/5eg/ D&D 5th Edition General

>UA Shadow Sorcerer
>DC 5 + damage taken con save to go to 1 hp whenever you would go to 0
>No limits
>No scaling for multiple times you get hit
>You can literally take a 1 level dip from Paladin or Warlock for nothing
Why isn't there more discussion about this?

>>49897538
I recently wrote up a homebrewed magic item that might be fun. I like the Souls series, though. http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/SJPWZL_kl

>>49897576
probably because it's in a UA.

>>49897576
Because the UA that it's in came out a full year ago.

>>49897538
>Question: What's the favorite magic item (homebrew or otherwise) that you've ever played with?

I took the idea from someone here, but I gave my players a helmet of arrow attraction.
It has a magic force that gives +5 ac to all attacks from arrows as the magic draws arrows towards the helmet to safely deflect off.. But all arrows that pass within 10 feet of the player wearing the helmet will automatically have all arrows target them. Even if they were the ones to shoot the arrow, it will do a U-turn and come towards their head. The magic is a little too strong.

It was fun because the fighter who wore it basically didn't take any damage from arrows ever (there also wasn't an archer in the group), and he was able to strategically place himself at the front line so all arrow-based attacks would go to him and protect the party.

>>49897576
>items giving you a +2 on saving throws
>+5 from con
>+5 from con save proficiency
>+12 to con saves
>DC must be 14 or higher to not be passable, although I think 1s may still fail saves, can't remember
>you must be downed with 9 or more damage in order to be knocked unconscious, and anything up to about 30 damage is still possible to beat
Ha.

Use alongside half-orc and barbarian abilities.

>>49897596
Seems kinda wonky. The active 5th level fireball active is super strong but the +1 passive is very weak, relatively.

>>49897656
So, basically a helmet version of the shield of arrow attraction.

That's a nice shield.

>>49897538
Mystic in November UA hopefully with all the options then hopefully after that they release a final one with the last tweaks to the class.

>>49897661
I could probably afford to bump the numbers up to +2 on both the passive bonus and the required intelligence modifier, respectively.

>>49897674
Basically.
The player who wore it liked to roleplay a bit of dizziness if he ever got into situations where 5 or more arrows just clinked off his helmet.

Was good fun.

>>49897685
Let's look at it this way: you're giving the user of this knife (whom is probably a wizard or sorc) three additional 5th level spell slots. When would they ever use the melee, which is only one or two additional damage per turn?

>>49897713
They could also be an Eldritch Knight or an Arcane Trickster, anon.

But yes, I see your point. I could just tone down the fireball to 1/day at minimum level, and it'd be fine.

Was there a UA for an additional druid circle or did I dream that up? It was like one based on blight and stuff.
I can't seem to find it.

>>49897596
The thing is a weapon, not a wondrous item.

>>49897771
Oops. Fixed.

>>49897596

Let's fix it

A) Change to a +1 sword that "Requires Atunement by a creature of Intelligence 12 or higher"

B) three 5th level slots is something a full caster gets at level 18, Jesus christ. You better be wielding legendaries by then. And why the force malarky?

Just let it cast once the Hunger of Adar spell, and that's it.

C) Bane of Monstrosities is fine

DM just gave me a hookshot (exactly like in Zelda). Not a magic item per se but probably the most fun ive had with a special item since deck of many things.

>>49897853
Any items that increase mobility (especially during combat) are great in my opinion.

So many combats I see just end up becoming
>martials clash in the center
>range characters hang back and shoot

Another reason why I love shit like misty step, rogues that make liberal use of disengage, etc.

what's the best way to emulate an arcane archer?

obvious options are ranger, bard, arcane trickster, eldtritch knight. I'm tending more towards arcane trickster but wanted to hear you guys

>>49897760
Probably 3rd party.

>>49897815
A) is much better templating than I'd done originally, so I'm gonna go with that.

B)The force stuff is there because of the source material.

https://youtu.be/M9KVF6ipRAs?t=54

Hunger of Hadar is very fitting, however.

What kind of magic item work during wildshape? Necklace is a given but what about bracer? Hat?

>>49897878
Elf Artificer Wizard.

>>49897878

What do you mean, arcane archer? Like a ranger, only arcane instead of divine?

I'd definitely say humsn Valor Bard with magic initiate then then, so you can nab those Ranger and wizard spells

>>49897878
Depends a little bit on your flavor of arcane archer.
What do you want to be able to do besides shoot arrows? Or do you just want to be really fucking good at shooting arrows?

If the latter, valor bard and take swift quiver. Pick up sharpshooter then do whatever else you want after maxing dex.
To make sure you hit, go ahead and dip fighter and take archery style.
You can even take fireball and reflavor it as an exploding arrow.

Another option I like is a more elemental archer, less arcane.
Hunter Ranger 3/Nature cleric 17.
Get colossus slayer and archery style from ranger plus whatever ranger spells you want, perhaps hunters mark?
You'll only be able to make one attack per round but it should hit, and with divine strike from nature cleric you can select whether your shot will deal cold, fire, or lightning damage for an additional d8 (2d8 at cleric 14).

Alternatively do the same thing but instead go tempest cleric (it works better mechanically) but you're then limited to either thunder or lightning themed stuff.

Bottom line though, if you want to stick to arcane flavor. I say AT or Valor Bard. If you go AT you'll be much better at being a sneaky bastard and potentially hit really hard with sneak attack. But you aren't really augmenting your shots in any way.

>>49897878
I mean ranger has the closest spells for that

Revised ranger, hunter? flavor that 1d8 to a wounded creature as a magic arrow?

Or Bard and steal those ranger spells. That's what I'd do

>>49897920
I dunno how that exactly works but I don't think you can selectively choose what you do or don't wildshape, pretty sure you and everyone on your person transforms

>>49897885
Yeah I thought that might be the case.
Can't seem to find it through google either. Oh well.

>>49897979

I was thinking more elemental-flavored. The ranger/cleric mix actually seems pretty good.

4e was pretty good.

>>49898009

You can always houserule Bows to be a Monk weapon and go Wot4eligsghosignbuhahahaha sorry, I couldnt' finish that sentence

>>49898009
Great! Just make sure your DM is cool with multiclassing.

I'd say also take a look at cleric spells and see if the higher level ones interest you or not for the character you have in mind. If not, it might be worth it for you to even go fighter 1+/rogue 2+/nature cleric 14.
You'd get some sneak attack and bonus action to disengage while still getting archery fighting style from fighter.

Going to at least 3 in rogue would get you access to some mage hand shenanigans if that's interesting to you.

And now final disclaimer: Don't think too hard about multiclassing if you're unsure how long the game is gonna run. If you think it won't make it very far, I say valor bard or straight AT would be your safest bet.

I wanna be a tempest cleric, should I go human variant and take Magic initiate to snag booming blade?

seems like a pretty obvious choice for me. Might be able to actually do respective damage as a tempest cleric

>>49898181
If you want to be a human, then yeah, totally.

>>49898202
Human is still the best race, after all.

>>49898364
Better than those faggot elves, that's for sure.

What are objectively the best classes to play?

>>49898435
Lore Bard.

>>49898430
Yeah, but you could say "three week old kobold shit is better than elves" and still be right.

>>49898446
Dwarves are the least interesting race from a role playing perspective

>>49898435
bard or wizard, but the differences between best and good isn't much.

>>49898202
>>49898364
human's shit but there is no other way for me to get Booming Blade without multi-classing or wasting my level 4 asi

tempest cleric looks like a lot of fun, but without Booming Blade their melee is pretty bad. I get that the "no fuck you" reaction lightning bolt thing is supposed to make up for that but still

level 8 Tempest cleric with booming blade would add an additional 2d8 to an attack, that's pretty good. Even better with the "no fuck you" thing and the maximized thunder damage thing

>>49898435
personal tier ratings

Wizard, Bard

paladin fighter rogue druid cleric

---------- below this line are classes that are not what I'd consider "full" classes. Something about them is missing or they have obvious glaring issues or they are just kinda limited and boring or they really fall off later on ------------

monk barbarian warlock

ranger

>>49898482
Well you don't need booming blade until level 5 or 6 (when other class start getting extra attack). Using level 4 ASI for it is fine.

>>49898507
But using my ASI for it means I can't use my ASI to either increase my stats or take a different feat

only thing I really lose by going human is darkvision and I can just take Light for that

>>49898482
Remember thar divine domain only apply to one instance of damage roll. For booming blade it apply, either to the first melee attack or the explosion from movement, not both.

>>49897878
Warlock, pretend Eldritch blast is an arrow.

>>49898534
are you talking about the maximized damage thing?

I wouldn't use it for booming blade. I'd use it for something like Shatter

>>49898435
Cleric, Bard, and Wizard.

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I have one of the dumbest players on my group. Three sessions ago I threw a 12 man merc group at my players and everyone other player (who are a bard, warlock, and ranger) kited them and stayed out of range. This other guy, who is playing a rogue, decides to use all of his movement to run up and stab a guy with a dagger (he also had a longbow) on turn two of combat.

>are you really sure you want to do that?
Yeah, someone's got to do it

He fell unconscious next turn and failed three death saves in a row. He then rolls up a barbarian to play this time. Today I have them all fight another group of mercs and everyone else does the same thing as last time (we've added one more warlock since then). This time the barbarian decides to run around the enemy to get behind them.

>what are you doing?
I want to sneak behind them and take them out that way

mfw

>>49898622
why are you throwing groups of 12 mercenaries with no ranged options against your players?

>>49898622
Oh boy, you would fucking hate having me in your group.

>>49898455
Dwarves are hands down the most interesting race lore wise in well developed settings. Their tropes are pretty worn out and tired tho.

The deep roads from dragon age is probably my favorite fantasy concept ever.

>>49898642
A few of them had longbows to fire back. It was pretty much scouts and spies from the MM

Party I'm joining has a life cleric who goes melee alot, a mage, a shadow monk/warlock, a eldritch knight I'm thinking forest circle druid or the latest version of hunter ranger. Are either of those okay to help round out the party?

>>49898790
I've never really worried about "rounding out a party". Just play what you want, do your best to work together with what you have, and have fun

>>49898622
There's always that one player who insists on trying to use melee when it's clearly a REALLY FUCKING BAD IDEA

The mercs sound like their intelligence scores are that of children, though. Why would they all just keep charging after while a group knocks them all down with ranged attacks?

>>49898790
Just do whatever, as long as you're doing things differently to the other players (i.e. if there's a warlock who eldritch blasts all day long, becoming a warlock who eldritch blasts all day long seems like a bad idea.)

>>49898826
He's mostly monk so he spends most of the time stabbing or punching/kicking people.

>>49898790
Yeah, what the others said.
They're all basically rounded out anyway.
But if you must, maybe someone who is cha focused since the monk probably won't be putting a lot into Cha despite being a warlock (I'm assuming he's probably warlock3/monk17 and planning on casting darkness shenanigans).

>>49898980
The party is level 8

>>49897991
I think there was an article that linked to some new paths at design guild, one might have been along those lines.

>>49899016
And yeah darkness shenagins

>>49898810
This. Your DM should come up with encounters that go with your group not the other way around

>>49899016
>>49899033
I'd just say whatever you pick make sure you have some decent range options since it seems like a lot of your party likes to get up in melee.

Why not a smooth talking swashbuckler?
Your shadow monk can probably infiltrate just fine, so you don't need to be sneaky. But maybe someone who can talk your group out of shit when they need it.

>>49899166
Carry a crossbow with you in case things get ranged. But otherwise have fun stepping in and out of melee like a crazy swashbuckler.

>>49898435
Any full caster, although they aren't THAT much better than the rest (mostly).The only objectively bad class choices are
Frenzy Barbarian - Exhaustion sucks, intimidation is poor action economy, retaliate is only okay since you can work with your group to better use your reaction
Champion Fighter - Fighter isn't bad, but Champion isn't good, picking this is like saying, "yeah, fighter was okay in 3.5"
Wot4E Monk - Weeaboo trash, spend your very small long rest resource pool on shitty spells while leaving your middling melee ability to rot
Any Ranger - The phrase "Don't mess with Texas" came about to stop littering in Texas, and here we have a good example of garbage dumped in the wilderness while at the SAME TIME making fun of Texas Rangers. They are outclassed in everything (except tracking), they don't get any bonuses against favored enemies until 20 (only once a turn at that, to hit), they have the spellcasting ability of the paladin and EK without the smites or buffs, Hunter path gets shit for abilities and Bestiality path uses YOUR action to attack with your zoomate, while for comparison Wizards use a bonus action to command skeletons.

>>49899166
>I'd just say whatever you pick make sure you have some decent range options
Which is why I'm thinking ranger or druid to attack from range along side the mage.

>>49899208
Have you the latest version of ranger in UA it's not bad.

>>49899264
I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but that's UA. This is the standard ranger everyone can find in a PHB that they need to play the game effectively. My mockery of PHB Ranger does not reflect on possible changes suggest by UA.

>>49899235
Either of those would be fine, I will point out UA ranger is much better. Beast master might be a little too good, I'm still on the fence but I'm DMing for a party that has one.
Do what most interests you.

>>49899320
You did say 'any ranger', anon.

>>49899456
He obviously meant "any actual ranger"

UA is not official. It's slapped together homebrew that goes out monthly

It's still made by the devs. Don't be this pendantic.

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My players are really bad at imagining stuff, despite me often reading them a paragraph or so of description for things

how do I help my players visualize stuff better? I'm not shelling out hundreds for stupid plastic walls and shit.

I've just been using a battlemap with the appropriate theme (IE if they're in a dungeon I use a cobblestone battlemat) and drawing the walls and stuff with a marker. For really important things I have some of those old cut out things WotC used to make, think they're called "dungeon master essentials" or something

I hate to sound like an old jaded grognard but I really think video games and stuff have completely destroyed their imaginations, they are incapable of visualizing things for themselves. I had to show them a picture of every npc they meet (which has been rectified by me getting that pathfinder npc codes box, not really a big issue anymore)

I always show them a map of the town they're in or the general area or etc. How do you guys do this stuff? It's easily the hardest part of gm'ing for me

>>49899629
It's made by like one, maybe two guys.

most of UA is pretty trash, like Theurge

>>49899649
Except the UA ranger is actually good and should be the immediate replacement to the shithouse ranger in the PHB.

>>49899649
Don't be the shit who rejects a solution because it's not core.

>>49899406
If I go ranger of I'll be using the latest UA version of course.

>>49899635
Shit man, I don't give them hardly anything so they rely only on what I tell them is there. The only exception to this is when there's a battle with multiple enemies that I expect to take many rounds, then I draw a basic lay of the land on a mat.

Are they paying attention when you describe things? Make sure you say things with proper dramatic voice. Occasionally drop in little details but don't do it too much or they'll tune you out.

People don't want to hear you just list of a ton of things. That shit is hard as fuck to keep track of. Make sure they've got the basics down. Feel free to give heavy descriptions if its purpose is to set the mood. But don't task yourself over recounting every bottle and chair.

In my opinion, less is often more, as it forces them to fill in the gaps. And when they need to fill in the gaps they'll imagine what they want to imagine. Just make sure the gaps they're filling in for themselves aren't critical points so there's no dispute. And let them ask you questions if they have them, and you can just make them up on the spot.

>>49899693
>>49899705
As someone currently DMing for a UA ranger, my only restriction on it is multiclassing.

I've basically decided I'd let someone dip out of it if they want, but no one can dip into it until they tweak it for multiclass purposing. Meaning, I'd probably make them commit 10 levels to it if they wanted to MC it.

>>49899777
Well, okay, maybe not 10 levels. That was an exaggeration. But enough that they're committed and not just getting the nice level 1 shit.

I'm not worried about it though. My players aren't really power-gamey.

I played with 3rd, 3.5 and pathfinder, barely touched 2.5 thanks to baldur's gate....hated 4rth...is 5th any good?

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>>49899787
Yes, 5e is good. Pretty good, some might say.

>>49899787
I think it's pretty good.
Memes aside, it's actually pretty good.

>>49899208
>PHB ranger is outclassed in everything but survival
well meme'd

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So my players were gifted some Cockatrice-feather coats by the mayor in exchange for cleaning the mountaintop.
Should it have something special about it? I'd love some suggestions.

>>49899693
>>49899705
the revised ranger just front loads the fuck out of ranger

if that was official pretty much anyone would greatly benefit from dipping 3ish levels into ranger

>>49899933
I think if they moved some abilities back a few levels it wouldn't be broken to dip. Maybe 3 or 4 for the currently level 1 bonus round thing?

>Staff of the Phyton
"If the snake is reduced to 0 hit points, it dies and reverts to its staff form. The staff then shatters and is destroyed. If the snake reverts to staff form before losing all its hit points, it regains all of them." It takes an action to make it become a snake and a bonus action to make it revert. So you could just keep activating and deactivating the staff every other round and have pretty much an immortal snake? If so, that's pretty dumb.

>>49899918
Seeing as a cockatrice doesn't really have anything cool in the feathers, maybe something like a resistance to petrification or a bonus to saves against it, depending on party level.

>>49897878
if you mean "archer-esq character, who is using magic instead of bow" warlock
if you mean other shit, other people including yourself have answered

>>49900248
This unless Seeker becomes a archetype of ranger these are your options.

Can you take levels in multiple sub-classes of the same class?

eg. Can I take Diviner 6/Enchanter 2 to get Portent and Hypnotic Gaze, at the expense of their higher level abilities and spells?

If not, would it be game breaking to allow it?

>>49899918
no

have the next NPC they talk to point out how worthless they are

>>49900595
Nope. You can't multiclass as the same class, even with differing specializations.

Puzzles? Puzzles.

I'm looking for some good puzzles.

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>>49897538
So, I have a bit of a question here.
Can water elementals be blessed to become Holy Water elementals?
I assume the cost would be for the equivalent amount of blessing ordinary water. Itd be expensive, but it seems possible to me.

>>49900674
But would it break the game to allow it?

>>49900715
Nope. It would end up weaker overall.

>>49899208
Monk Ki comes back on short rests, but I agree that Wot4E lackluster at best.

>>49900731
Breaking works both ways

Fuck me but SCAG is boring as hell to read. I've been reading about 10 pages a night.

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I'm DMing a bunch of normies in a couple days--all of whom have never played DnD before. Jesus christ. I'm excited to indoctrinate them to DnD and they all are very enthusiastic but I don't even know where to start. I'm an experienced player and DM but ive never had to train up an entire group before. How the hell do I do this, /5eg/?

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>DMs that have you start at level one
>Or worse, DMs that have you be level 1 for longer than one session

>>49901180
They want a generic intro. You meet in a tavern, get given a fetch quest by some wealthy weirdo, fight some kobolds and a baby dragon boss monster, get the thingy, get paid and level up.

>>49901205
I am more concerned with "how the hell do I explain and introduce DnD to a bunch of people who have no idea how to play it". Do I make them build characters? Do I give them premade characters? Do I explain all the rules beforehand or just plunge them into it?

Idk. I can't even remember how I was introduced to DnD.

>>49901244
Session zero, build characters with them, explain key mechanics, ask them to study the rest in their own time but not to worry too much about it since, as the dm, you can always tell them how to make certain checks and shit.

>>49897538
Staff of power, it was so blasty that it let me take more rp spells. Also intimidated another fellow mage during a encounter by teleporting and threating to break the staff in his face if he didnt stop the fight.

>>49901596
He knew what it was just by looking at it? What's to stop me from threatening to break some random staff in anyone's face claiming it'll detonate? If the staff of power has a well known appearance, just make a fake.

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A question for you all.

What would be some good themes to build around a Sorcerous origin like the Technocyte virus? basically people who survived infection by magic nano machines meant to turn people into organic metal soldiers but instead unlocked their sorcerer powers?

How would you port over the fun 4e combat?

>>49901649
Make a new hybrid system

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>>49901649
>>49901658

>>49901197
I once joined a game where the DM required us to play through 3 sessions before leveling up each time. He said it was because he wanted "people committed to the game". Said DM also had obscenely overpowered DMPCs and sent a party of levels 1-3 against a I think 3 Winter Wolves (which could use their Cold Breaths as a bonus action, no recharge required) and 2 Frost Giants. What followed was one of the worst, most frustrating fights I've ever been a part of. We only survived because one of us seduced and got engaged (!) with one of those OP DMPCs.

I never got back for a second session.

>>49897576
Is a pretty good feature, not broken, the problem is that the fucking subclass gives it at 1st fucking level, at those levels, yes, is super effective.

>>49901197
Been there, it took them 7 sessions to reach 3rd level, 4 hours each. I said took them because I left at 5th session due other problems related to the game (GM being a cunt was one)

>>49899787
Is more balanced than 3.PF, more simple, easier. But lacks the infinite options these two systems have, in fact 5e is, as now, very lacking in the option department.

They're also different in the powerlevels, and thefore the genre, one is superheros with swords and magic and the other is more into the mundane stuff.

>>49898435
Paladin is the all around best class. Barbarian is also a pretty good powerhouse, but their only consistent damage comes from the rage damage which is just a +2.
People tend to say that full casters are the greatest, but in my experience playing, most of them just get their squishy shit pushed in every fight. The only spells that seem to be consistently effective are healing spells for picking up unconscious allies, and Fireball for clearing out mobs of fodder. But a lot of people who play casters don't like to think that all they're good for is popping Sleep at low levels and Fireball at mid, so they spend their slots fiddling around with weird shit that doesn't really work well because of lot of spells have it so that nothing happens if the enemy passes their save or the effect just isn't as good as putting out a lot damage. So then the enemies run up and turn the magic user into a mashed up squirming pile of red jelly on the ground because a bunch of martial type enemies running straight at a caster who is dicking around with Color Spray or something is like a herd of tigers descending upon a crippled fawn whose mother can't protect it.
The most ineffective thing I see frequently is when our Bladesinger spends a third level slot to cast Haste on THEMSELVES and then flings their own d6 hit die asses into melee to start swinging a pair of dinky butter knives at a single enemy that deals little to no damage to that single enemy. All of the casters that get Extra Attack from an archetype seem to think that makes them good in melee despite having shit HP and nothing that augments their weapon damage like every martial class gets.

>>49901630
We were in a populated city , they were a group of assasins (the mage was their leader), we were their target, so they knew a few things about us.
They wanted to do a quick hit and run attack when we were talking with a petty noble in his house at night.

One player fleed our of the encounter to call the guards and i did to get some time, but at the end rolled pretty well. It was also desesperate measures cos they hit us pretty hard at the start.

>>49901954
>letting enemies reach you

lrn2caster

>>49901954

finally someone with an ounce of intellect, wizards are fucking autistic and I would rather have a cleric or bard in my party any day

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>there are DMs somewhere that don't allow players to use the new UA ranger and instead force the player's handbook ranger upon them

>>49901954
My warlock/favored soul was tied to the battlemaster in the group to be honest. I was twinning BBs or quickening GFB with another GFB and dealing tons of damage.

>>49902026
This is D&D after all, shitty fanbase (GMs and players) come with the package

>>49902045

>UA cheese build being effective

amazing

>>49901649
When did this meme start

When 4e was around, it was just "blah blah tabletop mmo". Now you guys circlejerk about it all day

Why? Because of per-encounters and at-wills? Just add per encounters and at wills to every 5e class, and add them to monsters and npcs, and shut up.

Or just fucking play 4e instead of bitching in 5e threads. Oh wait nobody actually wants to play 4e because it sucked ass so hard it basically created the system that is now DnDs biggest competitor

>>49902057
>Cheese
Kek, I only used the favored soul for the armor proficiency, if I started with one level with whatever martial or cleric I would have got the same while being more cheese because tripple multiclass.

But yeah, Cleric/Sorcerer/Warlock, still not "squishy" and still tied with the Battlemaster with GWM mind you.

>>49902081
Stop dismanteling his flawed argument, anon, and just believe him that casters are weak in 5e.

How good is Valor bard? I'm switching from 3.5 where I played a bard and Lore just seems way better.

>>49902091
Is a good gish, but like everything in 5e, the good stuff comes too late.

>>49901954
Our wizard in LMoP was, by far, the dude with more AC, and he wasn't bladesinger. Just a dude with 16 Dex and the glassstaff. He never fell unconscious, unlike my bearbarian who seemed to spend half his day unconscious.

>>49901954
That because you havent seen a good wizard.

For starters if you want to do save or suck shit, the best thing you can do is to pick a divination school.

Also 1 o 2 clairvoyance 1 mile away before entering in a dungeon helps a lot.

Evard tenclates, web , fear , enlarge or hold person; can tide of an encounter if well placed. Better if you make that petty enemy caster autofail that save ,so your figther autocrit him with an action surge. And im only talking about lvl 4 spells.

A wizard need coordination, in a group of wild murdehobos isnt gonna do shit.

>>49902081

When I saw warlock and 'favored soul' my mind thought of UA, and then I thought of Undying Light, which you didn't mention at all. My mistake. Unless you were also undying light, in which case shame on you.

That's a very specific build and playstyle though, far from what you would do as a regular sorcerer or wizard.

>>49902126
What's wrong with Undying Light?

>>49902126
I played a Paladin/undying light/dragon sorcerer but in another game and at high as fuck level. No, I was fiend tomelock, undying light wasn't released yet at that time.

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So how "evil" can I make my Paladin in 5E anyway ? Not "oh, I'm an assassin now time to usurp the king for money" but a vain, self-righteous authoritarian that can declare a crusade of genocide against what he deems as evil races so that the good races can live in peace or even expand.

Picture somewhat related. Not in the big tits waifu department, but that smug sense of superiority and cleanliness when you stand over corpses of monsters you just slaughtered.

>>49902157
Can pretty much do whatever as Oath of Vengeance

>>49902157
Paladin of the crown can be that.
In the sense of someone that think of himshelf one of the gentile people, with a noblesse oblige but treats peasants like shit, and kills enemies of the state with that lolita pic related pose.

>>49902026
They are were badly bullied and dming gives them a semblance of power, which immediately goes tob their heads.

So, casters are actually weak pieces of shit in this system? Casterfucks would be so mad.

>>49902149

Super frontloaded multiclass bait that adds your ability mod to fire and radiant spell damage at level 1, when clerics get this at level 8, sorcerers at level 6, and evo wizards at 10. It's also an archetype for one of the most front-loaded multiclass friendly classes in the game, just to compound it.

It's UA, basically.

UA is okay in that Wizards is actually trying to cater to player's demands, which is a step up from what Paizo is doing.

>>49902196
It was made to help the weak bladelock to stay away from being a EB turret like any other warlock, but kinda backfired a little. I still don't find it broken at all, just good. Even if you mix it with dragon sorcerer and pick the necrotic to melee damage invocation its damage is still way below focused martials while still having meh AC and HPs.

>>49902191
Bards and Wizards would like a word with you.

>>49902211
Also fire damage, one of the easiest to resist.

>>49902213
>>49902191
And clerics and druids (moon though).

>>49902196
Those are full casters with tons of spells, warlocks have 2-4 spells per short rest and up to 5th level.

>>49902211

Their 6th level feature is also retarded. Every other warlock patron gets a single reactionary effect to save their ass or some kind of insurance, but undying light gives you 50% more HP and a fucking flashbang.

If everyone gets the same number of spell slots, what benefit does the Sorcerer have over a Wizard to make up for their versatility?

Be glad you chucklefucks get playtestable albeit powerful shit, PFers get nerfs.

>>49902244
Metamagic

>>49902256
>PFers get nerfs
Only if you're a martial or monk related

>>49902275
That's a class feature though, Wizards get those too

>>49902285
Are you innately retarded or you actually train? yeah, a fighter also gains features, what's your point?. Metamagic adds versatility to sorcerer to make up what it lacks compared to wizards. He can duplicate, modify, increase damage, range, sacrifice high level spells to get more low level spells or recast spells using metamagic and sorcery points.

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Does anyone have a link to this she sheet? The original hasn't been taken down and the website is in Italian so is in italian so, no luck there.

>>49902282
That's still pretty fucked up.

>>49902299
LIQUIIIIIIID!

>>49902302
When I play PF, which I don't do often thank god, I play it like it's meant to be Mage: The Ascension, anything that isn't a caster is going to be shit and is intended by the system to be shit. Want to play a "martial"? I play Inquisitors and Magii

>>49902318
Nice.
Also, thank Christmas martials get options in the form of PoW.

Speaking of, 5e should get something similar for its martials.

>>49902329
The powerlevel in 5e is pretty fucking low, if you put something like PoW you'll destroy any balance

>>49902299
There you go.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1102

>>49902362

How does that work? That seems like something that would be easy to scale up/down.

>>49902380
what do you want to add? more damage? martials already do lots of damage.
Better maneuvers? if you have good Str and athletics you can do maneuvers to almost all monsters and pretty much almst never fail. Srly, shit like Rogue with expertise in Athletism or Raging Barbarian can already land maneuvers on anything.
What do you seek from PoW? supernatural effects like flight and stuff? 5e hates flight unless is a spell or a 12+ level feature

>>49902362
>>49902380
You could always scale that back to suit the fucking power level.

>>49902422

>What do you seek from PoW?

Versatility.

>>49902060
It was always around, now all the players are gone the DMs, who actually liked a simple yet engaging encounter building system remain.

Rate my homebrew concept.

College of Tricks
Bonus Proficiencies
When you join the College of Tricks, you gain proficiency in Deception and Sleight of Hand. If you are already proficient in either of those, choose any other proficiency.

The Pledge
At level three, you learn the cantrip prestidigitation. If you already know it, choose another bard cantrip.

You may cast prestidigitation as a bonus action. When you cast prestidigitation, you can choose to stow an item you are holding in an extraplanar space. Or you can choose to withdraw an item from the extraplanar space instead. The extraplanar space is unlimited, but can only hold items or creatures that can easily be held in your hand, and that weigh no more than 5 lbs. Items withdrawn from the extraplanar space appear in your hands. If you use your action this turn to use an item withdrawn from the extra planar space, then you can add your charisma modifier to any ability checks or attack rolls related to that item, this turn, but only if the item is not a weapon.

The Turn
At sixth level, you gain the ability to manipulate the positions of creatures all around you, within 30 feet. As a bonus action, you may expend one of your bardic inspirations to move a creature. Choose a creature to make an intelligence saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, roll a bardic inspiration die, and that creature disappears and reappears a number of feet away in any direction equal to the result plus your charisma modifier.

The Prestige
At 14th level you take power from uncertainty. Whenever an enemy reduces you to zero hitpoints, you can expend a use of your bardic inspiration to reveal that it was a clever ruse on your part, and that you narrowly escaped.

Roll a bardic inspiration die. You appear up to 30 feet away from where you were reduced to zero hitpoints, with a number of hitpoints equal to your roll. You appear by bursting from some cover, or something previously obscuring you.

>>49902689
Looks cool, though rearranging possitions can be pretty strong

>>49902689
>roll bardic inspiration die
>1
>You move target 1 ft
>Squares are 5ft

>>49901009
It's not exactly a book to just sit down and read.
Pick at the stuff that interests you. Read it while you're shitting.

>>49902729
Only if you have zero charisma. Since most bards will have plus five to charisma, the standard builds will always move it at least a square.

The only risk of failure is right where you get it, where a standard point buy bard will have plus three to charisma, messaging the minimum result is 4 feet, and only on a one. A crit failure if you will.

Non standard builds that sacrifice charisma or bad rolls may have variant results.

With that elaborated, would it be better to add your proficiency bonus to the total as well?

Or something else?

>>49902767
Have 14 Cha, roll 1, you move target 3ft, squares are still 5ft
Have 16 Cha, roll 3, you move target 6ft, suares are still 5ft
Etc
The problem is not having low Cha, is that squares are 5ft long, make the feature be on multiples of 5ft

>>49902362
>if you make what is essentially a reskinned Warlock you will break the game
PoW/ToB would be super easy to do, but while they are popular on /tg/ they are not all that popular.

>>49902815
Or you just say "rounded up"

>>49902832
Except PoW/ToB aren't reskined warlocks, they'd be martial/warlocks gestalts. That works in 3.PF because martials there are weak as fuck, but in 5e they're already stronk and some pretty fucking versatile

One of my players wants to be an Undead of some sort.

Revenant is too specific and focused.

What do?

>>49902689
>level 3
Doesn't compete with the other two main colleges, which give significant combat benefits such as higher AC, adding bardic inspiration to attacks, cutting words, counterspell earlier...

>intelligence saving throw
More like charisma saving throw.
Level 6 isn't strong enough to make the college worth it yet.

>level 14
Basically discourages you from using your bardic inspiration for anything but endlessly spamming this ability, since the only other thing you'd do is boost someone's skill.
Not strong enough to make the college worth it, and I think it'd be better to give the bardic inspiration die using ability as the level 3, not a level 14 feature.

>>49902815
I worry that multiples of five would be too powerful with later bardic inspiration. You could move enemies 85 feet, 11 squares.

>>49902841
Sure, but that wasn't in the feature.

>>49902860
That's a really vague and unfocused complaint about the revenant. Could you elaborate on it?

>>49902767
>+5 CHA at level 6
doubt.jpeg
the ability shouldn't only work for optimised characters.
make it 5ft+mod rounded to nearest 5ft

>>49902887
This seems like the best.

>>49902885
I'm guessing from context they mean revenants are single-mindedly obsessed with 1 goal - if the party has more than one objective there'll be problems

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>>49902885

He doesn't wanna have a specific goal that drives him that he must complete and then die, he basically wants Undead as an established race kinda like the Divinity series or Forsaken from Warcraft.

>>49902862
Not OP but level 6 feature can be pretty strong because:
1. Int is pretty weak among monsters
2. If cliffs, bonfires, etc

I like 3rd level feature a lot, but I'm a sucker for bonus action cantrips like prestidigitation, taumaturgy, etc

>Endless spamming 14th feature
It' only triggers when you're going to fall unconcious from HP damage, anon, I hope that doesn't happen "endlessly" because you'll be dead before you reach that level

>>49902909
3. Use Booming Blade and then move him Xft with The Turn
Profit

>>49902903
Maybe switch that feature with something like UA Warforged's Construct Nature?
Obviously change it to Undead Nature though

>>49902900
>>49902860
If this is the case, just remove the goal stuff.

Change the coming back to life bit. Instead of coming back to life, you don't die due to dismemberment, or wounds, only disintegration and burning. Instead, you fall unconscious for 1d12 minus your Constitution modifier hours. At the end of those hours, you wake up, and if your arms are still around they can try to collect and connect any missing body parts.

>>49902924
Forced movement doesn't trigger Booming Blade, if it did there's already tons of features that let you do that (even other cantrips like Thorn Whip).

>>49902856
I'm saying in 5e they are essentially paladin/warlocks, and not broken.

>>49902924
Doesn't work. The target has to move willingly.

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Right, so, because my players hate me and hate their characters and hate the idea of their characters surviving for more than three minutes in the Underdark, I have been informed that they each of them intend to role up arcane primary casters for Out of the Abyss.
- A Storm Sorcerer
- A wizard (don't know what tradition yet)
- A Bard (don't know what college yet)
- And I don't know what the fourth one is going to be but I guarantee he'll go along with the rest of the group and probably roll up a warlock.

So, the main purpose of the fellow prisoner NPCs is now to be non-arcane casters that can keep these chucklefucks alive in the Underdark.

Ever had your players do something stupid like this before the game even began, /5eg/?

>>49902949
>>49902951
Reading comprehension at its finnest
Opponent has to move back to you to attack you...not when you move him

>>49902924
Or if the enemy has Int too high, use it in yourself

>>49902958
I mean, you could outright tell them they're going to probably have a bad time with a party like this. Or you could just let it happen and see if they learn when their PCs start dying and they have to make new characters.

>>49902965
In that case let me quote myself
>there's already tons of features that let you do that
They're also way more effective than "The Turn", especially Swashbuckler because you can just hit them and walk away.
Also it's not like they're compelled to move to you and it won't work on large or reach creatures at all as they'll be in range.
So yeah, sorry I thought you had an idea that would be useful if it fit RAW but turns out you're just an idiot who doesn't know about existing class features.

>>49902994
>and walk away
The target you hit, if you're surrounded you can't, while with The Turn you can essentially teleport yourself

>>49902958
Did they come in on the back of 3.x/PFe? Cos they might be thinking casters are the supreme shit.

>>49902903
As a WoW player that plays a Forsaken, just off the top of my head something like this might work but I'm not a homebrewer so could be broken.

+2 Con and +1 Wis or +1 Dex
Can give them Chill Touch to simulate Touch of the Forsaken.
Don't need to eat or drink, but can.
Maybe immunity to charm effects, but that's probably stepping on the Elves' toes.
Or something like advantage on a death save every short rest.
Just throwing some ideas around.

>>49902887
>make it 5ft+mod rounded to nearest 5ft
That's 10ft always, anon

>>49902862
About the level three, sites this really not compete? It seems only limited by your creativity, and what you can scrounge up in the campaign.

The goal when making it was too make a creativity type feature, and also one to replicate the fight scenes from the now you see me series (a terrible movie series, but still enjoyable for watching the magicians mess with people).

So the kinds of things I imagined people using for this would be making attacks with handcuffs to restrain people, or taking out a surprise bottle of alchemist fire. It's also supposed to give the bard an attack boost with improvised weapons, but that may not have been clear.

A few other questions:

Why should the level six be a charisma saving throw?

Are you not afraid that giving an escape death type feature at level three would be too powerful? That was my biggest problem with the shadow sorcerer.

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>>49902988
That's Plan A. I'm just glad that I decided to have the prisoner NPCs have actual class levels and, by coincidence, made none of them primary arcane casters.

>>49902937
>>49902944

What about turn undead/healing etc. Are revenants considered Undead or just humanoid gameplay wise and undead rp wise?

>>49903038

I can probably build something off of this, just not sure if they should be Undead (immune to healing, necrotic etc) or just be regular but flavorful.

>>49902958
I've had all caster parties before, it usually works out quite well.

>>49903037
No, they know for a fact that this is probably a terrible idea. They're just doing it anyway.

Although even in 3.PF this would be a terrible idea since Abyss starts at level 1 and 3.PF Caster Edition doesn't really begin until level 5 or so.

>>49902720
In 5e? How?

Unless you are retrofitting in all the "optional" positioning related shit from the DMG, it's basically worthless.

>>49903014
No, you teleport the creature, and it'll probably be either 5 or 10 feet.
Warlock feature is a better push, especially with extra EB rays, Swashbuckler can move their whole speed away too.
Either way Rogues have bonus action disengage.
"Surrounded" is unlikely for a full caster unless you're dumb.

>>49903044
...No, it isn't? Nearest, not specifically up or down.
5+0 -> 5
5+1 -> 5
5+2 -> 5
5+3 -> 10
Etc.

>>49902958
Wizard is going to have a shit time in OoA.

>>49903057
Give the player a chance against turn undead, like a wisdom saving throw. I can't remember if that's how it already works.

If he's a cleric, give him a turn the living feature instead of turn undead.

>>49902909
The problem is that it's too much of a gimmick, I think.

It's not useful except for just being annoying and not dying, really. It's not underpowered I'd say, but when you consider the rest everything I'd call it an underpowered level 14, and it doesn't really help your team much other than helping you not die.

Valor bards help their team by using their bardic inspiration to increase damage, to-hit or whatever, and they get a higher AC and better attacks when they're not casting non-cantrip spells.
Lore bards get good spells like counterspell, can save teammates from being hit from cutting words, get a bunch of skill proficiencies, that stuff.

I don't think an option that gives
>you can hide things and then pull them out again for sudden bonuses if you use that item
>you can teleport people off cliffs, if there are any
>you can use your bardic inspiration to not go down
Really competes. Each of the abilities has fairly niche use, rather than the broad applications the other colleges give.

>>49902958
I don't know, as long as they can keep themselves from being ambushed they should be pretty solid. Bard can take valor for AC and wizard can pop shields and stuff.

Storm sorcerer seems like a bad idea, though. Dragon sorcerer would be way better.

>>49903069
Maybe not in your games, but ours have cliffs, pits, and other dangerous shit, moving targets with Int saves can be pretty strong, not gamebreaking, but pretty strong, I wouldn't change the feature, but maybe make it more clear and that fits into the square system.

>>49903086
To help things along I turned one of the Drow Elite Warriors in Velkynvelve into a Drow Mage. That way Velkynvelve has a spellbook and a spell component pouch in it that the PCs can try and steal.

>>49903057
Undead aren't immune to either of those things this edition.
"Undead Nature. A (blank) doesn't require air, food, or sleep."
The common immunity they all share is poison, which is a fairly common resistance anyway and without many other features I think it'd be fine to give them this or poison resistance.

>>49903081
Fuck, I read rounded up, yeah, you're right.

As for creature, you're a creature, you can target yourself.

>>49903118
Huh, fair point.
Forgot about that.

>>49902689
Fix the numbers on the 6th level feature and I would play the shit out of it.

>>49903048
The escape death could be the level 6 or whatever is later, but..

Level 3 doesn't really provide any combat advantages at all.
Sure, you can get creative, and try throwing alchemist's fire or something, but that's not a very effective combat tactic that relies on money.

There needs to be some sort of combat advantage it gives you at that level, probably added on.
Also, the other two main colleges give bardic inspiration die using features at level 3 rather than later. Though you can probably break that mould, it's probably good to vaguely follow the same pattern.

Charisma is to save against banishment, possession and basically mages telling you 'No, go to this plane. No, go to this spot. No, you may not teleport out of my cage. No, you have to tell the truth. No, fuck you, I'm bane.'

Intellect saves is for navigating magical mazes when nobody can be bothered to actually simulate said magical maze, or to think hard enough to resist psionics. If it's an intellect save, it seems very much akin to the bard and the enemy having a heated debate over where the enemy should be rather than forcibly teleporting them.

Level 3 should include the fun creative feature, but also include some combat capability.

Level 6 is actually pretty alright probably, though it could use some versatility. The distance is a bit short to use for teleporting yourself, and you don't always need to teleport enemies.
It could teleport an enemy a set amount and then deal inspiration- (cont...)

>>49903192
The level 3 feature sounds like the 3rd level feature from Bladelock to be honest but without Deception/Sleight of hands proficiency

>>49903048
(..cont) deal inspiration die damage or something, so it's more reliable and has a little more use since it does more than just move somebody.

Perhaps allow the level 6 feature to be used on yourself for free, but it only teleports you 5ft or 10ft or something.
Though, that would be pretty powerful as that's very much akin to 'cunning action' in a way. Then again, it probably balances out.

>>49903208
Yeah. The problem is bladelock sucks, and the level 3 pact option is much less significant than the bard colleges.

However, it does seem like a fun ability that needs to be kept.

It's different enough to wizard's conjuration, too. I think conjuration takes a full action, and can't be magical, but you don't have to actually obtain the item first.

>>49902887
That's rounding up, anon

>>49903244
What?
Are you saying I'm rounding up? (>>49903081)
Or they originally were?

>>49902767
>Since most bards will have plus five to charisma

I mean, eventually? But not quickly.

Do as Wizards does and balance around the Default Array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.

So a Bard will have a 15 Charisma by default. At most they can get this to 17 at level one, via half-elf.

By level 4 they'll have a 19, and by level 8, a 20.

Playing with a new group-

Any tips on dealing with not having darkvision? Sure, lamps and such are fine but kind of makes stealth difficult.

What's your favorite thing that you've run into/has happened to you in a dungeon?

>>49903343
Get your hands on Goggles of the Night.
I had one halfling player in a group who all had darkvision, the first thing I did was work out how to get him goggles so I wouldn't have to worry about lighting.
If you're playing a stealth character you're straight fucked without them.

>>49903343
Goggles of night or a bullseye lantern are you best answer. The bullseye lantern, though not the most stealthy, keeps light off of you so your enemies will have disadvantage to attack you if they also lack darkvision. Plus you can turn off or cover up the lantern if you hear something and need to hide fast.

>>49903343
2 levels in warlock

Starting up our first quest in 5e, just my wife and I for now. Is playing the DM as well as a character a good idea? Or rookie mistake?

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> "Hi, DM. So you've said we're playing Curse of Strahd?"
> "Well, since this is a campaign about fighting vampires, here's my character."
Wat do?

>>49903558
It kinda sucks but my best friend and I did it for years.

Do what you gotta do to play the game though. Sucky dnd is better than none. Just remember you'll have to tone down the encounters though.

>>49903558
Rookie mistake, and your players will likely hate you if you do it wrong. You WILL do it wrong.

>>49903558
It's fine.
With a lot of couples it also... goes places.
Hope you enjoy.

When I read through SKT I remember seeing some character with a grappling crossbow that lets you fight giants Attack on Titan style.
I can't find them now, though.
Anyone know who / what I'm on about?

>>49903615
I haven't read the book since I'm playing through it, but I've seen some interesting looking minis in the SKT boxes that would fit into what you are describing.

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Got on my computer and typed up some changes to it. I may have overbuffed a few features, and now I'm slightly worried that the level 14 feature and level 6 feature are redundant together. Thoughts?

>>49903558
One on one campaign? You could pull off giving her a whole party of allies, depending on the situation. Probably don't want to always do that but to an option. It's good advice to keep npcs relatively weak when you can though. I think the real strength of a one on one situation is the player can join and leave allies at will and as needed, depending how things go. The key is to keep your player relevant both mechanically and story wise, without going too hard into protagonism.

>>49903558
Enjoy the ERP. This is the only way to do it without it getting awkward.

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For a character with level 1 in all classes, what Warlock Patron, Cleric Domain and Sorcerer Origin would work best?

>>49903558
Depends on how well you do it. Don't steal the spotlight from the player(s) and most of all don't make dmpc stronger than them.

>>49903423
But if you're not lighting your tile, wouldn't you effectively count as 'blinded'?

>>49903865
No, because nothing is covering you eyes or inhibiting your sight, and there is light that allows you to see what's around you in a limited degree.

>>49901649
You don't.
Just give all martials maneouvers and easy access to magic that synergizes with Martial abilities.

How would it work if the entire party was mounted on the same horse?
If you have two protection style users, do they keep enemies in a constant state of disadvantage against each other?
Can I kill a commoner by throwing semen at it?

>>49903865
Not how light works.
That's like saying if you're standing in the dark and there's a guy under the street light you won't be able to see him. It's insane.

>>49903951
What the fuck are you talking about?

>>49903968
How does mounted combat work if the entire party is on the same mount?
Protection fighting style imposes disadvantage if you target someone within 5 ft of them, could you just have two protection paladins/fighters next to each other and always give enemies disadvantage to hit?
How do you go about killing a peasant, goblin, even dragon, with semen, or a splash of water if you prefer?

>>49903591
Let him play a Sun soul or Open hand monk.

>>49904005
Okay I'll give them a try in order.
I'm pretty sure you can't get multiple Medium characters on one Large mount. I could be wrong though.
I'm reasonably sure that yes, you could do that with Protection.
And for the last one I guess you could use Catapult.

>>49901649
Opportunity attacking is too powerful IMO, and stymies mobile combat. I want to preserve the ability for attackers to stop someone moving through their space. But right now it also stops people from moving out of their space in ways that aren't hostile to the things behind it.

So I'd make it first that opportunity attacks don't trigger if the opponent moves backwards out of your space, in a way that doesn't go through your space. So some way to establish which spaces are protected (probably just a general area of "behind").

Martials need more spell like options. 4e did this very well.

>>49902060
I think this is a problem with 5e combat in general. it's so simplistic that it doesn't have the longeivity that 4e had. Most of the complaints in 4e's time were by the same very vocal minority that sperged out in the beta test of 5e whenever martials got something more interesting than "I attack".

>>49903956
That's how it works in 5e.

"A heavily obscured area-such as darkness, opaque fog, or dense foliage-blocks vision entireIy. A creature in a heavily obseured area effectively suffers from the blinded condition (see appendix A)."

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>>49904035
>I'm pretty sure you can't get multiple Medium characters on one Large mount. I could be wrong though.
Well, it's not like couples don't take romantic rides on a horse together, whats wrong with increasing that number from 2 to 4-6? And if space becomes an issue, why not do this?

>>49904094
I don't think many romantic rides involve horseback combat, even if that would be more interesting

>>49903615
Anyone?
I'm certain I saw it but I can't find it for the life of me.

My players have a lantern that sparks when it comes into contact with salt water. They discovered this upon being splashed with water while pacing the deck of a ship trying to decipher its secrets.

Have not decided what it does when exposed to freshwater.

>>49904028
>Sun Soul monk
>Vampires aren't vulnerable to him

>>49904217
If doubles then it poops.

Essential DM tips?

>>49904271
It's hard to give advice generally without sounding like a hallmark greeting card.
Learn to say "yes and".
Your fun matters too.
If you want the players to do something, the steal something from them, or have a character slight them somehow, but don't overuse this.
No plan survives contact with the enemy.

If you ask for specifics, I can go into more detail.

>>49904094
At that proximity I'd say you surrender your ability to behave as a combat unit. Dismount then you have options.

>>49904271
One of the biggest things is learning to get better at improvising. No matter how much you think the players will do one thing, sometimes they're gonna do the complete opposite and you gotta make up your otherwise relatively planned session on the spot. You can also reuse hooks or locations you've already made if they don't follow your plans to get there originally.

>>49904005
>Protection fighting style imposes disadvantage if you target someone within 5 ft of them, could you just have two protection paladins/fighters next to each other and always give enemies disadvantage to hit?

Yes, but they're limited by their number of reactions anyway. That makes it so only 2 enemy attacks end up getting disadvantage.

So, my group has just gained access to 4th level spells and next session the druid might Polymorph the fighter/barbarian into a Giant Ape. Does anything carry over? If he is already raging, would the rage end? Alternatively, could someone maintain concentration on a spell while polymorphed?

>>49904601
Not sure about most of that but I believe you can keep concentration while polymorphed

>>49901244
try this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo_oR7YO-Bw

>>49904727
>25 minutes long
not that guy but... no way normies are gonna sit through that

>>49904601
>4th level spells
Man, I wish the games I'm in didn't end at 4th level period

Has anyone here ran the last chapter of Hoard of the Dragon Queen? I'm a bit confused with the map for Skyreach Castle. The Upper Courtyard has 4 towers, but the side view shows 5. What do?

>>49904601
RAI allows for concentration to continue. RAW it is never mentioned. By that measure I would think Rage would continue as well.

If you find that polymorph begins to cause havoc with encounter balance remember that polymorph changes the mental stats of the targetted character. The character retains their personality, but that is it. Personality is explicitly discussed in a chapter of the PHB.

Bottom line is they are a big monkey. Little to no tactical/strategic decisions. Little to no tool usage. They may try to protect there friends, but rarely will an ape risk its own death.

>>49904785
>side view shows 5
?

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I am new to Wizarding but imagine the following scenario:

I cast Disguise Self on myself (I'd use Alter Self but it requires concentration) and appear as some NPC who would have access to an otherwise restricted area, like a palace guard.
I then approach someone, for example the cook, cast "Suggestion" on him (which requires concentration), hand him a vial of poison, and tell him to continue with his day as usual, but without being seen put the poison in the king's food.

How many rolls would I need to pass to do this?
Would every single person I come across roll an Int check to spot the illusion? Would only the people who interact with me? Would the cook roll an investigation check for the illusion after being charmed by Suggestion? Is there any possibility he could remember my real face and not the illusionary one?

>>49904744
This is the first group I've been a part of that went this far, and possibly because I'm the DM and I'm very committed to keeping this game going even while having to replace players from time to time. Don't lose hope, anon. Or DM yourself, that's the most guaranteed way.

My other regular group has entered yet another hiatus as our 3rd (Yes, third. The first just ran one session and the second vanished when we were still 4th level.) DM has become a foster parent and needed some time to reorganize his life.

>>49904830
The map for Skyreach castle has a top view of the levels and a side view to help visualize things. The top view (and the castle description) has 4 towers, areas 17, 18, 19 and 22. The side view shows 5 towers on the upper level, 4 thin ones and a wider one at the back.

>>49904036
>I want to play a class that attacks things!
>How come all I can do is attack things?!

Martials should honestly just go drown themselves. Surprised they haven't somehow yet.

>>49904271

Basically, you should never say no to your players, but that doesn't mean that they should be able to succeed at everything.

>>49904934
>I want a class that cast spells!
>How come I'm not dominating the game at 4th level?!
Casters should too, to be honest

They need to roll a will save to tell you are disguised but even then cant see who you really are, also I think they have to have doubt that you're who you claim to be. So, you now need some deception checks to convince them you are perfectly normal [whoever you are pretending to be], then get in to the cook and hope he fails his will save. But it's pointless since the king's poison tester will die first and blow the whole thing.

>>49904271
Throw Balors at your player's PCs till they're dead.

>>49904975
meant for >>49904857

>>49904857
The way it's supposed to be done is that everyone passively investigates you, which chances are won't be enough to see through your disguise unless they're a wizard or something. You only roll when you're actively, intentionally doing something.

If you stray too far from the person's normal behavior or find yourself in a tough spot, you'll have to actively make Charisma checks, and if they fail, then they might in fact start thinking you're someone disguised as someone else. And since it's not a video game, they might just go ask someone well-versed in magic to help them instead of flipping a coin and shrugging it off.

But since most DMs are retards, I think that your plan will fail and he'll roll for every single NPC you come across multiple times.

>>49904973
I've never seen a caster complain about anything. It's really nice to be able to run up to enemies and wreck them, and fight for hours on end.

>>49905011
>walk down corridor casually
>"OI YOU, YOU AIN'T THE CAP'N, THE CAP'N WALKS WITH A 39CM GAIT, AND YOURS IS CLEARLY 41CM! REVEAL THYSELF, WITCH!"

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>>49905011
>But since most DMs are retards, I think that your plan will fail and he'll roll for every single NPC you come across multiple times.
Shit I just realized this is exactly what will happen

>>49904857
As a DM, here are the issues you're likely to face with a regional king:

1. When trying to get into guard-restricted areas, you'll either be disguised as a new guard or an old guard. As a new guard, you'll be suspect to suspicion and they may roll investigate to determine if you're using a disguise, if you do not pass a deception check. If you have the 'actor' feat, I would give you advantage on deception.
If you are disguised as an old guard, you are likely to become suspicious if you haven't studied that guard or people know they're not where they should be. If you have the 'actor' feat and have studied the guard, I would allow you to automatically succeed the deception check and thus only specific guards are likely to get suspicious (any more magical 'detect magic' guards).

Once you're past the guards, you may be subject to magical detection, such as through 'detect magic'. A regional king would certainly have mages who guard the palace, and eldritch knights are certainly a possibility. However, they're not likely to be constantly scanning everywhere, so you'll have to successfully try to avoid areas they may check over.

Entering the kitchens will likely require another deception check, exactly the same as the old deception check with the same conditions, although I would like to see a bit of acting on behalf of the player, too.

Also worth noting that if you use assassin's 'infiltration expertise' then ... (cont next post)

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>>49905046

>>49904857
(cont...) then you will only be able to be a 'new guard', but you will likely only need a deception check in the kitchens. A charlatan background can attempt to mimic this rogue level 9 assassin feature, although there will be probably checks to try to assume the identity and thus it would be harder.

The disguise kit the charlatans and others get would allow you to make a disguise that isn't magical and thus subject to magical detection, but you would have to roll for quality of disguise.

Anyway, moving on.

The kitchens would require you to make a deception as before to not seem suspicious. At no point is a failed deception an instant 'you've failed', but it may make things harder. If you critically fail without good modifiers though, you're likely gonna get a bit stuck.

Anyway.
You can quite easily try to hide your verbal portion of the 'suggestion' spell, but the cook will make a wis save and may very, very likely realize what you're doing if they pass it and you can't follow up with another suggestion fast enough.

If you do succeed, however (and please note suggestion requires you to 'make the suggestion sound reasonable') then the cook will probably do as said. They might make a deception roll themself, but they're almost gauranteed to pass it given their status. The only issue here is if somebody comes along and realises they're under suggestion.

If suggestion ends early, they will not definitely identify you but will realize they've poisoned food.(Cont)

As far as this whole "infiltrate the castle to suggest the cook" thing goes, why not just wait for the chef to leave the castle or something and suggest him then? Certainly he goes to inspect and purchase ingredients or something, right?

>>49904857
(Cont)
Once the food is poisoned, it will end up going to the king.

There WILL be poison testing. There are a few ways around that-
A) some sort of magical cover-up to make it resistant to the very low level poison detection spells that are likely to be used.
B) have the chef, if they are honoured as respectable, to somehow convince no poison testing on thefood.
C) Just get really lucky that the poison testers didn't give a shit that day and didn't do their job properly.
D) I don't know, something else is probably possible too. Imagination.
E) control the poison testers, too.

However, chances are you'll be found out. If it's found out the food is poisoned, you're likely to get away with it until they realize there's been an odd new face creeping around (if you fuck up on stealth, you're going to get busted, so you'd better get out of town). If you're incredibly lucky they might be gullible and not realize magical influence was in play and blame the chef.

...And that's an autistically overspecific guide to poisoning a regional king.

Oh, and then the king makes con saves. They are likely to be very tough con saves subject to the king's constitution score (which might be fucking terrible) but he will likely have people on hand who can easily fight against poison, so it's hit or miss.
I'd suggest taking out anyone who could help heal him.

>>49898455
I like hobbits because they're pretty lame relativley speaking, so a successful hobbit is a fun story to tell, and it gives a bunch of size based shenanigans.

>>49905237
>>49904857
Oh, one final note as if three posts wasn't enough:

This is what will really happen:

1. Your DM goes 'Lol no you can't kill my important NPC fuck you' and you automatically fail no matter what you do, ultimately.
2. Your DM goes 'I guess a bunch of people check you but then you get to the kitchen and drop the poison and then suddenly king is dead, you win. Well done.'
3. Your DM actually thought about the logical aspects of how hard it would be to poison a powerful king in a game with magic, and it would be not impossible but about as hard as what I just said if not a little easier for the sake of your fantastical fun.

Just make sure your DM knows what you're planning before you do it, because not everybody can be as autistic as I have just been on the fly.

Alternatively just fucking stab the king and kiss your life goodbye in your matyrdom.

>>49899505
>UA is not official
It's on the website of the company that prints the game dude

>>49905281
>Just make sure your DM knows what you're planning before you do it, because not everybody can be as autistic as I have just been on the fly.

Yeah I guess he should know ahead of time, otherwise on the fly he's just gonna roll a hundred dice and ruin our day

>>49899918
You could have merchants bother the players to buy it, withut them letting on that a cockatrice coat is rare due to the risk it poses to hunters.

>>49905371
The Cockatrice are being bred on a farm though.

>>49901640
Use this for inspiration: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/sorcerer/bloodlines/bloodlines-from-paizo/nanite-bloodline-sorcerer-bloodline

>>49904785
One is busted. You miscounted.

>>49899918
1. Looking cool. Cockatrices are real DO NOT WANT material if I remember right. At least in nethack, the number of horrible ways you can die to one is meme-spawning. This might help deter some creatures.
2. Resistance to targeted petrification of any sort. Immunity to any petrification that is unaimed, but doesn't target pretty much everywhere on the body (such as a petrifying slime). For example, a stray petrifcation ray is pretty much gauranteed to hit the coat and be absorbed, but a wizard aiming a ray will have a harder time but be able to aim around it and thus invoke resistance rather than downright immunity.
3. Not very practical to wear with other coats. Just a thing, there'd probably be a slight dex penalty or dex save penalty or something for wearing multiple coats, so if the party finds something else similar they'd have to choose when to wear it, rather than having constant petrification resistance.
4. It's warm. Like, fuck. Feathers evolved for warmth, among other things. They're fucking coats. Better chances of survival in cold environments or something useless.

>>49899505
>not official
The word is beta

>>49905425
> It looks cool, is a pain in the ass to wear, and has a mechanical effect that doesn't exist in the game

Wow, this is remarkably uninspired, anon.

If you liked that defensive effect, then it would grant advantage on saving throws versus effects that petrify. "Resistance to petrification" isn't a thing. The conditional immunity is mostly pointless pedantry that just makes it complicated, especially considering a Cockatrice doesn't have any particular defensive capabilities that would justify the distinction.

I would make it a Cloak of Protection (Attunement, +1 to AC and saving throws) that also grants advantage on saves vs petrification. Power-wise, it's scarcely better than a normal Cloak of Protection, but it's got the right flavor to make it feel unique and special.

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>>49905556
>arguing over the semantics of a sentence that clearly means you have a defensive bonus against petrification
not that guy but...

>>49899505
>UA is not official.
I hope that you are joking.

>>49905556
>giving everyone free cloaks of protection

To be honest, that's far more uninspired.

It's literally just blatant power bloat with no downsides whatsoever.

At least with only one cloak of protection there's a slight consideration of 'who would this be best on?'

>>49905598
This, I think the petrification effect is plenty considering he wasn't even sure he wanted it to have a mechanical effect

>>49902026
I currently wouldn't allow the UA ranger in my game. Why do you think it's necessary?

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>>49905613

>>49905422
Which one? I mean, I know the one with the vampire is crumbling, but the side view still shows one too many towers. There's the steering tower up front, the giant's tower at the back, and the high blue and crumbling towers in the middle, where the side view has 3 towers drawn.

>>49905705
17, 18, 19, 21, & 22 are the 5 towers.

the tomb of his wife is 1 of the towers

>>49904934
silly. the problem isn't lack of attacking, it's that the most optimal option in 95% of scenarios is to stand still and deal damage. It doesn't make for thrilling or tactically interesting combat.

>>49905778
>stand still
You would die in my games. Does everyone only fight on wide open flat spaces?

>>49905747
Huh. I considered that might be the case, but it is described as an "icy cyst" with no ways in or out, so I thought it was just part of the iceberg, not something with a tower on top of it.

By the way, did you play or run this adventure? Is there anything you thought was really cool and/or memorable that happened there? Any tips?

>>49905790
>moving in combat
>when doing so just provokes more attacks.

The most mobile game i've ever had was an all caster party, and only because they all had access to misty step.

>>49905778
I don't understand this mentality in 5e, unless people just don't read the book anymore.

Comparing it to 3.5, everyone gets spring attack and shot on the run for free. You can move before and after your attack action, and even between attacks. You can also sub those attacks for shoves/grapples/disarms (if allowed) with no penalty, though you might not be specced for them. You might take opportunity attacks for bouncing around, but there are ways around that (ranged weapons, reach weapons, being a 2nd level Rogue).

Honestly being a spellcaster is more stationary.

>>49905814
>not playing with rogues or monks
kek

>>49905804
It's kind of a disaster. From the beginning through the dragon hatchery the adventure is OK, but only OK. Then it is hot garbage until you take a keep, teleport to the Greypeak mountains, and sneak into a floating castle. That shit is dope.

I will say your players should never, ever be able to take the castle completely. It is loaded with powerful enemies (fucking two high CR legendary creatures). I would set the stakes high and the goals low - skip the middle chapters, make the castle mission about taking out Rezmir and stealing the black dragon mask, spend more time in Rise of Tiamat which is a decent adventure using Waterdeep as a hub for missions (and you have multiple missions you must take the whole adventure). You have to come up with some filler to stretch Rise of Tiamat from 8-15 to 6/7-15 but that's easy.

>>49904271
Establish that checks with things like perception or insight are your characters best efforts in finding these things and shouldn't be spammed.

>>49905814
Oh no anon! They lit a fire under your feet! You can stand still and be dealt damage or move - but wait the enemy is upon you! If you move they will attack you! What do you do?

>>49906002
Disengage

>>49906002
How many monsters actually produce hazards like that which encourage movement? It isn't many iirc.

>>49905387
How'd they farm creatures that can turn the farmers into stone

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>>49906054
Anyone who can cast second level spells for a start

>>49906093
Maybe they're genetically modified to be blind

How could I build a Shaman in 5e without rolling druid? I want to be able to talk to and see spirits. Also, a spirit animal guide is a must.

>>49906132
Cleric with Find Familiar?
BM Ranger? I don't know.

>>49906137
>>49906132
Maybe even a Wizard.

>>49906054
I was thinking of >>49906098, but there is Create Bonfire too.

It's not always about producing hazards, either.

Cover is important and can give +2 or +5 AC.

Ranged attacks are very good solutions against some powerful melee units. Climb a fucking tree or something.
If you're in melee, you want to position yourself so enemies can't run past you to your team without invoking opportunity attacks.

If your wizard casts 'cloud of daggers' then you might want to grapple and move an enemy through it.

If somebody suddenly needs protecting, you might start moving.

If you decide you need to retreat, you retreat.

If at any point you've stood in the same place for three consecutive rounds and only attacked rather than do anything else and this is a consistent problem (it might still happen in isolated occassions) then your DM isn't doing encounters properly.

>>49903065
Because sleep, colour spray, tasha's hideous laughter etc. come in later than level 1. They would suck in the abyss because that shit won't work on demons but anyone would die in the abyss at level one in 3.5.

>>49906093
A group of deep gnomes domesticated them a long time ago and brought them with them.

>>49906107
Surely blindfolds or just chucking tar in their face'd be easier

>>49905853
>having enough ki and bonus actions to deal damage, protect yourself and move during combat
I wish I played high level games too

>>49906002
Depends, if it's a bonfire I prefer it rather than moving away from a high level demon

>>49906255
My game's at level 4 I'm just not an asshole with short rests

>>49905946
Oh, I was just asking about the flying castle, to be honest. We're already knee deep in this adventure! I gotta say I did my best to make the middle chapters enjoyable, and I think my players liked them, even though I felt like it was going way too slow. Now we've picked up the pace: They got through the lodge, Parnast, and into the castle in the last couple of sessions, and shit's already going down.

They scared half of the kitchen kobolds into carrying a tremendous amount of food for the dragon, and poisoned one of the pieces with a Potion of Poison (which instantly does 3d6 poison damage, and has a save for other stuff which he unsurprisingly passed). Then they convinced the dragon that Rezmir had sent the food, while he wrecked all the poor kobolds. The party and Glazhael all went to the courtyard and he confronted Rezmir, who patiently explained he should not trust complete strangers more than long time allies, before sending him back to watch over the hoard and then turning around to face the party... And that's where we stopped.

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>>49906132
Fey warlock with a powerful nature spirit as your patron and hermit/outlander as your background for some tribal shit?
Nature cleric? Tribal bard that focuses on charming animals and illusiory ghosts who likes to bangs on the drum all day when he focuses on spells?

>>49906098
Most of the spell lists for monsters are are determined. You can modify them for a focus on hazards of course, but that's just more work the dm has to do to make combat interesting. A running theme with 5e design.

>>49906374
Going back to this, the bard idea could be really fun fluff-wise. You could use Magical Secrets to pick up Animate Dead and Phantasmal Killer and flesh them respectively as putting the souls of allied spirits into dead bodies and summoning an evil/dark spirit into the world of the living. Instead of seeing it as fake on a successful check, they simply realize it can't get them because its only quasi-real.

Not sure how viably it would be mechanically (phantasmal killer stinks from what I've seen), but fuck me if it wouldn't be neat.

>>49906416
It's work to run the game anyway.
Anyone too lazy to check a spell list is too lazy to bother using a monster's abilities properly anyway.

>>49906499
Of course dming is work. The point is that dming in 5e combat is more work than it should be.

>>49906416

Not that anon. I don't disagree with your essential complaint, but I think that complaint has been endemic to D&D's design since forever, so it seems like cherry-picking to start complaining about 5E.

And while this isn't exactly a defense of the (again, valid) complaint, it's also an imperfect comparison. 5E is essentially working only with the core books at this point, and core 3.5 is also really fucking dull. That's not really 3.5's fault that WOTC has changed it's content development strategy, but I'd point out that full-line 3.5/Pathfinder is littered with traps that can easily yield equally dull outcomes. So while DMs in 5E do need to do some work to keep combats interesting, it's just a different kind of work compared to prior editions.

(Except for 4E. That had plenty of problems but DMs having to work for combat wasn't one of them.)

>>49906608
That's a really good point. I'm extremely hopeful that volos guide is going to help fix this issue, partly by giving the dm ready made resources which will encourage mobile, interesting combat.

>>49906416
That's how it's always been, anon. Look up any given D&D monster manual and the spells are pre-determined instead of saying "this monster is an xth-level wizard/druid/whatever spellcaster, pick his spell list." In emergencies, this actually makes it less work for the DM.

>>49906644
I do too, though I'm skeptical.

My general tip for keeping combat interesting and challenging in D&D is, rather than focusing on these kind of tactical puzzles, add a strong narrative incentive to play suboptimally. Rescuing a prisoner, smash-and-grab some loot, killing a particular target, etc, all encourage interaction beyond, "I hit this guy until he drops and I can move again."

That said, it can improve the experience, but it's still not a perfect replacement for what you really want.

>>49906701
Yeah, the issue there is you can't feasibly do that for all or even most combats.

>>49906682
The difference in my experience has been 4e monster and class design encouraged interesting combat far more than 5e does.

Less work is needed, because you don't need to alter the npcs and monsters as often or as much, for instance.

>>49906701
Great advice again, and something I do.

I also look for ways to divide encounters across multiple rooms or stages.

So if the pcs are rescuing a prisoner like in your example, they might find that the gate controls are in another room from the prisoner's cell, and a guard started running down a long hallway looking to get reinforcements. This complicates the player decision making process, and helps to encourage mobility.

>>49905335
It's shit that needs to be playtested before it's actually released in a supplement, most of it is either hot garbage or imbalanced as fuck.

>>49905595
UA isn't official. Its shit the designers release to look like they are working so the player base will rework and fix for them. Its test mechanics and will fuck up game balance or break the game.

>>49906990
HEY!

Fuck you

As an exalted fan, we'd kill for half of what you get. All our writers give us is SJW garbage tweets

>>49906990
>being this much of a retard
Is all of it perfect or well balanced? No.
Is a most of it useable? Yes.
Especially if you use high-tier options like Wizards as a benchmark.

>>49907002
Example?

>>49907022
Sorry, I got drunk and berated their lack of progress on their kickstarter goals and now I'm blocked by them.

Worst part is that the other half of the company, the one that does World of Darkness has released a half dozen books and is open playtesting even more in the same amount of time it took them to release one.

>>49907021

You probably use D&Dwiki too

>>49907041
Iirc, wod is taken over by the sjws too.