/5eg/ D&D 5th Edition General

>>50116286
It's split between the players. The guy's making like 7 bucks an hour.

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>>50116264
How would you stat Brundlefly in 5e?

>>50116264
>Players: What's that crazy PC concept you have in mind from Volo's PC races?
Kobold monk.

i'm so sad about kobolds, i really like the whole no negative modifiers thing that they had going, the least they could do was give it +1 charisma as well

>>50116323
Outlander ranger, because life finds a way

Speaking of whips...I made a spiked chain/kusarikama that is basically a 2hd 1d6 whip that works with PM, yay or nay?

>>50116259
Whip and dagger have very niche uses, but aren't entirely useless. Greataxe is niche. Club is niche. Spear is niche.

Darts are completely redundant, worse than dagger.

Greatclubs are completely redundant, worse than quarterstaff.

Blowgun is completely redundant without DM giving effects to it.

Sling is pretty much redundant.

Sickles are pretty much redundant, under daggers.

Trident is redundant, under spear.

Flail, morningstar and war pick are pretty much redundant, under rapier.

>You plan great session for your group
>they decide they don't wanna do it
>fuck

How do you experienced DMs improv a rewarding session for your players when you've got no plans?

Worst and least common weapon is the sickle, prove me wrong you can't.
It's too complex for dumb humanoids to make, it's too weak for smart humanoids to purposefully wield, at best a farmer might wield it but then they have the option of tons of other farming implements to wield.

>>50116417
>farmer picks up broom
>quarterstaffs are better than sickles
yeah sickle has no place unless you ambush someone who's cutting their wheat

>>50116259
>>50116398
Also, fuck you whoever said nets are useless.

They're like a grapple, except you don't have to drag the enemy with you and you don't have to have a good grappling score, just a good to-hit.
Not to mention, 'restrained' is better than 'grappled'.

It's not great if you have extra attacks that aren't shared with a pet or if you have a really good athletics score, but it gives almost anybody the ability to restrain a creature as a simple attack versus AC.

>>50116404
There's a couple good videos on this subject, I like Matt Mercer's, but a few points I've learned are to keep track of what happens in the improv session and build on it later for rewards, try to have NPCs and generic esque loot info sheets on hand if you want in in session and if they go places you have no good notes for, try to just describe it from your mind as best as possible, focus on the five senses, give good description. Oh, having some good flavorful encounter tables is useful too.

>>50116388
i honestly can't believe whips couldn't be monk weapons. there's so many long chain weapons that were used in martial arts, but i guess it would just be too strong....

>>50116398
>Darts are completely redundant, worse than dagger.
What would you think about giving darts the ammunition property, thereby allowing them to be drawn ad infinitum as part of your attack, but destroying half of the darts used after a combat? I just want throwing knives to be viable, and this is as close as we're gonna get.

>>50116441
nets have disadvantage at all ranges though
I use a RAI as nets don't have disadvantage in melee, but RAW they suck ass

>>50116431
Why do you guys say quarterstaff is better than sickle? Isn't it just d8 vs. 2d4 dmg? That actually means the expected average dmg by quarterstaff is 4.5 per hit whereas the expected average dmg by sickle is (2.5x2)=5 per hit.

Am I missing something?

How do you handle tavern fight encounters? There are times my PCs want to find boxing rings in the city and if I go RAW, having PCs roll for 1 unarmed strike damage is just going to be a long time esp if the PCs are at level 13.

>>50116454
I'd rather it just add a rule saying 'when you throw a thrown weapon (not improvised, unless you have tavern brawler), you may draw another thrown weapon immediately'.

>>50116449
>Being able to attack at 10ft
You'll need to spend at least 1 ki point for the turn or else is too broken for a monk

>>50116462
Because sickle is 1d4, not 2d4
which is also why dagger makes it redundant as someone else pointed out

>>50116475
Have punches vary by different fighters is what I do. A dexterious fighter might be a 1d6, a burly guy a 1d8, doing 1 damage a punch takes for fucking ever

On the subject of monks, do you guys let your monks use fist weapons a la Final Fantasy?

>>50116475
>PCs just want to go around boxing random dudes
>As level 13 heroes
That aside, I wouldn't make it a traditional combat, make it an athletics roll or a few.

>>50116475
If the fight isn't to the death make the player and NPC take CON saves every turn with a DC of 5. For every point of dmg taken give them a -1 modifer to that throw. Whoever fails the CON save first decides its not worth it and concedes.

Also implement creative in-house rules for different types of punches and grapples.

>>50116494
>>50116449
I wouldn't say it'd be too strong, seeing as you'd be unable to deal the unarmed strikes from 10ft, ja?

>>50116462
Sickle is 1d4, not 2d4. Also, unlike daggers, they have no throwing range.

>>50116498
>Make everybody better than monks, that's what I do
Slow clap

>>50116461
I believe by RAW you could technically make an improvised melee attack, dealing 1d4+strength damage AND restraining them and giving no disadvantage on your 5ft attack against them.

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>What's that crazy PC concept you have in mind from Volo's PC races?
Fat and lazy tabaxi, not sure which class

>>50116508
It was a joke, anon, fire snake is a ki power that for 1 ki allows you to melee attack at 10ft for the entire turn which is a shitty power nobody picks but wotc is perfectly balanced

>>50116494

Ay but now we have bugbears so problem resolved.

>>50116495
>>50116510
It's amazing how long misconceptions stick with you when you've played with someone who played incorrectly. Woops.

>>50116524
>>50116461
Alright, I worked through this:

A) Only ammunition weapons count as improvised weapons when making a melee attack.
B) The net is a ranged weapon and deals 1d4 damage if you make a melee attack with it.
C) The net's property is that when it hits, it restrains the creature. Nothing says the net does not deal damage, and the 1d4 overrides the no damage in the weapon table.

It is completely allowable by RAW to deal damage AND restrain a creature within 5ft without disadvantage.

Holy fuck how has nobody not noticed nets are overpowered as fuck yet.

>>50116498
The first line of your post completely invalidates monks.

The second line is a good idea. Back in 3.pf we had a houserule wherein monks could get silk handwraps; they cost 300 gold (same as a masterwork weapon back then) and could be enchanted, and added whatever magical properties they had to your unarmed strikes. The Amulet of Mighty Fists was a terrible idea anyways.

>>50116541
I know, I was just saying I guess

>>50116524
Can you make an improvised weapon attack with something that is an actual weapon, not an improvised one?
I think an improvised weapon attack with a net would be something like a wet-towel slap that doesn't restrain as well

>>50116520
Ebin, if a "monk" is participating in a bar brawl, he can be sized accordingly too if you want. Point of a wrastlin match is often cause two non monks want to fight.

>>50116568
>Draw net
>Attack
>Use net
>No more drawing actions this turn so your restrained enemy either takes no more hits or you whip him with your net some more
It's balanced.

>>50116323
Make him a werefly, duh.


>>50116264
Since I'm a DM:
>a monastery exclusive to Kenku. The monks are only capable of saying ~four things because they spend so much time away from society.


As a player, i'd probably end up playing a Hobgoblin Battlemaster, with emphasis on being a tactician and stuff. He was beat out by a wizard, and left hoping to get better and one day kick that guy's ass.

>>50116585
>Can you make an improvised weapon attack with something that is an actual weapon, not an improvised one?
You mean like slapping someone with the flat of a sword to deal bludgeoning damage? Sure. A shortsword could be used as a club, a lnogsword as a mace, and a greatsword as a greatclub.

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>>50116264
>Players: What's that crazy PC concept you have in mind from Volo's PC races?
I'll be playing nothing but kenku with a Soundboard at my disposal
Maybe also a kobold worshiping bahumut

>>50116532
Supreme edgelord master looking Fallen Palock but in reality he's optimistic, mild-mannered, generous, happy-go-luck and even naive person

>>50116597
Unless you do something weird like use a Handcrossbow so you can shoot them with a bonus action.

Sounds like a pretty good build for a Drow to me.

>>50116586
>Everybody is punching eachother for 1d6-1d8 damage
>Monk suddenly enters
>Everybody deals 1 now

>>50116584
Like I say here >>50116586 , not trying to invalidate a monk in a bar brawl, but leveling up fist damage is nice because it goes quicker. It's either that, or do skill challenges basically. Set out how many punches someone can take or whatever.

My point about fist weapons is like, knuckles or claws or whatever, that help modify a monks martial attacks. I often see the meme that monks can't wear magic armor, but they can if you make it clothes they can wear, or weapons, but you can if you make that fancy axe a knuckle that boosts their flurry. You could even two for one it and make gauntlets of monkness (though this is a bit of a cop out but I love FF monks so)

>>50116620
Yes, I just read the section in the phb a bit more thoroughly and it actually states that all things you can hold in your hands can be used as improvised weapons. I'd still say that wouldn't make the net restrain someone though

>>50116620
No, all improvised weapons, whatever was the intended use, deal 1d4.

>>50116417
DRUIDS
R
U
I
D
S

>>50116646
I think the more likely thing would be to give the monk a d12 on top of their normal damage.

The goal was to ramp up the damage dealt so the bar brawl doesn't last forever.

>>50116668
Unless they resemble an existing weapon, in which case you use the stats for that weapon.

>>50116672
A druid can use a dagger
sickles confirmed obsolete
makes more sense to have a knife than sickle if you live innawoods anyway

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>>50116585
Here it is.
I'm just about to search sage advice and eratta.

>>50116597
>implying you need to attack them
You've just dealt 1d4+strength damage AND restrained an enemy, and the enemy must spend an entire action to get free (or possibly less than an action if they have slashing abilities). Not only do they need to use an action to get free, but any teammates before your enemy's turn get advantage against them, and the enemy has disadvantage to make reaction attacks.

Furthermore, a rogue can sneak attack using the net.
A rogue with booming blade can:
1. Throw a net, deal damage.
2. Apply booming blade effects (more damage, secondary effect if they move)
3. Deal sneak attack damage
4. The target is now restrained.

>>50116695
I meant for flavour though, druids use it to gather herbs and shit

>>50116342
Well, you know, many players like the explanations of whats going on in a combat, like what do their hits do to their targets and what enemy attacks do to them, not just "you get hit"
I guess my point is that various "plot armor" explanations, like when you don't actually get hit when you get hit in a game, do not work that well with a game system.
I think this went out for too long already, lel.

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Stat me.

>>50116695
Do you know anything about druids
>He wants to use a dagger for the mistletoe
You instafail all spells with material components and Daghda now wants you dead. The end.

>>50116264
>craziest pc concept
tabaxi traveller constantly being lead around the world by her own curiosity for rare stories. one day she delves into a forbidden library and finds herself drawn to an ancient black tone. as she reads the insane scribblings they imprint on her mind. she feels compelled to keep the book close to her. she still travels the world, constantly chasing her fleeting curiosities like before, but now, though she does not know it, her whims are no longer her own...

she's a tabaxi girl great old one warlock that slowly becomes consumed by a lust for knowledge that isn't her own

>>50116729
Large monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 59 (7d10 + 21)
Speed 40 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
20 (+5) 12 (+1) 17 (+3) 3 (-4) 12 (+1) 7 (-2)
Skills Perception +3
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages —
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Special Traits
Keen Sight and Smell: ~ has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight or smell.

Actions
Multiattack: ~ makes two attacks: one with his beak and one with his claws.
Beak: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 10 (1d10 + 5) piercing damage.
Claws: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) slashing damage.

>>50116725
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPHKP6dNqe8

Quite a few of the moves in this fight are hits, note how only the last one is a major wound.

Can someone post the dinosaur stats (specifically brontosaurus) from the new book?

>>50116264
>What's that crazy PC concept you have in mind from Volo's PC races?

Probably mixing Fighter and Radiant Fist monk on a Scourge Aasimar. Basically have them be a burning source of radiant energy encased in heavy armor, opening small gaps to fire blasts of energy out of it, or exposing it more fully to scorch everything nearby.

Basically just playing a living pillar of death-light.

>>50116771
I see your point, but I don't think you quite get mine.

>>50116264
>crazy pc concept
A kenku warlock that sold its soul for a creative spark. The fiend gives him a familiar that comes up with creative ideas for the kenku.

>>50116708
Just checked through errata.

Net does not normally deal sneak attack damage because it does not ordinarily deal damage.
However, since you're making a melee attack with a ranged weapon, you're now dealing damage.

No errata or sage advice I have found seems to say any of this is not RAW.

Well, great. Enjoy the new meta of barbarian-rogues using net+shield.

Also worth noting you do not lose the net from your hand unless the enemy destroys it with a slashing attack.

>>50116844
Someone should ask one of the ruleymans at wizards about this stuff on twitter or somesuch

>>50116844
I feel like it would be better to go for Dual Wielder so you can have a second weapon to stab them with. Also helpful for Rogue in case the net misses.

I would suggest Trident + Net just to be thematic

Cleric with a weapon and shield in hand and I cast a spell with somatic

Do I have to sheathe my weapon first or something so that I have a free hand?

>>50116876
"When you use an action, bonus action, or reaction
to attack with a net, you can make only one attack
regardless of the number of attacks you can
normally make."
Wording is a little ambiguous since it doesn't specify per turn or per action, but it says a thing

>>50116844
Technically speaking, it isn't a ranged weapon. It has Special and Thrown properties, but that doesn't make it ranged. Thrown is for weapons you CAN throw, not have to, otherwise daggers would be ranged only. So it makes a melee attack without improvised damage.

>>50116844
Actually then again you'll want BB/GFB to go with the net, so barbarian isn't so great because you can't use them while raging.

Not to mention, you don't need extra attack.

Fighter1/Rogue19, Fighter2/Rogue18, Fighter3/Rogue17 ... Whatever. Just make sure to get net and shield proficiencies, alongside medium or heavy armour proficiencies.

Unless you skew the rules to apply 'you add both dex and str to damage and to-hit', but that's an entirely different paradox.

>>50116876
Dual wielder oddly doesn't work because the net is a ranged weapon, not a melee weapon.

>>50116814
>Fighter/monk
For what purpose?

>>50116933
Mainly just one or two levels of Fighter to get Heavy armor, with 3 in Radiant fist to shoot lasers.

It's more for thematics than for any sort of optimization.

>>50116958
>Armor
>On a monk
You'll be hindered beyond imagination

>>50116983
The full plate is their wisdom bonus!

Kenku seem fun, except for the in ability to be creative. Why would telling players not to be creative ever be considered a good idea?

>>50116886
Only if the spell has no material component by RAW.

>>50116983
Yeah, perhaps it might be better to just ask my DM if I can fluff them as wearing some sort of metallic shell like that.

I just like the idea of a bunch of radiant energy trapped in a shell like that.

>>50116708
>>50116844
Here's my suggestion; if the rules seem undecided about something, and if you have to hunt down odd special-case rules that don't seem to really fit or make much logical sense if employed,then maybe you should make a ruling that does make sense and go with that.

Does it make sense to you that hitting someone with a net deals as much damage as shanking them with a knife?
Be honest.

>>50117083
Xerath fanboy detected

>>50117112
Who?

>>50117129
Shitty moba meme

>What's that crazy PC concept you have in mind from Volo's PC races?

Back when I played Pathfinder I wanted to make a Catfolk monk who specialized in rope darts, like a feline who would get distracted by its own weapon.

Thinking about reviving the idea now that Tabaxi are a race, though I might just have to fluff the weapon bit or just go with whips since it doesn't look like rope darts are in 5e yet.

>>50117101
There's nobody questioning that if you tried to do this in a game the DM would just say 'lol nope' but the only thing being questioned is if it's allowed by RAW, and I say yes.

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I finished the rough draft of that bard archetype I mentioned in the last thread. There's also a druid archetype I finished a while ago but I don't know if I've posted it anywhere for review yet.

Presented here are the College of Miracles and the Circle of Venom.

>>50117299
Snazzy, but why are the ability scores in the 1e order?

>>50117299

I appreciate the creativity but jesus christ the clutter is too much.

I'm planning on buying the 5e books in December. I know everyone hypes 5e to be the best edition there is, but is there anything bad about it i should know about?

>>50117299
i literally cannot parse this without visual strain. 2/10 unironically

>>50117299
Maybe for a more horror-themed game.

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>>50117351
Nothing too pressing. Be aware that the ranger is considered fairly lackluster; there's a UA version that fixes a lot of the problems. (I'd argue it overcorrects in some cases, but it's still fine.)

I'm also not a huge fan of the monster design, but 4e spoiled me in that regard.

There are a few areas where 5e is a bit dull, but nothing terrible.

You can get the Basic Rules for free on the Wizards of the Coast website, if you wanna preview it.

>>50116264
Bugbear Satire Bard

>6'8" clown descends from the treetops
>Grab an enemy (for 2d6 free damage) and tumble back into the canopy

>>50116264
Not sure if counts, but it did make me think up a vaguely Dungeon Meshi-inspired band of NPCs to use in my next campaign, consisting of monstrous adventurers (and one human party face/straight man) roaming the world to try exotic delicacies made from as many different monsters as they can. Including humanoids, if they're stupid enough to pick a fight.

...Actually, I could kind of use some help refining the character concepts for said group. Can I ask for that kind of thing here?

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Hey guys.
I'm having fun designing an adventure where a doppelganger takes the appearance of BlipDoolPoolp to use kuo toas for its self interest. the village the Doppelganger operates, she takes the apperance of a priestess of Chauntea to gather informations and manipulate the local population (her end goal is to take the Count's place).

To fuel this fire (and to fill her pockets), she's setting up ambushes with Kuo Toas against passing caravans.

> Question:
I'd like the players to be able (as quickly as possible since it's supposed to be a one-shot) to unravel the connection between the kuo toas' agressivity and the priestess (or to the doppelganger directly, then to the priestess). My players are pretty new so they won't suspect a doppelganger-fuckery, so I kinda need to be obvious-ish about it.

There will already be two others ways to connect local "accidents" to the priestess, but I'd like a third.
Any idea ?

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What class(es) would best fit a phoenix-themed Scourge aasimar? Light Warlock? Dragon Sorceror?

>>50117522
Light Warlock might be good. I'd say to use Magic initiate to pick up Cure wounds and some other fire cantrips.

>>50117522
Go with both.

>>50117522
Depends, do you want to do Radiant Damage or Fire Damage?

More importantly, how do you want to embody the Phoenix? As a cleansing flame that destroys all evil? The fire of creation that brings light, life and hope to the world?

Because I can see ways to spin both your suggestions as the former, and Light Warlock & Oath of Nature Paladin as the latter.

>>50117193
Slight update to the Bard's Bonus Proficiencies.
>You gain proficiency with all standard gaming sets (dice, dragonchess, playing cards, and Three-Dragon Ante). If you encounter a new type of gaming set, you can spend one hour playing the game in order to gain proficiency with it.

>>50117522
Do the super saiyan monk from SCAG

How come fallen aasimar seems like the least edgy and limited character from lore perspective?
Like protector and scourge both looks like soul-less evil-slaying machines, and the thing with fallen is just "he is kinda evil"

>>50117516
She replaced the previous priestess of Chauntea that they had.

Her corpse is still recognizable, and buried somewhere nearby.

>>50116264
I like the idea of a fallen aasimar whose guide was killed and replaced by a fiendish creature, maybe without the aasimar even really knowing. Seems like a decent bladelock when coupled with the deathshroud.

>>50117455
Would you recommend waiting until the Volvo book comes out and buying them all at once, or buying the three books now and waiting for Volvo?

>>50116914
That isn't ambiguous at all. You've got one net attack, doesn't matter if you're an 11th level fighter with three attacks.

>>50117786
I'm saying in relation to using action for a net slam, would you still be able to use a bonus action to attack with an offhand etc
The multiattack thing was obvious

So, I've always found natural darkness to be vastly underpowered due to the majority of the vanilla races coming equipped with darkvision in some form.

Do you think houseruling darkvision to being restricted to Drow, Dwarves, Rock Gnomes, and Teiflings sounds like a fair fix?

>>50117815
The removal of low light vision was a major cause of this

>>50117815
No.

>>50117815
You could downgrade Darkvision to only work for Dim light save for Drow and a couple other races, for example.

That might make it more meaningful while having it still be helpful, as long as you remember to have areas of Dim light still be rather plentiful.

>>50117775
>Volvo

The Volo book? It's already out. It's in the mega trove at the top of the thread, just follow the first mega link. All of the official 5e material is there.

>>50117553
>>50117522
Don't get cure wounds with Magic Initiate - always get Healing Word.

>>50117868
I thought Volvo's Guide to Monsters came out on the 15th

>>50117968
Pre-ordered copies I think.

>>50117522
Sun monk.
They get free mini fireballs.
They get great nova damage.
Can punch from range.

>>50117889
Is either really needed? Aasimar already get that innate healing thing.

>>50117968
A select few stores got them early or chose to sell theirs early.

If a warforged wildshapes, does it become a robo-animal?

What's makes Radiant Sun Bolt good?

How do you make a trap-dungeon fun, /5eg/?

Seems like every trap-heavy area I've played through just boils down to the players making perception checks every 5 feet which I've always found extremely unfun.

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>>50116264
Gold Dragon sorcerer yuan-ti pureblood. I was gonna go silver but since I play AL I can't use both the players companion spells and the yuan-ti race.

Also I've got an idea for a lizardfolk fighter who dual wields short swords and crafts all of his weapons, shields, and cloths out of bone and skin, and eats the enemies he slays. He could also sell some of his exotic wares in towns, like Dragon scale shields and dragonbone clubs.

>>50118124

Sun bolt isn't amazing but a monk having A) access to a solid ranged ability is nice, and B) radiant damage is sometimes useful, rarely resisted so it works as a decent ranged attack.

>>50118128
Never ever put the traps alone, save for a weak "Hey this dungeon has traps" trap at the beginning. Mix them into combat and let the players exploit them.

>>50117815
No.

Make better use of stealthy enemies - dim light imposes disadvatange on perception checks, and darkvision of most forms only sees dim light.

>>50118124
it's better than carrying around shitloads of darts

>>50118087
No, but if you're trying to get a healing spell from magic initiate (which can't scale past 1st level) then it's better to get the one you can use as a bonus action.

>>50118128
I ran a Tucker's Kobolds style dungeon once. The main key to it I would say is to put them on a time crunch of sorts. I did this by having them constantly peppered with darts from holes in the walls so they were slowly having their health whittled down, but you could do a lot of things.

The main goal is to make it so that they should be going through quickly rather than pausing constantly, and the traps should be things that are more interesting than just dropping a spell on them. Have pits to jump across or they have to struggle to climb out, or locked doors as things slowly close in to crush them. You need to have the traps double as puzzles in at least some way, rather than it be a simple way to grind them down.

>>50118160
I would argue Cure wounds is quite nice on a Warlock when you can get back spell slots for it on a short rest.

>>50118128
Tomb of Horrors made by Nerf

>>50118193
That benefit applies to Healing Word as well, though.

In combat, your turns look like this:

Action: Eldritch Blast
Bonus Action: Healing Word (avg healing: 2.5+mod)

Action: Cure Wounds (avg healing: 4.5+mod)
Bonus Action: Something not as good as EB

Is the extra 2hp ever worth giving up an eldritch blast?

>>50116350
>no negative modifiers
>PHB has
>Small Size
>25' Speed
>Sunlight Sensitivity

They were staring you in the face, sempai. The 6 monster PCs in Volo's guide are probably just not playtested, which is why they warn against their inclusion.

>>50118193
If I remember correctly, you only get cure wounds as your spell known if you could normally get it known.

If you're a cleric, getting it as a magic initiate spell makes it count as a spell you know, and thus doesn't take up one of the spells you can keep prepared.


It's nice to have on warlock, but still pretty irritating to use at any time other than just before a short rest as otherwise you'll run out of spell slots quickly.

Clerics have plenty of extra low level spell slots to use for low level healing to get someone from 0 HP to 6 HP or so.

>>50118226
why would anyone grab either of those spells from magic initiate though

>>50118226
I meant more in the sense of using it out of combat.

Remember as well that Warlock spell slots scale up automatically, meaning that 2 extra HP will scale up better with the extra dice each level.

Might depend more on the type of game you're playing, though I could see it being more useful if you need a lot of extra healing throughout the day.

Anyone else think Kobolds are going to make fantastic shadow monks?

Any of you guys ever switch up the way languages are handled? Mainly the read + write bits? I feel like there are a lot of settings/backgrounds where learning not to read and/or write would be pretty common, even for a PC, but the PHB hands them out like candy.

>>50116350
you are retarded if you think the kobold stats are bad

>>50118275
Cure Wounds is also touch range, while Healing Word is 30 feet. Considering that most warlocks prefer to hang back, this might matter.

It doesn't scale up though, it's a 1/day ability and not actually learning the spell

>>50118275
That's not correct.

Magic initiate specifies the spell may ONLY be cast as a 1st level spell. Cure wounds and Healing word will -never- scale.

>>50118285
I personally mandate that all characters have the same language set based on the region.
There's no good way to handle "And only the bard understands this" because you ignore everyone else to one-on-one with the bard or assume the bard relays everything and who speaks what doesn't matter anymore.

>>50118308
>>50118314
Hmm...I always read it as you learning the spell, meaning you could use any other spell slots for it.

>>50118339
You read it wrong then

>>50118285
I've considered bringing in a system more like 2E where languages are on a separate proficiency track; backgrounds that gave a language replace it with an appropriate tool prof, language prof and literacy are separate profs and take half the downtime as tool profs do each.

>>50118339
Well regardless of how you decide to read it, that's literally not what it says.

>Choose a 1st-level spell from the same list. You learn that spell and can cast it at its lowest level. Once you cast it, you must finish a long rest before you can cast it again.

>>50118128
Well, depends on who lives in the dungeon and what the dungeon is. Tell us what your dungeon is and who inhabits it and we'll tell you what traps to use if you want specifics.
General rules though, creatures that live there need to bypass them (beholder and pit traps), they can be as tricky as you want since the inhabitants know the trick (fake wall leads to passage around deathpit room which your adventurers either have to spy on the inhabitants to find or deduct through reasoning that the inhabitants can't go through the traps themselves and thus need a path around), over the top things to distract from subtle things (Giant bloody statues next to an unguarded pedestal? Obviously animated statues, so I'll focus on them instead of the rug that is either alive or a pit trap), or just fake hints written on the walls the inhabitants put there to fuck with you ("two steps east, ten north", which in the end has nothing to do with the room ahead) with hints that they may have been written by the inhabitants (goblin handwriting, etc), and bones to show that something died here somehow as a warning.

>>50118314
You can cast it at a different level if one of your classes could have learnt it already, but not using the once/day thing. .. If I remember it right.

I like the firbolg, though I'd like to actually know a little more about what the hell they are other than druidy friends of the trees types. They're clearly not the same firbolgs they were in previous editions and they're obviously not as they're in Irish mythology.

So I'm really wanting to make a lizardfolk fighter who is a bit of a Jack of all trades in term of fighting style. I know their natural armor overrides the armor they are wearing if the ac is lower, but I want to take the defensive fighting style. If I'm wearing leather armor but I'm using the natural armor of the lizardfolk, can I still benefit from the defensive style ac boost?

>>50118436
It should. It's a flat +1 AC, not a different method of calculation.

>>50118436
Yes, due to how they wrote it. It also should get you any properties if you manage to get some magic leather armor, like some that resists fire for example.

If possible, you may want to take the Mariner fighting style from that seafaring Unearthed Arcana

>>50118347
Well, fortunately I'm the DM for my group, so I guess I'll call it a houserule instead. My bad

Opinions on Tempest Cleric? Do they still make an effective party healer?

>>50118471

Yes, they do. They're also arguably even better at it than the domains which only give martial weapons. Just don't be the guy who thunder waves his fellow party members and you'll be fine.

>>50118471
They have Healing Word, so yes, they're an effective healer.

>>50118436
By RAW, yes, by RAI, probably not, for you? Ask your DM.

>>50118453
If my DM allows it I might. I'd have to re-read what it does first.

>>50118513
It's basically the +1 AC, but it only works with medium or light armor, and it gives you a climb and swim speed. Mostly the same with a bit of extra utility.

So I intend to do a number of "fixes" on existing classes and will post a few general ones here to get some critics:

All martial classes receive nice things now:

Superiority dice and maneouvers.
Superiority dice scales with levels start from 1d6 to 2d4 at lvl 7, 1d10 at lvl 11, 2d6 at lvl 15.
Number of superiority dies is determined in class description and in case of multiclassing only the higher knee applies:
Rogue=Dex mod
Fighter/Barbarian=Dex or Str mod+Con mod
Monk/Ranger=Dex mod+Wis mod
They all start with 1 known maneouver and learn a new one every 4 levels.
Battle master gets 2 maneouvers and 1 extra superiority die each time they take their subclass feature.

Only martials are proficient with unarmed strikes but they deal 1d4+ either Str or Dex mod damage now in turn.

Sorcerer origin grants more low level features on a choice basis.

A Dragon Sorcerer picks 3 of:

Darkvision (60 ft)

Extra 3 Hp per sorcerer level

Claws - 1d6 piercing with either Dex or Str mod

Ritual magic (for those who investigates their powers and actually spent time learning a bit)

Unarmoured AC =13+Con mod

A favoured soul picks 3 of:

A lvl 1 smite spell

Cure wounds/Healing word

3 extra languages

Martial weapons and armour proficiency

Once per short rest free action to get back up to 1 Hp and stand up.

Double range or AOE on spell attacks that deal radiant damage.

Storm sorcerer gets 3 of:

10 ft extra movement and extra 10 ft to jump height/distance

Half falling damage

13+Cha mod AC

Targets hit by an attack made by the storm sorcerer make a Str save or move back 5 ft.

Melee attacks made by a storm sorcerer deal thundering or lightning damage instead of their original damage type and count as magical.

(Storm sorcerer gets to add Cha mod to Thundering and lighting damage at lvl 6)

Cont.

>>50118471
>>50118491
>>50118493
Honestly i cant imagine playing a non life cleric if you're solo classing

They're just so fucking good. And if you can get GFB or BB they can actually kinda do something offensive in combat

So what were fighters like back during playtesting? I want specifics on how they were changed for release.

>>50118603
More fun

>>50118613
>Specifics

>>50118613
I was once called vague by
you know who~

>>50118536

UA Ranger re-revised already exists so on to fixing monks:

MA scaling is changed so they start at 1d6 and its upgraded every 5 levels, 2d4 at lvl 5, 1d10 at lvl 10, 2d6 at lvl 15 and 2d8 at lvl 20.

They get 2 more ASI.

Hp die is a 1d12.

Certain ki features in subclasses are lowered in cost like searing arc strike on Sun soul costing 1 ki instead of 2, the Long death capstone costing 3 ki etc. (Apply the Revised Wot4E still instead of this fix).

>>50118558
Arcana Cleric Elves wielding Rapiers/Shortswords and shields going Dex/Wis.

17-19AC easily, No real need for feats so you can get Wis up quickly and then do whatever. Greenflame blade erry day. If you really want it mobile + booming blade is always memeworthy.

>>50118536
>All martial classes receive nice things now:
>Waaaaaah I want my EK to be a Battlemaster too

>>50118603
>>50118627
The basic gist? They had a d6 per level of combat superiority dice, so at level 3 you'd have 3d6. These would refresh each turn, and you could use them to increase your damage, but they were also great for trying to improvise. Like if you wanted to knock someone prone, you'd ask the DM and they'd be like 'yeah, spend 2 dice on that'

It basically made Fighters really fun and versatile powerhouses with a constantly refreshing pool of bonus dice to spend however they wanted.

I remember hearing people really liked monks during playtesting for awhile

>>50118639
>HD d12
kek there is no reason for this

>>50118603
They all had maneouvers and superiority dice.
All martials had them in fact.
If they only kept that idea.

Another session of Curse of Strahd have passed.
My players have found out about the missing bones and found the culprit really fast. They started searching the coffin maker's shop, when they've been ambushed by six vampire spawns. They lost half the party there, so they retreated.
During the next session, I've let them recruit the new party members right in the tavern and call for help from some NPCs - they've got three keepers of the Feather, two hunters and some armed commoners with torches and pitchforks... And I think it led to encounter becoming way too easy. Martinkovs, being immune to non-magical damage, really carried the whole fight, even though one of them died in the process.
Players were happy, though. They even found that little joke I've set up five sessions ago funny. Basically, there was this huge elven hero called Dionysus who tried to oppose Strahd, but he was killed and turned into a vampire spawn. So when they were ambushed, he showed up and screamed "You've expected to find corpse parts, but it was me, Dionysus!"
God, I've never thought that DMing official modules is so easy and fun.

>>50118649
So, at level 20 you can add 20d6 to an attack? And it refreshes every turn? Okay yeah, that seems a liiiittle broken.

Anyone have a link to the stats for the new races? I won't be able to pick the book up until next week and I'm dying to see the new races.

>>50118669
I think the playtest only went to level 5, so it wasn't as big of a deal. It may have scaled differently than I'm remembering though.

Still, it was a really nice idea if they had worked out the math on it.

>>50118670
https://sli.mg/a/EvUWsI

>>50118670
The whole book is in the OP friendo

>>50118663
>A class whose hands and feet are equal to longswords/maces has the same Hp die as some sneaky dickass thief.

Monks have fluff for having better Up (they intentionally temper their bodies with magic even).
Also they aren't really gonna feel it with Dex and Wis as primary stats.

Random question I have about the revised ranger. Does having 2d6 for the hitdice mean you can spend them more separately on a short rest? Or do you still have to spend them in groups of 2?

>>50118712
>what is a d10

>>50118738
The actual, non-alpha revised ranger still has d10s, so that shouldn't be relevant unless you want to use the unfinished version

>>50118761
I didn't know they changed it. That's a shame, it seemed like kind of a neat change.

>>50118702
>>50118704

Thanks friends! Didn't realize it was added to the mega list.

Wait what happened to kobolds? Are they actually worse than the goblins?

>>50118738
Spend separately. I thought it was a cool design space too.

>>50118777
b8

>>50118777
It was stupid as hell, why would ranger be as tough or tougher than a barbarian?

>>50118741
A polyhedral dice with ten sides

>>50118805

No, kobolds are fucking strong as shit. Their only downsides are sunlight sensitivity (many ways around it when you need it), and -2str. But they get pack tactics and can give their entire team advantage for a full round. Kobold druids, ranged fighters w/ sharpshooter, and shadow monks off the top of my head will be very strong.

>>50118827
>a (singular)
polyhedral (cuz im smert n yuhz big werds)
>dice (plural)

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Is a pure sorcerer build viable? Every bit of advice I come across basically sings the praises of Warlock3/Sorcerer17 but I don't much feel like waiting til Lv7 for my first ASI and Lv8 for my third level slots.

Is Metamagic worth giving up Agonizing Blast/can Sorcerers blast competitively?

>>50118860
What ability scores do they get improvements to? I was so disappointed that goblins racial ability makes being a rogue dumb, but I guess no class is going to complain about having dex and con.

>>50118881

+2 dex, -2 str, speak common and draconic,small, 30ft move dark vision 60, pack tactics, sunlight sensitivity, and [Kneel, Grovel, and Beg].

How do you make a good monk? Do you just go half elf* with 8/15+1/15/8/15+1/8+2 (assuming point buy), put all your ASIs into dex then wis, ending with resilient-con at 19? Or is there some other way to make them compete?
*half elf because human doesn't get darkvision

How would I do something in a more cyberpunk sort of game using 5e?

I like the ideas behind Shadowrun, mixing fantasy with cyberpunk, but I really dislike the Shadowrun system and some of the design decisions they made.

I've read over the Modern Magic and the DMG regarding firearms, but I really want to encompass the technology aspect too, like augmentations. How would I do this? Do I rework magic to work technologically?

>>50118911
Make it so at every ASI they can choose an ASI, feat, or augmentation.

>>50118911
You could probably just implement augments as sort of magic items that need to be attuned. Like some sort of arm implants for extra lifting would be a belt of giant's strength, essentially.

There are rules for modern magic and firearms in the DMG, and you may want to add in some more tool proficiency options for modern tech, or at least alter some of the ones present.

>>50118870
Anyone who recommends multi-classing a full caster for the purpose of becoming a better caster in 5e hasn't played a full caster for very long in 5e. Maybe your last 3 levels could be in warlock, but until you get to level 17 (which you wont) it's not an issue.

So yes it's viable. Sorcerer probably has the best saves of any class and the second best spell selection.

>>50118870
Warlock/sorcerer is just minmaxing stuff. Pure sorcerer is fine

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>>50118910
You go Human+Mobile feat.
Or Human+Martial Adept, grabbing Trip Attack, Riposte and Sweeping Attack.

Then you go Open Hand and you use Open Hand Techniques on multiple targets.

I've not seen anyone doing that anywhere and I'm pretty sure it's because people can't HANDLE IT

>>50118910

High dex > high wis > high con, everything else is icing. It's worth skipping an ASI to take mobility if you're not a goblin since it makes you MUCH tougher because melee enemies will almost never be able to hit you and you can focus all of your ki into offense.

>>50118937
This is a smart idea.
Plus, attunement being essence actually explains why attunement exists outside of just game balance.

>>50118953
Addendum: Martial Adept only lets you choose 2 maneuvers, so ditch one I guess.
Also holy shit why does this shitty feat only give you 1 superiority die. What a pile of shit.

>>50118969

And now you know why no one has been using that build.

>>50118906
kneel grovel beg?

To what extent do the damage types of a weapons (slashing, piercing, bludgeoning) matter in this game ?

Is there anywhere that has more personality traits/bonds/ideals/flaws for backgrounds? Want some ideas for my character

>>50118953
>Not going observant or resillient wis so you can start as 16/16/13

>>50118989

>as an action on your turn, you can cower pathetically to distract nearby foes. Until the end of your next turn, your allies gain advantage on attack rolls against enemies within 10ft of you that can see you. Once you have used this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

>>50118986
Yea I already know.

They can't handle it. Nobody can.

>>50118991
Matters against trolls, oozes and skeletons
not really outside of that

>>50118937
I really like the idea that magic items that need to be attuned are like augmentations.

Modern Magic is a UA, there are rules for firearms in the DMG, there are modern firearms and grenades, and even future weapons as examples.

Magic focuses could be something like decks for magic users?

>>50119004
That's awesome!

>>50118991
Very rarely. I know it matters for skeletons, a few others, but otherwise it's not much.

I've been reading burning wheel's rules. The social argument system seems amazing, and I want to port this over to 5e. It seems like the best way to do this would be to create another subset of conversational skills, with several options for each ability. Strength (intimidation), deception on charisma, Intelligence (outwit), etc.

Then just have each player set stakes, and do a best of three round with the player and NPC roleplaying conversations based on their skill choices.

There would have to be some rules about what skills to select, and maybe advantages based on some skills versus others.

it could really increase the fun and strategy my players have in social situations.

thoughts?

>>50118969
Probably only gives one so it isn't too easy to pick up a bunch, though it'd be much better if it also gave a +1 to strength or dex along with it.

It's a shame maneuvers are just mainly a battlemaster thing instead of being extensive like spells are.

>>50119051

Yea, it's part of why kobolds are really, really strong. Kobold sharpshooters are insanely lethal. Kobold druids can basically do that in a HUGE area thanks to wildshape. I'd probably rank Kobolds as the #3 strongest race in the book, behind Yuan-Ti (#1 by far) and Tabaxi.

>>50118966
>>50119050
Yeah, attunement works pretty well for augments, since logically you would only have so much space for the extra hardware, and any more might just make you a cyber zombie.

From there it's a matter of how close to shadowrun you want a lot of this stuff. I would imagine it might be easier to sort of accelerate Eberron into a modern setting to get something more fitting.

Magic focuses could be more technological, though I would imagine that'd be more a matter of using more artificial and metal staves and orbs rather than just going digital.

>>50119070
Your social rules take more than 8 words to explain, so we're keeping the old ones.
Lie? Deception. Convince? Persuade. Scare? Intimidate. Roleplay? Talk.

>>50119070
Just use the variant rule for mismatching skills with ability scores. Intimidation (Str), Deception/Persuasion (Cha), and Persuasion/Deception (Int).

Everything else you listed just kinda sounds like what roleplaying already is.

>read Volo
>see picture of the Grung

I WANT TO MAKE ONE, RIGHT NOW GOD DAMMIT

>>50119096
Yeah, but its an ability that is good because it makes other party members good, so its not like its a problem or anything. What are the yuan-ti and the tabaxi like? And how hard am I going to cringe when I see the furry art that accompanies the tabaxi?

>>50119108
I'm not really going with Shadowrun, i'd be making my own megacity with my own higher powers. It's more if cyberpunk came upon a fantasy world.

>>50119112
>complexity is bad
Why?

>>50119122
The thing about roleplaying is that if the rules are too simple, the majority of players will default to "I roll persuade and get X, does that work DM?" I would like to encourage more in depth stuff with my players, and any randoms i pick up on roll 20. I've had great success with this in other systems, that actually provide for rules based roleplaying, and it makes things more fun.

>>50119157
Yuan-ti get magic resistance and poison immunity.
Tabaxi can run 200+ miles per hour for 6 seconds.

>>50119157
Yuan ti have poison immunity and magic resist, tabaxi look like chester cheetah

>>50119157
Yuan-ti resist magic and have some innate spellcasting. Tabaxi have some good skill proficiencies and movement options.

I'm not sure if I would put Tabaxi up that high personally, but Yuan-ti are insanely good.

>>50119157

Yuan-ti get poison immunity, 3 languages, suggestion 1x/day, spell resistance and +2 Cha +1 int.

Tabaxi get +2 dex, +1 cha, darkvision 60, can move 2x their speed for their movement (recharges if they move 0 on a turn), climb speed 20ft, natural claws that do slashing damage, proficiency in perception and stealth, and common + 1 language of your choice.

>>50119170
>Why?
Tell me, did you like 3.5's grapple rules? What about the ones this edition? You'll find a large discrepancy between them is the complexity. The more complex something is the less you want to do it during a 5 hour game that you only play once every month due to scheduling.

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So what's your verdict on the Volo's races?

I think they're in all pretty shit, sure they give some new options but most of them are pretty fucking stupid and outclass other races by a lot (yaun-ti, bugbear, etc)

Also somewhat disappointed that they made firbolgs dumb nature bullshit instead of hardcore LG warriors who wield greatswords in one hand

>>50119157
>>50119217
Don't forget that Yuan-ti also get Poison Spray and Speak with Animals (snakes only) at will.

Not the most useful things, but still pretty nice on top of everything else.

>>50119226
If your argument is that complexity is absolutely bad, then why is 5e not too complex? Wouldn't free form be simpler?

If your argument is instead that complexity is usually bad, why is grappling analogous enough to conversation that your analogy should work?

>>50119245

I skipped the animal friendship with snakes since it's cool but niche, but I did forget that poison spray cantrip. God they're so strong.

trying to use roll20, I can't add half my spells

how do I get the full rule book on here?

Apprentice Wizard in Volo's is giving me an erection. I'd like to sex that little boyslut thoroughly

>>50119271
you don't.

>>50119232
Kenku are amazing

>>50119232
I think some of them are okay, but a lot of them are really niche and prone to min-maxing. Like how Hobgoblins have very few features, and are pretty much only useful for a Wizard. Or how Bugbears will only be good for Reach or grappler builds.

They don't feel as much like the Core races where the benefits could usually mesh decently with a lot of different classes, even if some were better than others.

>>50119279
fuck, so I have to type out all these spells or what

>>50119257
Yeah. The main weak thing about them is that Int and Cha aren't very useful together, but that's pretty minor. Plus it's easy to find some use for at least one of them, and even if you can't spell resistance is a major boost anyway.

>>50119170
What I'm saying is that you aren't suggesting a rule change. You are suggesting that you make the players aware that you are using the variant rule in the phb and they should take advantage of it. The fact that multiple checks might be required isn't a rule change its just how role play works.

>>50118390
They're not so friendly hippie as people say their intro in the book mentions them kill stealing a green dragon from a party and leaving it's head on a pike as a message that "The job is done. Now get out of OUR Forrest"

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>>50119232
They're niche, but provide way more racial options and thus make the game more interesting IMO. As a DM, IDGAF about how you can do a bajillion damage in one round, I'm more interested in how you play your character.

>>50119299
yes, you lazy bastard. I mean, or you could just not do that and keep track of what you do/don't have prepared.

>>50119299
Yes, or copy/paste from dnd-spells.com

You won't need most of them anyways.

>>50119319
That's probably the most elegant way of adding multiple persuasion strategies. I still like the stakes system, as it's a wonderful set of rules for roleplaying hints, and generating cooperative storytelling experiences.

>>50119302

I mean the immunity+resistance makes them great for any cha caster class that isn't named 'paladin'. Lore bard? Fantastic. Sorcerer (particularly draconic)? Tough as nails. Warlock? Take fiend pact and enjoy never failing a spell saving throw ever. Toss in divination wizard and lucky if you want to manipulate all the dice forever.

I was planning to make a warlock anyways so I might as well make it a shiny ol Yuan-Ti instead of the tiefling I had planned. That immunity+resistance is good enough that they might even be worth taking for defensive fighters.

The new 5e game I'm joining needs a face, given how all of them have almost zero charisma.

I'm kinda new and I wanted to make a charisma caster, so I was wondering which was better, Warlock or Sorcerer. Would probably pact a Great Old One if I went Warlock, if that changes anything.

The party I'm joining is reportedly fairly optimised so I don't want to be left behind because I made a poor choice.

>>50119217
Man it's to bad you gotta be a faggy ass cat/lizard man to get all that.

>>50119347
Yeah. I think the benefits outweigh the fact that the ability scores don't line up a lot. Even a Paladin could benefit by getting advantage on their already amazing saves.

I could see it being decent on a Rogue as well, either Int for arcane trickster or Cha for some social skill expertise.

It's just such a strong boost that it can kinda just work on anything.

>>50119319
>>50119347
you gotta wonder what the fuck wotc was thinking

like magic resistance on a fucking PC race. what the hell

>>50119363
sorcerer is a fucking drag man, do yourself a favor and don't play a sorc

if you wanna be a CHA caster and a party face, Bard is the obvious option. They're really really fucking good.

you can be the face and the skiller/lock picker/trap finder plus the healer plus the support plus the CC

>>50119363
sorcerers are probably the lamest caster class, though doubling up on polymorph and haste is cool.

Warlocks are the 2nd best, behind bards, which are objectively the best.

Someone post the sorcerer/wizard copypasta.

>>50119363
Warlock might be the safer bet. Just take Agonizing blast and pump charisma and your damage should keep up. Hex to boost it further.

>>50119392
Shit, hadn't even thought about Bard.

Thanks man

>>50119404
>bards are objectively the best
Is this even DnD?
What makes them so amazing?
>>50119405
I see the consensus is that sorc=trash.

>>50119392
Gnomes have had it in a minor way since the player's handbook, though being only mental saves pretty much meant it was only useful for Wisdom saves, since Int and Cha rarely occur.

This works for the big 3 all the time. Advantage on Con, Dex, and Wis saves forever.

It basically tells the DM to not bother with spellcasters ever again.

>>50119347
You are lucky if you are in a game were spooky snake men who suck fiend cock aren't killed on sight.

>>50119392
>>50119404
So are all sorcs bad or you can minmax them, using content outside of players handbook to make them not suck that much, like with rangers?

>>50119430
Eh, I wouldn't say Sorcerer is trash, just that it requires more effort and knowledge of what you're doing to pull off in an optimized group.

If you know what you're doing, Sorcerer can do pretty awesome stuff with metamagic. If you don't, better to go with something that only has one spell you really need to use.

>>50119430
Bards get to have the most useful casting stat, since intelligence is useless. Wisdom for clerics is good too, but IMO charisma opens up more opportunities.

They have the widest spell selection, getting to pick and choose the best spells in the game from any list at various levels.

On top of all that, they're also skill monkeys.

If you have to put all the various gameplay modes on a chart, and rate the various classes on how well they do in those gameplay modes, bards would be nearly the best in every one, since they're good in combat, good in skills, and good in casting.

>>50119389
I think this is what they were going for now that I am hearing about all of them.

They are just races whose ability improvements aren't bad for any class and whose racial traits are good for specific classes that don't line up with their ability improvements. Kinda interesting.

>>50119389
>It's just such a strong boost that it can kinda just work on anything.

I was just thinking about that. Could a Yuan-Ti barbarian be any good? Well, mind-control is historically one of their biggest weak points so while the stats wouldn't be ideal they'd have:

-okay str
-okay con
-lowish dex but that's okay because

-they'll have advantage on initative rolls
-advantage on saves against spells
-take 1/2 damage from all non-psychic attacks
-be totally immune to poison
-have an AoE spell to deal with crowds.

For a defensive barb tank that's... pretty good.

>>50119435

I mostly play in AL legal games, and all the volo's races are AL legal so my sneaky snek girl will be just fine.

What's a fun wizard specialization? my friend recommended I take lucky and divination

starting at lvl 4

>>50119483
your friend just wants your DM to suffer. Play an illusionist or conjurer or something.

>>50119454
sorc can get by with just player's handbook stuff, but it's a limited build. They're the only class in the game that can concentrate on two spells at once. so there's that.

>>50119483
Illusion and Conjuration are the most fun specializations.

>>50119430
Go take a look at Bard

full caster with solid spell selection and rituals

shit ton of skill proficiencies, Expertise for making your big skills (Persuasion and something else) really really good

Lore Bard gets to steal spells at level 6 and level 10, Valor bard gets armor and weapons and gets extra attack at 6

you have inspiration for helping people do shit

song of rest for a tiny bit of extra healing every short rest

Just good

>>50119454
Sorcerer is just a worse Wizard. They're a full caster so they'll never be worthless, but they're just a worse wizard.

Their gimmick is extremely limited and they have NO upkeep over the day (regaining spell points or spell slots on a short rest or something) unlike pretty much every other class

they don't get anything outside their metamagic, and generally you'll get to use metamagic once or twice before you're out of sorc points

at which point you are a Wizard with 1/4th the spell selection, a worse spell list, no rituals, no upkeep, etc

>>50119454
Don't listen to these autists. Sorcerers are really good. They have the second best spell selection in the game and they can use metamagic on it. Then there saves are the most and 4th most common saves. And the only caster that starts with proficiency in their concentration checks.

>>50119510
>>50119493

Why illusion? Improved minor illusion and malleable illusion don't seem that impessive

what ways can I use it?

sorry, I'm somewhat new to the game.

>>50119512
>>50119474
Damn, those are really good points. That sounds pretty cool, you've converted me.

>>50119483
divination and lucky is basically the most munchkin min maxing thing in 5e to the point where it's become a punchline

do your GM a solid and don't play that.

I like Evocation, Conjuration, and Abjuration the most IMO. Illusion is great if you're creative and your GM is unrestrictive

necromancer is also good. Pretty much every wiz tradition is good and wiz is a great base class, enchantment kinda sucks ass tho

>>50119253
Freeform is simpler, and people do that sometimes. Having a set of rules helps things go more smoothly. Making the rules too complex gives less time for gaming and makes more time for wondering what rule goes where.

Grappling is analagous here. In 5e its rules are simple, a lot of people have suggested using it or have used it themselves, it doesn't stop the flow of the game to use it. In 3.5 no one ever knew the rules for it because they were complex, required multiple rolls every turn, and ultimately was not worth it due to the complexities of the grapple allowing your foe to still do things it needed to do while you were essentially out of the battle.

>>50119474
>intelligence is useless
LUL

>>50119534
>Why illusion? Improved minor illusion and malleable illusion don't seem that impessive

You can be really creative with illusions to change the battlefield for the better. Their 14th level ability also makes them a minor god and is one of the single best abilities in the game hands down if you can get that far.

>>50119483
Lucky and divination isn't fun. It's powerful. Illusionist is fun and powerful, you just need to be creative.

>>50119477
Yeah, a Bear Barbarian could benefit a lot from advantage on all spells. That just takes the resistance and amps it up further. Somebody flings a fireball at you? You're probably making the save, and effectively taking a quarter of the damage.

It really is the sort of thing that benefits anyone.

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Reminder that a flood of playtest material is coming.

>>50118941
>Anyone who recommends multi-classing a full caster for the purpose of becoming a better caster...

You multiclass warlock to be a better (one of the best) ranged striker. Also, to cannibalize warlock slots for sorc points.

>>50119551
>>50119559
I can be creative, but I don't know what I'm allowed to do? What are some creative uses or examples for those abilities?

I chose to take the feat at 4, should I take any other feat or boost my int to 20? I roll 3 6s

My wizard's stats are 1 /12/12 /18 /14 /12, and I'm a dragon born

>>50119534
It's very DM dependent, but malleable illusion is crazy by RAW

>Mirage Arcane lets you reshape the land in a square mile, so long as you keep the general shape of it. Explicitly allowed: turning an open field into a canyon.
>turn the ground beneath people's feet into a canyon
>they fall in.
>malleable illusion lets you spend an action to change the illusion
>mirage arcane is an illusion.
>turn canyon into open field again
>you've just buried alive an arbitrary number of people.

Before level 7 there are some fun uses too, but they're too numerous to really quantify.

>>50119577
What kind of barbarian haven't they covered yet? Spellcasting barbarian? Ranged barbarian? Fist fighting barbarian?

>>50119596
>>Mirage Arcane lets you reshape the land in a square mile, so long as you keep the general shape of it. Explicitly allowed: turning an open field into a canyon.
uh... source?

>>50119596
>keep the general shape of it
>turning an open field into a canyon
I'd love to know how the fuck they justified that to themselves.

>>50119545
Grappling isn't analogous though, because grappling is a small part of a much more complex combat system. I'm proposing to reshape the social systems, so they're about as complex as the combat system. If your games don't have much of a social emphasis, keeping it to "I rolled a 20 on my persuade, she has sex with me DM" is fine, but the rules are sorely lacking for anything beyond that.

>>50119591

>Illusion to hide a pit
>Illusory wall to confuse pursuers
>Illusory baby as a distraction
>Illusory wall of fire to block the LoS of enemies
>Illusory door to pull a roadrunner on a bad guy
>Illusory double of yourself for RP purposes
>Lure out bad guys with an illusory hero/monster
>Illusory gold to set a trap/commit fraud
>Illusory bridge over a real canyon

and the list goes on.

>>50119613
I'd kind of like to see a Thrown-weapon focused barbarian. Maybe also one more focused on Charisma as a tribal leader sort.

>>50116917
>Technically speaking, it isn't a ranged weapon
The net is a ranged weapon. It's right there in the fucking book. Nothing technical about it. Darts are ranged weapons too.

>>50119620
>>50119596
> turn the ground into a canyon
stop memeing anon

>>50119534
Malleable illusion is very powerful.

You can couple it with disguise self to be a shapshifter. Bonus points if you can pull it off in combat (which isn't hard because you are the king of breaking line of sight). Once you get seeming you can do this with the whole party. If you have a good Cha or a dedicated Face character in the party this is hilariously useful and fun(ny).

Add illusory script to have psychic paper.

Add any illusion (including 6th+ major images that a re permanent) to get the most out of your illusions.

Once you get Creation it becomes the king of utility abilities and also gives you an extra minor illusion (which is real) for battlefield control.

Once you get mirage arcane it becomes the most powerful ability in the game against everyone who doesn't have true sight until...

The next level you can make illusions real which mages you 100% hands down the god of battlefield control and utility.

If you are creative it's by far the most powerful school. Divination a cheaper and easier way to be almost as powerful.

>>50119616
The spell lists several examples.

I misremembered a crevasse as a canyon. Still works though.

>Open fields or a road could be made to resemble a swamp, hill, crevasse or some other difficult or impassable terrain

>>50119232
Personally I love all the new racial options. I usually try to avoid playing the same races too much but this edition was pretty limited on options until now. I feel bad for how horrendously kobolds got shafted, but I guess that's pretty standard for kobolds based on previous editions.

>>50119596
>>50119616
>>50119620
See this is why I'd never ever ever have an illusion wizard at my table

constant abuse and stretching the limits of what illusions are intended to do would get completely obnoxious one session in. There's a difference between creativity and just being obnoxious to everyone else trying to play the game

>>50119591
see>>50119652

And if I were you I would take the ability score improvement at 4 and the feat at 8. Especially if you are human (in which case you should start with warcaster)

>>50119632
>>50119652
>>50119692
I'm dragonborn.

I know I've asked quite a bit, but would it be possible for you to recommend me some decent spells for lvl 4?

If I take the feat, I can have 9 spells prepared, and I may have 12 spells in total

>>50119613
Warlord barbarian
Anti-magic barbarian

>>50116264
>Volo's inspired PC

Triton battle rager barbarian. Glorious warrior of the deep, clad in a suit of puffer fish hide.

>>50119670
>I feel bad for how horrendously kobolds got shafted

Kobolds are godlike, they're not even a little bit bad. They can grant advantage to their entire team and have pack tactics on top of that, they're incredibly strong. Yea they have sunlight sensitivity but there's about a dozen ways around that and it only applies when you're outdoors.

>>50119652
I love seeming with it. You can totally confuse people in combat. They think they want to geek the mage? Well the mage is now the barbarian, who later becomes the ranger.

Programmed Illusion+malleable illusion is also great. If you set up enough programmed illusions with different triggers (such as pass phrases), you can basically have infinite major images because you can change the illusions that happen when triggered.

>>50119629
If your dm thinks that all it takes to get the barmaid into bed is some sweet words, he'll allow the roll. Otherwise, he doesn't have to allow the roll at all. It's not like you can just say "I make an acrobatics check to tumble through the air, fuck what the dm thinks". It's already as complex as it needs to be as long as you aren't autistic. Tell me, in your system, how does "I walk up to the barmaid, I want to roll persuade to get her nuts in my mouth" work out?

>>50119632
Don't forget the chance to use disguise self (if you are small or have reduce person) to BE the illusory baby.

>>50119681
Yeah, illusions are a headache.
If you don't put limits on them they're all save-or-lose spells if used well.
If you do put limits on them, you're forcing the caster to play DM-may-I-please.

>>50119639
Being in the ranged weapon section does not make it a ranged weapon.

>>50119629
The complexity of the social system should come from good RPing from both the players and the DM...

>>50119639
>>50119737
Is a net really a ranged weapon?

Do "thrown" weapons count as ranged weapon? is a javelin a ranged weapon?

>>50119750
>>50119718
Good rules encourage good RP. DnD rules do not. That's the key problem with your argument.

Trust me, I've played other games, and the difference is night and day.

>>50119732
>If you don't put limits on them they're all save-or-lose spells if used well.
>If you do put limits on them, you're forcing the caster to play DM-may-I-please.

Yeah. That's why I feel like most players should DM at least once, so that they make decent players when it's their turn to play with illusions.

>>50119768
> Trust me, I've played other games, and the difference is night and day.

Oh well we'll just have to trust you on this then. I mean we could actually discuss the pros and cons of other systems, but yeah, let's just assume you're right. That's pretty convenient but I mean, we kinda have to trust you on this. Right ?

>>50119681
I feel like I'm abusing shit every time I use portent on my diviner

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Guys, it's ranged

has a range of 5/15

>>50119785
So far you haven't actually discussed any cons of any system, other than to say very generally that "rules are bad m'kay". the only justification you've put up for this seems to be that DnD offers all you need to roleplay out a social situation. And I agree: if your players and DM are perfect, and completely in tune with each other, freeform roleplay is the best.

My argument is that what you seem to think is standard group fair (perfect players in tune with their characters and the DM) is actually very rare, and rules help less than perfect groups have more fun.

>>50119012
>>50119054
thanks

>>50119703
If you don't take the feat you will have 10 spells prepared and the obvious buff to attack rolls and your saving throw DC. My personal favorites are...


0:
Minor Illusion
Pretidigitation
Firebolt

1:
Sleep
Disguise self
Find familiar
Shield
Mage Armor
Silent Image
Illusory Script (With Malleable Illusion)
Detect Magic
Identify (If you are more interesting in safety than having a funny story about the barbarian attuning to a cursed item)

2:
Mirror Image
Misty Step
Enlarge/Reduce
Phantasmal Force

>>50119830
Oh, and as another point: having more nuanced determinations of success/failure is also a plus side.

>>50119703

It's no problem, ask away. If you're looking for an illusion-focused general wizard spell list for a level 4 wizard, I'd say something like:

Cantrips:

-Mage hand
-Firebolt
-Minor Illusion
-Shocking Grasp
-prestidigitation/message/light/mending your call

1st (8)
-Silent Image
-Shield
-Magic Missile
-Detect Magic
-Tasha's Hideous Laughter
-Identify
-Grease
-Illusory Script

2nd(4)
-Invisibility
-Silence
-Scorching Ray
-Suggestion

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>>50119830
> So far you haven't actually discussed any cons of any system,

Man, I don't know who you're talking about, but I'm the guy you're answering to and I haven't even set foot in this convo.

I just hate when people assume we have to trust them when they say they're right.

Now onto your point: I've been a DM for 15 years and most NPC interactions I've had were absolutely fine without these rules.
I haven't played a wide variety of systems, but most of them were relying fully on the DM not to be an ass, and on the players to actually manage to construct decent sentences.

I've literally never had a NPC interaction that would need the kind of bullshit you're feeding us.
The "weight" of proving we need what you're saying D&D needs is on you, not on us to prove other systems are better.

Now take a deep breath and calm down, try to get something out of this convo instead of acting outraged and displaying your feelings all over the general

>>50116398
I have flails ignoring shields in my games. I thought it would be overpowered at first, but then i realized how few enemies use shields.

Does Relentless Avenger work with Polearm master's "you walked into my range silly goose" reaction attack?

>>50119914
>fighting a knight
>swing flail at his face
>knight raises metal shield
>flail goes through the metal shield as if it were air and crushes the knight's head
Yup that's exactly how it works irl

>>50119830
If you have bad players and DMs, it doesn't matter what rules you use, so why use yours?

>>50118436
As long as your AC is 13+dex and you're wearing armour, you'll get it.

The issue is that your final AC due to armour must be below your natural armour, or else you will not get to use natural armour.

If you wear studded leather, it's possible that your armour will be considered '12+dex, but you also have +1 due to wearing armour, thus you're left with 13+dex due to wearing armour, thus you may not use your natural armour'

To be 100% sure, wear armour that gives you as low an AC as possible. If you wear 5 AC armour (not that that exists) then you'll always gain whatever benefits, including armour +1/2/3, fighting style's +1, etc.

>>50119933
I think it's more of the sense that a flail could easily swing around a guard or just hurt the guy's arm through weight and momentum.

Of course it doesn't make sense when you think of it in a stupid way.

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>>50119907
I never asked anyone to prove that they need what I'm saying my games need.

I actually asked for constructive criticism on modifying DnD to meet my needs (something the spirit of this edition is very much in support of), and got the usual answer from its grognard fans "don't"*. If you're going to jump into a conversation, you should look at the context before doing so.

But what about that post makes me seem angry? (though now I'm mildly annoyed) I advanced an argument. Is that aggressive to you anon? Did I offend your sensibilities?

*though one guy did offer some neat advice.

>>50119936
Apparently if you have average players and dms, you're hopeless too.

Let's be honest here: the average player, and the average DM, they're both terrible at roleplaying. At least the averages of DnD. My experience with other systems and the quality of those system's players has been absolutely delightful.

>>50119975
>he uses asterisks in his posts

>>50118453
I had a player ask once if they could use the mariner fighting style. I told them that they couldn't use it if they had no connections to any sort of marining activity.
If you would never use heavy armour anyway or a shield, it's pretty much a direct upgrade, though it's not really much of an upgrade.
Though I wouldn't argue too much if the character has a vague mariner sort of background.

>>50119914
It's a bit fiddley, but I wouldn't argue with it. Does make longsword/warhammer redundant, but then rapier with finesse is kind of a big deal and shields aren't too common unless you fight a lot of defence-based lawful enemies.

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>>50120011

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>>50120011
>he doesn't have an argument.

>>50120050
>>50120031
>he cares more about arguing than, as he said in >>50119975 finding "constructive criticism on modifying DnD to meet my needs"

>>50119958
I would argue flail is normla agaisnt a shield, but agaisnt something like a monk that uses it's wisdom to predict your next hit, you ignore it since even the wielder can't truly predict where it's going.

>>50120025
Yeah, it is a direct upgrade, though it's only really useful if you're going dex based or using ranged weapons anyway. The ability to climb and swim reliably isn't that major either, as it mainly just lets you move quickly without needing the athletics checks.

I would probably allow it if they could justify an environment that would result in those skills. Working on a ship would be fine. Living in a port city with lots of tall buildings might also work. Living in a jungle with lots of rivers and big trees could fit as well.

If they just want it for their archer fighter who grew up in the woods, then yeah, I'd say no.

>>50119975
It's pretty damn difficult to give positive criticism if we think the rules aren't necessary in the first place. "Social combat rules" have been discussed here a lot of times and it just doesn't suit 5e style - and, maybe, 5e's players style.

That's the actual context.

Maybe you can call anyone who deeply disagrees with you "grognards" but that's pretty fucking stupid and only serves to strawman the discussion - which is a pretty typical thing to do nowadays. Instead you could actually try to understand your opponents' position - maybe by giving examples of systems that are similar and actually work.

Anyway, I guess you're only looking for positive criticism and that's pretty hard to come by when your idea is widely regarded as shit. I just thought you'd like to know that you can't really say
> trust me, i'm pretty smart
without losing 100% of your credibility.

>>50120006
>the average player, and the average DM
>both terrible at roleplaying
Wew, someone really has some high standarts, huh, I bet you are fun to play with yourself.

>>50120079
Eh, I was more guessing at his reasoning. Personally, I would say the Flail could give some sort of bonus to trying to trip people.

It would be kind of nice to see more feats for various groups of weapons, like Polearm master. Something to let axes deal extra damage to prone targets or larger targets, or hammers getting a damage bonus against targets with high AC.

>>50120125
There is an UA for that
flails, hammers, axes, swords and spears

>>50120125
Remember, anything is possible in DND.
Rule 0: Let's all work together for a peaceful world.

>>50120097
>5e's players style.
citation needed this whole post.

The criticism I'm being offered is mostly "git gud" or "don't" neither of which is constructive.

>>50120118
I have fun playing with my friends in this combat simulator, but honestly I can't help feeling that 4e did combat simulation better, and other systems do social/exploration better. The only thing 5e has going for it at this point is my friends like it, it's really easy to find a game, and it isn't terrible in any one aspect.

>>50120125
>>50120143
The UA is pretty uninspired, but it's going in the right direction.

More combat feats is absolutely needed IMO.

>>50120091
I might sort of allow it for a woodsman sort of fighter who's basically what a ranger should be.

It's just when it sounds like 'Well, I want this +1 AC fighting style, but there's another fighting style that's almost identical in UA except it gives even more features but has a couple of restrictions'

I mean, sure, the restrictions slightly remove versatility but I feel the feat is pretty poorly constructed in that manner.

People aren't likely to switch between plate armour and light armour unless they have 15 strength + 20 dexterity.
People aren't likely to use a shield when they're focused on using a crossbow all the time if a shield takes a full action to equip.

Then again, even if the restrictions are weird, the benefits are actually nice to see. It encourages climbing and swimming, which is generally good over 'I want more AC! More to-hit! More damage!'
... But I'd still rather them have at least some reasoning as to why they'd have it.

>>50118291
I'm not a koboldfag, but those stats are really bad. Every boon they get is either entirely or almost entirely negated by one of their negative stats. They are easily the worst race. You can capitalize on their strengths by preemptively knowing the kind of campaign and party you're going to be in, but you can also make that argument for any race, really.

Unless you know something I don't? +2 DEX is nice, -2 STR isn't; Darkvision is nice, Small size isn't; their skills and mobility are all par for the course; Pack Tactics and Groveling are both useful features, but are almost entirely negated by Sunlight Sensitivity.

You could make an argument that in being the smallest playable race at a mere 2-and-a-half feet, they can probably find cover fucking anywhere. But it's up to the DM to give you a ruling like that. I'm actually surprised they didn't get the halfling cover feature.

>>50120159
Madam, if you ask for advice on how to jump off a bridge and people said "don't", maybe you should consider not doing it.

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>>50120072
I don't know, anon*. I'm not him**. I just think that berating someone for using a symbol appropriately in writing is childish***.

*Yes I do.
**I'm not related to him in any possible way except that we both posted on 4chan.org/tg/ .
***Sorta like adding a bunch of asterisks simply because that seems to bother you.
>>50120192
The only thing that really bothers me about kobolds is sunlight sensitivity. That's dumb.

>People were saying the ranger as is was complete horseshit
>Wizards put out the UA ranger
Wizards is actually listening to feedback for once.
Now if they could also do so for the other classes.

>>50120198
But other games have already demonstrated that complicated social dynamics can be fun. Are you seriously trying to fun shame me here by comparing my ideal game to a suicide attempt?

That's retarded anon.

>>50120179
I don't like how it has a bunch of "+1 to hit" stuff in the feats though. That kinda stuff is really lame and also feels out of place with how the current weapon feats are

>>50120238
Yeah. The +1 to hit was the lame part. The focus should be more on making the weapons feel different and giving extra effects in certain situations. Polearm master doesn't give a flat +1 to hit with polearms, an Axe master feat should do the same.

>>50120208
>he uses asterisks in his posts

>>50120238
That's because it was a half baked attempt to do feats.

Polearm Master, and Crossbow Expert (to a lesser extent) are great, because they change the gameplay up a bit, offer a new strategy, and generally complicate decision making slightly.

IIRC, the only good feat in the UA was spears, but I could be wrong.

Anyways, instead of trying to do what polearm master did well, and make feats game changing, the UA guy just shat out a few modifiers. But the notion of weapon feats is still a good one.