Yes spell casters are always complicated to handle no matter which system. Though 5.5 add more compared to 5.0 and more means more to learn.
I strongly suggest creating your dndbeyond account or finding alternative tool to handle that complexity for you.

One more session 0 comment. I have a strong opinion about Stealth, Perception and Investigation skill checks and you will need to bear with me
- I will ignore any of your Stealth checks you are rolling without knowing whom you are hiding from. Or I will narrate you hide from your own party.
- We roll perception checks to spot something that has been hidden on purpose of being hidden. This skill reflect your subconscious ability of your mind to pick up something that does not look natural something odd, something suspicious - even if you cant logically explain why it looks suspicious. Perception does not measure how far you can see
- I prefer Investigation rolled when your PC has gathered lot of information or have means to gather that information, but we don't want player to analyze that information - we want to see how PC does that analysis

My rule of thumb for picking the right skill is:
1. You decide if you want your PC to rely on instinct/subconscious mind and make decision logically not being able to explain that decision. i.e. your PC would say "we need to go that direction because I believe so" Or do you want your PC to make conscious decision based on observation, i.e. "I see a high tree over there, we can climb it and see further"
Do you follow? This will be Wisdom Ability Check in first instance and Intelligence Ability Check in the second

2. Can you see any of your skills you are proficient in to contribute to your success? It don't necessarily need to be skill usually associated with the ability, let's take crazy example - you are proficient in athletics (which is used in climbing) and you apply that to an Intelligence ability check trying to guess which way enemy could have climbed the mountain

Example
That is obviously Intelligence check and it best map to Nature for me, but I won't oppose player picking Investigation assuming that PC is spending lot of time looking for that

Far be it from me to argue with a DM ruling- this is your game, and you will run it however you like. But I would like to posit that "moving stealthily forward" without necessarily being aware of the location of potential spotters should be possible.
That's a totally fine interpretation; in defense of my own interpretation, I feel that Perception is perfectly applicable to "scanning the landscape", the way one would scan a page in "Where's Waldo". There's a lot of information, and you're looking to spot some specific detail. Investigation would also be fine for this, I feel. But again, your game, your rules.
My interpretation of the Nature skill is that it is an Intelligence-based ability used to recall academic knowledge and factual lore about the natural world. Stuff like recognizing poisonous berries, recalling facts about natural monsters, beasts, and monstrosities (such as knowing what an owlbear eats).

In this case, following your interpretation of Perception, I would like to put forward an argument to use Investigation instead of Nature. But of course, we go with what you think is best.

The Rules As Written (RAW) definition for a Dexterity (Stealth) check in D&D 5e is a skill check you make when you attempt to conceal yourself from enemies, slink past guards, slip away without being noticed, or sneak up on someone without being seen or heard.

Do you realize that in an absence of enemy i am unable to narrate this skill?

But if hear one more player objection I will recall the above statement. Even if player roll stealth+perception with literally every post they make.

Sure, you can't narrate it if you don't have any enemies planned, but if the characters have a vague idea that there are enemies somewhere in the area, it would make sense for them to try to move stealthily, and it would be perfectly reasonable to ask for a stealth check imo. This is something that 5e doesn't have rules for, but if I were writing a system, I might include a mechanic similar to passive perception, but for stealth. That way, the players wouldn't need to roll.

here we go with the rolls

sweet an 18, 17, 15, 13, 9 and 7.

🤩17 and 18 - that's something
@PbPgameOn welcome. If you can have at least draft PC charactersheet ready by Tuesday/Wednesday I would like to pull you into the game after my next in game post, but please take your time


Regarding my previous post - I was a bit too dramatic on the weekend, instead of "I will ignore any " I should have said "I may" and I encourage everyone to be creative with what ability checks you are rolling, I will try to award you with advantage for creativity

Wow, even better that mine lol😂

For reference, my character is Ranger, while olof is fighter, idk about other…

there is also a monk and a wizard in the party, so for the classic composition you are missing a Cha-based character (don't be fooled by game hook, social pillar has it's balanced presence in this one-shot ) , but please don't feel obligated to fill that gap - depending on arty play-style and decisions this one shot could be run with no cha rolls at all

here's my halfling paladin: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/171077614/NIlOOe

This is the most funniest pc picture i ever see😂😂
Bro look like Human guy with Wife & 2 kids 😂🤣

Joke aside, Being paladin is perfect to! Paladin is use Cha as spellcasting, and can heal, + being frontliner. This is actually good ngl👍

Edit: your dnd beyond link i think is invalid, can you tried again?

Going to put that in his backstory, under flaws, has wife and 2 kids, ha.

Maybe this link will work: Bartholomew