/5eg/ D&D Fifth Edition General

Have you tried playing 4e? It's pretty good.

8 INT wizard, 10 kobolds vs. a level 20 PC, rolling for stats over standard array/point buy, diamond pickaxes

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let's say you're a PC and the adventure is to find a cure for your lover PC who contracted Lycanthropy just recently but you two know very little about the curse. How would you as the healthy PC try to contain it? The only thing I can think of is the first story in The Witcher with the tomb, but, these two PC's are on a journey, and I feel like "climbing a tree" wouldn't work if the werewolf is in hybrid form...this is level 1 btw.

Are there any mechanically better races for Kensai monk using greatsword than lizardfolk?

>d6 unarmed attack without martial arts for flurry of blows and AC when using them
>Can dump wis and still have decent unarmored AC
>Biting

>>50678439
The post with the rulebook was to specifically 'let people play make-believe how they want'

It illustrates that while you could let people play make-believe how they want, it's generally better to conform to a set of tried-and-true rules. It's only natural there are some exceptions.

>>50678437
Will it let me roll for my characters stats?

>>50678473
Don't forget >>50678437

>>50678473
>diamond pickaxes
Speaking of diamond pickaxes, how would you break into a vault made of adamantium with an anti-magic field?

>>50678437

dank memes

>>50678437
B-but that edition promotes equality between classes
I'd rather roll for stats because having two fighters except one of the fighters having +2 extra damage and +15 HP over the other is fun.

>>50678515
Go back to your containment thread >>50673392

>>50678515
This is why I only allow one race, one class, One armor type, one weapon, and have a standard array of 10, 10, 10, 10 ,10 ,10.

i prefer rolling but how do you guys do point buy?
is it just a pool of like 60 that you put wherever?
how do you stop people from just putting a 1 in stats they dont need at all

>>50678535
^this guy gets it
its the only way to have fun

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>>50678420
Okay, any thoughts on this brew?

>>50678535
There's a difference between limiting one's choice and taking away somebody's free ASIs.

>>50678420
An army of mechanical creatures hidden away within an abandoned ruin who have all gained consciousness. They had their own civilization built there that had been growing for hundreds of years. I'd come up with NPCs, a layout for the city, new weapons, armor, spells, etc. It tied into a couple major quests they'd done in this campaign so far. There was a journal they took from someone that had directions to the city in it.

They threw it in a fucking fire without reading it.

>join game after a long pause in gaming
>have to roll for stats
>raises flags, but didn't game for too long so ignore
>3d6-assign, no rerolls
>even more flags, but decide to test my luck
>roll 10 9 7 5 11 11
>everyone else rolled higher then average, one guy even has a total modifier of +16 in his stats
>fuck it, stats don't mean shit when you don't roll dice, so pick a wizard
>NUH-UH NO FULL CASTERS THEY'RE OP
>pick a warlock, tiefling race to boost charisma a bit
>the rest of the group is a paladin, a ranger, and some bullshit edgy homebrew called "blood hunter" or something like that
>the party roflstomps everything, I can't do shit most of the time, neither in combat nor in skills, and even social interaction sucks because my charisma is fucking 13
>out of spells
>rests? what? we don't need short rests, we didn't lose much hp
>die in third combat of the game
>finally.jpg
>but no, DM rules that I get rezzed via some bullshit
>well fuck, another time then
>keep on playing, resort to spamming eldritch blasts
>hit level 4, boost charisma
>everyone else picks shitty flavor-related feats like gourmand or tavern brawler which they don't use at all
>get frowned looks
>keep on playing
>at some point, instantly kill what was I think supposed to be a mini-boss due to two crits on my eldritch blast and some bullshit house-rule that you die if you take half your damage and fail a con check
>get accused of being a minmaxing munchkin
>game ends, warlocks are banned, I'm told to make a new character
>with the same stats

I'm considering leaving. Should I?

>>50678570
You could tell them your concerns and see how they react.

If it's negative, then yes

How do I stop my party from haphazardly killing people then just reviving important NPCs and such after the fact how do I make death/injuries seem more permanent?
t. New dm

>>50678539
The PHB lays it out. Stats start at 8, can't be lower. Each increase beyond 8 costs something, with the cost increasing at a certain point. Maximum stat allowed is 15.

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>>50678570
>accused of minmaxing
There's no way this can be real... Right?

>>50678570
>if you take half your HP at once in damage
sorry, I'm a retard

>>50678591
Probably will do so next game.

>>50678626
That's what I said.

>>50678570
Are you retarded?
Why the fuck would you stay in that group?

>>50678599
Don't start them at level 17.

>>50678420
I have an entire BBEG the players have never encountered and do not know exist. I've alluded to him, I've shown in-game events he has caused, and placed hints at his origin all over the place. Instead, the players have found these clues and connected the dots wrongly, assuming the events are correlated to another, separate BBEG. They've occasionally questioned my ability at making a coherent plot by pointing out plot-holes, and they seem to think I don't really have a major plan for all of these. I enjoy watching them try to make sense of it though, it's partially their fault for avoiding 2 obvious situations that could have given them clues and to even have met the BBEG in question.

On an entirely different note, I have designed a megadungeon, meant to be taken in chunks. Transport to the entrance requires a stone in one of my PC's possession, but all they know is that it teleports them somewhere, and they're too scared to try it out right now. I'm planning on having it encompass 13 major trials by the end, with each trial ending in some kind of treasure or divine boon granted to the players when they complete it. Trials must be taken start to finish, and progress is only retained at the end of each. Currently I have up to Trial 5 completed, I've put a hold on it since they don't even want to use it at the moment.

>>50678610
what is the pool you pull from though?
how big is it
(that sounds awful btw)

>>50678599
Heaven is a nice place and the people they killed are unwilling to leave it for the sake of their murderers.

>>50678632
Either they have mental damage or they're trying to troll you.

In either case, you should leave.

>>50678644
Iirc, 27 points. Check the PHB.

>>50678648
>Plane Shift
>drag their dead ass back to the material

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>>50678570
>some bullshit house-rule that you die if you take half your damage and fail a con check
It's not "some bullshit house rule", it's the Massive Damage rule in the DMG

>>50678648
I'm trying to push that angle but Iirc true res forces a soul back to a body
>>50678641
I didn't I'm taking over a campaign and in the process of destroying all the jank shit the previous dm gave the party

>>50678690
>taking over a campaign

Why would you do that? It's nearly impossible to do something well like that.

>>50678669
this is just silly
instead of having a point buy you should just get a 15 in the stats your class needs and an 8 in the ones it doesnt
thats what everyones gonna do anyway lmfao
dont even pretend your barbarians arent
15 15 15 8 8 8

>>50678690
No, the creature has to be free and willing.

>>50678539
its not just "1 point spent increases an ability score by 1", higher stats cost more so you could have a higher sum of stats but theyd all be lower, or you could specialize but have a lower sum of stats

>>50678710
I wouldn't know, my players don't play martials or do point buy. We roll for stats and allow the standard array as a backup option.

>>50678713
Thanks
Are there any res spells that don't require willing souls?
>>50678709
I'm taking over because our dm/friend running the campaign died 2 weeks ago

Anyone have experience with games at local game stores and/or public Adventure League games? I'm mostly curious what sort of classes and builds seem to be popular and unpopular.

>all those arguments about rolling for stats

I make my players roll for stats, point-buy if they aren't satisfied with their set.

Easy.

>>50678781
pussy

>>50678475
Let her nibble on you. Share her burden. Then off to magical realm during fullmoon.

>>50678481

Shit, you're right.

>Con +2 which is always useful, and Dex +1
>Bite as unarmed attack, meaning you can get your +2 AC without having to only deal 1+Str damage
>can get temporary hit points every short rest

Yeah, that's pretty fucking sweet. Though I will say, you wouldn't want to dump Wis, your Unarmored Defense will still eventually get better than the Lizardfolk AC bonus.

>>50678761
Holy shit man, that's horrible.

I can only suggest leading the campaign to its end, preferably with a good climax and a happy ending. You can't just fix what, like 17 levels of adventuring.

>>50678570
Actually, just going through the math.

There's a 50% chance of getting an odd number in a stat, which is like 50% of a modifier.
6*(0.25) = 1.5, so 16+1.5 = 17.5
17.5/6 = almost 3.
That means what they have is like having 16 in every single stat.
With human, that's 15 in every single stat before racial.

No matter how you look at it, there's no way they couldn't have cheated if this is 3d6.

It really just sounds like your group is keeping you around to be the 'only guy who didn't cheat on rolling stats' chucklefuck.

>>50678781
Then what's the point of rolling for stats? Better to just give them higher point-buy.

>>50678812
Everyone's level 11 to 8 right now, he just gave the warlock an iten to steal people's souls from nearby and transform into him
Hence warlock turning into high level cleric and ressurecting everyone after they die
Gotta take that item from him and break it in two as a bit of railroading but after that it's open world

>>50678570

Run. Run as far away from that group as fast as humanly possible, and never look back.

>>50678804
But then you will have to sacrifice str, con or dex to get it.

>>50678754
Pussy. Roll stat is all or nothing. Player has to accept the risk before they start rolling.

>>50678850
How does he pay for all those resurrection spell component?

>>50678821
That was after racial (variant human) though. But he rolled 18-14-13-17-12-12, we all saw that and were amazed.

I'm pretty sure the dice weren't loaded, they were mine. They immediately fucked me over on my rolls.

>>50678850
It's probably more respectful to your old DM to just end the campagin on good note.

>>50678882
It's just 300g finds right?
That's another thing I have to fix
He made 1 pp equal 1000gp without adjusting any other numbers
And gave everyone a shitton of cash
Thinking of inserting an in world event that adjusts currency or something
>>50678909
I was thinking this but the group really wanted to continue so I went along as the dm.

>>50678860

Why on earth would you bump strength though? Most that should be there is 10 so your bite does a flat d6 damage. The rest should be pumped into Dex and Wis to raise your AC up, with some in Con for more health.

Had some fall damage fun last session.

Goliath barbarian 6 and a human druid 2/barbarian 4 were on top of a bards college. Described as being 100ft the druid didn't want to wildshape into a spider and climb down so they opted to jump.

"You understand you'll take 10d6 fall damage yea?"
"Yep & Yeah"

So they jump, all 100ft. DM rolls damage and its about as minimum as it can go, only 12 (out of 60 possible!). Both of them raged mid fall so the damage was halved (both are bear totem) for 6 each.

The Goliath uses his 1/day 'Shrug it off' to roll a d12 and gets over a 6. He takes no damage falling 100ft
Meanwhile the druid/barb only takes 6hp.

Needless to say, the citizens and guards around watched in horror only to see the Goliath super man land and druid to casually brush himself off with a CW right after.

D&D 5e. Where falling 100ft hurts less than getting slapped by a napkin from a children's birthday party.

I'm the That Guy who likes having a balanced array of stats. I even went point buy when everyone else rolled for stats and have 18s and 20s in their primary stats. Meanwhile my highest stat is a 14. I'm still having fun playing a Thief Rogue. Cunning Action and Fast Hands is great fun and expertise helps shore up my lack of amazing ability scores.
>Not being the guy who helps back up party members by grappling and restraining foes, stabilizing party members, and scattering caltrops to slow pursuers

>>50678539
I just make players use the default array of 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. Everyone can understand it, it amounts to the same thing as the standard point buy, it's easy to check to see if someone is cheating, and it weeds out any tryhards who want to minmax

>>50678955
How can you resist damage that has no applicable type?

>>50678955
> Players: we rage so damage is halved
> DM: You rage? At what?

Fuck barbarians and their "I decide to rage" mechanism. In my system you rage AT things.

>>50678971
Falling damage is bludgeoning damage. All damage has a type in 5e.

>>50678974
he cant be mad about falling?
lol
what a menial thing to bitch about

GM is making us start at level 1. What is the most obnoxiously overpowered character out of the gate?

Can barbarians maintain rage by taking the Attack action against themselves? What ways can a barbarian hurt themselves to maintain rage?

>>50679017
Stab yourself with a knife. The Sadist Barb

>>50678888
Well, I was almost right with the prediction.
That's an average of 14.33 in every stat, or a +2 to every stat. .. Before racials.

Calculating that as (Probabibility of rolling 18 or higher * 17 or higher * 14 or higher * 13 or higher * 12 or higher * 12 or higher), the probability is:
0.00005025%.
That's the chance of rolling those stats or higher.
..Hm, maybe I messed up somewhere (such as it doesn't have the probability of getting all 16s included, because a 16 would be worse than a 17 or 18) but that seems to be the real value, and it's literally a 1 in two million chance.

>>50679031
Why not just punch yourself? Or even better, punch your wounds? Kylo Ren did that to become angrier and boost his dark side powers.

>>50679012
Tranquility Monk

>>50678821
>>50679059
you really need to get laid

>>50678570
Are you a masochist?

Are you having fun?

>>50679017
Biting your lip or using an unarmed strike.

>>50679012
Two-weapon fighting is very nice at level 1 but drops off quickly. A human fighter with Dual Wielder and the two-weapon fighting style will be the best for a single session. Preferably give him non-matching weapons like a sword and an axe so he looks like that Heroquest guy.

>>50679080
I'd rather get un-laid to be honest.

>>50679017
We have mental health first-aiders in work now

ave him remember a traumatic memory

>>50678962
my group does standard 4d6 drop lowest, but if were unsatisfied we can take the standard array as a back up so we never have crippled characters, generally about half of us go standard array and half keep rolls. its fun to be strong or have a bonus. our monk rolled and 18 and 17 and two 5's and decided to keep the rolls. makes for some fun moments

>>50678971
Bear totem resists everything except psychic. So they don't take damage unless the ground is a phantasm.

>>50679017
Read sage advice.

Damage must be deal by a hostile creature is RAI.

>>50679121
I find this comforting

>>50679112
>monk goes wood elf
>monk, at level 2, can make three punches to deal 1d4+5, 1d4+5 and 1d4+5 damage each with +5 to hit
>monk has 19 AC
>by the time monk is level 5, they can have 20 AC and the saving throw on their stunning fist is 16

Goddamn monks.

>>50679118
And then they roll a save to disbelieve the illusion.

If they succeed, they miss the ground while falling and get in orbit.

>>50679152
If his weapon of choice is a quarterstaff that's actually d8+5 + 2d4+10 if he uses flurry of blow.
The first hit can come from your weapon.

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>>50678999
I have no talent in drawing and I have to use mouse and paint but I tried just because

>>50679152

>1d4+5
>a +5 to hit

That to hit would imply you have 16 Dex. Where in the hell is the +5 damage coming from? Just out of curiosity, because it should be +3 damage per attack.

Also 19 AC is way off too, you'd only have 16 at level 2, assuming 16 or 17 Dex and 16 Wis.

>>50679152
don't forget that wood elves get bonus movement per round! 35 feet aw yeah

>>50678494
Does it have a door with a lock?

>>50679346
+5 to hit is +5 to hit over base chance, which is proficiency modifier.
Which means it's 20 dex.

Otherwise, they'd somehow be losing dex to keep the to-hit constant when I start talking about level 5 where their proficiency modifier is +3 instead.

>>50679230
Yeah, I keep forgetting.
It's overpowereed at low levels, but not gamebreaking at all. Definitely much better than a GWM fighter to start with, but the GWM will keep getting extra attacks and more attacks to action surge off of and plate armour.
Does mean they'll actually be able to start investing in feats (or con) starting at level 8, but eh. Since stats are capped at 20 their stunning strikes won't go to the moon.

>>50679436
Don't forget monk's speed on top of that.
They could also be a variant human with resilient (wis) and go 20 wis and 18 dex, but they get proficiencies in all saving throws later anyway.

>>50679490

Ah, just went up and saw the guy rolled and got 18s. Never mind, disregard that.

What's the deal with 8 int kobolds and diamond pickaxes?

>>50679012
>Moon Druids
>V. Human with Heavy Armor Master
>Fighter (I'm serious)
>Halfling Diviner
>Mountain Dwarf Abjurer
This are good options for 1-5

>>50679482
No, just a cube of adamantium wall

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Anyone here played a warlock from level 7 to 10? I was doing the math and warlocks get pretty far behind in these levels when talking about spells per day

Also, fun fact:
>Warlocks are balanced around 1 short rest from 1st to 3rd level, but around TWO short rests for every other level.

>>50679121
That's a bit silly. Allowing your Barbarian to punch himself in the face to maintain rage isn't that far-fetched as it deals a fair amount of damage.

>>50679590
"Adamantine has 40 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 20."
Hire some mooks, give them a stockpile of weapons/picks, and just have them beat the everloving shit out of the cube until they break through. It'll take a while, sure, but they'll get it done eventually.

>>50679549
/5e/ memes:

>8 int wizards
>Can a level 20 fighter defeat a group of kobolds?
>Bugbears with whips
>Diamond pickaxe are the best! They can't' be destroyed!
>4e is the best edition, do you like 4e?!

>>50679638
They are fine. Level 9 is my favorite. Fire Shield for melee oriented locks and G. Invis 4 or 6 times a day is delicious

>>50679676
The idea is to limit barbarian's rage somewhat, so barbarian's rage can be countered by avoiding/trapping/calming the barbarian.

If they can just punch themselves in the face for one or two damage, they'd just end up doing that instead.
Unless there's a baseline 'you must deal this much damage to yourself' then it's just trying to reduce the number of ways something can be countered.

>>50679638
>tfw no short rests, only lots of long rests all the time and people seem to hate the 7 day long rest rule

>>50678557
Didn't they do this one already?

>>50679797
Warlocks need at least one short rest imo, I wouldn't play one if this doesn't happen

>>50679779
But if you take damage before the start of your next turn after you've punched yourself in the face it's a waste of an action AND damage you could have avoided.
This actually came up last session as the party was assailed by bow-wielding bushes (well actually goblins, but for all they knew the bushes shot arrows at them) and the Barbarian wasn't sure that his rage could keep going. He did a nice little rage-y scream and punched his fists together to stay angry while they tried to approach the bushes.
Before his turn came again he had been hit by two arrows, thus he wasted his action AND took more damage than he would have otherwise by making sure his rage kept going.

I see it as a risk/reward kind of thing. And in the "standard" adventuring day a Barbarian will only be able to rage in 30-80% of all encounters, depending on his level and the amount of encounters.

The Way of Tranquility could have been written for my next monk character, I'm bloody well chuffed.

>>50679869
any DM worth their salt would agree to let you switch your subclass i think

>>50679837
The barbarian could have just not raged until they were closer.
Or, better yet, they could have stood in front of teammates to provide half-cover against arrows.

All the barbarian would do with their action is dash anyway since they couldn't use it to attack, which might have just landed them next to a bush an unable to attack.

Actually, even better, the barbarian could have just have drawn a javelin and have thrown it.

It kind of makes the later feature redundant, and barbarians already have little incentive to level that far.

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>>50679678
>In 5e

Objects have AC, associated with their substance, and HP tied to their size and resiliency. Immune to posion and psychic, vulnerable to others if you want.

Adamantine, AC 23. The cube should be at least huge, which is suggested to be treated as multiple large objects when tracking its HP. So, a large wall, probably resilient, gives 27 (5d10) hp.

We can give it DT, and damage resistances, as long as they are reasonable.

20 DT seems high, but it is Adamantium, so sure, why not. Toss on resistance to practically everything, and adamantium should be basically invulnerable.

>How do you get into this adamantine Helvault covered in antimagic?
If the anti magic is tied to its location, tie a shit ton of ropes and chains around it, and get every single draft horse, donkey, mule, ox, as many golems as possible, etc, and haul it out of the dungeon. This is now a full mining operation.

If the anti-magic is tied to the vault itself, go on a quest to get a wish spell. Or get a wizard to cancel its anti-magic.

Still no luck? Get a Ram made out of adamantium, it would probably get bonus damage, and go to town.


A quick look at the siege weapons shows that normal Trebuchets have enough innate damage, 44 (8d10) bludgeoning, to overcome the hardness even after factoring in resistance.

Bonus option, pic related.

>>50679980
It's not really in his interest to provide cover when he's the fastest party member and they need to close the distance to stop the barrage of arrows.
I agree that he should have raged later, but that's a player problem that is quite common with Barbarian players; they think "I go into a rage" is supposed to be what they do at the start of every combat, every time.

Again, hurting yourself to keep being angry isn't out of character or unbalancing in any way; biting your lip, bursting a blood vessel, punching a wall, pretending you're in Fight Club, are all actions that I see as proper Barbarian behavior.

It also doesn't negate counter-strategies to a raging Barbarian as he wouldn't be able to hurt himself while paralyzed, dazed or even restrained (in this case I would require an attack roll at disadvantage).

in one of the worst games ive ever played on roll20

dubs tells me how to wreck it

>>50680066
Sit back and watch it fall to pieces without any particular effort on your part.

>>50680066
Complete the quest, get your payment, and retire to a farm.

>>50679811
I had mine in the works prior to the Barb UA coming out.

>>50680066
>>50680066
Hit on the DM incessantly

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>>50680066
Congratulations, you get to choose your own fate.

>>50680066
Man I really hope this isn't the one I'm DMing.

>>50680066
Decreasingly subtle rape jokes

>>50680122
winrar
there are girls in the group so this will be fun

Ok so, I've never played D&D before. I have a lot of experience RPing in games like WoW and Wildstar though. A coworker and friend has asked me to DM for him and his friends, thinking my prior experience will make it fun for everyone. And while I have a custom setting in mind, I've no idea where to begin converting what was a book idea into a game world. The characters I'm faced with so far are a dwarf fighter, a half elf bard, a human paladin, and a teifling draconic sorcerer.

What kind of butt frustration am I in for?

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>>50680066
>>50680122


>>50680126
m/m rape.

>>50680152
why do you predict butt frustration? main thing about dnd (and tabletop in general) is that everyone in the group gets along. if you have that, you're most likely gonna have a good time.

>>50679935
I sort of agree but only when it's because there's a new option that now fits your character much better than a previous option.

Had a player want to switch from thief to arcane trickster after playing 5 levels as a thief.
That's a no no.

>>50680152
>converting what was a book idea
Be very careful to not railroad players into your special story idea if they are not interested in following it.

>>50680040
You could just as well say that they can bite their tongue if you restrain them, though.
In the case of dazed or paralyzed, they might well be being attacked too as paralyzed means they'll take crits whenever they're hit.

Hitting a wall for stress relief is a lot different to doing it to a living, breathing creature and ripping it apart. When you consider the levels of anger needed, I wouldn't say self-harm is really fuelling the anger but rather trying to sate it. An annoying kobold jumping about that you're trying to throw things at is much more likely to stoke anger.

It's fine to punish players a bit for being too jumpy with their abilities and using them at the wrong time. It's a lesson in resource management rather than letting them keep the resource. It also encourages them to do their job and try to take hits somehow. Dashing up to the opponents should logically be another way to get their attention, because the creatures should be more likely to attack an immediate threat than a far one, especially if it's outside their weapon range.

.. But, yeah, Now I think about it, a javelin can make an attack out to 120ft. Taking out and throwing a javelin would have not hurt themselves yet still use their action to let them keep their rage, and may have even hurt whatever was shooting. So I guess hurting themselves isn't bad, simply because there's a much better option.

>>50680066
We'll need to know why it's so bad so we can find a way to screw it over without the DM saying 'lol no you can't play a netfighter rogue' or 'lol no you can't play a portent lucky halfling'.

>>50680152
What is the adventure you have?

If you were planning on writing a novel with it, DO NOT USE THAT. The players will ruin your plot. Write your novel, don't play it.

>never played before.
Try out https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145152/A-Little-Bit-of-Thievery

It is a simple premise, that is easy to run in one session. An opportunity for combat, but also for role play. Easy to shoehorn into other settings, as well as a starting point for a campaign.

If your players want to be goody two shoes, just make the mark ridiculously evil, but well connected.

>>50680248
ive already started making rape jokes
they havent noticed yet
im going to end it by raping the male questgiver

>>50680152

I'd recommend starting easy with a pre-made adventure if that's what you're worried about. Lost Mines of Phandelver is cheap and a great way to introduce everyone. If you want to move into homebrew after that it's not hard to do.

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>>50680152
>First time DM, never played DnD

Read the Player's Handbook, especially Chapters 7-10. Brush up on the classes that the PCs are running.

Read the DMG. You can skip Chapters 2, 6, 9, and the appendices. Don't bother reading all the magic items, just decide how you want treasure allocated.

Try to run a pre-made adventure that you like the sound of. They come with premade hooks, that you can talk to your players about. If they and you like the hook, run it. It will save you a lot of time, and energy than writing your own for your first time. Pick one that can wrap up in a single session, not an entire campaign.

Try to follow the attached preparation guide.

>>50678420
>Previous thread >>50673392 →
i liked this thread, rip

>>50680403
What book is that page from, please?

>>50680482
Looks like 3.5e DMG.

>>50680482
>>50680501

DMG, for 4e. One of the better DMGs, its non mechanical recommendations are pretty game system neutral.

>>50676830
>No str ranged shenanigans
Haha yeah I guess that's...
>No pummel at range
F U C K Y O U GLAIVE MONKS ARE A STAPLE
I mean I *guess* you can still get PAM and be good with them but for fuck's sake...

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>>50678437

>>50679695
>>Can a level 20 fighter defeat a group of kobolds?
I like how it went from a level 1 fighter and an entire den.
To a level 1 fighter with multiple feats and very specific build and an entire den.
To a level 3 fighter battle master and a group of 8 kobolds that don't use traps.
To a level 20 fighter and a group of kobolds.

>>50679590
>>50679678
>>50680004
I'd rather not use AC and damage formulas because it gets just weird. Rather, I'd decide some tools or materials that could, with enough time, pierce the wall.

Can a diamond drill pierce adamantium, for example? Does D&D lore have any even harder gems or materials?

>>50678437
It's a cute system for skirmish games, not much else.

>>50680532
hey, we have to change the meme so it cotinues to be funny :^)

>No mystic v3 for this year even though they said it was going to be released this year
>Everything about kensai weapons not being non monk weapons was intentional, you dealing 1+Str on unarmed attacks while you hold a kensai weapon was intentiontal
Thanks Mearls

>>50680562
Originally it was being changed because people were moving goalposts.

I think the level 20 is the only one that wasn't being serious anymore.

>>50680533
5e doesn't really have a list of materials for weapons, that is more of a 3.PF thing.

5e's main ruling is, if the DM thinks it sounds reasonable, and the player's do too, do what the DM says.

I think that a diamond drill is reasonable. IRL industry uses them.

>>50680572
>Everything about kensai weapons not being non monk weapons was intentional, you dealing 1+Str on unarmed attacks while you hold a kensai weapon was intentiontal

Source?

>>50680572
It's amazing how little they have to do for a job.

>here's something that's pretty broken
>fix it pls internet

>>50680594
Sage advice

>>50680601
I figured, where is it?

>>50680554
On the contrary, it's dmg and rules systems give it way better support for social encounters and exploration challenges than 5e has.

5es dmg and support can be summed up as "lol roll a d20 or something."

>>50678680
>o p t i o n a l r u l e

>>50680633
Then why are you in this general, just to shill your preferred edition?

>>50677443

I'm on Skype a lot but I'm cool with something like Roll20

>>50678781
...then what's the fucking point of rolling, you foolish autist? They have a point-buy safety net.

You sound like a molly-coddling cuck, TBQH

>>50680647
So are feats, that doesn't make them a "bullshit house rule"

>>50678974
>You rage? At what?
The cruel grip of gravity.

>>50680178
I predict it because I've never DM'd before and am afraid I'll screw it up and ruin it for everyone

>>50680228
Yeah that's something I know I don't want to do.

>>50680260
tl;dr version: race of magic using being (elves likely but up for change) used magic too much and found darkness that lurks in magic that started corrupting anyou magic sensitive person into twisted monsters. The remaining magic users use all their might to seal the monsters and darkness away at the cost of the first race. A couple millenia later, the remaining members of that race restrict magic to different schools of magic and prevent students from learning from multiple schools to prevent the darkness from being reawakened. But someone attacks the towers and starts stealing books of power, which threatens to wake the darkness and the monstrosities within. Players stop the darkness from being awoken or must push it back if they faff about.

>>50680375
I was considering doing that, actually. I'll look into the recommended starting campaigns

>>50680651
Because I can't find a game for 4e, but can for 5e.

>>50680693
Still not the correct thread for you then, there should be a game finder thread somewhere. Shoo.

>>50680673
I'd say a variant rule in the DMG is more out there than one in the PHB

>>50680704
Nah, I'll stay. Your attempts to create a thought bubble amuse me.

>>50680152
The biggest thing that D&D will probably hit you with is random failure. In books failure only occurs when it's written in, and in computer games like WoW, failure usually only happens when someone screws up. In D&D, a toss of the dice can have drastic effects- depending on how you set the stage. If you start out by saying "The world is doomed unless..." then you should prepare for the apocalypse.

What are some good ideas for powers for "the hand/eye/body parts of not!Jesus", in a similar vein to the eye/hand of Vecna?

I'm thinking of making them functionally less of just a thing, and more of an actually pat of the story, that grows with the characters, unlike any traditional Macguffin, with a gimmick and nothing else outside of it, that stays the same the whole way through.

The idea is to try and push my party away from the 3E way of thinking in relation to magic items, and get the group as a whole more adjusted to magic items being plot items. By making magic items something related to the core of the plot outside of just "macguffin that is bad if the villain gets it", and more of something that physically and symbolically becomes part of their character, it should help them understand the importance of the item to the story, and as something that will help define the character. When you get a magic item, say something like a +1 sword, well all it does it hurts more. It doesn't change, it doesn't do anything. You can say its the weapon of a big bad evil guy thats bad if he gets it, but it doesn't really change much. You could make it cursed, because its so bad that it makes you worse just by having it, but that doesn't really help that much, it just seems like an annoyance. By making it a core part of the plot, and something that the players will have full control of, becoming more powerful and gaining more uses as time goes on, I feel like it will help them realize how important it really is. The item isn't just becoming more power, you're just able to use more of its power, now that you're stronger, and the part has come to accept you.

Is this a good idea or just autism?

What's a good creature for a kobold to ride in a cave?

What house rules do you use? Also, do you run six hard encounters per long rest? I've been thinking about incorporating both into my next campaign.

>>50680735
You would not be ushered out if you were providing evidence for your arguments instead of just going "nuh-uh".

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>The Martial Arts feature defines what a monk weapon is. Nothing else is a monk weapon unless a feature explicitly says otherwise.

>>50680751
>>50680751
Another kobold.

>Kensai Lizardfolk
>Pick greatsword
Lol I still get +2 to AC and I deal 1d6 with my unarmed attacks!

>>50680751
Another Kobold.

There are so many kobolds in this one cave that they manage to form a sort of swarm or hive mind, functioning together, forming a big kobold made out of hundreds of kobolds.

>>50680777
Two kobolds - pantomime horse style

>>50680783
One hundred kobolds and a jerrycan - pantomine dragon style.

>>50680572
Mystic is on Monday, calling it now.

If you go by alphabetical order, Mystic is after Monk, so we get Mystic next.

>>50680819
Anon, they said it isn't going to be released this year...

>>50680819
>being this out of the loop

>>50680819
senpaitachi

https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/808548738524323840

>>50680572
>Everything about kensai weapons not being non monk weapons was intentional, you dealing 1+Str on unarmed attacks while you hold a kensai weapon was intentiontal
What kind of idiot didn't believe this was the case? You actually thought they were just going to make an archetype that said, "You can do literally everything else great a Monk can do, but you get to use a 2d6 weapon at level 3 and get +2 AC"?

>>50680762
Skill challenges are an excellent framework for running social or exploration encounters. They were written confusingly in the original 4e dmg, but once understood they are great.

The 5e dmg offers no good advice or framework for running these encounters. It should have maintained skill challenges, but they were dropped because they were too closely associated with 4e and it's destruction of sacred cows.

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DMs, would you allow a character to play something that looks like this?

>>50679017
Bandolier made of rats.

>>50680873
I'd insist.

>>50680776
What would be the optimal stats for this? I can't decide between dumping wis or str. Max str for damage, max dex for less damage and more ac.

>>50680868

I actually still use skill challenges in 5e. Can't use the same DC's, of course, but the basic idea behind them is too good not to use.

>>50680776
>Lol I still get +2 to AC
If you don't attack with the greatsword as your action

>>50680868
BUT 4E DOESN'T HAVE SKILLS OR ROLEPLAYING!!!!1111

>>50680873
Sure, so long as the rest of the group is cool with it, and in the setting it wouldn't fuck up or derail every single social encounter.

>>50680886
Okay, so it isn't just me. My DM won't let me play anything "monstrous" like that. He calls them "bullshit characters"

It is good to know there is atleast 1 DM out there that is okay with it.

Never even came up with any kind of backstory/personality cause when i sent him that image over skype he just responded "No" cause he knew i was asking for D&D.

>>50680941
Extra Attack, son.

>>50680873
If it fits the setting, sure.

>>50678680
>single source
It doesn't say in a turn or round. Couldn't this be interpreted as two hits by one character in two rounds? As in(in the example) fighter A does 8 points on his or her turn then another 8 the next turn and then the creature must roll on the if it fails the save

>>50680950
In my opinion you need to prove you can roleplay something like that.

Lots of players gravitate towards odd races to compensate for their lack of roleplaying ability. Which is ironic, because that just highlights how terrible they are at roleplaying even more.

It's like people that dye their hair to be different.

>>50681000
That would be multiple sources of damage

>>50681000
It could, if you're retarded.

A very autistic and obnoxious sperg has joined our campaign

Everyone has agreed that we're kicking him out, in one single 3hr session he managed to make everyone deplore him + completely creeped out our female players

My question is how to go about it, just say "Hey man you're not a good fit for the group" or something? Have you guys ever had to kick someone out of your group?

>>50680860
>you get to deal +2.5 damage over your regular monk but only on 'main' attacks, and to get +2 AC you have to sacrifice this damage bonus by making a punch instead, which basically loses the point of kensai's damage increase shown above
>pummel ability is gauranteed to work, but if you use it against high AC opponents then you were very unlikely to have hit two different targets in the first place anyway, drops off as you get a higher martial die
>doesn't get GWF like a fighter does, if they try to get GWM they have to sacrifice either +1 dex and become human or +2 dex from an ASI, and monks are pretty ASI-thirsty. Also, they don't benefit as much from GWM's bonus and only get two attacks (one if using +2 AC) to add it to
>level 6 feature doesn't do a lot, level 11 and 17 are okay


How is this overpowered enough that they'd have to nerf it so dramatically?

Yes, most level 3 features require you to spend ki to use or something like that, but open hand and shadow monk seem to have better later-level features and open hand is good at what the monk should've been doing in the first place.

+5 damage / round is pretty good considering you don't need ki for it, but it's nothing worth that dramatic a nerf.

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>>50680693
>I can't find a game for 4e, but can for 5e

gee, wonder why...

One of my players is new to DnD and she's playing a Great Old One warlock with Dendar the nightmare snake as their patron. What are some ways I could play this deity? Strange orders like putting snakes in player's beds while they sleep?

>>50681048
You don't play GOO patrons at all. It's usually a player's way of saying "fuck off I'm not a Paladin stop trying to take my abilities away".

>>50681038
Is it the guy in here who says his campaign is bad so he is going to make rap jokes?

>>50680751
Rhinoceros beetle.

>>50680950
It is completely within the GMs right to not allow monstrous PCs.

They may make no fucking sense as a PC in his setting. The GM also has the right to establish what supplements are allowed or not.

If everyone else is making elves and dwarves and you're the one trying to be klarg the bugbear so you can whip enemies from 15ft away, you're the problem, not your GM.

>>50681065
I dunno what you're talking about, I highly doubt it. Our That Guy has no self awareness whatsoever

This campaign has been great and all the players and GM are fun and get along, we just added this guy cause we had a player drop last minute and needed someone asap.

Honestly it's not the guys fault, its ours/ our GMs. From reading his application alone it is clearly obvious that this man should never actually play D&D with normally functioning humans

>>50680860
Elite array 15, 14, 13, 12
15 and 14 go to Wis and Dex
13 to Con
You have 12 Str at best
Your unarmed attack deal 1+1= 2 damage while holding kensai weapons
On 5th level you basically deal 2d6+4+2= 13 damage if you want that +2 AC
If you use pummel that's +1d4, total of 15.5

Meanwhile a monk deals 3d6+12= 22.5
With ki 4d6+16= 30

Of course you can pick short sword and still deal monk unarmed strikes, but then, why not make kensai: Pick short sword unless you want to hinder yourself one way or another?

>>50680873
Allow? I have stats for beetle dudes since they're a subspecies of thri-kreen in my setting

Thri-Kreen Traits:

Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom score increases by 2.

Multiple Arms: You have an additional set of arms that while not as strong as your primary ones, are still useful. You may use an object without it taking your action once per round.

Torpor: Thri-Kreen don’t sleep. Instead, they enter a dreamless state of Torpor, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.

MANTID THRI-KREEN

Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Standing Leap: Your long jump is up to 20 feet and your high jump is up to 10 feet, without a running start.

SCARID THRI KREEN

Ability Score Increase: Your Strength score increases by 2.

Powerful Build: You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

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>>50681000
>>50681019

How the fuck pummel works? I read it as +extra damage on kensai weapon strikes

>>50681048
You don't need to do anything.
The only way it might come up at all is if you run into Yuan-ti.
The player might hear hissing in her sleep, but that's about all.

Dendar isn't gonna show up and be like "yoooo senpai put some snakes in this bitches bed because nightmares lol"

>>50681097
>klarg the bugbear
You know he's not such a bad guy. He can whip up some killer Oolong Tea.

>>50680819
I feel like this is a meme you're trying to force, but unlike 8 Int wizards, Level 3 fighter vs kobolds, diamond pickaxe, strength monk, or the first post being 4e shitposting, it isn't obvious that you're shitposting, so people assume you are legitimately stupid instead of just pretending to be for the sake of an unfunny joke.

Keep trying though. I believe in you, famalam.

>>50681216
You use your bonus action to deal an extra 1d4 damage on all of your Kensai weapon attacks on that turn

>>50681038
Our group just stops inviting someone if they're shit like that. You're not obligated to invite someone back if you've only played one game.

If they ask, it's on the person who originally invited them to deal with it.

>>50681244
He's nice as long as you don't throw his wolf in the fire.

>>50681263
Yeah that was pretty uncalled for.

>>50681097
Klarg is just a hard-working familybear who's had to supplement his income with adventuring work ever since the recession hit the construction industry particularly hard. He's just trying to provide for his family while also making the world a better place by garroting all the evil-doers and leaving their corpses hanging from trees and rafters as a grim reminder to all other shitheads.

>>50681218
Understood. I figure a giant extradimensional snake isn't going to give a shit about what some mortal is doing in a shitty dungeon, thanks.

>>50681257
...so like I thought? then why they say it's unpreventable damage? why they flip their shit when it can be ranged? is just extra damage on weapon, no?

>>50681292
Right-o.

Dendar isn't even such a bad entity.
That is until it gets big enough to eat the whole world.
But until then it eats up your nightmares for you.

>>50681307
>why they flip their shit when it can be ranged?
Because it's a pommel attack and arrows don't have pommels

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>>50681038
>Have you guys ever had to kick someone out of your group?

Plenty of times. "Sorry, but you're not fitting in with our group. It'd be best if you didn't come back next week."

>>50681330
I can understand it doesn't make sense for arrows.
Reach weapons though?

>>50681307
People flip their shit because it's retroactive. You use the bonus action after attacking.

>>50681330
Pummel, not pommel. It means "to repeatedly hit.

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>>50681257
>an extra 1d4 damage on all of your Kensai weapon attacks on that turn
No, just the one.

>>50681349
Whoops, pic unrelated.

>>50681330
>>50681341
Pommel, noun: "The endcap to the hilt of a bladed weapon, used to secure the tang and as a counterbalance to the blade."

Pummel, verb: "To strike repeatedly, as with fists"

>>50681347
>because it's retroactive
So is smite, and stun and literally everything in 5e

>>50681043
Let's compare level 6 Kensei as they are to level 6 Kensei if all Kensei weapons were Monk weapons and plain level 6 Monks. Assume 4 Dex or Str as applicable.

reposting because i forgot how martial arts works
>Kensei as-is
>attack for 2d6+4, attack again for 2d6+4, Pummel for 2d4; average of 27 with no AC
>or attack for 2d6+4, punch for 1+4, bonus punch for 1+4; average of 21 damage with +2 AC
>or attack for 2d6+4, punch for 1+4, bonus Pummel for 1d4 (why); average of 18 with +2 AC
>or attack for 2d6+4, punch for 1+4, flurry for two punches for 2+8; average of 26 with +2 AC
>with Tavern Brawler
>attack for 2d6+4, punch for 1d4+4, bonus punch for 1d4+4; average of 24 with +2 AC
>attack for 2d6+4, punch for 1d4+4, flurry for two punches for 2d4+8; 28 with +2 AC

>Kensei with Greatsword-as-Monk-weapon
>attack for 2d6+4, attack again for 2d6+4, bonus action punch for 1d6+4, average of 29 with +2 AC
>alternatively Flurry for an extra punch, dealing 37 damage with +2 AC

>plain Monk
>attack for 1d6+4, attack again for 1d6+4, bonus action punch for 1d6+4; average of 22 with no AC bonus
>alternatively Flurry for an extra punch, dealing 30 with no AC bonus

Do you see how Kensei weapons being Monk weapons makes them flat-out better than Monks? Not only are they dealing more damage, but they can benefit from magical weapon properties and have better AC, not just because of the +2 AC, but also because they're now using Dex for their Greatsword.

This isn't a fucking nerf, it's avoiding a huge and unnecessary buff.

>>50681404
>Uses +4 on both kensai weapon and unarmed strike
Anon, no. You won't have +4 on both Dex AND Str

>>50681396
People are upset because it's a thing for the monk.

>>50681292
Dendar just wants to eat the sun again. Did it once, got her ass kicked, Kossuth made a new one, she's still hungry.

She'd probably try to steer her Warlock followers into doing shit that would let her eat the sun again. Like, killing Lathanderites/Amaunites.

>>50681307
>>50681347
No, you use it when you hit. On one attack. Like smite or divine strike or sneak attack or great weapon master
You just don't roll to hit, so what

>>50681430
Not according to every fucker in this thread who talks like every Monk somehow caps out both Dex and Wis at level 8 or earlier.

>>50681469
>You just don't roll to hit
You do, you have to HIT first on your normal attacks to use pummel, read the feature.

>>50681487
Then why do you use 1d6 for unarmed monk if you're talking about high as fuck levels? Your math is biased.

>I've replaced our old DM
>He's currently a player
>Texts me 3x a day about his backstory/character options
>It's all shit like "I want to have served in a lot of wars", "I want to be friends with the queen"
fucking hell, man. He never even put this much work into his campaigns. Have you guys ever had a player who wouldn't leave you alone?

>>50681495
Yeah, I mean when you use your bonus action, duh.

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>>50681430
If you're talking about Kensai-as-is, he's using Strength for both his weapon attacks and his punches.

If you're talking about Kensai with Greatsword-as-Monk-weapon, the fact that he's using a Monk weapon now means that he can use Dex again for its AB/dam, as well as his unarmed strikes.

>>50681243
What's failed to be considered here is target AC.

>Kensai as-is
If you miss the 2d6+4 attack, you will not be able to use any bonus actions. Not pummel, nor martial arts. Yes, you can make an attack after that and lose the 2 AC bonus, but you might still miss that one.
Also, you've assumed the punch would do 4 damage. That's completely absurd - a monk would not have 18 strength unless they're doing some weird hybrid build that likely would be rather questionable itself.

>Kensei with Greatsword-Monk-Weapon
Yes, it is overpowered. No, it doesn't need to nerfed as hard as it is above.

>plain Monk
You're using 1d6 attacks. A monk can use a quarterstaff for 1d8 instead, which'll increase their damage by 2 overall.
The plain monk gets to choose a different line, such as tranquility for healing or open palm for subduing opponents (pushing them around, proning them, basically what monk is kind of meant to do already).

A monk can benefit from magical weapons just as much until they get a 1d10 die, and even then quarterstaves are only 1 damage down from 1d10.

At the very least, the punch to get +2 AC should be usable with dex.

>>50681521
>If you're talking about Kensai-as-is, he's using Strength for both his weapon attacks and his punches.
Then your AC is shit because your Dex is shit

>>50681514
I'm that guy.

But I try to work out stuff with the DMs, not become a mary sue. The DMs still don't respond much.

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>DMing a game of 5 PC's
>one of them is a cleric who keeps trying to convert all the other players to her religion
>managed to get one
>another player is joining the game
>he wanted to play a Firenewt
>a lawful evil Firenewt
>Firenewts are religious extremists

Longbow Kensei/Arcane Archer. Pummel with piercing arrow?

>>50681558
Pummel is only for melee weapons and doesn't even work with reach.

>>50681541
Your AC isn't shit because you've got +2 AC as long as you're punching every round, so you can drop four whole points of Dex. Now you're just dealing more damage than a regular Monk while having the same AC, but lower Dex saves.

>>50681558
Isn't piercing arrow an AoE? technically to HIT features don't trigger on AoE

>>50681558
New meta for 5ft wide corridors

>>50681514
What level are you starting at? If its level 1 anyone who has a massive epic backstory is a fuck.

>>50681577
>Pummel is only for melee weapons and doesn't even work with reach.
Source your bullshit you hideous fuck.

>>50681558
RAW yes, RAI not (they forgot to include the "within 5 feet" bit). source: crawford's twitter

>>50681580
Show me, you have elite array, show me your dex, str, con and wis, show me how having Str 18 doesn't turn your AC lower than normal monk.

>>50681583
Separate attack rolls as part of one attack for the Attack action, actually.

>>50681621
Thank you for clearing that up for me.

I'm still going to allow it at my table because I think it's pretty funny.

>>50681541
lizardfolk kensei +2 from kensei ability, thats 15+dex AC at level 1 :^)

>>50681404
>>50681526
Oh, yeah, I forgot flurry of blows would also be weaker if using kensei, as shown there. Obviously, a kensei can save that ki for other things (such as using dodge, which works well with +AC and having shite bonus actions otherwise) but something like an open palm monk gains extra benefits from flurry of blows, so it's most cost-effective for them on top of dealing extra damage due to martial dice.

I'm going to make a mock-up on a spreadsheet, probably going to say the monk would go for 14 strength even if that makes them pretty damn MAD. If they wanted to go full strength, they'd play fighter instead of wearing armour and losing their speed.
At that point, monks don't even need kensei because to get that armour they'd multiclass and get martial weapon proficiency and use strength anyway.

>>50681589
They're 4 currently, but here's the kicker: this isn't even about his main character anymore. He's gotten bored of it after trying to join a group of assassins and make a deal with a CR20 demon (he was a paladin)
so now he's created a second character "in case the first dies" so he can keep asking me shit like this. I want it to stop

>>50681625
Then yes, as it's it should trigger on piercing arrow.

>>50681649
>This subclass only works with this specific race
Together with bladesinger and battlerager I guess

>>50680945
>>50680996

I've always been confused by this. Unless the setting is basically just Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, and Gnomes and regular animals. No monstrosities, elementals, dragons, etc etc how would it not fit with the setting?

People can believe there are Beholders in this world, but not bug-people?

>it wouldn't fuck up or derail every single social encounter.
This is a legit concern, i guess. But it's no worse than someone who wants to pickpocket everyone or just a general murder hobo.

Additionally, people in the setting could legit confuse the exoskeleton for armour.
>Oh my...your Armour is so exotic, what land do you hail from warrior?


>>50681013
I would say i want to play something like that more for myself than for attention. I just really love beetles, and all bugs desu.
>In my opinion you need to prove you can roleplay something like that.
I would just roleplay a character normally. I'd probably make some effort to disguise myself as just someone wearing weird armour. I usually take the stance that race is independent of someone's character for the most part. Maybe i'd roleplay him as a some kind of Foreigner to this land. Maybe somekind of Beetle Knight Dervish who says he has come to this strange land for spices and treasures to bring back to his queen. But actually have him be sort of a spy/infiltrator. Maybe the insect kingdom lent out his services to another kingdom they want to be an ally with and he's going to assassinate someone.


>>50681097
Yea it is within the DMs rights to do so, but that doesn't mean you should do it that way. There is the option to not play a Beetle Knight in any campaign. Why wouldn't you try and find a middle ground with the player who wants to do something to enable them to enjoy playing more?

Also i'd just reskin a Warforged or w/e PC race made sense. It isn't about stats, its about having a cool image in my head of my character. I just find mundane races like Humans and Elves to be boring.

>>50679695
These are annoying shitstains rather than memes.

>>50681391
I can't tell if your trying to argue against using it with reach weapons or not.
It makes perfect sense to.

>>50681195
Multiple Arms seems a bit... off in terms of game mechanics.

You can already interact with one object per turn without it using your action (for stuff like opening a door, retrieving or stowing an item), so if you're going for that, then it might be better for it to be "you may interact with simple objects or features twice, rather than once, before you must use an action to do so."

Alternatively, if you're specifically referring to the Use an Object action, then it's very rare for anything like that to just "not take an action". It'd probably be better (mechanics-wise) to make it a bonus action; this'd also prevent it getting overpowered when magic items get into the mix.

>>50681620
How about you read the dev twitter you ungrateful moron.

>>50681580
May I check your math, because to me it actually looks like you're 1 AC lower than normal monk.

>>50681692
In favor of, since it ISN'T A FUCKING POMMEL ATTACK, IT IS AN ABSTRACTION OF REPEATEDLY HITTING THE ENEMY.

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>>50681686
Are you mad anon?

:^)

Anyone else annoyed by Volo's guide featuring that adorable wizard apprentice on page 209. Barely less than a level 1 wizard, looks about ten.
That kid should be a god before he hits puberty, just based on the normal progression a person can undergo. If I threw a few apprentices against a normal party, they'd be a genuine threat.
How do I explain to my level one wizard that yes, he probably underwent the same training; and yes, it took eight years to get a couple more spells?

>>50681686
>annoying shitstains
>memes
>different things

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So if I'm a Circle of Twilight druid and use Grim Harvest on Magic Missile, the d10's get added to the damage roll.

And the roll of Magic Missile gets multiplied by the number of bolts...

>>50681739
>what is a child prodigy?

The best kensei for pure damage right now is with a lizardfolk starting with 15 str and 15 dex, taking both to 16 at lv 4

At lv 5 he will deal 2d6+3 + 1d6+3 to get the 2ac from kensei. As a bonus action he can either get 2d4 bonus damage or use 1 ki to deal 2d6+6 bonus damage.

2 GS + FoB = 6d6+12 = 33.
You can sacrifice 1d6 for 2ac by biting, giving you 18 ac.

It starts being worse than a normal monk when you are out of ki because you don't get to use your bonus action as efficiently

>>50681678
We get it, you want to be a snowflake.

The reason it might not "make sense" in the setting even if there are beholders, dragons, etc. is because it doesn't make sense in many settings for a beetle-man to come rolling up to a tavern for a drink.

Why not play a human with guild artisan background or far traveler. Look at Japan's obsession with bugs and how they use beetles as inspiration for armor. Make part of your characters goals to craft an armor modeled after beetle's natural armor. It could be something you can work toward in game. And you can play out your own bug fascination by transferring that to your character.

>>50681719
Alright, we're on the same side then.

>>50681754
>Arcana Cleric 1/Twilight Druid X
We Deathbolt now.

>>50681739
>just based on the normal progression a person can undergo
You mean a PC? Because PCs arent normal people

>>50681048

The old ones are indifferent to most mortals. You might create a cabal of warlocks and cultists of Dendar who are trying to get its attention through some means(causing nightmares/madness for great and influential people/leaders maybe). They could be trying to recruit your warlock or is testing her. They act as though they are representatives of Dendar but Dendar is indifferent to them all equally. At most your warlock might suffer from horrible nightmares as a result of tapping into Dendars power/knowledge. But it would be highly unlikely that Dendar is even aware of your warlock.

>>50681809
>is because it doesn't make sense in many settings for a beetle-man to come rolling up to a tavern for a drink.
shit dming to be honest family.
my gut reaction was also bug people aren't a thing, don't try to make them a thing. but half-orcs becoming heroes isn't a thing, drow heroes aren't a thing, farm boys becoming high level wizards isn't a thing.
even if you don't want to add a whole important race of bug people to your setting, maybe the guy just got cursed to be a giant beetle man. maybe there are beetle people but they aren't very important and rarely leave their nests.
i would just roll with it.

>>50681754
Yeah they really don't think anything through.

>>50680751
ambush drake

>>50681323
>>50681442
Might make it so her presence induces nightmares in her party members sometimes. No one remembers, of course, but might make it difficult for the favoured soul sorc in the group to receive guidance from his deity.

>>50681783
Why not just max dex and do the same thing?
I'm not seein' what str is givin' ya, since instead of the bite you could just use a regular unarmed strike.

>>50681707
This guy wants to use a 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 array, and I'd assume we'd use 14 Dex / 15 Wis and go Wood Elf so they're both 16/16. Put a +2 in from one of your feats and you're at +7 AC. The only other way to work this is to go Variant Human, +1 both Dex and Wis, +2 one of them at 4, and have your bonus feat be Athlete (Dex), Lightly or Moderately Armored (Dex, why), Observant (Wis), or Resilient (either).

For a retarded Kensai, let's go Mountain Dwarf and move the array around so racial stats put us up to 17/14/14/13/10/8. Half-orc or Dragonfucker will also work, for a loss of HP. Split your ASI for +1 Str and +1 Wis. You're at +4, but throw a +2 on as long as you keep punching.

So there's only a one AC detriment here if we're specifically talking about variant humans or wood elves.

>>50681678
>People can believe there are Beholders in this world, but not bug-people?

Depends on the campaign/setting.

Not bug people walking around being warriors. Sure, they EXIST SOMEWHERE, but that doesn't make it an appropriate playable character.

Just because there are Beholders in a setting doesn't mean I'd allow someone to play a Beholder either.

Now if the theme of the campaign is that we're in the bug person's native land, or the party is a bunch of bug people finding a new home, or something along those lines, it wouldn't just be acceptable, it'd be celebrated.

I've got nothing against monstrous races in general. One of the best campaigns I ever had was made up of an Eberron game involving goblins, orcs, and Bugbears from Darguun. Then some motherfucker had to ruin the whole thing and roll up a Shifter. Guess which character was promptly killed and their player kicked out by the rest of the party?

>>This is a legit concern, i guess. But it's no worse than someone who wants to pickpocket everyone or just a general murder hobo.

And these people get asked not to make these characters. When they do anyway, such characters often end up dead/kicked out.

>>I would say i want to play something like that more for myself than for attention. I just really love beetles, and all bugs desu.

Plenty of settings have good bug THEMED options for you that don't involve you playing an actual anthropomorphic bug.

>Be V. human monk
>Pick weapon master
>Rise Str or whatever
BOOM, better Kensai and you can even pick better subclasses

>>50681887
OR, or, you don't be a dick DM and stop trying to fuck with your players just because they wanted to play a Warlock.

>>50681905
Kensai have to use Strength for their unarmed attacks if they're not wielding a Monk weapon, which they aren't (unless it's a shortsword, in which case why are you a Kensai)

>>50681921
Dex is a significantly better stat though.
+ sharpen the blade is actually *REALLY* fucking good.

>>50681906
>Talking about variant humans or wood elves.
Or ghostwise halflings

>>50681938
>Kensai have to use Strength for their unarmed attacks
?
They don't though.
They still have martial arts - being a kensai doesn't deprive them of their base monk abilities senpai

>>50681853
Hardly shit DMing. Initially I said it depends on the group and I would totally allow it if everyone was on board. Notice I said "many settings" not all.

Seems like his DM says no, so I offered an alternative. Still, from his last few comments I'm not entirely sure this person is very good at role playing anyway. Sincerely seems like a case of pink-hair syndrome.

You have to respect the group and the game everyone wants to be a part of. A DM squashing his bug man dreams isn't a shit DM. That DM may just have no desire to cater to this special individual above the rest of his players.

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>>50680873
>>50681195
>>50681695

Not the original Scarid-anon. I have tweaked it, added some powerful and some ribbon abilities.

>Hercules

>Ability Score Increase.
Your constitution score increases by 2. Your Strength score increases by 1.

>Age.
Hercules reach adulthood at age 8 and live up to 60 years.

>Alignment.
Most Hercules are chaotic, preferring small face to face kinship groups to larger societies organized by unmet authorities. They prefer to make judgements in the heat of the moment and are often taken by wanderlust.

>Size.
Hercules stand between 4 and 5 feet before their foot-long horns, and so average 5 to 6 feet tall and average about 150 pounds. Your size is Medium.

>Speed.
Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.

>Natural Armor
You have tough, chitinous skin. When you aren't wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield's benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.

>Powerful Build.
You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

>Hercule Stamina.
You have advantage on constitution saves to avoid exhaustion and gain proficiency in athletics.

>Hercule Pushing
You can use your horns to lift and throw enemies. You have advantage when attempting to shove other creatures. See p195 in the PHB for rules about Shoving a Creature.

>Multiple Arms
You have an additional set of arms that while not as strong as your primary ones, are still useful. You may Use an Object, once per round, as a free action.

>Torpor
Hercule don’t sleep. Instead, they enter a dreamless state of Torpor, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.

>Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, and can speak Thri-keen.

>>50681905
Because Kensei unarmed strikes are made with Strength as long as you're using anything other than a shortsword.

I really think they need to at least let a Kensei make their unarmed strikes with Dex even if they can't use their martial arts damage. At least then you could kick slightly more accurately and actually use the + AC feature more often.

>>50681941
Comes to late to be relevant on most games though.

>>50681965
It specifically deprives them of the ability to use Dexterity as their attack/damage modifier on unarmed attacks if they are WIELDING A KENSEI WEAPON, because they are not Monk weapons. >>50681521

Every other feature they have will work, just not punching well or dextrously.

Anons? Not sure if it's appropriate to this thread or not, but... I want to homebrew a balanced new subrace for Dwarves in 5e based off of the Forgeborn Dwarves from 4e.

Thing is, in 4e, these were dwarves who had all of the normal dwarf traits, but sacrificed a feat to get Resistance (2/3/5, depending on tier) to Acid *and* Cold *and* Fire *and* Lightning damage, as well as the ability to deal bonus elemental damage with a melee weapon attack once per encounter, choosing whether to do Acid/Cold/Fire/Lightning damage each time it was used.

So... yeah, can this be done in 5e? I figure they can't get all of these damage resistances, but there must be some way to do the "dwarf who is touched by raw elemental energies" thing.

Also, if Stout halflings have dwarf ancestry and Tallfellow halflings have elf ancestry, what would halflings with human ancestry have as a subrace?

>>50681965
They do if they pick a kensai weapon that isn't a shortsword.

>>50681946
Well, you're not wielding a greatsword as a halfling so what's the point of being a Kensai again? 1d8 longswording?

>>50681972
ok i agree with you, i apologize for my comment. i still think his dm should try and work with him instead of against him though.

>>50682000
>>50682000
>>50682000
>>50682000
this ffs

>>50681853
>letting your players be drow
oh god the edge

>>50682001
Wrong team anon, the ghostwise goes into the NOT kensai team.

>>50681754
You've just got to get magic missile.

>>50678570
>no full casters
>no cleric

Fuck that shit get out

>>50682026
i miss when small creatures had smaller fists and missed a damage step

>>50682015
For sure. I don't like when DMs just say "no" and that's it.

If beetle-borgs anon is still listening, try to talk to your DM about WHY you want to play a beetle-kin and see if you can come to some agreement.

In the meantime go watch Kamen Rider.

>>50682042
I miss when powerful build creatures had bigger fists and upgraded a damage step

>>50681982
>Because Kensei unarmed strikes are made with Strength as long as you're using anything other than a shortsword
>>50681984
>It specifically deprives them of the ability to use Dexterity as their attack/damage modifier on unarmed attacks if they are WIELDING A KENSEI WEAPON

Oh I forgot martial arts won't let you do shit with other weapons in your hand.

You can work around that though - just use however many unarmed strikes you want, *then* draw your weapon.
And in subsequent turns, just drop your weapon no-action-required and use your free object interaction to pick it back up when you're ready to strike with it.
It's just like a kung-foo movie senpaitachi.

>>50681987
For dwarves, take one element at a time. Each element represents a subrace, and apply the relevant genasi subrace as the new dwarf subrace.

Especially good: Fire and Earth Genasi subraces.

>>50681973
don't you think this is a little too much, my negro?

>>50681046
Because lowest common denominator. 5e is by far the most popular RPG because of brand recognition as currentness but that is a far cry from being the best RPG.

>>50682022
Why is being a drow hero such a bad thing? I see nothing inherently wrong there, especially if done well.

>>50682062
>but half-orcs becoming heroes isn't a thing, drow heroes aren't a thing, farm boys becoming high level wizards isn't a thing.

And try to get the players in on it. I'm way more interested to pursue a really off beat idea if the whole party is in for the ride and we can explore the concepts from different angles as opposed to one character wanting to stand out like a sore thumb and constantly turning the spotlight towards him/herself and his/her super obvious and super unique situation.

>>50681928
Hey now, this isn't some horrible curse I'm putting on them. This kind of flavor is what makes warlocks fun, imo. A lot of my ideas come from talking to the player themself. I'm hoping to make for interesting character interactions and if they don't enjoy it then I'll stop.

>>50682075
>*then* draw your weapon.
You need to have your kensai weapon in hand 24/7 if you want that +2 to AC, the moment you don't you lose that +2 to AC.

>>50682070
>>50682042
i miss VORTEX PUNCH

>>50682075
But then you are not getting the 2ac, because you need to hold your kensai weapon while making the unarmed attack.

>>50682104
As was already said, GOO patron isn't something you choose if you want interaction from the patron.

>>50682075
Hmm...true, that could work

>Martial arts punch to lead off for +2 AC
>Flurry in the middle of your attacks because no rule against it
>Draw greatsword and slash the guy

Still, it does end up being a lot of convoluted effort for relatively minor upgrades in damage. Which kinda sucks, because Kensei's features are entirely focused on weapons and damage.

>>50682097
Too powerful, or too many abilities? I was basing it off dwarf, which gives a tonne of superficial abilities.

>>50682099
>Why is being a drow hero such a bad thing?

It can be good, but usually it's because someone just really likes drow and wants to be a drow (for a variety of reasons) and everything else just stems from THAT.

>>50682107
Nah - it works until the next turn *while* the weapon is in your hand. So as long as you're holding it at the end of the turn it's gonna be up on you. It won't be on when you drop your weapon, but it gets turned back on so long as you get the weapon back in your hand before the end of the time limit.
#RAWPlays

>>50682139
So basically a lot of people are still butthurt over all the poor Drizz't imitators of ages past?

>>50682107
>>50682145
Oh but you have to be holding a kensai weapon.
Hmmm. Gimme a moment I'll think of a work-around for that too. Get some juggling going on here.

>>50682145
Read, nigga, read

>>50682145
What if you're "holding" your greatsword that's strapped to your back with your right hand while kicking someone's teeth out. Then you draw and slash with the sword and sheathe it next turn.

>>50681739
>looks about ten

He could easily be 15 or so.

Do illithids keep any written records, or do they store everything in the hivemind RAM?

>>50682094
Thing is, a big part of Forgeborn lore is that they're a mixture of elemental energies, which is partly why they're still true dwarves and haven't all turned into azers (fire), galeb duhr (earth) or eisk jaat (ice) yet.

>>50682184
Then you're also holding a non monk weapon.

So Iam convinced lizardfolk is the only way to be a decent kensai.

How do I roleplay a lizard without trying to be an autist?

>>50682184
Sheathing won't work because both drawing and stowing take your free object interaction for the turn - you need to be dropping it each round after the first.

>>50682165
yes, lurk more

>>50682196
The elder brain is the largest and fastest SSD you're ever gonna find senpai.

>>50681906
If you really wanted to cheese it, you could point buy 15, 14, 10, 8, 15, 8. Mountain Dwarf, Dragonborn, or Half-orc. Put your stat increase into Strength and Wisdom. That gets you to +4 Str, +2 Dex, +3 Wis, and you break even with the +2 AC from Kensaipunch. Starting with 15s in Dex and Wis doesn't get help any race get 18/18.

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>>50682200
Martial arts only stops working if you're wielding a non-monk weapon, not just holding it.

>>50682208
Hence why you sheathe it NEXT turn. Reading is your friend.

>>50682199
Apply two genasi subraces, but keeping only one ability score increase. Shouldn't be too broken.

>>50682201
Play a sexually aggressive Egyptian, then fluff the scales

>>50681809
>We get it, you want to be a snowflake.
Is that such a bad thing? I want my character to be cool in my eyes.
You disparage wanting to be special and unique, but everyone tries to make a cool unique character in this game, just most of the time they are content/satisfied with just playing something that looks like a human, and the uniqueness ends at personality/backstory.


Do you have the same attitude towards someone who wants to play a Dragonborn because they like the idea of their character looking reptilian?
What if Dragonborn weren't a core race? What would the attitude be then? If someone came onto the board saying "DMs, would you allow someone to play a character who looks like a Dragon/Alligator man?" would you say they want to be a snowflake?


I guess this attitude makes me some variant of a furry. I find humans boring, i am a human, i see humans every day, and all the media available to me has humans in it. Or they are a variant of a human that has pointy ears or is short and hairy. I am kind of tired of humans and human-like things.


Even if I played a Human who wore beetle themed armour, i would probably just push to become some kind of Beetle Dullahan whose soul is bonded to his armour. Cause then i don't have to be a lame boring ass human.

>>50682107
>>50682120
>>50682184
OK I've cracked the code.
You keep one hand on a sheathed shortsword, do your unarmed strikes, draw your actual martial weapon, hit with it, and hold it until the start of the next turn, at which point you *drop* your actual martial weapon, make however many unarmed strikes you want again while having a hand on a stowed shortsword, then use your free object interaction to re-pick up your actual martial weapon and attack with it.

HA.
GOT 'EM.

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>>50682201
>not wanting to be a lizardautist

>>50682242
>Hence why you sheathe it NEXT turn
You can't do that if you want to attack with it in the next turn, since if you stow it you can't draw it.
Read >>50682287 - it's why you drop it instead

>>50682302
saved as fuck

>>50682272
>I guess this attitude makes me some variant of a furry.
Now you're catching on, anon.
Oviposit in hell, bugfag.

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>>50682272
>>50682323

>>50682287
Yep, precisely as 5e intended, a simple totally non complex game, deviated from 3.5 as much as possible.

>>50682304
I never claimed that the specific tactic was something you could repeat every turn.