/5eg/ - Fifth Edition General

Asked in last thread:

How do I make a boss stronk? I'm a new DM and was thinking about throwing a Minotaur at my group but they'll destroy it, even if I raise it as a Minotaur skeleton after they kill it. Is there an easy way to scale up CR? Want to do similar to make like a CR 3 kobold and Goblin for my campaign.

>>54440493
Generally the best way to make a "boss" in 5e is legendary resistance and actions.

What level are your players?

>>54440493
Give it the stats of a similar CR 3 monster. Talk about how badass it looks when you describe it.

how effective of a character is a fighter 7 war mage wizard8?

inb4 dont multiclass UA

>>54440493
What level and how many heroes in the party

Hello, I'm a new player and I'm coming up on my 6th level soon. But my character has barely had any development other than deciding he wants to collect eyes as a joke.
My character is well thought out, but I feel like he isn't getting any of the attention he deserves personality wise from me.

Do you guys have any tips on how I can make slow and steady changes to his character to make some character development happen?

>>54440608
Well does he have any bonds flaws personality traits etc?

>>54440651
He's kinda basic for a character, since I wanted him to be a good guy, but I had him be a warlock, so his patron will sometimes ask him to do some very bad things, which clash with his view on morality and with his own moral code.

His personality is:
I am a pleasant idealistic person who excudes an air of confidence. Others seem to generally find me chaming, but I have been called arrogant on more than one occasion.
I might be considered slightly eccentric as well.

His ideals:
he Greater Good: My actions are aimed at giving the greatest benefit for the largest amount of people. Even if it comes at the cost of a few Goblins, bandits or others.

Bonds, James Bonds:
I serve the Lords Alliance, but my actions are influenced by a contract with a Devil. While I strive to do good, I put Amelia's and my own survival above everything else.
(Amelia is his old master. He was born a servant, but was sent off to a monastery, and now the two of them are adventurers together)

Flaws:
I believe that all beings are good, and will approach others with the dignity they deserve. Some might call it naivity, but I prefer to call it idealistism.

>>54440516
What do you want, use War Magic? Go EK 7/Bladesinger.

>>54440712
There's a clear conflict between your morality and lifestyle. It might be a good idea to explore that. Will your character reject his patron and stay on the path of good? Or will you decide that power is all that matters and sell your soul to the devil?

>>54440744
That's a pretty good way to go about it.
I think I'll talk to my DM about exploring that hopefully. And maybe about what the consequences of breaking their contract would be.

>>54440732
looking at bladesinger, it doesnt really offer you anything you dont already get from EK except the wizard chassis. warmage gives a bonus to initiative and an at will AC boost that doesnt spend a spell slot

>>54440768
>>54440732
Yeah, if you want to dip bladesinger, you are better off with Rogue.

File: Cloud_Giant_Subsection_Hero_Image.jpg (287KB, 1920x600px) Image search: [Google]

287KB, 1920x600px

What harmless tricks can a Cloud Giant Smiling One play on a party without it pissing them off?

>>54440762
Talking to your DM about stuff you'd like to explore is important. If you have a good DM, they'll definitely work with you.

File: hot dog knuckles.jpg (27KB, 553x435px) Image search: [Google]

27KB, 553x435px

How do you deal with not rolling well at the table? I've had two attacks land out of 8 in my last session and all my initiative rolls have been crap despite having 20 Dex and it's kinda getting to me.

>>54440984
Okay, before your next session, go to the nearest orphanage and kidnap a child.
Then you gotta sacrifice it to the Dice Gods.

Enjoy your natural 20s.

>>54440984
Get better dice.

>>54440984
RNG is gonna be RNG.

You could look into games that aren't D20 based, but mentioning that around here is heresy.

>>54441068
not this guy but I saw your post from the index. My last SR game had a player roll two zeros on 12 dice pools. Some people are just doomed to failure.

Is it possible to run the official adventures with the same character, though with higher levels?

>>54441086
If you want that character to be kind of fucked up, sure.

>>54441096
What's gonna fuck them up if we play our leveled characters in a different campaign? I imagine level 1-5 in other campaigns shouldn't matter much as far as story progression goes.

So I want to drop an Aboleth at the bottom of Lake Zarovich.

The idea being that the Aboleth is an escapee from the Amber Temple, and it and Mordenkeinen are locked in a stale mated battle. Mordenkeinen is more powerful than it, but it has successfully fucked with his head and is now slowly getting its Thrall Bluto to drop tribute like the Vistani Arabelle in order to feed it enough power to tip the battle over.

What I'm lacking now is substance. If I want the party to venture to the enormous underwater lake, I'll have to design about four subaquatic encounters there, and I've never done one before. (the idea being that at the bottom of the lake they'd find the Sun Sword or something, that Strahd would never take because Running Water

How do you go about revealing the properties of a magic or cursed items to players?
I was going to have a little quest that would reward a cursed ring of spell storing that casts bestow curse if my party completes it.

>>54440984

>have 20 DEX
>still consistently go last on initiative rolls
>next ASI, take Alert feat
>next combat, end up rolling 30 initiative
>second highest was like 17

File: watchmen_veidt.jpg (123KB, 750x435px) Image search: [Google]

123KB, 750x435px

>>54441272
>30 Initiative

I already asked last thread but I could use soms more input.

Can anyone give me a good reason for my druid to leave his forest? I was thinking about following a young rare kidnapped animal for it's mother. What sort of animal should I go with? Setting is FR.

>>54441272
Rogue 11 / Bard 2 with Alert

Never roll below 22.

Initiative really is just very random otherwise.

>>54441510

Or just Bard 14. Add Jack of All Trades and Inspiration to your initiative if you need it, cutting words on the enemie's initiative, and play the most fun class in the game in the meanwhile

If my DM bans lore wizard what should I pick apart from Divination?
[spoiler/]Necromancy is unsuitable for the setting for reasons[spoiler/]

>>54440937
>major image

Horses they try to climb onto won't be there, objects they try to pick up vanish, that hot chick that seemed really into you suddenly has the head of a pig. Lots of ways right there.

>Change Shape, Disguise Self
Could try sexing every character with the party, only revealing itself afterwards each time it knocks one off the list.
Pretends to be authority figure and gets the party in mild trouble or scares them.
Pretends to be other members of the party.
Turns into a bird, shits on the party repeatedly.
Turns into a cat, pals around with the party, gets cat hair over everything, turns back, laughs, leaves.

>Suggestion
Oh boy. I mean, do you really need ideas for this?

File: 734878437.png (3MB, 1269x2167px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 1269x2167px

>>54441662
Abjuration is pretty amazing. Bonuses to dispel magic, advantage on saves against magic, and resistant to magic damage are all 11/10, and the ward you get is a solid 9/10 even with it's low starting HP.

If your DM lets you, keep in mind Alarm is a ritual, and doesn't use a spell slot when cast as a ritual, and thus can be used to charge your ward infinitely during a short rest, if you're not using the short rest for other activities.

If you just wana blow stuff up, Evocation is nice for avoiding friendly fire.

Illusion and Enchanting are both pretty meh until their level 14 feature comes online.

Conjuration kinda sucks unless you enjoy the "Pokemon Master" style of gameplay.

Transmutation is a meme that people severely over-rate.

Necromancy is just pure garbage.


If your DM allows UA content, you could also look into Theurge and grab the Life Domain spells, which gives you some superb healing support utility, although most DMs consider Theurge to be on the "overpowered" side.

Gonna DM my first campaign this weekend. Really nervous, but also really excited. Any words of wisdom from you DMs out there?

>>54441745
nice, I was going to go illusion but I doubt we're going past lvl12.

characters have hit lvl 7 and they are very powerful. many of them multiclassed or are already magic casters. they are too powerful at the moment and im looking to introduce some items or creatures that are in the possession of the the evil minions and that produce an anti magic field.... any ideas ? some sort of grenade type things that the creatures can throw on the ground at the start of the battle that just negates the casting ability. Or any monster that emits such a field ?

File: 767632.jpg (140KB, 1095x730px) Image search: [Google]

140KB, 1095x730px

>>54441780
I you're not going past 12, pick Abjuration for an all-around wizard, or Evocation for an AOE blaster, as they both get substantial early-level abilities. Transmutation is also feasible if you REALLY need Darkvision or an element resistance for some reason... but there are usually easier ways to get those than Transmuter's Stone.

Theurge with Life Domain is also absurdly good at low levels, but again, most DMs don't allow Theurge, as it basically makes Wizards "Clerics but better".

>>54441794
what you should look at doing is run them through more regular encounters per day, because 1 encounter/day favors spellcasters who blow their load and 6/day favors barbarians or martials who have lots of staying power.

>>54441816
If you want a blaster just cut off the middle man, and pick a Human Draconic Sorcerer with the Fire Elemental Adept feat

File: 1477683318004.jpg (103KB, 592x739px) Image search: [Google]

103KB, 592x739px

>>54441857
The Wizard's "Sculpt Spells" feature is generally better than the Sorcerer's "Careful Spell" ability and the wizzard gets more spells learned...

But you're not completely wrong if you want a character who does explosions and nothing else.

Is there a better Find Steed mount than warhorse?

Today we fought a wyvern. It was 10 ft in the air and our Goliath fighter was directly underneath it, and he reasoned that since he was 8 ft tall and wielding a greatsword, he'd be able to reach it. I don't think this was in line with the rules because he was two squares away from the wyvern, assuming the five foot squares work the same vertically. The table and DM agreed with the Goliath player though.

Is there a problem with that ruling that I don't see? It seems like the five foot squares mechanic falls apart with flying creatures.

File: Plague Knight.gif (234KB, 200x189px) Image search: [Google]

234KB, 200x189px

>>54436830
it lacks the alchemist archetype, apothecary is close but it's very much a defensive type, it lacks the mad bomber archetype.

>>54441773
Your players are going to fuck you. Hard.

Let them. Yes, you're there to tell a story, but you're also there to provide entertainment for a handful of hours.

>>54442022
Grids are optional to begin with, so it's really up to the DM to decide how to enforce them. The conceit that every medium creature is exactly 5 feet tall and every non-reach weapon is a little less than 5 feet long is obviously an abstraction, but sometimes abstraction is what you need.

I'd still let him jump to attack or grab the wyvern, though.

>>54441961
Out of the choices, no.
If your DM allows you to select something else, yeah

Anyone have that UA PDF that has most/everything put out so far? Not the Consolidated List, its more like a book.

>>54441148
Okay, so here it goes

Do they have water breathing and swimming speed? If this is Curse of Strahd then likely not.
>Social encounter #1, bargain with the dusk elves, the druids or Victor Vallakovich or a Sea Hag or whatever to get that for you.
Now, social encounters need stakes too. The severity of the favor owed for example hangs in the balance, or alternatively the promise of a fierce new enemy

Now with this detour there's a likelihood that you're SOL for time. Arabella drowns in minutes, but preparing for an underwater adventure when you ain't got a druid on the job can take out hours or days.
>Combat Encounter #1 Underwater cultists are about to sacrifice Arabella!
They were waiting on the right trigger and now they had it.

So if you want to battle the Aboleth and have that as encounter 2, this let's you space out some things.

I recommend one more social encounter tops, maybe a mad Goolock who thinks surely the players will want nothing but to cooperate with their master and leads them around the lair, and finally, your exploration encounter which will be the the under water lair.
Can't help you with that, but remember, underwater is very 3 dimensional. A straight grid will hardly do

>>54441086
It is. Imo you should take the chance to make new characters tho.

>>54441857
Evocation wizard, considered a pretty bad wizard school, is still a better blaster than the best of sorcerers. Sorcerer has better nova with quicken, and can twin concentration buffs, but that's their only selling points and anything else they do IIRC is overshadowed by wizards.

>>54441086
you should make new characters because having a break from your main is nice.

>>54442606
Double casting Fire Bolt for sustained damage.
Subtle spell under casting impediments (ie Silence) and social situations.
The Sorlock.

>>54442022
Just make them cubes, in which case 10 ft. in the air means two full cubes above ground. Fighting in smaller spaces, or here outside your effective range (but still in a context where you should be able to fight) is normally disadvantage IIRC, or I mean, he could just jump. Strength 16 he can jump 5 feet, meaning he can jump up to attack it 3 times or so, assuming he has to jump for each attack.

Best maneuvers for ranged battle masters?
Already got pushing, precision and menacing, but what should I get next?

>>54442696
I get that fire bolt twinning/quickening is quite nice, but when you're playing a non-warlock blaster, the main measure of your ability to fill that role should be AoE spells. Generally martials do best single target (exception being rangers, kind of) and casters do the best AoE/multi target (exception being warlock), so saying sorc is better at blasting because they have higher single target damage is kind of moot. With more spell slots, I'm sure wizard would outdamage it by using those extra slots on damage spells.
Subtle spell is situationally quite useful, though it's hard to compare power of such abilities and wizard gets rituals and way more utility from their spells.
Sorlock is a multiclass and obviously a more capable single target blaster than sorcerer.

A new player joined the group (acquaintance of a current player).
I ask for some info on their character for potential story hooks.

>Drow who left the underdark due to differences with his clan
Oh no...
>Chaotic Neutral
Oh no!
>Viol wielding Bard
Oh?
>Sailor background (pirate)
Oh kay...?

I'm anticipating a poorly done Jack Sparrow but hoping for a Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

1) The description for druids says that they cannot, or refuse, to use armor made of metal or inorganic material. If I acquire a heavy armor proficiency through my race or a second class, will I suffer any penalties for wearing it anyway?

2) Can Shillelegh ONLY be used on a club, greatclub, or quarterstaff? What about a scmitar with a wooden handle?

>>54442718
>>54442022

i can't fuckin wait for hologram tech to come to tabletops

Can we have a discussion about how awful Clerics, Rangers, Rogues, Sorcerers, and Warlocks (bar hexblade) are?

It is seriously ruining my fun in 5e that I can't play as half the roster without being overshadowed constantly and being a drain on the party.

>>54442730
Goading attack is good to make someone have disadvantage on all their attacks, distracting can be nice depending on the party, commander's strike only if you have a rogue.

A druid will not wear armour made of metal. Therefore even if you are proficient with it, you simply will not wear it because you are a druid.

Yes, it can only be used on a club or a quarterstaff.

I wanna make a Megaman Warforged. How do? Just Evocation wizard?

>>54442818
What's wrong with Clerics?

>>54442798
1) Ask your gm, it's a fluff restriction and has no mechanical downside RAW.

2) Only club and quarterstaff, it's spelled out in the spell description.

>>54442818
New ranger is fine, rogue just relies on gm fiat to be decent though maybe it should be "with unfavorable gm you are not very good, with a very favorable one you're really good" instead of "with an unfavorable gm you're shit and with a very favorable one you work as intended". Cleric is fine except maybe a couple of domains. Sorcs I give spell points and origin spells a la domain spells, and with 5 minute short rests warlocks are fine.

>>54442818
>Clerics
>Bad

Trickery, Death, and Nature aren't very good; they're a underwhelming at best. But the others are all perfectly fine if not excellent, like hell, Tempest Cleric is one of my favorite things to play and Forge Cleric was one of the most popular UA ever. oo

>>54442858
They are a spellcaster with mostly bad spells, their main use is revivify which they get 1 level before a bard can just take it anyway.

>>54442902
What's wrong with nature? Channel divinities are too niche as they are only useful against plants and undead?

>>54442902
I honestly don't see the appeal of forge. Looking at it, the only thing they seem to get is gaining or giving a +1 here and there and taking less damage.
Is it the channel divinity?

>>54442902
Here's what I do for trickery, though I haven't found a good way to buff nature.

>Blessings of the Trickster
Can be used on yourself.
>new level 1 feature
At 1st level, you gain proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand or Stealth. You don't suffer penalties to skill checks like perception and athletics for being underwater.
>Channel Divinity: Invoke Duplicity
Lasts 1 hour.
>Channel Divinity: Cloak of Shadows
Lasts 1 minute.
>Divine Strike
Deals psychic damage instead of poison.

>>54442923
>mostly bad spells
rofl, clerics have the most consistently good spells of any class. Wizard has tons of useless shit that are basically trap options, but you could random your cleric spells and still end up with mostly good stuff. And you can prepare different ones every day too. I don't see how it's worse than druid.

>>54442902
>Light
Discount Wizard
>Tempest
Discount Druid /w side of Ultra-Discount Pally
>War
Ultra-Discount Paladin
>Forge Cleric
They are very cool, but what do they actually do? Give a +1 item, ability to cut keys, +1 AC, resistance to fire damage? None of this is particularly good.

>>54442951

It's early Channel Divinities are just pretty redundant next to its domain spells, is all. I feel like they could have been more creative.

Its damage dealing/resisting features are good, though.

File: 89834_donald-trump-laughing.jpg (46KB, 640x470px) Image search: [Google]

46KB, 640x470px

>>54442923
>mostly bad spells

I am a DM and Im butthurt over long rests. Wouldn't it at least be a little fun if yesterdays troubles subsisted today?

>>54443043
They're full casters with good hp, armor, weapons, and channel divinity on top of it. Idk how you can be a discount paladin as a full caster, do you want clerics to just heal and anything that doesn't boost healing means it's just a worse version of another class that does what the archetype lets you do better? That's some flawed logic in that case.

>>54443028
You are right, Clerics have a higher % of useful spells than Wizards, but that is because they have a tiny little spell list compared to a Wizard.

The druid list is no better, but druids have wild shape which outclasses anything the cleric has.

>>54443069
>if yesterdays troubles subsisted today
Before I ask you to kill yourself, can you clarify what did you mean by this?

>>54443078
Why would I need a big spell list, if I have a small one, filled to the brim with awesome shit? To make it better, I know all of it, and I will never be in the "Oh no, I didn't learn Greater Restoration" situation. Ever.

>Wild shape
Wild shape isn't that great. It's just a bunch of HP that does average damage

>>54443089
>At the end of a long rest, a character regains all lost hit points.

File: tempest cleric casts call lightning.jpg (71KB, 604x453px) Image search: [Google]

71KB, 604x453px

>>54442923
*casts spirit guardians*
*casts sanctuary*
*blocks your path*

>>54443130
you only get half your hit dice. If it's been a tough day, with a few deadly-level encounters and such, that will subsist. Making long rests not restore all hp would fuck over martials, particularly those with high hp but low ac like barbarians, and I don't see how it would add anything. If you want consequences for hard fights and going down, lingering injuries is quite good for low level, short games IMO.

So.

When creating humanoid characters with strictly class levels, how many levels in a class should I give the guy to match a certain CR? I assume it's not a 1:1 ratio as 3-5 Level 10 characters can gank the fuck out of a Level 10 enemy.

Would, say forcing 3-5 Level 10s fight a Level 17 be a CR 10 encounter?

Hey guys, what's a good cantrip for a warlock to get?
I'm planning on getting eldritch blast and minor illusion.

> Literally any Cleric being bad.
Even with Trickery, the weakest domain choice (and even then it jas some fantastic domain spells), Cleric never stops being a solid choice. The only really valid arguments you have there are Rangers and Sorcerers, both of which have fantastic solutions through UA, one possessing an entire rework and the other possessing several strong subclass options to keep them rolling.

>>54443223

There's not really a clean-cut conversion, you'll have to figure it ouy level by level, class by class

>>54443245
Eldritch Blast is pretty staple, just make sure you pick up the Agonising Blast Invocation as soon as you can. It goes a long way.

>>54443262
>several strong subclass options to keep them rolling.
Stone sorcery and what else? Storm got the origin spells removed, phoenix is hot garbage, both favored souls were pretty underwhelming IIRC and I don't remember how good the others were.

>>54443326
Seasorc is pretty decent.

>>54443276
What about cantrips other than eldritch blast and minor illusion?

>>54443262
Why pick Cleric over Druid, Paladin, or Wizard?

Rangers UA goes from a shit class to a weird handwavy OP class, and sorcerers become okay once you take some UA subclasses but they are still just a Wizard-Lite.

And you think Rogues and Warlocks are good?

>>54443326
Stone, Sea, Storm, and any of the Favoured Souls (despite my gripes with v3) are all legitimate choices. Phoenix needs a few small tweaks, namely more uses of its rage mode feature, but it's close to being a genuinely good option.

>>54443124
Wild Shape alone has more utility than some classes ever get. Here is a selection of just CR 0 creatures and what they can do:

>Badger: Burrow speed.

>Cat: A common sight in many places, which makes it a useful spying form. It also has climb speed.

>Crab: Amphibious and sporting a swim speed. Also has blindsight.

>Deer, hyena: Fastest ground speeds at this tier, though not as fast as the CR ¼ Riding Horse.

>Frog: Amphibious and a swim speed. Also has darkvision.

>Owl: Excellent flyer, including flyby, darkvision, keen senses and a fast flight speed.

>Tressym (SKT p. 242): Fly and climb speeds, detect invisibility and poison. As a winged cat, they draw rather a lot of attention, which is generally bad.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?397940-5e-Druid-Handbook-Land-amp-Moon

That's just CR 0 and every time more beast statblocks are released the druid gets a little better.

>>54443351
Really, there aren't any others that are universally good as those. Mage Hand and Friends are allright I guess, and Boomblade is a staple if you're playing a Bladelocke.

>>54443351
Wait, there are warlock cantrips other than eldritch blast?

In all seriousness, Mage Hand is your other choice. Maybe you could take create bonfire from EE players companion.

>>54443351
Prestidigitation is a solid one. Warlock's a bit starved for good cantrips without going time though. Dancing Lights if you have no darkvision. Maybe just stay away from Blade Ward or True Strike though, and remember force is one of the most reliable damage types so you don't really need any others for reasons other than flavour.

>>54443381
Because Cleric is still a 9th level faster with strong support and offensive options regardless of domain choice..?

UA Ranger isn't handwavy, but it is on the decently strong side for the martial. Rogues and Warlocks are fine though. A bit restricted with options, and Warlock can't bladelock for shit without a lot of help, but other than maybe Assassin and Undying I wouldn't call any of the options notably weak

>Decide on a more uncommon race
>Make the character
>Realise there is little character art for the race+class
this was a mistake

>>54443223
DO NOT build NPCs in the same way as PCs. It will not work. NPCs must be much less complicated (because it's one guy running several of them, and they won't have that many rounds to make their mark on the party) and have much more HP (because they're not surviving more than a round of the party's loving attention without it.) If an NPC is meant to threaten a whole party on its own, it should have some way to bend the action economy, whether that means legendary actions, lair actions, or the ability to do lots of stuff with a single action. Refer to the average monster stats by CR table in the DMG for what an NPC's saves, attack bonuses, HP, average damage per round, and AC should be.

>>54443465

What are you going for? Maybe someone in the thread has what you're looking for, or knows where to find it?

>>54440465
What should I multiclass into after Barbarian 5?

I've got 13 Charisma, so Bard, Paladin, and Sorcerer are all on the table.

>>54443497
Kenku Paladin

>>54440984
Sometimes I ask my players if they want to sacrifice Hit Dice to PUSH IT TO THE LIMIT!

File: 1407728056438.png (691KB, 743x720px) Image search: [Google]

691KB, 743x720px

>>54443498
>multiclassing

>>54443351
Infestation is pretty flavourful for a Warlock, and it can also help you to save your friend from opportunity attacks/wasting their turn on Disengage, or maybe throw someone off the cliff.
Never underestimate the power of BEES. A large influx of BEES ought to put a stop to any given problem.

>>54443498
Rogue is normally the choice around here because its just a constant progression in damage.

File: p8fJH2Z.png (254KB, 500x300px) Image search: [Google]

254KB, 500x300px

>>54443522

Were you looking for a particular theme? Something appropriate for a particular Oath?

>>54443540
>Empty levels
Smug animes

>>54443569
Not really. Currently it's just a medium armour devotion kenku, but medium/heavy armour kenku seem to be rare

>>54443498
Champion Fighter. Get action surge and second wind onto a Barbarian and have fun. Ideally aim for Barb14/Fighter6

File: 250px-Ikiko.jpg (19KB, 250x389px) Image search: [Google]

19KB, 250x389px

>>54443465
>>54443522
>>54443604
I advice looking up some tengu pics where they're pictured in a more birb-like and less dicknose way.

File: 0dd16068fb906fea6efca9859518fe9c.jpg (162KB, 950x1473px) Image search: [Google]

162KB, 950x1473px

>>54443604

How's this?

>>54443621
Actually, scrap that. Barb16/Fighter4 or Barb12/Fighter8 depending on if you want your subclass' lv14 feature or not.

>>54443627
That's one of the few I did find. Normally I find a bunch and pick one that I like the most, but I guess that might have to do if I can't find anymore
>>54443623
I'll try that too

>>54443381
>but they are still just a Wizard-Lite
I thought that was the point of sorc.

>>54443540
Barbarian is a 5-level class

>>54443564
I use a two-hander though (GWM+PAM)

>>54443621
>>54443645
I don't want more Barbarian levels, I'd like a class with real abilities please

>>54443621
>picking champion
>ever
You'd get more value on a consistent basis out of Battlemaster or Monster Hunter anyways. Relying on ebic critz is pretty retarded, and the level 7 Champ feature fucking sucks.

>>54443685
The point of the sorc is to be an objectively worse wizard?

>>54442776
hey man everyones wanted to play the not evil drow at one point, just run with it

>>54440556
>>54440510

Just wanted it as a general rule of thumb and not level specific.

>>54443718
>>54443621
Precision strike alone makes battle master worth it over the champion.

Add on trip, riposte, commanders strike (situational), maneuvering attack (even more situational).

Yea, champion is a piece of garbage.

>>54443720
the point of sorc is to multiclass it with paladin and hexblade warlock

File: 1452152998634.jpg (41KB, 337x426px) Image search: [Google]

41KB, 337x426px

Should I allow one of my players to roll a mystic? I'm still relatively new dm to 5e

File: tengu_cavalier_by_butterfrog-da82sk0.jpg (103KB, 900x1172px) Image search: [Google]

103KB, 900x1172px

>>54443663

Best of luck, anon.

People talk about how Lore Wizard's abilities should have been given to Sorc, but how would you actually accomplish that? What would you give Sorc? Would it be general class features, or a specific bloodline?

>>54443781
the class is so busted its not even funny, they'll be the best at everything in the party, at level 9, a minmaxed mystic can do 7d10+7d10+7d6

>>54443399
>>54443418
>>54443452
>>54443557
Thanks heaps, bros! Now I have decision paralysis. Will research them in depth.

>>54443801
More metamagic options and more chances to get them.

>>54442852
what if I am not a druid, but my skills and abilities are best codified into the game as a druid?

Honestly this rigid class thinking is dumb.

I wanted to play a Triton druid, but I wasnt allowed to shapeshift into beasts with a swim speed, even though I have one myself, because apparently to be a druid you need to go to the school of forest druids, which is the only type of druids around, certainly there are no aquatic based druid circles.

>>54443781
I'd say no, and that kind of applies to most UA/bonus content if you're new to running D&D, just because it tends to complicate things further. Maybe suggest a wizard or Great Old One Warlock if they still want the telekinetic flavour.

>>54443801
A metamagic option to change the saves and damage types of your spells would be nice.

>>54443837
> Druids can't turn into aquatic animals
That's only because you're a babby lv1 druid, silly.

>>54443837
If you want less rigid classes then play a different game.

If you are a druid classed character, you are a druid and druids do not wear metal armour.

The idea that your character exists outside of the game and then you replicate them by codifying them into the game is absolute rubbish. Your character exists in the game, and at the top when it says 'Druid 1' it means 'This character is a druid'.

It isn't rigid class thinking, it is just playing the game

>>54443752
Command is really good if you have a rogue to abuse it. Two sneak attacks in a round puts their damage over the edge.

>>54443885
It makes them hit about as hard as a paladin, which is the best a rogue is ever going to get.

>>54443850
I know that, My point was that a trition druid should first only know beast forms with swim speed, then purely terrestrial forms, then flying.

And an Aarakocra druid should be flying, terrestrial, swimming.

because they should of druid circles composed of their own races tailored to the types of druidic magic that best fits their enviroment.

But no the only druids in the world go to the shcool of forest druids where you always learn to be a bear before you turn into a crab.

>>54443884
D&D is spose to be an abstract rules that help bring a fantasy world to life.

Not an abtract fantasy setting that give a background to a bunch of rules for the game.

Its dumb that there is entire civilizations and races that exist under the sea, yet there are no aqautic druid circles, and if you want to be a trition druid you need to leave the sea and go to the bear forest school of bear druids

>>54443908
>there should be a special druid class for every race
Ok bud

>>54443908
>>54443942
shut up autist

>>54443951
no, but you should be able to refluff and change minor mechanics to better fit your character.

such as changing around the terrestrial, swimming, flying beast tiers.

Because why would a bunch of triton druids learn to turn into fucking bears underwater when they should be prioritizing teaching young druids to turn into a shark instead?

>>54443966
>NO YOU MUST NEVER GO AGAINST THE HOLY RULES OF 5E
>GARY GYGAX IS GOD AND HIS WORD IS LAW

the real autist is you
I thought /tg/ recognized the importance of refluffing and minor mechanic changes

what the hell happened?

>>54443979
>>54443991
You are able to, if your DM allows it.

You act as if you are entitled to change shit at will as a player.

If your DM says that you can only be a fuzzy bear then shut up and deal with it or find a new DM.

File: 1485338314938.jpg (87KB, 640x465px) Image search: [Google]

87KB, 640x465px

>>54442606
>Sorcerer has a better Nova with Quicken.

Yeah, maybe early on, but a Evocation wizard using Overchannel can do MAX DAMAGE to every single thing it hits with a spell. That's a hell of a Nova, especially on a large number of targets.

Plus if your DM didn't read the Errata, Cantrips are level 0 spells, meaning the damage penalty for using Overchannel multiple times is moot, as anything times 0 is still 0. Max damage cantrips forever.

File: cleave and smite.jpg (83KB, 500x380px) Image search: [Google]

83KB, 500x380px

I want to make a Paladin who smites like no Paladin ever has smitten before.
So I thought about an Human Paladin wielding a maul and the Great Weapon Master talent, fighting style is Two Weapon Fighting and Oath is Devotion.
Is this already overkill? Paladin has already some defensive feats so going full offense by options shouldn't kill me off too early.
I also could go revenge for hunters mark for additional damage, but the tennet of sacred weapon seems to me the better choice to compensate for the reduce atttack of the power attack.

>joining group
>dm gives me intro session to walk my character through a quick adventure and level up to join the rest of the group
>"I bludgeon the skeleton with my mace!"
>does normal damage
>"Darn I thought it would do more damage.. bludgeoning a skeleton"
>continue to play throughout the adventure not saying anything

is it worth it?

>>54444170
Vengeance gives you advantage on the attack which will give you more crits. Wait for the crit, then smite and all is well.

>>54444194
If that is the only issue you have, it's fine.
If you are the sort of autist that gets upset every single time the DM doesn't do something you expect them to do because it says it in the monster manual, then leave

>>54444194
if you're having fun then don't worry. You'll forget about it in a few weeks.

>>54444194
yeah its fine sometimes you cant have everything, Jesus Christ

>>54444246
But this one only works against one single target.
With sacred weapon I can smite left and right for a minute.

File: 6-barbarian-hunters-mammoth.jpg (2MB, 1950x1350px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 1950x1350px

How many of you have played in the Primeval Thule campaign setting from Sasquatch Games? I think it's pretty good.

>>54444170
You can also multiclass as a warlock to get Eldritch Smite invocation and double the smite action.

>>54443481
Sweet. That works. I was meaning the character to be a major plot point rather than a nameless mook.

>>54442776
>life aboard the deck of a ship
>with crippling sunlight sickness
Yeah that'll work out fine.

>>54441794
Beholder lair

What are the best ways that an evil mirror image of a party member can mess with them without revealing themselves?

>>54444477
Well if he was in a modern navy he'd be just fine. You don't get much sun unless your fucking in deck or air.

At what level could a group of 4 conceivably take on a lich? CR 21 and 30k xp from what I can tell from the DM handbook that's deadly for even 4 level 16 adventurers

Where the hell do you even begin with building a Mystic? I figured I'd roll up a character sheet for fun but god damn this is too many abilities.

File: MaleHumanWizard.jpg (461KB, 1063x1375px) Image search: [Google]

461KB, 1063x1375px

Any advice for running spell casting enemies as a DM (I'm still relatively fresh to DMing)?

Even with spell cards, I'm finding hard when in the moment to remember what might be appropriate.
I feel I've been underwhelming when running evil spellcasters, players haven't complained by I won't them to be a bit more threatening.

DMs what are your favourite spells to cast against players?

>>54444644
bind the liches hands and create an area of silence during the surprise round. Attack the lich until it dies then use its bones as a focus to "locate object" for its phalacry.
>Don't trust me I'm an idiot.

>>54444704
What? It's basic as fuck. At 1st level you choose your Order, and pick one general discipline from the full list of disciplines and then two from your specific Order. That's pretty much it.

There isn't really any point when they can take that fight without risking a team wipe, except maybe at level 20. They could probably do it as soon as level 11. The risk would probably be greater, but they aren't going to get very much stronger than that point.

>>54444727
>more threatening
Sanctuary/Shield/Absorb Elements/any other "nope you're not doing damage" spell.
Crowd control, notice that forced movement is also a form of crowd control and it doesn't require you to use your concentration.
Yuge nukes if the players are grouped up together for some reason.

>>54444799
Meant for >>54444644
Oops

>>54444644
Depends entirely on your party composition, how clever the players are, if the lich knows their coming and has time to prepare, etc.

>>54444644
It really depends on how you play the lich. If played properly a lich could take on a group of 20th level players. Lair actions where it can forcibly cast Warding Bond on a player and gets spell slots back are rough.

A lich fight shouldn't be fun, and should kill at least one or more of the players. The lich would open up with Cloudkill, and then Power Word Kill whoever looked weakest (most likely the group's spellcaster). Then Dominate Person on whoever looked toughest, and Finger of Death on whoever looks like they're doing alright

Liches are more meant to be plot devices anyway.

File: 8767676876776.png (402KB, 1024x683px) Image search: [Google]

402KB, 1024x683px

>>54444727
Casters are basically dead if the melee fighters can catch them. Design casters with this in mind and work in ways to counter it. Casters with summoned creatures or underlings/hired help geared up to be melee tanks, casters who set themselves up with the high ground or have ways to move around the environment alot faster than the players (unless the players get creative), a lair where they can draw power from shrines or portals to use more high level spells than they'd normally have or heal, ect.

Remember NPCs don't need to be built exactly like player characters, and can ignore some of the rules restricting player characters like spell choice, spell slot limit, ect.

>>54444853
>Liches are more meant to be plot devices anyway.
Fake news

>>54444823
Dude would the lich get embarrassed if they caught him in the nude?

>>54444194

You technically did do extra damage. Skellies take half from anything but bludgeoning that's nonmagical IIRC.

Your DM maybe should have mentioned it, but you were rewarded mechanically by thinking logically.

>>54444914
No. They would get even.

File: what do youi call a British skeleton? A skeletonne.png (295KB, 467x386px) Image search: [Google]

295KB, 467x386px

>>54445055
>Skellies take half from anything but bludgeoning that's nonmagical
Fake news. Skeletons take normal damage from everything except poison (immune) and bludgeoning (vulnerable).

>>54440493
What i implore when building an encounter i usually focus on 3 aspects
Destruction - how DEADLY things are (ie. damage dices)
Distruption - how DIFFICULT it is for characters to take actions (ie. terrain, relocation, movement)
Duration - how time pressured characters are

Managing these three makes it way easier. Also - action economy.

Good luck friend.

>>54444857
muh malediction and shadow embrace

>>54445199
The fuck are you on about?

>>54445135

Damn, I'm a retard. Good catch anon.

>>54444744
Meant more in trying to determine what Orders are worth it over others with the disciplines being bundled in chunks of 3-9 spells and how some of this shit interacts. Like, can you apply brute force or animated weapon to soul blades?

>>54441510
>Rogue 11 / Bard 2
>>54441588
>Bard 14

The highest level character I've ever played was 9

>>54445517
Bard 3 will still give you Jack of All Trades and Cutting Words

>>54445599

Wait, you can cutting words initiative? Let me rephrase. You can use reactions while people are rolling initiative?

File: 2442563-no-yvvh-allowed.jpg (66KB, 448x473px) Image search: [Google]

66KB, 448x473px

What are some good God-isms to modify into quotes for a YHWH-themed GOO that speaks like reading from the old testament? They can be from any religion really since I'll be modifying them to fit.

>>54445599
>Cutting Words
So basically you get to tell an attacking enemy that their waifu is shit to hurt their attack

>>54445625
Assuming they are in range, not deaf, and you aren't surprised, yes, that's exactly something you can do.

>>54445634
No, you tell them their mom told you about their limp little cock to delay their initiative. You tell them their Waifu a shit to deal psychic damage and make them miss an attack

Looking for advice on a story element.

Would it be wise to send a doppleganger/convincing imposter of the BBEG at the party? My rationale is that the BBEG would be trying to get the party to head back home after "saving the world" while they continue to do the bad stuffs.

>>54445630
Just copy all the shit he says when you fight him in IVA.

>>54445720
Seems like something a smart villain would do. Just make sure the PCs can deduce it and you're not just going to say "OH BTW IT WAS A FAKE" five sessions later.

>>54445450
>determine what Orders are worth it
It's mystic and mystic is kind of a tier 1-2 class. You basically cant go wrong with any of the options.
>Like, can you apply brute force or animated weapon to soul blades?
Yes, in my opinion nothing in the wording prohibits you from doing so. However, if you want to use _both_, I'd say brute force wouldn't work with animated weapon since I think its the animated weapon which does the attack, not yourself.

>>54445720
Yes, but it makes sense for the villain to lay low and change identities after it. They're no longer Tenebrous the Black Lord, they are now Azlagor Warbringer, a totally different guy from a land far, far away.

Found this chart for Stronghold Followers online, http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/Hkiyu227x

Any recommendations for what to do if the owner of the stronghold is an Artificer? Should I just use the wizard chart?

>>54445929
Might as well, not like the others are gonna come any closer to matching it.

>>54445918
>Azlagor Warbringer
You mean "Suorbenet the Dark Master"

>>54445918
>>54446020
Fuck that, Pope Teneb.

>>54444704
Mystic is too cluttered. Even after playing one for 7 levels I still fucking hate it. If they condensed the abilities and made things more streamlined it would be a much better class. Currently it is fucking garbage.

I really want to play a Doppelganger. Not an evil character, but an adolescent or maybe late teen who is struggling with who he is due to his shapshifting nature.

I don't want a bunch of OP racial bonuses or anything, and I'd be willing be play with the stat-line from the Monster Manual. The two things that I'm afraid of are one, my character dropping off mid to late game and two, my DM thinking I'm trying to go special snowflake on him.

>>54446118

pleb

>>54446121
https://astranauta.github.io/races.html#Changeling

Balanced and even arguably underpowered.

Id be fine with it being darkvision 60 and have +2 cha.

Need a decent name for branch of villains that are infamous for using all different kinds of poisons

>>54446213
Oh, that's awesome! Thank you!

>>54446118
I respectfully disagree, if anything I'd prefer for more classes to be on the same level of detalization and flexibility as mystic. Like, looking deeper into the mechanics some disciplines and the psi-point system in general is actually what I'd have liked to see from the maneuver system, being able to have more impactful maneuvers with larger pool of superiority dice and the ability to regulate the amount of resources you channel into a particular move would be sweet, but instead Fighter is designed to have just a bunch of passive +1 stats or an additional extra attack instead of something actually elaborate and complex, like casters with their spellcasting.

>>54446168
But seriously though, there are like 5 copies of each ability. Why are there 5 different "spells" that do 1d6 per psy point spent, or 4 different 1d10 per psy point spent, even a few the psychic focuses are literally exactly the same.

>>54446301
You're saying this as if there aren't a bunch of vaguely same AoE-based spell that only vary in shape of the AoE and damage type.
>Why are there 5 different "spells" that do 1d6 per psy point spent, or 4 different 1d10 per psy point spent, even a few the psychic focuses are literally exactly the same.
Because they alltogether form different kits of abilities that belong to different orders?

>>54446301
I don't think It's that bad, and the fact there's a few duplicate focuses isnt a big deal since its balanced around that- there's a reason there's no "advantage on X" for every skill. I get the impression the "advantage on skill" is meant to be their version of Expertise that functions without proficiency in the skill (though it becomes imbalanced if you also get expertise via a feat), so it seems like they purposely limited the number of choices it gives.

>>54446278
Basically what I am saying is this >>54446301
When I go to choose a new discipline, I can either choose one that gives me about 60% of the exact same abilities as another one of my disciplines already has, or basically choose wizard spells. The only reason why I have a hard time ever choosing a discipline is because I dont want the exact same shit, just worded slightly different, or I dont want completely bullshit powers like from nomad. It seriously needs work. If they made each discipline actually unique and gave the class some balance, I might actually like it.

Hell even my party, who are all pretty new players who give no shits about min maxing say that my mystic is kind of bullshit in the amount of things it can do. And I tried to nerf the shit out of myself.

>>54446342
>Because they alltogether form different kits of abilities that belong to different orders?
While this is true, you arnt limited on your order when choosing disciplines. And yes mages have a few spells that are pretty much the same, but at least there is a slight variety instead of pretty much the same thing in every discipline that does damage.

>>54446234
Yuan-Ti

>>54446377
>about 60% of the exact same abilities
You're understating things, there is always room for more variety, and besides "exact same abilities" usually synergize quite well, since you're limited by your psi-limit, but not the amount of disciplines you can use at the time (assuming there is no clash in action economy). It's like complaining that you get "exact same thing" when a figher gets an extra attack, or when a wizards with agazfgsfds scorcher gets an option to pick lightning bolt.
>or I dont want completely bullshit powers like from nomad
Proficiency juggling is the only outright bullshit thing nomad has.
>It seriously needs work
All it needs is a reduction in disciplines known and maximum psi-points. Maybe not even a major one. That will make it a fine and actually fun class, unlike the black sheep of WotC design like Fighter, Sorc or Lock, two of which are almost mind-numbing to play and the other one is strictly inferior to a certain class which the company is named after, wink-wink nudge-nudge.
Out of sheer curiosity, what particular combo of race-order-disciplines did you pick and what level are you on?
>>54446438
>And yes mages have a few spells that are pretty much the same, but at least there is a slight variety instead of pretty much the same thing in every discipline that does damage.
Bestial claws are still different from lethal strike not only in terms of damagy type, but also with the rest of abilities that come from those disciplines. They're all different enough to justify picking either or, since those particular two don't have any synergy, while some other disciplines do.
Besides, you're also forgetting that you're limited by concentration almost as much as wizards are.

>tfw DM prioritizes "story" and "roleplay" over everything else
>the game is beyond boring, most RP outside of the player party happens with innkeepers because all the serious characters are annoying
>story makes no sense, it's extremely boring, bland, etc
>PCs have no real reason to care about whats going on
>DM doesnt seem like he knows what he's doing

DM's a good guy, but man... this campaign has been painful. I haven't been in a single good game yet... almost tempted to search Roll20 or something.

Anyone have that copypasta about a party ignoring the main plotline to go and do fuck all freeing slaves and shit and then half way through the campaign the lich they ignored from the start shows up with an army of undead?

>>54446234
>Need a decent name for branch of villains that are infamous for using all different kinds of poisons
The Bitter Cadre
Night Brewers
The Malchemists

>>54446234
Order of the Flame
Nobody expects the Order of the Flame to use poison

>>54446653
The Gentleman Bastards series had a pretty good one that I stole. I think it was "Black Alchemists" or something

>>54446622
as always, the solution is to talk to the DM
maybe he thinks you're all super enjoying yourself

Would you let a paladin apply divine smite to a throwing knife attack?

>>54446866
No. Smite only applies to melee weapon attacks, that's a ranged weapon attack

>>54446866
Rules explicitly say Divine Smite is for melee attacks

>>54446866

It's as >>54446903 and >>54446909 say, but mearls has said on twitter that that rule is really only for flavor purposes, and it wouldn't break anything if you wanted to allow it in your game.

>>54440465
@Kittenhugs#6752

Came across this today:

Swashbuckler Fighter:
Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + either your Intelligence or Charisma (player’s choice) modifier. Once you've selected your Intelligence or Charisma modifier, you cannot change your choice.
This replaces medium and heavy armor proficiency.

How broken is this?

On the one hand it allows shields. On the other hand, Int and Cha are much less valuable stats than Wis.

>>54446866
Only when rule of cool applies. Treat it as faith reward from chosen deity.

>>54446977
It triggers my autism when people name their homebrews after stuff already made by WotC.

>>54446967
Well if you feel like paladins need a buff then go for it. I'd already argue that they're better than any class that isn't a full caster so it sounds excessive to also let them be powerful at a range. Again, it's your call though

>>54447031
It triggers my autism when WotC does the same thing.

>be ranged class
>survivability depends on positioning and planning

>be melee class
>survivability depends on enemies not getting good rolls

am I missing something?

>>54447031
Fair enough. I think it might be old though.

Anyways.

Mechanically how is it?

>>54447100
A pretty common houserule i've seen is to allow it, but the smite dice are d6s instead of d8s.

>>54447155

>when I was playing a Death Cleric and realized that the monk in my party also had an ability called Touch of Death

Any other examples?

>>54447156
Sounds about right. There's a lot more than melee classes can do to avoid damage but none of it is as effective as being out of the enemy's movement range

>>54447156
The former also applies to rogues, but otherwise that's true.

>>54447198
>Inspiration vs Bardic Inspiration
>UA Sharpshooter vs Feat Sharpshooter

I don't see how Bardic Inspiration counts. I could say that Extra Attack, Reckless Attack and Sneak Attack are all example of this since they all use the word Attack.

>Gunsmith (Like current)
>Alchemist (Like current but hopefully with more options)
>Mechanist (Focusing on the mechanical servant thing as opposed to that just being shoehorned in to all of them for no reason)
>Weaponsmith/"Craftknight" (For those that want to get in to the thick of it and show off how cool their weapons are by POUNDING FACES IN WITH THEM)
Would this be a good spread for Artificer subclasses? Or would there have to be a dedicated 'Demolitionist' for people who want to blow shit up?

>>54447157
It basically means +1AC for a dex fighter for most of the game.

>>54447307
>>54447256

>>54447214
>>54447245

Just a sanity check to make sure my hatred of playing melee characters is justified.

Any tips for a newbie DM? Running my first campaign this weekend and I'm excited.

>>54447407
Are your players also new?

>>54447450
For the most part, yeah.

>>54447407
It's like the first time you had sex: it's going to be awkward and times and won't go as smoothly as you anticipate. Learn from your mistakes but don't beat yourself up over them. And don't forget the importance of communication.

>>54447307
Because short-hand is common. Bardic Inspiration shortens to Inspiration, players with Extra Attack say they have multi-attack or X attacks, Reckless Attack is just Reckless, and Sneak Attack is such a constant feature that you'd expect Rogues to do nothing less.

>>54447471
Don't expect everything to go smoothly. The first few sessions are going to be rough, especially if you don't know how to improvise. Also don't try to plan out and build a campaign around what you think your players will do, otherwise they'll feel like they're being railroaded and players hate that. Improvising dialogue and quests make campaigns funner. A lot of skills necessary for good dming come with experience so don't get bummed if you feel like your first session was lackluster

If I make a VHuman Forge Cleric and wanted to just use a buncha hammers and stuff, would it be justified to take the Weapon Master feat? I wanna make a cleric for the first time but I dunno how to build them.

Also why the fuck does Forge Cleric not get proficiency in smith's tools?

Help, I am going to be DMing for a that guy, what can I do that isn't kicking him out

>>54447584
How bad are we talking here? Give us more info.

Is Tiamat the smartest statted creature in 5e? They have 21 INT.

>>54447721

if tiamat is so smart how come she got thwarted by a couple of morons with pointy sticks and wands

>>54447582
Take Magic Initiate instead, grab Shillelagh and pretend your quarterstaff is a hammer.

>>54447630
He
Assulted a party member (in game) for drinking alcohol we were delivering and stole her money
when the town gaurd came to stop him he assulted the guard by using inflict wounds on him
Is the reason we couldn't finish the phandalin story line after assulting the guard
played 3 different characters
3rd character was a fairy homebrew
murdered 4 innocent dwarves because muh fairy mischief
Campeign ended after that and I'm the DM for the new one

>>54447630
Also forgot that he stole from a second and third player in game because muh fairy mischief

>>54447582
Just use a quarterstaff and fluff it as a hammer, wasting a feat for +1Dmg isn't worth it.
Get the proficiency from your background.

Rolled 15,14,13,13,11,10
Wood elf nature cleric.
How would you stat it? Was thinking;
13, 15, 14, 10, 16, 11

>>54447766
Why can't you kick him out?

>>54447721
26 int*

I was thinking of Elder Brain, which has less at 21.

>>54447828
If I kick him out he'll just go somewhere else

File: 1367800518583.png (68KB, 641x756px) Image search: [Google]

68KB, 641x756px

>>54447584
>>54447766
>>54447791

You could have him get violently raped by Gaston every time he starts fucking things up for everyone.

>>54447766
Every time he does something stupid let him face the full consequences of it in a quick and unengaging way, then continue with the other players.
Attack guards just to be an asshole: More guards appear, you kill a couple before they put a spear through your heart. *Turn to the others and ask what they want to do
Don't reward bad behavior with attention and let him face the full consequences of his actions while avoiding hurting the other players too much.
Or you know, grow a pair and tell him to fuck

>>54447739
>>54447820
It's mostly character backstory reasons. Culturally they're expected to be just as capable of using the weapons they make as they are at making them. Shillelagh or quarterstaves just wouldn't "fit" in my eyes.
Maybe I should just put a level or a few in Fighter first?

I just found the Clan Craft background and that's exactly what I want to use, I think.

>>54447971
You use a hammer that suspiciously has the stats of a quarterstaff then

>>54447937
>>54447948
As good as these ideas are I don't think my group would like the constant rape by a beloved disney character and I think that the guards would throw off the storyline and all he would do is make a new character just as that guy as the last

Is Phoenix sorcerer as awful as it looks?

>>54446866
If it's a Trickery diety Paladin I'd say yes.

Any nice programs to play D&D online?

Tabletop simulator is pretty disastrous.

>>54448214
roll20

File: 6052635.jpg (84KB, 500x667px) Image search: [Google]

84KB, 500x667px

so one guy I play with has thrown out the idea of streaming our sessions. apparently he has the technology to make it happen. We aren't celebrities, just regular geeks, so your thoughts?

>>54448249
I like it. It cuts down on nonsense because they feel like they are being watched

>>54448249
Are you funny or interesting in the slightest
If yes than go for it
If no you must be really boring

>>54448214
Fantasy Grounds. $10/mo (DM pays, players connect free), huge amounts of automation and fantastic campaign management tools. SRD and Basic Rules stuff available alongside the sub, drag-and-drop basically everything from character creation to encounter creation.

>>54448173
Kinda. If it had more uses of mantle of flames it'd be a lot better.

>>54447971
Names in the weapons table are meaningless. It's just fluff.

Ask your DM to let you treat artisanal hammers or whatever the fuck as quarterstaves mechanically.

>>54448308
i like this now that you say it. I don't mind some nonsense, it's going to happen, I hope it cuts down on some of that "that guy" gameplay too.

>>54440465
How do I make a good old one warlock without multiclassing?

>>54447971
If you really, really need that (And I think you don't). Some options:
-Talk to your DM and ask to trade your Turn Undead for these proficiencys
-Take 1-3 Levels of Fighter
-Take 1-2 Levels of Paladin(and get that sweet Smite)
-Waste a feat with Weapon Master
-Take 1-3 Levels of Revised Ranger

>>54448477
Take Hex, Eldritch Blast and Agonizing Blast.

That's it. As long as you have those 3 things you're a Warlock, so you can do whatever you want with the rest of your spells and invocations.

>>54448163
Believe me, he does it for attention, deal with him quickly and don't let him get his fix. Kill him when necessary and let him to the side of the action
What you shouldn't do is reward him with attention and development. Tell him the consequences quickly and without much chance for his input and go on. He'll whine like the bitch he probably is and drop out of the group

>>54448561
DMs get to fudge rolls if they have a screen, right?

>>54448518
cool, thanks

>>54448608
If you are a player - of course not! The screen is to protect the privacy of their maps and notes!
If you are a dm, yeah, absolutely. But don't do it too much, because you don't want players to realize when it is/isn't happening.

>>54448608
Yes.
This can help players however as you may not want to accidentally murderfuck a player sometimes for instance

>>54448647
Its only going to happen when neccesary, trust me

>>54448675
On the alternative, could it murderfuck a thatguy

>>54448675
I don't really see the point. Really, it's the DM's job to challenge the players, and their job to try to win. If the DM lets the players win, there's no point to their efforts.
If a player dies, it's because their strategy wasn't good enough to defeat the challenge the DM provided.
</bait>

>>54448317
me personally? yes, I been told I'm a great (not just good, GREAT) and that I need to start hitting the grindstone in terms of going to auditions because I can sing, impersonate, and act to some modicum.

Some of the guys I play with though? No, which disappoints me. I mean I don't think less of them for it, but it would be nice if I could get them to roleplay AT ALL. At most I get "I do this thing because it's what my character would do." Any RP I thrown at them or out of combat situation has been met with very long inter-player discussions on how to solve a simple problem or they just talk out of character on what to do with an NPC or just tell me what they would tell them. Nobody even gets slightly hammy. The most RP i get is from the guy that is always RAAAAAGGHHH CRUSH THEIR BODIES BENEATH OUR GREAVES! I get war cries and nothing more.

>one guy is one of my oldest friends, he can rp to a small degree, but he's more of a "lets get this done and move on" sort of character, unless something comes along that really interests him, then he'll bust out.
>another is DEATH TO ALL kind of player, if it doesn't involve killing, he's not into it, and he always likes to play dick characters that will probably kill you anyways or won't save the proverbial princess.
>another is probably the nicest guy i know, is the one that wants to stream the session. However he has yet to try any RP whatsoever after 2 characters and like 8 sessions, he seems constantly lost and can barely follow simple plot elements
>another is a dude bro, fun guy desu but he hasn't been able to make it much cause work schedule
>one new player has downs or something, being quite literal here, maybe it's fetal alcohol syndrome. Driven around by his mother, can't pay attention, after multiple sessions still can't add 2 numbers together for an attack roll. High pitch squealing donkey laugh and shakes when excited at anything
to be cont. (1)

>>54448710
True
but I find that mean spirited I prefer an open dialogue of communication to be rectify the situation for everyone can have fun together
>>54448721
I know its bait but for stuff like first time players just getting into the game and you don't want to kill their character they love because you happened to have rolled extremely hot on something that usually wouldn't be considered a threat

>>54448392
>>54448160
As I said before they're expected to be as adept at using the weapons they forge as they are actually making them. I'm not really bothered about it being "optimal", honestly. I just want them to be able to swap out the hammer for a sword or an axe or a bigger hammer if the situation demands. Besides, can't show off how good the shit you make is unless you can actually wield it yourself.
TLDR I explicitly wanna be able to use at least some degree of martial weapons as a cleric.
>>54448485
Unfortunately Option 1...isn't an option. It's a convoluted matter I won't get in to here but long story short we're not even allowed to use non-Forgotten Realms content except Warforged and Artificer Wizard and the character creation is cut and dry.
Between 1-3 in Fighter and 1-2 in Pally what would you suggest?

Sorry for being a bit anal about this, guys, I just have a really clear image in my head.

>>54448733
You sound pretty full of yourself.
From my theatre experience, that probably means you're actually a decent actor at the very least. Kudos.

>>54448785
>long story short we're not even allowed to use non-Forgotten Realms content
Fuck your GM
Why are you even playing with this guy?

>>54448776
If it comes down to it anon, what must be done must be done by any means neccesary.

How much backstory is ideal for a L1 character?

>>54448898
Don't make it Mary Sue-y, too try hard, or too over the top and you'll be fine

>>54448830
It's a convoluted matter and there's more than one, it's sorta an organization and I don't care to go in to too much detail. Either way this is the only real way to get my fix and I still manage to general enjoy myself.

They also ban DMG races and subclasses, Feats For Skills, a few of the racial feats, and anything with fly speed. Oh, and Lore Wizard.
I found out mid-session once that Eladrin was banned so my character got retroactively turned in to a High Elf with the gust cantrip to be spoopy with constantly-flowing clothes regardless of the wind

File: 1500171880126.png (2MB, 1280x1707px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 1280x1707px

>>54448733
(2)

>another player, an older woman, who can't rp and literally refuses to do it, she goes and takes a break when an rp situation happens. She's so anti-nonsense though it's annoying, she just wants to get on with the quest and no sidetracking whatsoever, and hates when we get sidetracked in conversation as well
>older woman's daughter, nice gal, overly giddy, can't rp and tries to hide all the time (has played exclusively rogues until recently), just all she does, the answer to everything is hide. We're in conversation? Better go hide off to the side so I'm not seen. Etc.
>another guy, also DMs, hard to pin him down on what he can and can't do
>the only guy I see try to RP with any measure of talent whatsoever, is british actually (we are in the USA), then again he was an actual stage actor at a point in his life, is oldest among the players
>an on and off player, an old man, literal old man comes to play, and he barely, BARELY pays attention, half the time he's talking about old sci-fi shows, even in the middle of combat so we constantly remind him it's turn and how to even attack.
>a new girl showed up, haven't got the chance to talk with her, nobody knows her, but god damn she's pretty, and I don't mean like some hot hot, she's genuinely pretty and I'm smitten with her. Unfortunately I haven't gotten to see her gaming/rp ability cause she would constantly be at another table, another group separate from mine.

so i don't have much to work with.

>>54448163
>>54448561
I had a That Guy on my table for 4 months, I started DMing and did this, he lasted 2 sessions.
You're going to stay behind doing nothing just for the lolz? Ok, DM for the others until he wants to do something.
Oh, now you take the loud cart and enter the overrun town? Ok, the goblins were far and didn't hear the cart.
You'll jump on top of the druid climbing down a huge hole? Ok, roll to hit him, even if you hit he can make an (easy) skill check to hold on, you fall to your doom and can watch the rest of the session as a spectator.
You'll start offending the big dragon while the others try to bargain with it? Anyone want to do something about that? (players tell the dragon he is an offering for him to eat)
That Guys thrive on attention, everyone being affected by his actions and taking the spotlight in a bad way, deprive them of that and they wither.

>>54448898
Minumum: roll for personality traits on your background and write a one sentence description of your character's life and why he's doing whatever it is he's doing now.

Ideal: hard to say but dont go over 1 page.

>>54448983
I hate rolling for personality traits
I like going through similar backgrounds and choosing traits I like or making them yup

>>54448970
This is fine but you should talk with the player beforehand about how his actions are impeeding the fun for the rest of the party, bring up specific examples and how other players felt and suggest other action courses. Then warn him that you're gonna punish him if he continues it in-game. Otherwise it'll feel like you're just picking on him.

>>54448997
Picking out personality traits is better better than rolling imo but some players hate backstories or just dont know where to start and rolling is easy way for them to get a minimum character going.

>>54443781

No. Mystic is less a class and more a way to graft a classless system onto 5e. Now is not the time in your DM career to attempt to juggle 2 separate but equal character creation systems.

>>54448785
Paladin requires Cha 13, so you'll be too MAD.
Also, I guarantee you, the situation will never demand you use different weapons like that. And not having proficiency doesn't mean you can't use a weapon, you can still wield it, showoff (which would be a skill check) and even attack with it(with disadvantage though).
Fighter 1 for the proficiency and fighting style
2 for the action surge
3 for Battlemaster
5 for Extra Attack

>>54449044
Believe me, this was after talking with him multiple times

>>54448929
>>54448983
OK. I'm making a GOO Warlock. The backstory I wrote is at the guy wants to be magical for the power that it will bring (not political power or the desire to dominate, but more personal power). He doesn't have the innate power to be a sorcerer, the religious devotion to be a cleric, and doesn't like the spirituality/hippiness of druids. He was studying to be a wizard but got impatient and found some old, forgotten literature describing a shortcut to arcane power. Curiosity got the better of him and he did X to get Warlock magic courtesy of some eldritch horror. He doesn't fully understand where the magic is coming from and wants to learn more about that. I haven't decided what X is, gonna work that out with my DM. I'm thinking along the lines of sacrificing something personal and dear to him ("sacrifice" in the sense of giving up, not killing his mother or anything like that). I also have to talk with the DM about what would be an appropriate GOO patron based on the setting. I know that alignment is almost entirely fluff in 5e, but as a guide to myself I plan on running him as LN or TN. He's somewhat amoral, but not prone to or interested in cruelty and feels compelled to stay within the law.

Should I add more?

Can you guys give me a druid concept?

>>54448898
Very little.

Like 3 sentences should cut it.

>>54449181
Would you rather have something more cliche/tropey or unique?

>>54449181
Humans drained his/her swamp with their new dam. Now he is pissed off and looking for an artefact that can flood the human town who did it and turn it into a swamp for him to live in.

>>54449175
As a background its fine but don't forget to add character traits

File: GXykZzC.jpg (43KB, 400x240px) Image search: [Google]

43KB, 400x240px

How do I spice up combat in an arena a bit? I want to run a tournament, but 5e is a bit lacking in combat complexity. I was thinking about one-on-one fights, but having some funner objectives might be a better idea.

I was also thinking about using greyhawk initiative for whatever fights did happen, because it would probably make it more interesting.

>>54449181
Spirited away into the feywild at an early age, learned druidic arts there, returned to the material realm to find their original family. It's probably been 50-100 years, real-time.

>>54448898
A paragraph or two

Where the person grew up, what the person likes/dislikes, why the person decided to go off and be an adventurer, and some stuff about your personality traits you've chosen

>>54449241
unique please

>>54449279
Greyhawk initiative is just as random as normal initiative but with more steps because lol dice rolling

>>54443781
Yes, go ahead. No one else replying to you has played a Mystic.
Just because the posters here have no games and thus spend all their time sitting around theorycrafting, shitting over everything, and imagining how they'd "break the game" as a Mystic whose entire purpose is to ruin everyone's fun, doesn't mean your players are aware of the method of breaking Mystics or would do so even if they were.

Your player probably wants to be a fucking Avatar anyway.

>>54449318
It's more random because your turn order isn't fixed from round to round.

>>54449279
You need to fix greyhawk in some way if you plan to use it. It punishes rogues and monks because they always use a bonus action

>>54448785
Also, if your DM allows Revised Ranger, remember it is a half caster, so if you take 2 levels of it you only lose one of your spellcasting levels when determining slots.
(Regular Ranger isn't worth it though)

>>54449129
I could put my first levels in Paladin instead which bypasses prerequisites, right?
Maybe I'm just anal a bout this.
Would it be worth putting as many as 3 levels in to it first?

Is spirit guardian + dodge and sanctuary really better than spirit guardian + doing more damage to enemies?

>>54449269
shrek?

>>54449318
>>54449371
Those are fair complaints. Let's say that I didn't use it, though. How could I keep fights interesting?

>>54449175
For your backstory it is fine, for your own personal thoughts you can do some work.

How is his relationship with his family? Does he have a big family? Who doesn't he get along with?

How was his schooling to be a wizard? Did he study at an academy with lots of other people? If so, does he have any friends there? Maybe he was an apprentice to a wizard, if so did he and the wizard get along? What does the wizard think of his choice?

Note stuff like this down in dot points on your character sheet or on a separate document. Ask yourself questions about the character constantly, even during play. Note them down, then answer them. Backstory is the least important part of a character, it has already happened and it boring. What matters is how it affects the current world. No one cares that your character used to study as a wizard, but they will care when your party needs a wizard to do something and you have to confront your disapproving master and ask him for help.

>>54449396
If you want an alternative initiative system, just use the speed factor option from the DMG.

If you want to keep fights interesting, it's as simple as rewarding players for doing non-standard actions and interacting with their environment rather than "I attack" over and over.

>>54449391
To multiclass out of the class you also need to meet the prerequisites

>>54449395
Ogre race is optional

>>54449410
k thanks

>>54449393
Remember you don't have proficiency in Con Saves, with Spirit Guardians you have a big target on your chest, if you get hit and don't pass the concentration check....

>>54449390
They do allow it, I'd just have zero fucking clue what to use for this.

Honestly, I'm a complete and utter retard when it comes to spellcasters and I'm not entirely sure how they work even now
>>54449426
Shit I didn't know that, I thought you just had to meet the prereqs for whatever class you wanted to get in to. Thanks, I'm still pretty new at this.

>>54449393
Spirit guardians causes Sanctuary to drop.

My Paladin player wants a level in Sorcerer, and I'm bemoaning my future rolling Wide Surges

Other than Shield, what other obvious spell am I going to refer for him to get?

>>54449517
I think you are overthinking this proficiency thing, have you talked to your DM about it? Personally, I'd never stress about a player doing something like this for flavor, if mechanically you are equal or inferior.
What level are you starting and to what level do you expect the campaign will go?

>>54449518
Only if you cast sanctuary first. RAW, casting spirit guardians then sanctuary is fine

>>54449518
no it doesnt

>>54449651
>>54449655
RAI it does

>>54449631
Tell him to go Dragon Sorc then?

>>54449682
Maybe yeah. We're doing Curse of Strahd, it'd be a cool way to tie into Argynvost

>>54449518
RAI it drops, RAW it doesn't:
http://www.sageadvice.eu/2017/05/22/does-sanctuary-end-when-spirit-guardians-deals-damage-to-enemies/

>>54444729
>surprise round
>against a Lich
dafuq?

>>54449648
There's no single DM, like I said before. It's rather like a group of them that occasionally decide to run a game. As such it's generally a bunch of oneshot "missions" unless stated otherwise and the part composition can wildly vary due to the people there.
We're starting at 3 and there's no definite "stop".

>>54449759
>Surprise Rounds at all

Good grief

New thread

>>54449875
>>54449875
>>54449875
>>54449875

Rolled 9, 1, 8, 13, 14, 1 = 46 (6d20)

Thread is kill. Stats rolling time

>>54449778
Just remembered, not having proficiency doesn't even give you disadvantage, you only don't add it to the attack roll. At level 3 the difference is only +2 to hit.
Regardless, if you start with fighter, you lose the Wis Save but get Con Save, which helps with concentration checks.
What do you want to do during battle? Will you use a shield?

>>54448733
>>54448957
>All them players

No wonder they don't want to roleplay

>>54442234
What else would be better than warhorse, that my DM might let me have?

File: SquirrelGirl442.jpg (65KB, 442x514px) Image search: [Google]

65KB, 442x514px

>>54436438
>girl squirrel
Not sure what I expected, but I half expected someone to mention squirrel girl by now.
>>54438811
Use. Multiple. Monsters.

Encounters are rated in XP specifically, and difficulty broadly, not by CR. It's not a CR 9 encounter, it's an encounter with a CR 9 enemy. Which at level 5 is randomly going to be a cakewalk because of action economy and CC or sudden death from massive damage. You are part of the problem. Stop doing this.

>>54443351
If you go pact of the tome pick up shocking grasp, izi pizi way to get out of melee

>>54443942
Ask your DM and they may let it happen. You don't HAVE to follow all the rules.