/5eg/ Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition General: Dungeon Master

How can I be the face while being a fighter?

>>54984778
Have a high CHA, and be proficient in persuasion. Or be a Paladin.

>>54984778
Skilled Feat
Half-Elf
Background

>>54984778
>Half-elf
>Charisma as your tertiary stat
>This possibly allows you to multiclass into Blade-warlock or Paladin later
>Everyone's Friend feat from Unearthed Arcana

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>>54984753
>Dungeon Masters, what have you got planned for your next session?
Players making landfall on an island
Some goblin attacks
Characters learning what goblins actually are, since they've never seen them
Goblin genocide
>Are you running homebrew or an official module?
Homebrew, setting that is basically not fleshed out at all, other than the island about a month of sailing time away from the mainland
>What is your favorite aspect of being a Dungeon Master?
Fuck if I know, never DM'd for a good group before
>>54978850
Well I haven't really told my players it's their decisions that will shape the mainland and shit, I'll just take their character choices, decisions etc. and use them as baseline for races/subraces.

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>>54984778
Don't even worry about it, i've got 8 CHA and i've been out-facing the bard for the whole campaign.
>Always roll high with CHA checks
>Roll garbage on the stuff i'm supposed to actually be good at

What classes, if any, are actually worth taking to level 20?

>>54984920
The ones you enjoy playing anon

In one of the last fights, Wizard died. Rest of characters made a dark deal to try to reincarnate her. It's her first character, so like most people's first character, it's basically her in fantasy form. Shes looking to expand her RP, which I can respect. She says her character will probably finish arc, then will retire. She's interested in playing valor bard.

Here's my problem:

Characters are Ranger, Cleric with level or two in rogue, fighter (weeb samurai UA class), and now a valor bard. They're ALL going to be high dex.

I'm torn how to feel about this. One one hand I encourage my players to make whoever they want, and play whatever they want. It's not a totally serious game so composition doesn't matter much.
On the other hand, Dex is a such a god stat in 5e, so I was thinking of nerfing initiative, and making it Wisdom based. They can already go toe to toe in a battle, so them being able to focus down a squishy mage in a fight seems bullshit.

Am I going about this the wrong way? Should I be buffing encounters or nerfing dex? I don't want them to get too strong and then the game ends sooner. Obviously I'll get their input before next session but I'm curious what more experienced DM's think.

>>54984927
I enjoy playing optimized characters

I have a party of 6 level 6 characters and a NPC friend. They are playing Forge of Fury. Forge of Fury was designed for levels 3-5.

The party have made it through the first area, one character has died, the spellcasters are almost spent and most are nearly out of hit dice.

My players suck.

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>>54984778
Try Purple Dragon Knight. It sucks so use my fix

>>54984937
It really doesn't matter

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>Dungeon Masters, what have you got planned for your next session?
Gonna start a new campaign where all the characters attend the funeral for a mutual friend, having never met each other, and are each left a bequest that begins the on their adventure.

>Are you running homebrew or an official module?
Everything official, except one of my players homebrewed a fisherman background that's pretty safe.

>What is your favorite aspect of being a Dungeon Master?
Nothing. I only do it because nobody else in my group is willing to try.

>>54985024
>image
Hnng

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>>54984753
>Dungeon Masters, what have you got planned for your next session?
Players finishing the dungeon. Might be amusing because threats might overpower them and retreat will be difficult. Despair ahead.
>Are you running homebrew or an official module?
Homebrew, secretly inspired by some vidya games but changed up enough that nobody will ever know.
>What is your favorite aspect of being a Dungeon Master?
Designing dungeons is my fetish, it's like creating Heroes maps or Doom wads, except faster because all I need to do is think things up. So basically it's my creative outlet.

Should I retrain fiendish vigor into repelling blast? I intend to be in melee a lot.

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>>54984920
Full casters, as anything less cuts into your precious cheat-code slots, I mean spell-slots.

Are hexblades good for being in the thick of it or are they still just EB turrets?

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>>54985206
They're warlocks.
That means they're EB turrets.

Play a Paladin or Eldritch Knight if you wana gish, goddamn, that's what the classes exist for. Stop trying to make Warlock into EVERYTHING.

>>54985206
They're fun.

Depends how you build it - you can go sword and board and have a decent tank with some spell options (but warcaster is relatively necessary if your DM doesn't ignore somatic component requirements in battle like my group always has).

Or you can go Cursebringer and do decent damage, but you gotta go full MAD.

Or you can do what I've done and just go for versatile longsword and just have fun playing up to it.

Considering my patron is the Sword of Kas, I might pick up Dual Wielder and have a pact weapon in one hand and the Sword in the other.

>>54985206
They're the best EB turrets.

>>54985206
>>54985230
>>54985285

Pretty much this. All the options that are SUPPOSED to help them in melee only serve to make them more durable platforms for spamming eldritch blast. There are few situations in which attacking with your melee is going to be more beneficial than knocking enemies around with repelling blast and stacking on the damage with hex and agonizing blast.

A warlock trying to use melee is just a shitty Paladin with fewer smite options, weaker hit dice, no healing options, and lower armor proficiency. Hope all that's worth it just to have your spell slots recharge on short-rest. Have fun resting for an hour after every single fight, since you've only got 2 of those slots until level 10 anyway.

>>54985285
Better than other patron warlocks? Why?

>>54985256
I'm guessing all that just depends on your invocations?

>>54984920
Wizards and Bards for good spell memes, and Paladins for good character memes. Thief Rogue, Champion Fighter, and Barbarian are OK.

>>54985332
Medium armor for extra resilience, hex curse is pretty great, hound can help with cover. All their abilities directly make EB-focused warlock better, except for maybe melee weapon boons, but these are also handy at sub-5, because you can whip out a longsword and all you lose out on using melee is d10->d8 damage. It's the most combat-oriented patron of all I think.

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>>54985332
Free medium armor proficiency, hexblade curse doesn't require melee to work, shadowhound doesn't require melee to work (and denies the target the use of cover), and armor of hexes, again, doesn't require melee combat to be beneficial.

Hexblade Warlock is the most durable Eldritch Blast turret, and Shadow Hounds makes for good targeting software.

>>54985347
Which bit? Invocations will up your pact weapon and are necessary for Cursebringer, and will give you the abilities that tie in best with the Hexblade's actual hex, but they're not actually needed to complete the rest of the build.

It's advisable to pick up ones that offer more tanky options, though.

>>54984920
>>54984927
Assuming that the class plays decently at any level + a capstone that makes it worth it:
Wizard (especially bladesinger)
Barbarian
Paladin (ancients, then avenger)
Cleric if your DM isn't a dick
Fighter

>>54985482
>>54984920
Forgot druid, unlimited wildshape is great

>>54984778
Play a Bannerette/Purple Dragon Knight.

People whine that it supposedly sucks, but they don't actually play it so they really don't realize how hard it is to suck at anything in 5e.

Easy way to make Oath of Conquest Paladin work with party? Make him focused on conquering his clan first (dragonborn), so I can try to enforce law where I can, but that's not my primary goal (Clan first, then THE WORLD)?

Guys, I want Vasilka to play a larger role in Curse of Strahd Long story short my Paladin player died and the abbot has secretly scavenged her parts to make a flesh golem

Van Richten's Guide to the Created speaks of how flesh golem have a zertgeber, a mental Trigger related the obsessive task their creator made them to do.
For example, someone who creates a flesh golem to replace their lost child, might have the flesh golem throw a frenzy or become paralyzed when someone sings a familiar lullaby

But I'm having a hard time coming up with one. I mean, I can come up with plenty, but none that I like. Can any of you workshop this with me?

>>54985673
I'm not too familiar with the revised conquest Paladin, is it still a one trick pony that causes everyone that hits him to get the frightened Condition?

>>54984846
>Homebrew, setting that is basically not fleshed out at all, other than the island about a month of sailing time away from the mainland

damn, sounds exactly like my first homebrew

How stupid is it to have a half dragon PC?

>>54985745
https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/June5UA_RevisedClassOptv1.pdf
I'm mostly interested in Tenets part, since that's what my RP will be based of.

>>54985673
Avoiding a lawful stupid leaning is easy as you don't have to worry about morals, just go for a standard lawful neutral approach. It doesn't mean you need to smite anyone who so much as commits a misdemeanor, but you don't have to worry about whether the act is good or bad so long as the person is following the rules/laws you value

What are the reasons for conquering his clan, the motivations? And once that's the case, what makes him want to move on to taking over the world? Answering those questions will help you flesh out your character more and fix some problems you may have.

So, how hard would I be gimping myself if i went shield+whip instead of a maul for my paladin with an oath of vengeance?

>>54985766
Call it a Dragonborn and you'll be fine.

>>54985780
If you're trying to justify the tenets as passably good to typical good-leaning party members, you aren't really going to be able to. Because the law is blind, it still has the propensity to be "evil" (which is why sometimes vigilantism is considered good when it is illegal). Of course, certain situations can make the tenets seem not just good, but necessary to the prolonging of good. But if you want to play a "good" Conquest paladin, you're better of taking Oath of the Crown.

>>54985786
Yeah, I'll most likely lean on the lawful part, as in neither good neither evil.
Now that you mention it, it doesn't really say anywhere that I have to conquer MORE. I could want to rule the clan, but sounds like I can be the enforcer of law just as easily. Just need to make up the laws themselves.
"Douse the Fallen of Hope. It is not enough to merely defeat an enemy in battle. Your victory must be so overwhelming that your enemies will to fight is shattered forever. A blade can end a life. Fear can end an empire.
Rule with an Iron Fist. Once you have conquered, tolerate no dissent. Your word is law. Those who obey it shall be favored. Those who defy it shall be punished as an example to all who might follow.
Strength Above All. You shall rule until a stronger one arises. Then you must grow mightier and meet the challenge, or fall to your own ruin."
>>54985844
Nah, there are other options for LG, like you say.

>>54984753
>Dungeon Masters, what have you got planned for your next session?
Man, the queen of the Winter Court has a problem. Her prisoner, Carmelie the Satyr Bard has escaped her icy prison, and in his absconcion has sown chaos and disaster in his wake.
She would Smite this dastardly ass hole from the face of the multiverse, only she can't, as Carmelie is a citizen of the Summer Court, and doing so would force Titania her counterpart to deploy her Faerie nukes by ancient law.
Mab may win as it is winter solstice eve, but then the whole Feywild becomes a glassed winter asshole, and then what?
So instead she must rely on a team of powerful yet discreet and independent assholes with whom she has some leverage on to save the day, and save it fast, because if Carmelie makes it to the Winter King before the end of the solstice, he's entitled to a single casting of Wish, and then things get real fucked.
>Are you running homebrew or an official module?
Homebrew but clearly a huge rip off of Dresden files
>What is your favorite aspect of being a Dungeon Master?
When players come up with with an even more kickass story than I did, and I get to pretend it was my plan ALL ALONG, and we all congratulate one another for being so damned smart

>>54985840
You'll be gimping yourself rather hard in overall damage, going from the most to the least average damage, but Reach + 2 AC when paired with Sentinel could be decent. That said, you can still smite for damage and it doesn't impede your ability to crit, so go for it if it's flavourful or fun.

>>54985844
Wanting a silver dragon as your dad a bit too much?

>>54985093
Please respond.

>>54985868
Yeah you can Role-play any Paladin any way you want. I had a treachery Paladin of Loki who was actually a really nice guy who was sent by his order to solved fucked up war conflicts in a sort of "clean up the righteous jerks mess"

Crown Paladins are great for mass battles against non undead, while Conquest are for "Sit your ass down" strategies

>>54985887
I thought you meant from a mechanical perspective, sorry. And yeah, some might consider having your old man be a dragon to be rather snowflakey and honestly a little tropey, but if you're a good person it won't be nearly as shitty as it can.

Honestly, the best way to do this is to not have anyone know that you're a dragon's child, and just being evasive about the whole deal if it ever comes up. Then wait until mid-level at which point the DM reveals it by having him come in as an NPC and he's just constantly embarrassing you with shitty dad-jokes and other wholesome memes.

>>54984753
>Dungeon Masters, what have you got planned for your next session?

Right before last session ended, 2 Umber Hulks and an Assassin are gonna go against my 6-man party (five of them are Lvl-6 while one is Lvl-5) with a couple of NPC companions. Might add an invisibility factor to them.

>>54985868
If the laws you enforce with an iron fist are 'good' then it would still check out. Might end with alignment fuckery if you have strongly chaotic good partymembers, though.

Best MC options for a lore bard?

>>54985976
What kind of Lore Bard are you going for?
Warlock for more blasting power?
Paladin for some melee?
Rogue more even more skill and expertise?

>>54985976
More lore bard

But for real, it depends on what you want. What levels, what role do you want to fulfill? If you want a little versatility, then sorcerer works pretty well. If you want to gish, then paladin gives you solid things to grab (though starting paladin and taking some bard levels would be a bit better). Finally, warlock for 2 levels for the best damage cantrip, though your actions are better used serving another purpose like your spells and such.

>>54985882
I had planned the character with a greatsword or maul, but after the first session, it turned out that we have a rogue, a barbarian and a sorcerer for damage.

I feel it might be worthwhile for me to give up some damage for more utility. plus as you said, a critical smite will hurt no matter how you slice it.

Plus, I do find the idea of a shield and whip wielding dragonborn to be... amusing and FUN!!.

>>54986026
Well then go for it my dude. You can also have it go into a DEX-based build since you have a shield, and focus on upping your CHA so that you have better spells for more utility.

>>54985920
Yeah, a bit tough to pull it off.

I was thinking that dragon-dad never revealed his true self to me, character's appearance and features were explained as "draconic heritage flaring up".

Dad worked is an historian and actively tutored on the subject but, showed more martial prowress so didn't pursue a career in it but became a little hobby instead.

Wellspoken and charismatic, two traits that allowed him to compensate for his appearance (a bit sappy with the "don't judge a book by the cover" thing?)

Became a city-guard for the love of city he was raised in and some natural inclination, his service was cut short due to sentiment against him changing and being kicked out. After this became a personal goal to do good through out the land and hopefully for preconseptions and prejudice to change.

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I demand more of these edits.

>>54984937
just play around their high dex. don't nerf anything. have them feel powerful from time to time. if classic encounters do not challenge them, slowly shift to complex ones that give them no advantages for being the first in the round. use a lot more covers. actually use the rules. use smart enemies that ambush them frequently if your party isn't 100% careful. keep in mind that higher challenge should also mean higher reward. if they play smart, be generous.

Is Arcana Cleric good if I have an urge to play gish character?

>>54986001
>>54986010
Well my party atm is a tempest cleric, monk (undecided), Archfey warlock and rogue (gonna go arcane trickster) so I'm thinking having some Frontline capabilities in case i get rushed might be a good idea? I wanted to play a spy type character but our party is a bit lacking in roles.

So the PHB says you can refluff your totem animal, and gives vulture and hawk as alternatives to eagle.
What could be some bear alternatives?

>>54986147
Hippo, Polar Bear, Ox, Gorilla?

>>54986147
Gorilla? Bull moose?

>>54986147
Any animal that's tough enough to have damage resistance, big enough to have double carrying capacity, and scary enough.

How does having multiple types of speed (walking, flying, etc) work?
Let's say you have 30ft waking speed and 20ft flying speed. Does that mean you can "switch" up to 20ft of walking speed for flying speed, but only have a maximum of 30ft total speed?

>>54986138
Then Paladin for STR build or Draconic Sorcerer for DEX build.

>>54986238
So I guess mammoth could work

>>54986248
>Draconic sorcerer
What does that offer for Dex? Also, how many levels should i take?

>>54986258
Definitely! Even give your barbarian some small tusks for flavor.

>>54986211
>>54986219
>>54986238
What about viking related animals? Maybe a boar?

>>54986325
I'd say bear is as viking as it gets, but boar could also work.

>>54986273
It gives you Draconic Resilience, which is 13+DEX for unarmoured AC, on top of 1 HP for every level of Sorcerer you take. This works for DEX builds because that's essentially a free Chain shirt that isn't capped to +2 from DEX. Not to mention it doesn't fuck with your spell slot progression.

For levels, it's entirely up to you. You might want to dedicate at least 6 to Bard for Magical Secrets.

>>54986247
You have all of them at once, so you can move up to 50ft in a round, but 30ft of it has to be walking, and the other 20ft has to be flying. You *technically* can't walk 50ft, but you *can* walk 30ft then fly 20ft at an altitude of 5cm or something for the same effect.

Basically I would say you can "trade down" your movement speed. So you can use your 20ft flying to walk 20ft, because flying is a strictly superior alternative to walking. I hope that makes sense.

I had to fudge a whole puzzle solution to not TPK my party in the most frustrating and grindy way possible. I have no problems with characters dying or TPKs but when it is from a boring drawn out frustrating encounter I guess I had to do it.

I don't know, I thought the solution was trivial and that a group of post-grad engineers would get it right away but I guess it was too autistic.

I feel like I cheated my world somehow by changing the solution of the puzzle to a retarded thing that didnt make sense.

I feel bad fellow DMs.

What's the easiest way to make a digital map with moveable figures? I already have the map itself.

I need to keep track of a war map in my campaign and where units are (in each hex, and map their stats) but I can't think of anything more practical than a Photoshop image with lots of layers.

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>>54986247
>>54986377
Wait nope, disregard everything I said, the explanation for it is worded strangely and I had to re-read it a few times to understand it.

>>54986147
>>54986147
A Hairy delicious bara dude.

>>54985093
No. You can retrain fiendish vigor when you have another source of temp hp though.

At what level would you consider multiclassing with Barb? I want a level 2 dip in Rogue, maybe level 3 if I can go first often enough to make Assassinate worth it. Barb 3 - Rogue 1 - Barb 5 - Rogue 2 - Barb 7 - Rogue 3 ?

>>54986543
You can take Barbarian to 5 and put the rest of your levels as you get them into Rogue, since the benefits of Barbarian are rather low until you get to rather high levels. Rogue as a class is much more useful in general. What level are you right now?

>>54986543
Start with Rogue for for skills.

>>54986649
I'm just thinking for now, fleshing out some stuff in case I'll need a new character. Also I don't want to be Rogue, I just think it will be nice to have expertise for out-of-combat stuff, more mobility with cunning action and some more neat stuff for both combat and non-combat with assassin.
>>54986668
Oh, that's actually better, thx.

How would you justify a 1 level sorcerer dip in your backstory?

>>54986780
My great granddad was a dragon.

>>54986780
You touched some wild magic and it fucked you up X-Men style, giving you some magical powers.

>>54984753
>Dungeon Masters, what have you got planned for your next session?

I want to start a new campaign with my usual group. I am trying the adventure in the starter pack.

>Are you running homebrew or an official module?
All official to avoid overwhelming the group. Except I am letting the ranger use the revised version.
>What is your favorite aspect of being a Dungeon Master?
I've never done it before but I am looking to give two of my friends who are forever DMs a chance to play characters.

I'm if this gets asked every thread but what pre-made adventures do people like?
I am planning to go starter > elemental evil.

>>54986780
You leveled up and your blood quickened because that's how Sorcerers work?

>>54986780
Isn't it written in the PHB that some people just suddenly awake to latent magical potential? I've always considered it the easiest multiclass to handwave

>>54986929
thats odd, because my cousin said the exact oposite yesterday

>>54986837
I live, eat and breathe Curse of Strahd.
Most people here think this makes me an edgy mall goth, but the truth is the whole Victorian horror just breathes with tragedy and metaphor.

That flesh golem is the final product of a mad doctor who lost their child and never forgave himself for his own failures.

Those poor elves are also some pretty fucked up folks who fucking stoned a woman to death for being romantically prolific

And most of all Van Richten and the Vistani mutually cursing each other. Him have all his friends and allies befallen to monstrous tragedy, and the Vistani to be seized upon by the undead.

This might make you think that I'm an edgy doom and gloomy faggot but that's not it at all. I just make it as emotionally dreadful as possible, but all these problems can somehow be patch, and the catharsltic release is that much sweeter when the players when through psychological hell to get through it.

When my players first realized how little they'd be allowed to roll a d20, and how fucking huge every roll would be, so they better gather and make every advantage count, I popped a mast.

Is there any correlation between the kind of character someones play and his personality?

So far I've noticed this among my long time RPGs players.

>Guy A always play some sort of hippie, either a druid, nature cleric or something refluff to make a class a nature man
He is a vegan IRL who keeps relapsing back into omni

>My girlfriend: always like to play attractive busty characters, she always maxes charisma and wants to talk herself out of every combat
She is one of those girls who want bigger boobs even though they already have big boobs (shes a 32F but she tells me she'd love to be a J or K cup), she hates violence including fantasy one but likes to play pretend so she likes D&D.

It seems like most people make their character what they want to be IRL.

>>54986983
Fantasy and escapism is what this is all about

There's a reason why all the anime and drzzt clones all look the same

>>54986957
Have you considered that your cousin may be retarded?

>>54986983
>It seems like most people make their character what they want to be IRL.
Welcome to 40 years ago, anon.

Bare minimum requirements to justify multiclassing in my games

Fighter: 8 months drill instruction to be proficient in EVERY weapon
Barbarian: 15 years turning the Wheel of Pain
Monk: 1 year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber

And you have to have your Master's before I let you play Wizard

>>54987007
BECause they are clones anon
>>54987022
Yah, he dropped out of college and has the typical leftist college student attitude

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>>54986957
It doesn't say specifically that it can happen, but how sorcerers develop their powers is left intentionally vague.
>Some sorcerers can't name the origin of their power

>>54986780
My overpowered Paladin player wanted to dip a level in Sorcerer because he wanted that wild magic meme build, the bloody hack

So I allowed him the dip and had Madam Eva reveal that his chaos magic was the reason why his whole tragic backstory was so fucked up the ass. He had been sucking up every one else's luck around him in order to keep himself alive.

>>54987057
>dipping a level in sorc
>not going 6/14 for the best build in the game
utterly disgusting

>>54987073
>Level 20 builds

I expressly told everyone the campaign caps at 13

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I have a question: dis/advantage is the equivalent of what numeric bonus in a d20 system? +-3?

>>54986974
I'm stealing that Van Richten's thing

>>54986983
Each one of the characters I make has a small connection with who I actually am. It makes it easier for me to rp them. When I made a mystic and I didnt do this, my rp was shit.

>>54987099
+-5

>>54987099
I think the conventional is +5

>>54987103
It's actually from a Van Richten's guidebook

>>54987086
>not planning ahead just in case
no excuse for not just going 6/7

>>54987114
>>54987119
Whoa. Thanks for the info.

>>54987141
No problem anon

>>54987073
>6 pally/14 sorc
Why is that the best?

>>54987131
I find dipping in Sorcerer for more than one level at all to be rather distasteful, but he's only at level 4 so far, so I guess he's got the time

>>54987166
I'm guessing Paladin shenanigans with a level 9 spell slot, and also Quicken GFB with Extra Attack and Smites all day

>>54984753
Devling into a mummy lord's tomb. Theyve already fought the annubites(jackelweres with a leap attack) but theyve still got dart traps, a bigass boulder, a sphinx and the mummy himself to deal with

>>54984937
Throw a few str saves at them
Give a couple of enemies yuge bonuses to intitive
Bluff the hp so that none of the minions drop in the first round

>>54987166
It basically sacrifices a good amount of survivability for the most smites possible. You can smite more often because full caster progression, and you're able to use metamagic and the SCAG cantrips rather effectively. And since you stick to 6 levels of Paladin, your aura thing kicks in and you're able to still weather AoE's and other saving throws rather well. Draconic bloodline works rather well, as you offset the loss of HP with the 1 HP/level from the 1st level feature.

>>54987179
It's honestly more of a Sorc build at that point.

What makes Curse of Strahd so great? I always hear people praising it but they never say why.

>>54987266
ITs a break from the normal sword coast settings I guess

>>54987266
Anon literally just posted about it
>>54986974
It constantly tempts you with the "right" choice, but makes the right choice hard,in a way that gives it value.

>>54987325
Needless to say, a good DM is 9/10's of the recipe

>>54984753
>Dungeon Masters, what have you got planned for your next session?
They just finished figuring out the guide character has been using them this whole time to try to obtain some magic material, so if they go back underwater and ask for that material, they're gonna start a land vs sea war
>Are you running homebrew or an official module?
My players wanted an underwater campaign so I had to make one up
>What is your favorite aspect of being a Dungeon Master?
When they actually follow story hooks I give them and get surprised by the plot twists I throw in because it makes me feel like I did a decent job preparing

>>54986974
I'll take a look at that. Thanks anon.

>>54987222
Sounds badass, which oath do you take for Paladin?

>>54986780
You got struck by lightning and now you're a level 1 lightning sorcerer

Rate the spells of my level 5 Stone Sorcerer so far:

Catrips:
Mold Earth, Booming Blade, Green-Flame Blade, Fire Bolt, Mage Hand

Lvl 1:
Thunderous Smite, Absorb Elements, Shield

Lvl 2:
Misty Step

Lvl 3:
Haste, Fireball

What are some spells I should consider for my next levels? I will definitely swap Thunderous Smite for Blinding Smite. Also spells I really want are Enlare/Reduce, Counterspell, Dimension Door, Stoneskin and Wall of Stone. Sadly I can only take so much

So I got my hands on artificer, gunsmith specifically, and I'm kind of wondering, how exactly is thunder damage portrayed from the thunder cannon? Is it a sort of sonic boom whiplash? or some sort of secondary explosive?

>>54987840
Thunder is mechanically what used to be called sonic.

>>54987840
That's up to you, anon. anything that accords with the actual effect of the ability. Maybe it shoots balls of magic that rip shit up.

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I'm running maze of the blue medusa

>first session they run off into the gardens
>see the toad demon and the cleric almost immediately blasts him with guiding bolt
>the mystic gets eaten

next session the plan is
>psathyrella orders torgos zooth to unpetrify one of the adventurers she had in her gallery
>new pc for the player who died
>mr grasp ordered to lead him to the main party with a message
>psathyrella sends a letter saying that if they kill the liches in the maze it will be worth their while
>sent them a reinforcement as a token of good faith

I'll probably give the guy a magic item too, partly because it makes sense that a group that got far enough in the maze for psathyrella to petrify them would have some magic weapons, and also to make up for getting killed in session 1

>>54984937
grapple the dex monkeys

I've been playing a Warlock pretending to be a Wizard right now and despite most of my group rolling with it, the DM seems to have it out for my character. As in whenever I cast a non-Wizard spell he makes every party member within LoS of me, even the magically untrained, do an arcana check to see if "something's off" about my spell (which really makes spamming Eldritch Blast difficult) and specifically gave the Paladin an artifact that can detect evil creatures just because he didn't pick up Detect Good and Evil (despite my character being neutral it still works on them somehow).
Anyway to get him to tone it down a bit? He means well; he just wants my character quirk to come into the story but I feel like he's overdoing it.

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Advice on creating a blade lock?

>>54987619
Any old oath works, though Vengeance is objectively better for smites since you can Vow of Enmity to get advantage, along with a dank spell list that synergizes with your CHA/metamagic because you're gonna be pumping that after you maxed STR. Sword and Board is your best bet but you can definitely 2-hand it.

The 2 big problems with a Sorcadin is that you have a pretty MAD build (the price to pay for a decent and arguably best gish) and your resources get spent relatively quickly. The spell points = sorcery points homerule can work to make it slightly in your favour, but you're still going to be eating through them like Kobayashi.

Also, if you're to build a STR Sorcadin, you need to grab Paladin at first level for the Heavy Armour proficiencies. You don't really have to worry about wielding a shield (even though it's best for flavour and style) since you have access to Shield whenever you grab your first level of Sorc.

This is literally my favourite multiclass in the game, so I'm glad to talk about it. It takes a while to get moving but when it does, it's super fun for the insane nova and versatility.

What spells are the best use of a warlock's slots? Damage spells seem redundant with eldritch blast.

>>54988099
Hexblade if you're allowed UA. Either go Sword and Board or full Cursebringer, depending on whether you want to be a SAD gish or just as much MAD weird melee damage as you can do.

>>54988234
Hex, Area of Effect spells (like Hunger of Hadar), Fly, patron-specific spells.

>>54987954
>makes every party member within LoS of me, even the magically untrained, do an arcana check to see if "something's off" about my spell
useless rolls, get a better DM
>despite my character being neutral it still works on them somehow
not how the spell works, get a better DM (if it's some homebrew shit that actually detects alignments, your DM's a degenerate and you need to get a better DM)
>he just wants my character quirk to come into the story but I feel like he's overdoing it
he can't make the story progress in a natural fashion, get a better DM

>>54988099
>Advice on creating a blade lock?
don't I too am weak to the meme, you must be stronger than me

>>54985870
Is there a single DM who has read the dresden files and doesn't use his faerie courts?

>>54988234
Utility and crowd control.

>>54988099
my advice is to create an eldritch knight instead

>>54988099
Don't.

>>54984753
How should I make a ranger/rogue?

>>54988638
>Start ranger revised level 1
>Put level in rogue
>DM stares at you
>Put another level in rogue
>DM glares at you
>Put another level in rogue
>"Hey, aren't you going to level ranger?"
>Put another level in rogue
>Get kicked from group

Alternatively all rogue multiclasses are simply done as 'level until you get extra attack and then rest of levels in rogue'

>>54988638
I'd probably go Ranger5/RogueX, maybe ranger 6 if you know the game is going to be filled with a specific monster type. Probably Hunter or Underdark scout for the archetype as the others are going to get in the way of using cunning action or TWF

>>54988233
I've got a level 5 vengeance pally on one campaign at, i might try this with him after he hits level 6. I went two handed with him but i figure that'll just net me more dpr. I hear paladin x/ warlock 2 mentioned alot here as well but i don't think that one has as much utility

>What do you have planned?
Party is heading up to Scarlet Moon Hall to see what the commotion is all about. They know cults are an entity, but they have no idea who is running what sans the Black Earth. I rewrote the Hall for fun because I enjoyed the idea of navigating a festival and figuring out the behind-the-scenes instead of walking up to the tower and being assaulted instantly because the Eternal Flames are faggots.
>What are you running?
Princes of the Apocalypse
>What do you enjoy the most?
Designing dungeons with complex puzzles and traps along with social encounters you have to navigate around to get information. Setting up the investigation has been my favorite part so far about this module. I am trying something different though, but I like it a lot.

>>54988768
That sounds like a cool idea, could be a bounty Hunter that will track his pretty from the heart of the city to the most remote wilds. What rogue archetype would you take?

>>54984986
Are rallying cry and bulwark the only ones you've changed? Either way, I like this.

I wanna be the thieviest thief. Should I go thief all the way or shadow monk?
For spellcasting, what's better? Arcane trickster or rogue wizard?

When calculating DPR, how how do you account for the lucky feat? I know regular advantage is usually +5

I'm trying to figure out if changing from 8(d8+22) to 9(d6+19) at -3 to hit on the latter is worth it

>>54984937
> I was thinking of nerfing initiative, and making it Wisdom based

I would be so pissed about a DM doing this.

>>54988824
Probably assassin+underdark scout if you are going to be playing someone that tracks people down and tries to get the drop on them before they can react

What's /5eg/s opinion on the oath of conquest paladin? Debating making one but not sure if I'm gimping myself compared to say vengeance or such.

>>54988898
Hmmm, is it worth it to take assassin to 14 or 15? Or would you take more ranger? Assuming you're actually gonna hit 20

>>54988099
>don't.
Probably the best advice, but if you really really must...

Hexblade is almost necessary, considering it gets the best expanded spell list (the paladin smites and some other stand outs). Also, use the old Warlocks and Wizards UA invocations and try to pretend like the Revised UA doesn't exist so you can get Curse Bringer.

I also personally find Green Lord's Gift to be a big boon, seeing as you're a medium armored melee fighter with poor hp. If you can't swing Green Lords', Fiendish Vigor is choice as well.

I recommend going half-elf as well, either Sun/Moon Ellf descent variant, or Drow Descent variant for the free cantrip or some fairly useful utility spells and the ability to pick up Elven Accuracy.

Don't forget GWM as well. You could also go PAM, but at that point, why not just play a Conquest Paladin or something.

>>54989117
>Hexblade is almost necessary, considering it gets the best expanded spell list (the paladin smites and some other stand outs).
Good choices.

>use the old Warlocks and Wizards UA invocations and try to pretend like the Revised UA doesn't exist
Literally cheating. UA is playtest material as it is; using a version that was tested and found to need fixing is pretty scummy.

>>54984937
No. It's just a simple counter. If they're all high dex and two wisdom, make creatures that go for con saves, strength saves, int and cha saves.

The occasional dex save creature as a side monster like Hellhounds as a distraction.

Heavily enforce Encumbrance rules.

Don't change the game mechanics because you don't like how good dexterity stat is. Simply work around it.

>>54989014
You only really need assassin 3. If you want more spell slots, go ranger, if you want more damage via sneak attack, go rogue

>>54989117
why would you ever even use the paladin smites as a hexblade when you only have two spell slots and one has probably already been spent on hex?

My DM and I are working on a nerf for my character because I keep fucking up his encounters. I play an assassin/monk, my Perception and AC make enemy sneak attacks a pain in the ass for him. AC is 20 and Perception is 18.
Right now it's looking like a cursed item that will lower my Perception by 5 and AC by 2. But I'm supposed to ask for something in return. What would be a good trade?

>>54989185
assassin 3 is worthless, getting the automatic crits is a lot more steps than just "get the first hit in the fight" like how getting surprise worked in previous versions.

unless you play solo all the time, stuff like "your clunky paladin and his heavy armor were noticed by the enemy, so you can't get surprise either fuck you" is gonna be your life

>>54984753
Yep. My party is entering their first dungeon tonight which I have yet to start designing. It's going to be full of gnolls and their minions, with a flind as the boss monster

I'm running a homebrewed setting. It's set in a medieval kind of place but with high magic fluff. I'm allowing one of my players to run a homebrewed rogue archetype because the official ones don't work well for his character. Interested to see how it will work out

Favorite aspect is when my devious plans come to fruition. Also when my players overcome a major obstacle. It's awesome when after a session everyone goes "wow anon that was intense! I had so much fun tonight!"

>>54989206
...It might benefit for him to simply use the rules properly. You having a high perception means you probably don't get surprised. It doesn't mean your party doesn't get surprised.

AC is also easily mitigated. It seems silly to make you curse your character for this.

>>54984778
Work with your DM on a Background whose feature is more or less "Expertise in [social skill]".

>>54989206
This is bait, right?

>>54989287
Or just take a background that gives persuasion and don't dump charisma.

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>>54989193
Depends.
>your DM is making you use the Revised UA and the new Eldritch Smite
generally speaking, paladin smites will generally out-damage it, and have rider effects.

>You still have access to old Warlock and Wizard
Rider effects, plain and simple. Sometimes you're fighting in the dark and need to be able to see what you're hitting - or the enemy is invisible - so you use Branding Smite. Sometimes you need to force disadvantage onto an enemy's attack rolls so it doesn't kill your squishy ally. Yeah, Curse Bringer/Mace of Dispater/Claw of Acamar/Moon Bow are more efficient in pure damage output, but sometimes you just don't need pure damage.

>>54989154
>cheating
>cooperative games of pretend
Whatever you say, buddy. Also 'tested and found to need fixing'? You mean 'entirely plebbit babby feedback' of 'waaaah bladelocks are useful now, my barbarian/fighter/wizard fee fees!'

Alternatively, get your DM's permission, like I did.

I want to make a high level oneshot (level 17 characters). I don't have much time to prepare so I want to make it simple. I just want my players to have some fun and go nuts with exploring their powerful characters.

How do I design high level adventures? Does anyone have some good story ideas for a oneshot?

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>>54989287
>expertise
>from a background

>>54989361
Seasoned heroes of the realm, already famous for stopping an evil lord in the past, are called in to handle with the awakened Tarrasque.
By itself, nothing else in the MM would challenge them.

>>54989208
So which subclass would you suggest then? I could see swashbuckler maybe, or thief

>>54989343
>Also 'tested and found to need fixing'? You mean 'entirely plebbit babby feedback' of 'waaaah bladelocks are useful now, my barbarian/fighter/wizard fee fees!'
It could not possibly be clearer you have no idea what you're talking about. Keep projecting on 4chan, though, I hear that's healthy.
Seriously? Putting wizard and barbarian in the same list?

>>54989428
Well it doesn't have to be a thing by itself. It could also be an army of strong enemies, like fighting against a giant army or multiple dragons

>>54989361
Avoid using single enemies as PCs can decimate them quickly. Try using small or medium groups of strong monsters, especially if they can work together well - some of them going into melee and remaining laying waste from distance with spells for example.

If you have a boss or enemy you don't want to go down in first round, make sure he has legendary resistance.

Make things urgent, if they have time to spare they'll fuck off to magnificient mansion or whatever and waste all your work. Try to keep them on their toes, hurried and unable to take more than perhaps a single short rest. Do a bunch of smaller battles to exhaust their resources before a bossfight, otherwise they will most likely ejaculate death and destruction upon your carefully crafted encounter.

>>54989208
I found pass without trace helped with the heavy armored fighter and cleric not getting spotted all the time

So our GM is allowing Gestalt. Any interesting class combinations you can think of?

>>54989343
>generally speaking, paladin smites will generally out-damage it, and have rider effects.
This is flat out not true. Smite spells work under a general rule of 1d6 damage per spell level (except for thunder smite which is 2d6 at level 1 but doesn't scale). Revised smite is 1d8 and then an extra 1d8 per spell level, this means that eldritch smite will always do the same or more damage for the spell slot cost. Searing smite is an exception because if you get lucky it can build up to huge damage if they keep failing to cancel it for 5 rounds or something, but warlock can't learn it and they wanna spend their concentration on hex anyway.

as for the rider effects, they're either gimmicky shit or need a save. revised smite is an automatic knockdown, which is pretty fucking good and way better than the dumb shit the old invocations had that forced you into using a specific weapon.

>>54989444
arcanetrickster or swashbuckler

>>54984778
Make good fighter stats and then just RP social encounters really funny irl.

If the DM makes you roll a CHA check then just lie what you rolled and sya it was a 17 or whatever.

>>54989505
I think he means the Smite feature, not smite spells

>Dungeon Masters, what have you got planned for your next session?
They're going to have to save a trader from a bunch of Orcish sky pirates so that he can tell them where they can hunt Nagas to collect their blood to give to a couple of mages from the Elvish nation. Killing the Nagas however will also unleash an ancient spirit dude who one of the mages is secretly trying to control.
This should have happened last session but the Sorcerer accidentally blew up an entire mine on his head, almost died, then got arrested for running around town naked. The rest of the session was breaking him out of jail.
>Are you running homebrew or an official module?
Homebrew. I've never run official, always like making my own stories up
>What is your favorite aspect of being a Dungeon Master?
I really enjoy making my players think. I'm known for confusing answers and straight faces so my players never know what I think and when I do break a grin or sigh or anything it's always to confuse or mislead them. Shit's cash

>>54989540
Follow the chain of posts. >>54989117
>Hexblade is almost necessary, considering it gets the best expanded spell list (the paladin smites and some other stand outs)

Paladin smite the class feature is actually the same damage as the new warlock smite, the math is just done differently. It's still a way better feature because paladins get infinte more spell slots (and is why hexblade 1-3/paladin X is the king of meme builds, although cool kids will use divine smite AND eldritch smite in the same turn) but he was talking about the spells that do smite effects, and since warlock only gets like 1-2 spells in any given fight he can't do wacky shit paladins can like stack smite spell with smite class feature

>>54989361
Evil Wizard/Genie/Alien/Extraplanar Being is going around and using extremely powerful magic to freeze cities in time and then shrink them to add to his collection- And his next target is the PC's home city or the richest city on the planet. The party has to break into his secret demiplane, fight a variety of collected beings and brave his castle/tower/base/museum to kill him or take his place and bring it all back.

>>54986383
To save yourself from further frustration, talk with your players before next session. Do THEY mind dying for being stupid? If they say no, stay true to your world.

If you want to save the situation (and your world), make the fudge part of the story. Invent a bullshit reason that bent reality in favor of your party. Maybe a powerful entity looked out for them to use them as part of their plans in the near future. Don't explain it but find a way to indirectly show them what happened.

>>54989538
>Be funny
>Lie about die rolls
This is DEFINITELY bait, right?

>>54989584
Isn't it more effective for a paladin x/hexblade 3 to go tome anyway, so you can get some tasty tasty wizard rituals?

>>54989527
Are they worth taking past 3? I could see deep stalker/ swashbuckler being cool as shit

Arcane Trickster or Rogue/Wizard?

>>54989494
Barbarogue

A kind of recent post was talking about Ranger/Monk and I thought it was a neat concept, but I can't figure out how to optimize it for a new 5th level character. Is there a better way than Kensei Monk 3/Revised Hunter 2? A better tradition? 3 Ranger/2 Monk?

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I'm really not sure how you're supposed to run these Barbarian tribe burial grounds in SKT.

>Join a group
>First time playing a tabletop for all the other players
>One of the guys says he wants to burning hands an enemy
>Explain its an AoE and it will hit allies, so it probably isn't the best idea
>DM says he has to cast it now because he said it
>Rolls 17 damage and just outright kills the warlock
>warlock player is clearly annoyed by this
I don't understand some DMs

>>54989723
You have the party fly around and loot the shit outta them, its a good time

>>54989760

>dat DM

Wut. I'm a new DM and have played two sessions so far. Doing something like that would never even occur to me. I'm sure I have many other faults, though...

When I made the group laugh when describing a critical failure, that was a great moment. And it's fun knowing the adventure and seeing how they try to solve the problems.

>>54989760
>DM says he has to cast it now because he said it
This is where it stopped being sane.

>Political game
>Warlock character who is a noble with a "fuck you I have money" mentality.
>Has long tried to seduce a certain noble he had a good eye for, and who happens to be even richer than he is
>BBEG happens, GM kills off the chick, and tries to strip all political power from my character.
>Alter Self and covers up her death as his own
>Now has to act like her to remain in power
Best twist I have had to a character in a long time. So far I am brushing off people because I have 20 charisma, Actor feat, and a good excuse (The love of my life died in my arms! The tragedy! I am so sorry for not being myself and for being so forgetful!).

So, I am generally good at playing chicks, but I am not playing a chick - I am literally playing a dude, who is now physically a woman. Any good ideas for what I can do that a guy might accidentially do while crossdressing? I thought some of you faggots might have some solid experience in that area.

Now, one of the party members know this, a Rival Noble, who is trying to "comfort" the "poor girl" he also knew very well. I plan on fucking him over, but the "I am gay now, no other man will rival x" seems a little... trying too hard. Any other good ideas?

>>54988894
Why? If it was a character that relied on going first like an assassin or something than that's one thing. Also, Wisdom makes more sense for initiative anyways. Why should someone with eyes like a hawk be slower to act than someone with their head in the clouds, just because that person moves quicker?

>>54989830
Alter self can make you a futanari, that would scare off just about any sane person

>>54989646
rouge/wizard has an almost comically larger number and selection of spells and better abilities to enhance spells vs an equivilent level AK but has a worse sneak attack.

>>54989860
But rogue wizard doesn't get the invisible mage hand

>>54989856
Ha, thats a good one. Might earn some points with certain chicks he will likely try to warm up to him as well.

Only problem is that I dont know if anyone has seen her naked. Nobles with a lot of servants... chances are they have, especially knowing my GM.

>>54989885
Yes they do.

Rogue3/wizard17

>>54989940
Genious anon

>>54989927
Just alter it for the nasty and have it normal rest of the time, get the other noble executed for slander

>>54989839
>why should they be slower than the person who moves quicker.
Well I sure don't know anon.

Would you allow fine clothing +X to show up/be made?

Someone in this party wants a magic dress and theoretically that would just be Studded Leather+1 counting as fine clothes for social situations

>>54990036
Why not anon? Makes enough sense to me, like a noble hired a wizard to make them for them for protection

>>54990057
I'm just worried about any reprocussions I might be missing later.

Like, one level in unarmored defense gives them 13+Dex+Con/Wis if they wanted to abuse it, but if that's the only way they could take advantage of it then I'd probably allow it.

>>54990025
If both people are ready for a fight sure, but there's an argument to be made for Wis Initiative. It's not ridiculous.

>>54990089
You could always just drop some glamoured studded leather

>>54990036
Look up glamoured studded leather. It is literally that.

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>>54990036

>>54989646
Rogue/wizard isn't worth it unless you use bladesinger memes and fuck bladesinger. Simply go AT with ritual caster if you want to be a rogue/wizard.

Rogue/wizard tries to do multiple things but fails to do either properly and ends up just being a shit version of both instead of helping the party.

>>54990128
>>54990121
>>54990133
Oh shit, that's exactly what I needed

Thanks anons

>>54990089
Or you could just have it count as armor while not looking like armor? I don't understand why you'd complicate it further.

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Can someone give me a good trapped door to a treasure chamber? I'm looking for something inside an old ruined castle that's been overtaken by a group of monsters that are too stupid to figure it out themselves

>>54990020
>Get your party members executed
That Guy detected?

>>54990318
Okay maybe I took it a bit far

Dual wielding greatswords is possible in this system?

why are warriors so shitty in D&D?
it's like only the mages matter

>>54990362
No. Read the book.

>>54990397
wew
this is shit
if i am strong enough to dual wield greatswords why cant i

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>>54990408

>>54990383
I think GWM Melee classes have the highest DPR potential in the game or something

>>54990290
Pls respond

>>54990422
no seriously
i later levels you character technically has the strenght of a god
then why cant i dual wield greatswords

>>54990290
Make the door a buffed mimic

>>54990362
You can hold two greatswords to show off, but attacking with either one requires both your hands to swing it in a proper way to attack

>>54990408
Because this isn't 3.5e, dumbass. It's 5e.


Maybe you'll get to do it with magic items if your DM crops those up.

>>54990290
There's no visible handle or latch on the door, just a solid metal panel come down from a slot in the ceiling like a portcullis. The door only opens if three different wheels are turned in three different guard stations spaced around the castle. and you have to keep your weight on it, as the pulley systems have counterweights that make them want to return to a resting position with the door closed. This requires any potential burglars to not only alert all the guards but also to split the party.

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Does the warlord live up to its CR? How much of a threat does it pose to a level 12 party?

>>54990462
I would let you
if you were a thri-kreen

>>54990473
i dont think dual GS is so unbalanced
i mean
mages can summon angels.

do you guys let your players play as monsters?
like goblins or ogres.

>>54990490
It's a medium encounter but action economy will win the day. Warlord is best with a bunch of mooks to protect and be ordered by it.

>>54990516
In certain campaigns. They're in Volo's, but I advise beforehand if it's gonna be a campaign that isn't gonna be alright with that.

If they can RP well enough through it and don't die to city guards trying to keep them out, then sure.

>>54990462
Because you can't even have strength of a god in 5e, you are limited to 20 STR, 24 if you're 20th level Barbarian.

>>54990549
5e is shit

>>54985482

What, no Rogue?

>>54990476
If you want to add more of a trappy trap, have each wheel lift one of a series of three doors. The inner two doors have some kind of nasty Glyph of Warding on them, so you're in trouble if you don't turn all three wheels at exactly the same time.

>>54990490
Command Ally is pretty darn useless without allies. It's not meant to be alone.

>>54990545
not everyone needs to be monster
i mean
what stops a orc or a goblin to work with normal adventurers?

>>54990549
That's still literally twice as strong as the average person, who can hold two regular swords just fine

>>54990565
What features make you think the rogue is worth taking to 20?

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>>54990496
Stop complaining and go ride your bike home, martial.

>>54990599
The guards who are not letting the monstrous orc into town with this group of strangers.

>>54990615
>what is armor
>what is helmet

>>54990462
Because it would look stupid and tryhards like you shouldn't get their way. The fact that you call it "dual wielding" tells me everything I need to know. I bet you use "stealth" as a verb, too.

>>54990638
The specifics of "If they can RP well enough through it and don't die to city guards trying to keep them out, then sure."

If an orc, both in and out of character, don't think of that and none of the orc's friends hold any sway toward guard strangers, why should they be let in?

>>54990549
>what is belt of X giants strength

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>>54990561
>I can't be a god
>5e is shit

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>>54990699
An item you're never ever going to get.

>>54990549
>limited to 20 STR
>Not making it your quest to find all the manuals of gains in the world

>>54990827
>find one
>read it for 26 strength as a barbarian
>100 years later you can read it again for 28 strength
>half the races in the game are now dead

>>54990764
>durr durr my argument only works if I can make certain magic items completely unavailable.

>>54990861
That doesn't even work though. Those belts give you the strength of a giant, not of a God.

>>54990496
It was martial vs caster bait all along!

>>54990638
I don't like your implication that orcs have the exact same body structure as humans. That makes them seem redundant as a race.

>>54990699
>>54990827
I mean I know it's nice to dream, plan out your character for all 20 levels and so on, but if you look at it honestly, the chances are close to 0. Just as it's said, most campaigns wrap up or fall apart around 10th level. I ran a campaign that went up to 16th recently and they were barely getting around to starting the search for over-20-ability items.

>>54990861
>hurr hurr my argument only works if my DM makes an exception to the rules (Magic items are not something a character gets by standard, they're the DM's domain to add in and can do shit like give you 1000 strength if the DM is drunk) to work

Magic items aren't something you take for granted in 5e.

>>54990764
>Liru
>Wearing a belt of giant strength over the boobs
I'm inspired

>>54990861
dude, this isnt pathfinder, you can't just go to your local magic mart and get whatever you want.

>>54990955
>tfw my DM did this
>didn't know how to price them properly
>sold shit and stupidly low prices

>>54990955
Our DM brought us to the local magic mart, but all I got was a cursed sword
Then the next session the sword was unexpectedly uncursed by a banish spell from a passing level 20 sorcerer

I think my DM might be a bit too nice

>>54990955
This. Shopping for magical loot takes a week and an extra 100 bucks, and there's a good 5-10% chance you'll just fail for no reason and lose your money. You can get whatever just from adventuring, but then it's going to be random.

That being said, many magical items are relatively cheap because of that - They lowered prices to reasonable levels, at the expense of magical items now being actually rare goods.

>>54991121
>This. Shopping for magical loot takes a week and an extra 100 bucks, and there's a good 5-10% chance you'll just fail for no reason and lose your money. You can get whatever just from adventuring, but then it's going to be random.
That's UA rules though. Standard rules is 'no magic shops'.

stop posting faggot porn in your discord

start posting more saggy old man ballsacks

How many levels of Arcane Archer are important after the second extra attack at 11 if I don't plan on putting 20 in?
I'm debating between stopping at 15 for ever ready arrow, 17 for double action surge, or 18 for improved arcane shots.

>That Guy keeps arguing that good is a matter of point of view
When did this "Alignment is subjective" meme started?

...why would you multiclass out of fighter if you go 18 levels in? Not even worth. Depends on what second class you're going to, the combat strategy, your group comp, etc.

>>54991322
RP purposes. I had to dip a level into Monk as part of the campaign so I can't hit 20 in fighter anymore.

If your player's characters at the end of the campaign(assuming is a long one) arent near demigods then you've done something terribly wrong
>>54991310
But alignments are plain stupid.

>>54985093
Do you not have a front line fighter or does the DM make monsters bee line to you?

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>>54991349
KYS

>>54991337
Are you playing stealth archer? Are you going melee archer? What is your combat strategy. What is your group composition?

I'd say swap off at level 11, go 6 levels shadowmonk (if playing a stealth approach)

If you're going to be in the midst of combat I'd say Kensei (revised.) 6 levels in is pretty good

Anons, how would you go about making a 5e PC writeup for Githyanki? What would you consider the most essential traits?

They have actually been playable in the last two editions, and their statblocks are up on 1d4chan: https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Githyanki

>>54987753
>no Maximilian's Earthen Grasp
>Fire Bolt instead of Thunderclap
>Fireball instead of Erupting Earth
>not carrying boulders around with you and launching them with Catapult
You clearly dont have the STONES to play an archetype like that.

>Want to DM my homebrew campaign
>Players only want to play official adventures because we play online and they have cool maps.
What to do?

>>54991470
Is your cool homebrew campaign fully fleshed out for the first 5 sessions?
Have you tried showing your players maps online of possible dungeons you may use?
Have you tried talking to your players?

>>54991470
brush up on your photoshop skills

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>>54991470
Come to an agreement with your players or get new ones, pretty obvious

Unrelated! Are metallic dragons the comfiest monsters in the d&d catalog?

>>54991517
metal dragons are golems of insanely powerful ancient wizards

>>54991470
Steal maps.

If I'm gonna mc revised ranger and rogue should i go twf or dueling and a shield?

>>54991526
sounds dumb

>>54991517
Metallic dragons are mary sue cancer.

>>54991310
Alignments are two incompatible concepts glued together. One is stupid and one isn't. Chaos-order serves a purpose and helps describing your character. Good-bad is purely subjective and a matter of point of view. The only absolute thing in D&D worlds are angels. They are the most restricted beings in existence and the definitive element that pins down good/bad. So declaring a character's alignment is basically a statement towards their standing concerning angels. You could literally ask
>How would angels feel about character X?
to get a definitive answer whether that character should be good or bad. Everything else is a matter of sides. This includes devils, demons and gods. That's how retarded all of this is.

>>54991310
Alignments are subjective in 5e.
They were objective back when alignments actually fucking meant anything.

Don't argue over alignments because THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING.

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haven't you all heard, there's a new alignment chart that fixes everything.

>>54991604
it governs the use of some magic items.

>>54991551
>mueh, everything needs to be edgy, there can be great and powerful forces of evil but there can't occasionally be a big force for good too, myehhhheeech

>>54991557
>That's how retarded all of this is.
That's not retarded. What's retarded is most people don't realize what you just stated about angels, fiends and gods. Alignments can be useful in D&D: say there is a holy sword that scorches all evil. If good and evil are subjective, the whole idea falls apart.

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Monster Manual and Sword Coast just arrived.

>>54991683
Good, now buy them on D&D Beyond, goy!

>>54991630
I'd change 'evil' to be 'selfish' and neutral to just be neither quite selfish nor kind.

I also wouldn't call lawful 'honorable' and chaotic 'dishonorable', though it's close. Maybe 'Civilized' and 'uncivilized' but those don't sound right either.

>>54991645
Magic items are the DM's domain. So it therefore only does something if the DM decides it does something.

>>54991701
Don't you disrespect all the work they put into making D&D beyond
I'm sure they hired 1000 people to each spend a minute thinking about it before simply stealing the idea and marketing it as their own.

>>54990565
I didn't include rogue because the capstone is only once per long rest. Elusive is pretty nice, but it's better to get your lvl 17 feature and take three levels of fighter or barb.

>>54991494
>>54991501
I can't make maps, too much work.

>>54991678
That gave me a plot idea for a campaign that revolves around angels losing the interpretational sovereignty over 'good'. It's definitely 15+ but it might come in handy for a oneshot.

>>54991714
>Magic items are the DM's domain. So it therefore only does something if the DM decides it does something.

spells reference alignment too.

conjured creatures follow your commands unless they "violate its alignment", so summoning a chaotic good fey is materially different from summoning a chaotic evil one.

in addition, glyph of warding can be set to trigger based on alignment, so the difference between a lawful good character and a lawful evil one might be whether they get blown to pieces by explosive runes.

>>54991604
>Alignments are subjetive
>Planes of literal goodand evil exist
Really made me think.

>>54991418
Relatively melee, my character doesn't make attempts to hide but they have sharpshooter and 600 feet of range. So a lot of kiting happens when they can run 35 feet to an enemy's 30, or I guess 45-50 feet now with monk levels.

alignments and the combat system are what makes D&D subpar when compared to other systems

>>54991738
Elusive is just a shitty version of Foresight. Rogues get nothing good after 11 unless you picked a good archetype.

>>54991888
So thief or AT?

>>54989371
>Backgrounds give 2 skill proficiencies
>There's nothing supernatural about expertise

Yeah, I could see a world where the DM allows expertise on a single skill over the proficiency in two separate ones.

>>54984966
>Forge of Fury
Why are you talking about a 3e module in 5eg? Is there a rework somewhere that we don't know about?

>>54990269
Because this came about when the character got their armor heat metal'd and they wanted to have a quicker way to doff and not made of metal

>>54991804
That's a cool idea, just think of it: fiends somehow tweak the universe and now evil still registers as evil, but good also registers as evil. At first a bunch of mass-murder incidents happen because paladins were certain the peasants were undercover demons, and later it gets even more chaotic. People start demolishing churches because their mere consecrated presence withers the "evil presence" while bandits pick up relics and consecrated weapons because they suddenly gained huge effectiveness against warriors of good.

And the several Holiest Avengers, the only weapons capable of slaying the most powerful fiends, disappear from the hands of their wielders, "refusing to serve evil".

It's a cool campaign concept, though quite edgy and fedora inducing.

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>the group I DM hasn't met into 2 months

I get to be a player in another group and its fine but I miss being the forever DM. setting up the world, NPCs, encounters, and never having to wait for my turn.

>>54991920
It's one of the adventures in Tales from the Yawning Portal.

>>54991557
>Good-bad is purely subjective
>Implying the actual spectrum isn't just Good-Neutral with evil campaigns being an intentional all out/no nuance exception
>Throwing away all the great quests for redemption that end with an earned "GOOD" title

Sometimes I think Good and Evil should e temporary tokens the DM awards players a la inspiration

>>54991930
Okay. So don't wear metal armor. Problem is solved.

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if WOTC makes a Tales from the Yawning Portal 2, what adventures would you want in it?

>>54991930
>looking to get rid of metal armor
>not looking to get fire resistance
your player is an idiot
not only would it be easier to get fire resistance, but more practical.

>>54990036
How about an animated suit of armor NPC that can iron man around the fighter during battle?

>BM ranger wants to let his pet attune to stuff
>agrees that animals are probably not smart enough to attune alone
Does letting him assist his pet in attuning, but having the item consume an attunement slot for both of them seem reasonable?

>>54986983
>It seems like most people make their character what they want to be IRL.
I guess there's a reason I keep playing tall, muscular, self-confident people beholden to no one but still a venerate a benevolent higher power, then.

>>54991820
That's extremely easy to both overlook and houserule

>>54992040
Ape island

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>>54992013
I almost ran it like that in one 3.5 campaign, the idea was "you pick your alignment at character creation and afterwards the cosmos strictly judges your every movement". The game was big on mechanics with all the [alignment] spells and items working off alignments as well as two divine classes in the party, they shivered at the words "This deed brings you closer to the evil side."

I guess you could have your PCs posted as paragons of [alignment] and then reward them inspiration for saving orphans or kicking stray dogs, but it'd require a specific kind of campaign.

>>54992046
>>54992020
Yeah, it's not optimal, they're new. Our whole group is kinda new. But if they want to try an interesting approach to preventing almost dying to heat metal in the future then I'm not gonna discourage that

>>54992124
then encourage him to look into fire resistance, no homebrewing needed, just a simple magic wand or depending on level, dragon scale armor

What are some board games with cool minis to use in DnD?
I'm already looking into Blood Rage and Zombicide: Black Plague. What else?

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>>54992152
the D&D board games

>>54992149
Well, Glamoured Studded Leather is just a rare item that doesn't require any homebrew and sounds like something they'd enjoy.

>>54992209
the big problem with the no-metal armor is that heat metal can still target his weapons

>>54992246
It takes a second to drop a weapon, but 10 turns to doff armor that's doing (2d8/2) per turn

Even if it makes them resist fire damage, aiming for their metal armor is just free damage. So trying to find a good non-metal armor alternative is a valid solution

>>54992417
arguably, making them drop their weapon is better than guaranteed damage, depending on class. A rogue, for example, isn't going to do dick without a knife.

>>54992436
So carry two knives?

>>54992511
not everyone is that bright, i still hear people bitching about how they were completely useless because the dm made the monster fly the whole time. all because it never occured to them to keep a range weapon on hand.

>>54991999
Oh, makes sense.

I really should get that book.

>>54992040
Undermountain because it's below the freaking inn.

>>54991557
>Chaos-order serves a purpose and helps describing your character. Good-bad is purely subjective and a matter of point of view.
I had my players pick from three alignments: lawful, neutral, and chaotic. Removing "good" from 80% of character sheets led to some fantastic roleplaying and characters compromising their values for greater goals without saying "oh wait but my character is 'good'" and it's been great.
Their approach to moral dilemmas no longer depends to a vague concept of their character's prescribed ethics, but rather to what that specific character would do in that specific situation.
Before anybody says alignments are meant to be descriptive and not prescriptive, DUH. But people aren't perfect and sometimes you gotta help them roleplay.

So, somebody bet me 5 bucks I couldn't find a way to make 3e's Half-X Templates a PC option in 5e without breaking the game in half.

Anons? For the sake of my wallet, how viable does this look as a mechanical basis for being half-dragon, half-succubus, half-marilith, whatever?

Feat Category: Racial Hybrid
Effect: When you choose a Racial Hybrid feat, you gain additional racial traits determined by that feat.

Special: When you gain an Ability Score Increase, if you have a Racial Hybrid feat, you can forsake the ability score increase and instead gain one new racial trait from that feat's Advanced Mutations list.

Special: The blood of the most potent races does not mix readily, if at all. If you have a Racial Hybrid feat, you cannot select another Racial Hybrid feat.

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DM wants an ancient Roman setting. Somewhat loose interpretation of it at least.
Trying to figure out how to make a Druid fit. I know very little about history. I was thinking some kind of rat man. He'd be human but he's just super fucking into rats, plague rats, bugs, that sort of thing. Turns into a rat a lot. All he turns into really.
It sounds really stupid now that I type it out. Help.

>>54993007
Feats are a non-starter because most people don't get them at level 1. Your idea also requires the sacrifice of a LOT of ASIs which is not tenable for most characters.

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Question: What is the drawback if a DM were to just get rid of squares for distance measurement and just substituted them for inches since the squares are one inch anyway?

>>54993079
How about a traveller from Celtic lands?

>>54993196
Not bad. That could work. Didn't really consider a foreigner, that opens up options. He said we were starting as slaves so that works easily. Appreciated.

>>54986828
This Is basically what we do most of the time.
>except the x men are born mutants
>literally almost anyone else in marvel multiverse tho

>>54993103

Well, squares are handy for determining where a character is standing relative to other characters.

>>54993223
Its a star wars campaign and people want to play like star wars legion so yeah I guess they're into measuring things

>>54993079
The Romans actually crushed druidism IRL.

>During the Gallic Wars of 58 to 51 BCE, the Roman army, led by Julius Caesar, conquered the many tribal chiefdoms of Gaul, and annexed it as a part of the Roman Empire. According to accounts produced in the following centuries, the new rulers of Roman Gaul subsequently introduced measures to wipe out the druids from that country. According to Pliny the Elder, writing in the 70s CE, it was the emperor Tiberius (who ruled from 14 to 37 CE), who introduced laws banning not only druid practices, but also other native soothsayers and healers, a move which Pliny applauded, believing that it would end human sacrifice in Gaul.[82] A somewhat different account of Roman legal attacks on the druids was made by Suetonius, writing in the 2nd century CE, when he claimed that Rome's first emperor, Augustus (who had ruled from 27 BCE till 14 CE), had decreed that no-one could be both a druid and a Roman citizen, and that this was followed by a law passed by the later Emperor Claudius (who had ruled from 41 to 54 CE) which "thoroughly suppressed" the druids by banning their religious practices.[83]

Of course these were not the same druids as D&D, so I don't know if your DM will treat them the same, but playing a survivor of the purges might be a compelling backstory.

>>54992040
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.

>>54993079
Romans dealt with ACTUAL druids a whole lot, so you'll probably be all right with that. You're a druid (actually called that in-world, not just a class term) from a group that has been partially but not entirely conquered.

You were captured as a slave (like you mentioned) while scouting or raiding.

I need some kind of strong charge-like effect for a legendary item for a level 17 babarian.

The item has the form of giant antlers, that can be used as a weapon that deal 1d12 piercing damage. What effects would give it a legendary status?

The babarian won't be able to use a shield or other weapons, because the antlers are so heavy that they unbalance your figure, so he has to walk on all fours.

How play a necromancer in a good campaign

>>54993363
>strong charge-like effect
Okay. Just let him charge at people for bonus damage, or gain extra movement speed- And an increase to AC while running or something.

>>54991517
Yes, but bronze and brass shouldn't be among the main five metallics since they're alloys. 4e had iron and adamantine instead, but I prefer iron and mercury.

>>54993470
I like every single thing you said in that post

Any fun ideas for a task some mountain spirits might come up with to the party's Cleric, that makes exploring the dungeon even more difficult? The rewards are gonna be good, so it can be real hard to do, it just needs to be fun.

I thought about the spirits asking that he did no harm while under the mountain, but that would just make his playtime dull.

>>54993445
How about this?

The antlers allow you to dash as a bonus action.
If you move at least 25 feat towards a target while dashing and hit it with an attack, you deal an additional 1d12 damage. This attack also deals crittical damage on a roll of 19-20, or with a roll of 18-20 if you move at least 50 feat.