/5eg/ D&D Fifth Edition General

Where were you when 5e was kill?

>>53057017
Legolas

>>53057017
Dawnbringer.
>>53057060
Bed.

>>53057017
What's the best party composition to bring Strahd down?

>>53057178
A Rogue and a Paladin and possibly a Bard if she finds the time to play with us.

I hope.

>>53057178
A five man Paladin strike squad to purge the whole village down.

>>53057178
No idea, but try to bring all the sunblades.

>>53057178
Paladin, Cleric, maybe an Assassin if you're clever, Wizard and another Paladin.

Seriously you could probably do it with two lucky PAM Paladins going all super smite on him.

Isn't Strahd meant be a pushover and a quick takedown?

>>53057235
He's supposed to be a hit and run ambusher. He's supposed to tire out and exhaust the party so he'll end up being a genuine challenge when the real fight begins. He'll get wiped out against a healthy party and he knows it.

>>53057235
No?

>>53057235
Kinda spoilers ahead, if you're playing don't be a cheating fuck and look at his stats.

Pretty much. Think of it this way, he's got about 150ish HP I think. Maybe less.

In a straight fight against a party of well build and at least kinda smart level 10's he gets sooooo fucked up it isn't even funny. A well build martial can reduce him to half HP and any radiant damage stops his regen.

Basically you have to play him smart, no big 1v4 fight where he pulls a few tricks. Once he knows the parties a threat seriously just DM him as mercilessly as possible, it only takes a few seconds to realise he has some nasty tricks avalible to him if played right.

Also remember that he's an immortal unkillable fuck, he's got all the time in the world to try and kill you and unlike you he doesn't need a rest. Should be a long ass war of him skulking about.

At least that's how I ran it against my players and it took 2 sessions and 3 revive spells for them to kill him.

>>53057235
I can't believe anyone thinks this. If you can get to the place you fight him healthy you can dogpile him, but with laid actions and legendary actions it's tough to kill him before the bullshit begins.

>>53057247
Yes.

Strahd is no match for a healthy party with all resources available.

This is why Strahd is meant to drain this from the party. You as a GM, should not be letting him fight anyone, until they spent all their highest level spell slots, a lot of their lower ones, and even most of their short rest actions, ambushing them as they attempt to take a short rest.

Considering you'll be fighting him on his terms, you can never expect to just cheese something, because he WILL cheese you back.

Case in point: party thought they were being cute by using private sanctum. When it dropped, they were surrounded by undeads and a Dragon. Stupid fucking move expecting Strahd to just let them rest without abusing it to hell and back.

Same thing happened when they tried rope trick. I am almost expecting my players to be here on/ tg/, because they play wizards like the caster supremacy faggots here, who thinks their flawless plans will beat anything ever, and cant be countered.

Had a fun one where they actually tried to retreat into a rope trick, to give them a short rest during an encounter. They got their short rest... and lost even more when they got out, because to absolutely nobody's surprise, the enemies just fetched reinforcements. The retards actually thought they'd either leave entire, or just stand around and wait like idiots.

>>53057235
Like this >>53057280 said, the party will be fighting Sthrad in his home turf, so he'll pull all of the nasty tricks you can think of. His castle is his, so use it's layout to Strahd's advantage. Drop them from a tall balcony, have them enter a trapped room, flank them with wolves or swarm of bats, a hall of mirrors where some mirrors saps your life away, vampire minions to fool and trick the players. Strahd is supposed to be Tucker's Kobold but with vampires, not a fucking Tarrasque. His stats is basically meaningless at this point.

What's a good starting stat buy for a fighter and is it worth going dex to use finesse weapons and multiclass with at least a level of rogue for sneak attack if I'm the main melee combat for my party of casters and ranged.

Is it worth dipping into Fighter as a polearm specialized Paladin?

And if so, is it worth getting into Battlemaster?

>>53057178
Moon Druids, Cleric that crafts Holy Water. Holy Water Elemental Army.

Not them but I've always wondered, do the mists of Ravenloft prevent the summoning of extraplanar beings?

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'sup /tg/.
So, the MM and PHB of 5e are just coming out right now in my language. I couldn't use 5e before because my players are dumb fucks who can't into english.
We're starting a new campaign during this summer. We already know it's gonna de D&D. Should I make the jump and go from 4e to 5e ?
Overall, I do like the 4e (mostly because it's the first thing I ever played I think...), but I do find it to be a little too centered on the numbers and the crunch. Will 5e help with that ?
Is the game any fun with just the 3 basic books or does it need splats ?
Thank you for answering, have some catgirls.

>>53057624
It fucks with it, yeah

>>53057280
A well built martial at 10th level...

Battlemaster-10
Archery, Sharpshooter, Oathbow, Action Surge, Menacing Attack, Precision Attack, Bracers of Archery, +2 Arrows.

+8/+8/+8/+8 4d8+12d6+76= (136)

>>53057624
It corrupts whatever you're summoning. Mage Hand summons a skeletal/rotten hand, Find Steed summons a Nightmare or dead horse, etc.

>>53057624
>>53057650
From the 2e Domains of Dread book:

Conjuration and Summoning
A wizard who casts certain conjuration or summoning spells
may find the results limited by circumstance. A wizard can
summon animals and enchanted creatures only if they exist
within the domain in which he casts the spell. If the description
for a given domain docs not indicate which animals live
there, assume that the local fauna includes everything from similar habitats in other realms. For ease of reference,
Dungeon Masters can assume that the Core domain are
similar In ecology to the nations of central and eastern
Europe. Thus, a summoning attempt would not bring forth a
tiger or elephant in most domains. The Dungeon Master
should choose an appropriate creature from the domain.
Ravenloft is cut off from the rest of the multiverse, which
creates a problem for wizards who attempt to summon
planar creatures. In general, a creature still responds to the
summoning, though it is rarely what the wizard Intended
and often unfriendly, especially when the creature attempts to
to return home and discovers that it cannot depart from the Demiplane.

There are more detailed descriptions of spell modifications slightly after that, give me a bit to snip them.

Can someone tell me what it means to be a Conquest Paladin? Can they be good/hate evil but still stay ruthless. I have autists telling me Paladins must always be lawful good and a conquest paladin is an antipaladin.

I'd like to play a ruthless evil slayer that purifies evil for the sake of purifying evil, not for the sake of good. What would that make me?

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>>53057743

>>53057650
>>53057701
>>53057743
Oh shit, that deva in the Curse of Strahd who went lawful evil. And who can never return to the planes

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>>53057189
>Party entirely consisting of Paladins and Clerics wandering from town to town, acting like robin hood's merry men until they find the smallest dose of heresy, at which point they all become grizzled ptsd stricken serial murderers, the paladins striking down the villagers coldly from behind their iron masks, while the clerics mournfully chant and fling incense around with their thuribles and censers.
>As the village burns behind them, they break into song again.

>>53057743
Or you can just read about it in CoS where find familiar always results in an undead familiar. My group has flirted with summoning demons and boy do I hope they do.

>>53057636
5E needs pretty much no splats, it's pretty centralised.

I never played 4E, but if you're after stuff being a little less tactical wargame, 5E may be a good match for you all. I'd say give it a go.

If I "hide" 5 feet from an enemy (ie: Rogue fighting in Darkness or some other such thing), would I take opportunity attacks?

>>53057838
Not him, I'm having a really difficult time convincing some friends to play 5e. Holy shit do they love 4e. How would I go about convincing them to give 5e a shot?

>>53057850
*For moving, obviously

>>53057857
ask if you can run a trial session. do that, try and do a good job, see how they react to it, ask their opinions after it, if they like it, continue, if not, don't.

>>53057866
No GM worth his salt would allow that.

You cant hide 5 feet from an enemy. Don't be stupid.

>>53057878
Good stuff, thanks bruv.

>>53058086
I'm talking specifically for an AT or Warlock/Rogue in Darkness against a non-Devil's Sight enemy, obviously it'd not work in normal circumstances.

>>53057850
>>53057866
If they guess you're around they could still try to hit you without seeing you, they just take disadvantage.

>>53058126
Overall I think Advantage/Disadvantage is a good system but I do think it's a bit silly you have the same chance to hit an enemy that's laying prone 10 feet away with a bow as you do sniping a moving target from 499 feet.

>>53058146
I find the funniest part is that two foes fighting each other in darkness blind don't take disadvantage, since they get disadvantage for not being able to see but it's cancelled by the advantage of not being seen.

>>53058167
I mean one guy is swinging his weapon everywhere and the other guy is running around everywhere. So yeah, it evens out.

>>53057747
Pretty much. A good-aligned Conquest Paladin just wants to purge all the evil and make sure that it never has a chance to rise again so long as you live. Of course, there's also the matter of how you mete out judgment to pettier crimes. Do you destroy them like you would big-league evils or do you discipline them in order to ensure justice.

Maybe in other editions there might be some contention about being classed as either Paladin/Antipaladin, but 5e's got probably the most alignment-lenient Paladin of all time.

>>53058114
AoOs require sight.

I need some advise from you guys.

I am making a homebrew campaign. The idea is that a group is assembled from heroes of various worlds/planes, and brought to a dying world, in an attempt to save it.

The players make a level 15 character, who, on his own or with friends, saves saved his home world from destruction of some kind. This is mostly up to them.

Now they are thrown together in a group with strangers they have never heard of before, to save a world they didnt know existed. They had no time to prepare for this.

I am drawing a lot of inspiration from the whole "save Dark sun" idea I've read about. The World is dying for a myriad of reasons, some being purely deteriorating nature, some because of a malicious type of magic, some because of an empire who doesn't give a shit/is secretly trying to ruin the world, a third party who just wants the world to burn, and an external factor (most likely an old god) who wants to eat all life on the planet.

How would I best go about this?
>Full open world where they know the location of most key points from the start
>Attempt to lead them to where they need to go, aka rail roading to some extent
>Just let them go where they want, and make sure there is always something useful they can do

They will be 4 players, and it is based around them being super badass from the start, but without their gear. The first few sessions I expect to be about tracking down legendary items, to gear them up with their desired load out, before they start trying to tackle the big fish.

Any advise or suggestion?

>>53058126
If you cant see, you gain disadvantage
But if your opponent can't see you, you gain advantage.

You can't gain either multiple times.

So no, you just attack normally.

AoO can't be made if you can't see the enemy though.

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>>53058191
>Party idea: Blind bums, then force them to fight in an arena for our own amusement

>>53058202
Drop them in the setting. Let them discover by themselves how fucked up the world is by wandering around. Make them realize what needs to be done instead of telling them where to go/who to kill. They must feel lost at first since they ARE lost.

>>53058224
He didn't say he couldn't see, don't make such assumptions.

Not being able to attack enemies with AoO if you can't see them seems odd though. If you blindfold someone, drop your pants and slap your ass while singing vigorously and bouncing away from them you would think they could at least try to swing at you as you did so.

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>>53058201
You right nigga, should have checked the damn book before posting here in the first place I guess.

>>53057017
Does anyone know how much the Thunder Cannon weighs (see: Artificer UA)? It's not on the official document and I've been browsing the internet and I've yet to figure it out.

>>53058240
My favourite idea was to give them a few strange visions as they are dropped in the middle of nowhere with the 3 other strangers. Some God dragged them here, gave them a few weird visions the God thinks makes sense, and let them figure out the rest.

How would I build a hag? I want to be able to fight with claws and can cast as many as possible of the spells found from the Shared Spellcasting trait on page 176 of the Monster Manual as well as the Alternative Coven Spells on page 58 of Volo's Guide to Monsters.

>>53058202
Maybe said they had this gear but they saw it ripped from them as they arrive. Give them a tuning rod to find gear from another world, and they all stick together cause there is only one rod and so much gear.

The gear finds its way into the hands of key factions, including some good factions, who do not give them up until you do something for them or kill them.

You may even have an episode where someone steals the tuning rod and they maniacally chase that fucker down.

So you should ask them to pick 1 or two items the character would have, and you can also make your own legendary item for the each of them.

>>53058582
Build a wizard, kindly ask for primal savagery from Additional Spells unearthed arcana. Magic Initiate Druid if it comes to that.

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>>53057017
>Buffed the power of Strahd after all the "Muh strahd went down in 1 round" crying on forums.
>Mfw Strahd casts Time Stop

>>53058587
I'd rather strip them entirely. These guys are pretty meta gamey, and they'll for sure make characters built around saving a decaying world already. I don't want them to start with high level magical items for this.

It is also more fun, as I can throw stupidly weak shit at them, which is just immune to their standard attacks, because they lack their old super powered gear.

Tuning rod sounds very rail roady. I'd rather give them directions, and make them fight for new gear.

That might involve beating up a poor 7hd bandit Lord, who thinks he is tough shit because of his +2 magic item.

>>53057866
Unless you are under silence then no.

>>53058690
Alright well just remember if given the world some may not know what to do with it. They need some kind of ping in a few directions. The closest town may have info on where problems are occurring, and they can choose then. Or if they want to do their own thing go let them.

Just remember clerics have divination legend lore and divine intervention at this level, secrets won't last long with them unless you go out of your way to proof against detection of which is notably railroady

Question: would casting enlarge on a hornet's nest result in a swarm of giant hornets issuing forth? Need some devious druidy.nature type defenses

Got a question for you guys. I'm pretty new to 5E and I don't fully understand how Investigation, Insight and Preception skills are used.

How it was explained was that to notice a trap, it was either passive or a normal perception check but when I asked to check a door for traps I was asked to roll an investigation check.

Same with when you try to lie it is Deception vs Perception but when I asked to see if a guy was lying to our party, I was asked to make an insight check.

Can someone give me examples of how to properly use the three skills?

>>53058702
>>53058251

>>53058582
Alter Self or something

>>53058827
Perception -> general feeling about a thing

Insight -> general feeling about a person, tell if someone is lying

Investigation -> find specific information about a thing (in a book, searching a wall, searching pockets, etc)

>>53058827
>Walk into a room.
"I wish to see if there is anything amiss in the room."
>Roll perception
"You see there is a small gap in the floor between two stone slabs.
"I wish to know what that gap is or what it does.
>Roll Investigation
"This room has no traps!" Says the guide.
"I wish to tell if he is lying based on how he said it."
>Roll Insight

Those are the basics, perception is looking, investigation is understand what you are looking at, insight is understand what someone is saying.

Would a party of six level 8 characters be able to kill an ancient green dragon if they had a good enough plan?

>>53058935
Depends on party comp, if he is in his lair, and if the dragon knows they are coming

>>53058806
There are not supposed to be secrets, they are intended to quickly be able to find all kinds of shit, that the average guy would have a snowballs chance in hell of getting, and if he has, he'll regret it as the heroes come a lot and relieve him of his great discovery.

They are supposed to be big players, and the average town should be afraid of them. Knowing my min max players, that certainly won't be a problem. I just want them to work a bit before getting back to their former glory, and further yet.

Actually curious- I intend to keep this running for quite a lot of sessions, and I am using rules for going above level 20 and epic boons. Is 15 a good level to start them at? I want them to start out powerful, but preferably not too close to 20. What level is best for a really good and powerful build, without being too end-game already?

>>53058827
Insight is purely for social things. It you are trying to understand an npc's actions or see through lies and such, use insight

Nobody really knows the difference between perception and investigation. The game seems to use them interchangeably in examples. they are both generally for detecting hard to find things, either looking, listening, etc. I restrict investigation to things you must touch/scrounge around in to find, and use perception for things you can detect at a distance.

Heres a dumb question that doesn't deserve its own thread. I recently bought all 3 rulebooks for 5e and am now having some buyers remorse over the total price. I'm definitely keeping the player handbook because navigating the pdf was painfully slow but I don't think I need the monster manual, maybe not even the dmg on account of never having a need to download their pdfs. How useful or necessary would you say the mm and dmg are?

>>53058950
The dragon knows they are around and is holed up in his lair.

>>53058961
10-11 would work fine they get their signature spells and most of their big abilities.

>>53058987
Green Dragons are the smart tricky ones, so I'd say they have a poor shot at it. If it was a brutish White Dragon, I think they could handle it well.

>>53058987
If you play the dragon how it's meant to be played you will fucking kill them.

Making a stealth check, and attacking with poison breath with a surprise round, then staring off with lair actions when they actually start will kill them all.

>>53057178
Strahd was by far the easiest "hard" fight we had in the entire campaign. He had nothing on any of the early fights that you can stumble into that are significantly over-leveled for the party.

I feel like you'd have to intentionally ignore the plot hooks and go straight at Strahd without any preparation or improved equipment to actually make this difficult.

>>53058974
How much do you DM

>>53058974
MM is the most useful of the three to physically have; makes it easier to quickly pull out and keep open as reference for monster stats.

PHB is the least necessary to physically have; character building doesn't happen during sessions and basic rules are easy enough to memorize. You will only need to actually open up the PHB often during sessions if your group is full of people who don't know how to write things on their character sheets.

DMG is somewhere in-between depending how often you intend to use the tables in it. It has good general advice besides.

>>53059054
I disagree with the PHB because spells and abilities often need a rule check and if the average session is anything like /5eg then you are definitely gonna need it.

>>53057178

Strahd himself isn't terrifically hard to kill, but you need a party that can get through the dangers of Ravenloft. You'll want a cleric with staus-removal spells (curses, poison, Restoration, etc.)

As for Strahd, you need to sort of beta-strike him. You need to kill him quickly enough so that he doesn't simply sink through the floor and escape, but you're not going to do it on round 1.

So damage him enough to where you think you can go nova and kill him, but not enough where he thinks he's in danger and leaves to regenerate.

>>53059030
>>53059031
Oh well. It sounds like I better discourage the party from attacking it then. Strongly.

>>53058974
>because navigating the pdf was painfully slow
How? Do you not have bookmarks or a search function? Are you reading it on a toaster?

>>53059086
They could wipe the floor with any adult dragon tho'.

>>53059120
I'd do that if I just wanted them to fight a dragon, but this ancient one is already an established character and I suspect some of the players might think it's a good idea to fuck with him.
They have a quest to bring him a magical item and get a quest item in return. Hopefully they'll keep the encounter civilized.

>>53059079
There are apps to pull up spells faster than flipping through a book. And again, it's easy enough to memorize what your typically used spells do, unless you have brain problems or something. You will never memorize the stats and features of 100+ monsters and being able to have it open to glance at while your phone/tablet/computer looks up something else is immensely useful.

>>53059079
>>53059173
Also, PCs should've written what there abilities do on their sheets. That's what it's for.

>>53059047
Not often

>>53059097
I use it on my laptop and some of the text doesn't register under the the search function.

>>53059216
Luckily, there are also bookmarks in case of just such a situation

>>53058999
Seems a tad low for world saving folks, though, doesn't it?

>>53059231
So I should stick to pdf and return the books?

>>53057280
Interesting trick against strahd.

Once you Kill him, then grapple his gaseous form as it has no resistance or immunity to this. Plus it can only take the dash action so it can never roll to escape. A few hours pass and he auto dies.

>>53059259
You said there is a lot of little things going on, and level 10s can do a lot. I was level 10 when we killed Strahd, level 11 when we killed Immerith. It's a perfect jumping point

Is there any way to build a rogue without multiclassing? Or is the value of an extra attack too much?

>>53059313
By RaW that would work, but your DM would have to be mad to allow it

>>53059320
Yes? Reliable talent at level 10 is disgustingly good. Sneak Attack also ain't bad at all

>>53059097
Not him, but I understand slow navigation. Bookmarks are fine, but some things, like "dual-wielding", don't hold up well to search functions and irritatingly come up in multiple locations meaning different things, or being parts of feats.

Books are just quicker that way.

>>53059313
Of course it wouldn't survive DM fiat. Also the fact it can pass through any space air can pass through would be enough of a reason to call RAW no grappling.

I mean completely theoretically I guess you can.

>>53059277
I would keep the MM if you intend to run games. Keep it open to the relevant monster page and free up your comp to look up other things. Otherwise, yes, there really is little reason to own books in the 17th year of the second millenium of God. WotC should've made a compedium/dm tools for 5e like they did with 4e.

>>53059341
I sort of want to build a melee arcane trickster to use booming blade with sneak attack, or just a variant human rogue with magic initiate for the same purpose

>>53059313
>>53059338
>>53059361
If you put a stake through the heart of a vampire, then kill him, does he still get to Misty Escape? Is he pinned in place as a gas?

>>53057690
>Magic Items
You are a dummy.

What's the coolest race for a Kensai? I plan to use a Longsword refluffed as a Khopesh.

>>53059382
I would say yes on misty escape but no on the pinning. I mean a smart player would carry it into sunlight or kill it with Radiant.

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>>53059389
dorf

>>53059372
That works. It's pretty much the munchkin way to play a rogue

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>>53059389
elf

>>53059372
Should be fine, grab two short swords so if you miss you can swing with your offhand for a chance to hit and cause Sneak attack

What exactly is the point of the 1d4 pummel for Kensai? Wouldn't a bonus action unarmed attack be better?

>>53058935
That's DM dependent. Is it in its lair? Is it a spellcaster? How does the plan overcome the fear aura, flight, blindsight, and breath?

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>>53059389
dragonborn

>>53059464
It's so monks can still Bonus action hit, it's their d4 extra damage to compensate for d8 hit dice

>>53059417
I'm feeling this. I guess I'd got Hill Dwarf for the Wisdom and +1 HP... Though a Strength Kensai with Mountain could be interesting. I hate losing all the Monk abilities.

>>53059438
My last character was an Elf though. An Elven Ranger to be exact.

>>53059479
Actually that could be interesting, be really weak though.

>>53059464
They changed it in the new version. It's now only there for Ranged Attacks because they miss out on the melee hit.

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>assaulting the BBEG's train with an entire troop of cavalrymen
>the train drives off the tracks and transforms into a giant robot
>ofw

>>53059389
Fuck your Khopesh, be a Halfling Kensai with a Sling. A legendary Halfling Folk Hero.

Halflings need a racial feat for slings.

>>53059313
>if air can pass through a space the mist can without squeezing
Yet you think you can grapple it and it means anything to stop its motion.

>>53059502
>Strength Kensai
What's even the point then. Might as well be a fighter and do the job better.

>>53059453
Unfortunately that does not work, when you use booming blade, you have not made an "attack action" which means you do not get the bonus action attack

>>53059313
>>53059338
>>53059382
Holy shit are you literally retarded?

>>53059524
The mist can only move on its turn.
So you can grapple it and take it anywhere you want, but it can break the grapple instantly and without fail when its turn comes around again.

>>53059464
In the pre-revision kensai, they did not actually treat their kensai weapons as monk weapons because the designers were fucking stupid

Its made of GAS.
You can't grapple GAS
You ASS

>>53059561
I don't know if I would risk one attack then for just d8 damage IF they move. I'd rather just attack twice and not booming blade.

>>53057178
You want a paladin/cleric and a caster that can cast counterspell a lot.

>>53059569
Why do you keep pretending to be retarded?
You know I can't tell when you are pretending to be retarded, right?

>>53059565
Stake thing is magical, doesn't rely on physics.

A player of mine for a new game was really adamant on playing a mystic, game me a brief description and I foolishly told him to just go ahead and make it. Now that I've actually sat down and read it, mystic seems kind of bullshit.

Am I missing something here? They have the versatility to be good at anything and become quasi-immortal? They can essentially start level 1 with 2d8 damage per turn with dual welding? What the fuck am I reading. How do I stop this thing without fucking over all the other players.

I guess I can just tell him no, but he had his heart on it and was real excited.

How would you make a magical throwing weapon, maybe a spear, that can be thrown infinite times and instead of DEX you can use STR for the attack roll?

>>53059604
What abilities are you specifically looking at

>>53059599
>Stake thing is magical, doesn't rely on physics.

apparently it doesn't rely on common sense, either

>>53059609
Good news for you throwing weapons use strength unless finesse.

My DM made a teleporting dagger, after you throw it it teleports back to you.

On a 1 it stabs you.

>>53059604
Let him do it.
The discipline advancement in the lpwer levels and the absolute lack of scaling in the high ones will either make him pure support or a well built character with a narrow scope.

>>53059597
I'm not the guy you were originally arguing with. Never buy a budget two-in-one Samefag and Retard Detector, they'll just crap out on you like that.

>>53059609
Enchant a javelin quiver

>>53059609
I would make a magical throwing weapon, maybe a spear, that can be thrown infinite times.
And thrown weapons always use STR unless they have the finesse property

>>53059622
Vampires can't exist in real life you know that right. This is a game, which is meant to be played. For fun. Not realism.

>>53059622
>magic
>common sense

>>53059633
>Never buy a budget two-in-one Samefag and Retard Detector

I resent that implication.

>>53059583
At higher levels, booming blade starts to add damage to the melee attack, which, if you're a rogue and can only make one melee attack per action anyway, is quite a bonus

>>53059627
>>53059638
Thank skeletals
I wasn't sure if you use STR and I was too lazy to check so I just asked.
getting stabbed on a 1 sounds fun

>>53059604
the mystic is just a swiss knife, it can choose to be ok at many things or it can be really good at one.
melee builds are either MAD as fuck or need to dump INT so no ranged spell attacks nor DC effects. you need a LOT of disciplines to get godlike AC and a couple more to get the damage on hit discipline effects so if he started as a psiblade, he's gonna be bad at everything that is not fighting with his psiblades, at least until very high levels.

and lastly, at very high levels, when you get to have all the disciplines for your 'build' and a couple more for utility and toolboxing, other full casters are getting real high level magic and starting to outclass everything either way.

the mystic on paper is retarded, but playing one is pretty mild, specially if the party surrounding it is competent and balanced.

>>53059382
I was under the assumption stakes stopped vampires from doing any weird magical bullshit

>you can cut gaseous mist with a sword or shoot it with an arrow
>it can't just flow around your weapons and ignore your physical damage
>somehow it's gonna flow around your hand

>>53059641
>>53059650
just go away, will you?

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>>53059313

>>53059652
On that subject, never buy headphones with a built-in mic. One or the other will always break and now you're out more money to replace the pair.

>>53059655
But you don't have to make one attack, you can make two attacks if you don't booming blade. And at higher levels your sneak attack is pretty much a spell cast. I would feel pretty shitty if I keep risking to not do any damage for the sake of a few d8, over doing a ton of d6s with two attacks.

>>53059666
It does look bad on paper. I'm just worried because 5 of the 6 players are new, and this one guy loves to min/max shit so I hope he doesn't completely overshadow the others. I just want them to have fun, as new players. He's taking the immortal discipline.

Do the discipline moves and psyonics count as spells, that would be shut down with anti-magic stuff?

>>53059712
I feel like if I'm doing that, I might as well take two levels in fighter to get two-weapon fighting style and action surge

>>53059753
Not spell, yes to antimagic.
Counterspell and dispell do jackshit, but antimagic field fucks him over as well as it fucks casters (and I think monks, ki is wierd).

>>53059776
Or you can get your sneak attack dice evasion and reliable talent. Fighting style is only +4 damage later on. Get an extra sneak attack and do that. And alsondont screw yourself over with ability score increases

>>53059517
Just get your own train robot.
https://youtu.be/YdbL53Kb9aI

>>53059712
The math shows using Booming Blade is better than TWFing.

>>53057636
You only need the 3 core books to do literally anything, and you can get away with just the PHB and MM for a long time if you're a competent DM. There's also tons of free content direct from Wizards/supported by Wizards (like the Unearthed Arcana, or SRD/ORG content) you can use.

5e is a much different game than 4e in a lot of ways, but the core idea of DnD is still there. I started with 3e, skipped 3.PF, played a bunch of 4e, went back and did a bunch of 2e and ADnD, and then jumped on 5e as soon as it came out. 5e has as much crunch as I feel is necessary, but you'll never find yourself re-re-reading a character sheet to find your "save vs. dragonkin while airborne under the effects of a spell" level of roll-play that existed in 3.X.

The only thing I will tell you to remember is that, if there's a question about a mechanic, re-read your core books because it's probably in there. There are only a handful of things that aren't covered by the core books, and there are only a handful of fixes in Sage Advice to poorly written rules.

>>53059753
>I'm just worried because 5 of the 6 players are new, and this one guy loves to min/max shit so I hope he doesn't completely overshadow the others
Don't let him do it. He will overshadow them

>>53059382
You can have Strahd be an ancient vampire immune to basic vampire weaknesses. That'll surprise cheeky players.

>Stake to the heart? My heart is my phylactery and is well hidden somewhere.
>Sunlight? The mists of Barovia blocks most sunlight.
>Holy object? They're beautiful, I love looking at them. Besides, I'm older than most religions anyway. I'm sure some even exists with me as deity.
>Garlic? I adore seasoning my meals with them. Good for their circulation.
>Running water? I hate to get my clothes wet, so I just walk over it.
>Invitation to enter a home? I was just being polite.

Strahd should exceed expectations. Even better if you introduce normal vampires with these weaknesses beforehand.

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>>53058827
Since no one can quote the book or has even read it, take this.

Insight is social understanding.
Int and Investigation are to understand the meaning of something, ie, what is that slightly raised plate on the ground or those tubes in the walls.
Wis and Perception are to see the plate and tubes.

>>53057690
>magic items
>average rolls
>guaranteed hits

You're more likely to hit him for less than for average until you've got a +5 proficiency bonus, just so you know.

>>53059811
two fighter allows you to get all your ASI's

>>53059753
Think it like this, if he can overshadow and fuck the fun with a mystic, he'd have done worse with a wizard.

>>53059866
>>Sunlight? The mists of Barovia blocks most sunlight.
Luckily a great deal of clerics carry some in their pocket. It's called daylight.

>>53059840
But it's less reliable. If you are facing off against high AC opponents which you will, and only get 1 attack a round then you could whiff three times in a row. Then they kill you.

You could have a weapon that only hits on a critical success and does 1000 damage and it would have "better math" but hitting shit so it doesn't kill you or your allies first is also important.

>>53059900
>It's called daylight.
Fun fact, Daylight doesn't make Sunlight.

>>53059883
Yes two levels after everyone else.

>>53059869
>High WIS can't tell what things are or
>High INT can't see things in the first place
This basically means you need high WIS and INT to be able to spot traps with any effectiveness

>>53059923
Or a working party.
You know, asking.

>>53057060
What?

>>53059905
This is where party synergy comes into play.

But if all you care about is self reliability, then you go Crossbow Expert + Sharpshooter Rogue.

>>53059866
Strahd is actually partially immune to a couple of those:
barovia does not have real sunlight, so vamps CAN walk around during the day, most choose not to
Strahd can freely enter MOST buildings, as he owns the land, those he cant enter, he can simply dominate a villager and tell them to invite him in

>>53059933
You can't predict what characters are gonna be with you, commanding strike fighter wolf barbarian and war Cleric won't be there to give you extra attacks bonuses and advantage.

>>53059840
which archetype?

>>53059923
"Hey wizard, check this out, the druid spotted something."

>>53059999
"Where? I don't see anything. Let me just step closer and-"
*BOOM*
"...Hey guys it was a trap."

>>53059900
>not quite as luckily, I am a faggot who can't read
Tell me more about your crippling stupidity. It is quite amusing.

>>53060042
dude, what the fuck are you talking about? It says right in the CoS book that spells like "Daylight" absolutely work on vampires

>>53060037
You're an idiot.

>>53059604
>You're letting all the new content overload you. I promise you it isn't as OP as it first appears to be. I play a order of the knife mystic, and the rest of party isn't overshadowed by me.

>>53059923
>Have high wis
>'There's a clean spot on that wall'
>Search that wall intensively because obviously that means there's something odd about that wall, even if the character has 8 int
I mean, what, are you supposed to say 'Okay but I'm dumb so I won't do anything about that or even mention it to anybody else because my character is too dumb to realize that could mean anything'

>>53060102
Well, technically the druid was. The wizard's just oblivious, like the bumbling professor ™ in your favorite family comedy

>>53060129
Roll an investigation then. No proficiency. Lets see what you see

>>53060140
>Fail investigation
>DM: 'You definitely don't see that obvious hidden door'
And then you open the hidden door anyway?

>>53060158
>From the lack of dust on the wall it seems that a piece of furniture was here, or possibly a painting.

>>53060129
>>53060140
>Sees a jumbled mess of runes and strings.
>Have no fucking clue what they are. Probably decor.

That's when you call over the smarty pants of the group.

Can an undying light warlock really be decent at nuking without fireball?

>>53060129
You should probably say "that's a secret door because my character's seen this shit a million times and it only slows things down to have to roll two checks to be able to tell the party about it."

>>53060226
That's why secret doors should be rare

>>53060247
What do you have against Dwarves, asshole?

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Is it worth giving up the Barbarian' s lvl20 stat boost, assuming i can get both STR and CON up to 24 for going 3 levels into fighter for action surge and improved crit? Don't know what path I'm going if it makes a difference.

>>53060284
You won't get to level 20 so it's probably fine

>>53060284
If you have access to giant strength belts, not really

>>53060284
You're not going to hit level 20 so go ahead.

>>53060284
If you don't have a path in mind you're better going 2 fighter and getting your last ASI

Is it a total hack move to make a PC (that I only got to play in like 2 sessions) the BBEG of a new game?

>>53060294
>>53060329
>I have never played a game starting at lvl20
must be boring not playing champions of the universe

>>53060365
I actually have, 1-20. And it has never happened since.

>>53060358
I don't understand why it would matter

>>53060377
Should've mentioned that the group I'm DMing for were all in this other game.

>>53060375
>starting at lvl 1
>ever
sounds like a shit game

>>53057561
You can use STR with Finesse weapons but I don't recommend a dip into Rogue, as it will be harder to get SA off if you're the only one in melee. When it comes to stat buy, what race are you?

>>53057598
I mean, a 2 level dip gives you a Fighting Style and Action Surge, which could definitely be worth. Lets you pick up the Defense Fighting Style for extra AC and you can deeps better with a doubled attack action. Going three for Battlemaster might be worth it but then you're putting off your Paladin progression, which is not recommended. What level are you currently?

>>53060358
No you are the DM you get to make the Villians whoever you damn well please. Lots of NPCs are character concepts I made.

The party got themselves wanted by Zhentarim (including a Succubus).
What should I plan for them, they are level 8-9.

>>53060294
>>53060329
It's a campaign I'm doing with friends, we plan on getting to 20
>>53060338
which path is improved crit better for? I'm looking at UA stuff too, tempest seems pretty fun

>>53060386
Well in that case was it a good character?

>>53060396
Ended with a boon, character arc, and being Queen of a city state. I'm happy.

>>53060416
He's a male version of Bayonetta, I liked him.

>>53060397
8 atm. Still expecting a level up next session since this the pally is a replacement pc and the dm has us starting at a level below the lowest level player.

>>53060415
>It's a campaign I'm doing with friends, we plan on getting to 20
Yeah, and my friends and I planned weekly games but everyone knows how that goes.

Let's put it another way: even if you think you're going to get to 20, how long do you think you're going to SPEND there compared to all the time GETTING there? Is it worth having that power for 2-4 sessions if you've had to play 40 without that other stuff you've been thinking about?

>>53059983
Any. You can get Booming Blade through High Elf or Magic Initiate.

>>53060415
>we plan on getting to 20
>not starting at 20
You'll never make it then
>which path is improved crit better for?
Champion of course. I have disdain crit features in general though; never trust features that require odds less than 50%

Are any of the smite spells worth it as a Hexblade?

>>53060438
Sounds bad.
It's a hack move.

>>53060483
Seems like they'd be great for burst damage with pact spellslots

>>53060397
Rogues can be good even without other melee characters.

My GM was sure that our party of a bow Ranger, Sorcerer, melee rogue and Turretlock would be bad, because no front line.

Turns out a party that can skullfuck anything from a distance is not fun dealing with, and the amount of rolls we had to disengage was just way too much for the GM to properly handle without really setting up encounters that was tailored to fuck us over. Considering how we played, that started out as a "wait what?" Encounter out of nowhere, and ended up as "wat." Encounters. They were just so unreasonably unlikely, that it was just too obvious that the GM didn't know how to deal with us.

Shit like 20+ stealth, pass without trace'd, melee fighter types, with several counterspells or straight up anti magic field, hiding inside a noble house with super tight corridors, we were investigating on a whim. It was pretty ridiculous.

He was so frustrated at having to use deadly encounters every time. We even gave up on a magic item he accidentally gave a bad guy to give him a chance, which made him immune to any spell at level 4 of below.

>>53060453
Hmm valid point. Would be nice to have that power for more than a few sessions but you're probably right it'd only be like 2 sessions

>>53060509
Can you use the curse bringer invocation and a smite all in the same action?

>>53060483
No. You have too few spell slots and better things to do with them.

>>53060540
Use a smite spell alongside the Curse Bringer smite? Yes.

But you shouldn't.

>>53060534
My party was two rogues a ranger and an artificer, I just had stuff dodge action and gang up on whomever they caught.

I also had longbowmen who were really far off and firing at 600 feet while they dealt with melee. Of course I cater my enemies to the group cause killing everything and nobody getting hit isn't exciting.

>>53060534
>Shit like 20+ stealth
Yeah sounds like bullshit
>pass without trace'd
Well that's just basic "We're doing sneaky things" preparation
>melee fighter types, with several counterspells or straight up anti magic field
I've always imagined antimagic training would be fairly common in a world where a caster can roast a dozen people with a flick of the wrist
>hiding inside a noble house with super tight corridors
you must realize any corridor in a house is very likely to be a tight space not well suited for sniping

>>53060534
>Turretlock
Explain this meme, friendo. I did a google search but I couldn't find anything.

>>53060671
EB machine. Just put all his invocations into into and stood still and lit enemies up with 1d10+Cha pushed back 10 feet.

>>53060671
A warlock or warlock/sorcerer multiclass built around shooting a whole lot of eldritch blasts

>>53060534
>Turretlock
What's a turretlock? I can't find anything about that build.

>>53060671
>be warlock, get eldritch blast and it's invocations
>mc sorc, get quicken spell metamagic
>use action to cast EB, use bonus action to cast it again
>spray EBs at anything that moves

Turretlock is not a build, it's a standard Warlock.

Do not confuse with Sorlock, who takes EB and dials it up to 11.

>>53059931
The thread keeps dying

>>53060790
If it's the standard, why not just call it warlock?

>>53060825
Because some idiots think Bladelocks are viable and that their existence should be acknowledged.

>>53060087
Not him, but really? Did some research on this recently and was led to believe that only spells which specifically mentioned that the light functioned as Sunlight would do so - e.g. Sunburst, Sunbeam.

>>53060825
Some people think taking Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast is optional.

Those people are stupid.

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>>53060790
Turret implies several rapid fire shots. Standard warlock is only capable of semi-automatic at best.
>>53060859
That will only encourage their foolishness

>>53057178
Sun monk, Thief healer, Forge or Knowledge Cleric, Hunter Ranger and Totem Barbarian.

>>53058931
False:

>Perception - the ability to sense your surroundings.

>Insight - the ability to percieve and judge someones behaviour to deduce their intentions.

Investigation is the only one i can agree on with you.

>>53057178
Five Fighters or five Monks.
Even better: five Fighter/Monks.
>strahd spends the last seconds of his unlife eternally stunlocked, prone'd, and taking 30 attacks every second

>>53059389
Dwarf with the recovery feat from the Racial Feats UA.

Use your Action to do one attack with your sword and another with an unarmed strike to get the +2 AC bonus until your next turn.

Use bonus action to dodge when injured.

When healthi use your attack action to throw a dart at something further away and your unarmed strike to hit something close to you for the +2 AC, bonus action adds 1d4 damage to your ranged attacks for the turn.

>>53060947
There's not a whole lot that Action Surge / Stunning Blow / maneuver / expanded crit spam wouldn't vaporize.

Any recommendations on a starting a list of starting equipment? Going to be playing a monk with quarterstaff, so my combat gear runs pretty much nothing. Over level 5, so I have 500 plus gold burning a hole in my pocket.

>>53059683
Why shouldn't pinning a vampire by a stake to the heart trap him in place whether he's gaseous or not?

Considering it's a magical ability, you could say that it's the act of placing a stake through his magical core that holds him in place, not specifically holding him down by a vulnerability.

It's like pinning a shadow with a magical weapon. Just because it seems impossible in the real world doesn't make it's not sensible in a game.

>>53060358
I'm doing something similar, though I'm making it more open-ended, so there's several characters that could be the BBEG, depending on the party's choices.

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>>53060989
>in a party with two Battlemasters
>one is a Tavern Brawler and the other is a Shield Master
>every boss fight begins with them knocking the enemy down, grappling it, and stabbing it four times while dumping all their superiority die for better damage while also applying Fear and Disarm
>every boss fight ends the same round with them high-fiving each other

>>53060999
It has no heart while gaseous. I would say if you pin it while solid it'll lose the ability to change form, or do anything besides cry like a bitch.

>>53057178
Well it sure as hell ain't my party. Two rangers, moon druid, bard, thief and a wizard. We had a cleric but his player went awol.

>>53061079
Just tell the Rangers to shoot stakes with their bows???????????????????????

Name for a halfling shadow monk?

>>53060999

A vampire is only vulnerable to a stake through the heart if it's incapacitated in its resting place. Also, it can only Misty Escape if it's NOT in its resting place.

So these rules never interact.

>>53061218

Doris Nyte

>>53061218
Haloed Flirt

>>53061218
umbro slaggins

>>53061218
Upright Chesapeake

>>53061218
Frodo

>>53061218
T. R. Jedeziah

>>53061218
Gemini Dropfire

>>53061218
Daft Hollier

>>53061218
Cinco Baweiner

Should my Dwarf Fighter have
>12 dex and 15 con
or
>13 dex and 14 con

I've never played 5e before.

>>53061218
Chuck Mason

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should I be able to use a lance with polearm master and/or great weapon fighting? it doesnt technically have the two handed property, but its special property requires 2 hands to use it when not mounted

>>53060451
So you're a level 8 Paladin? What Oath did you take? Because at this point, since you have both Aura of Protection and your Oath Aura (assuming you're not a vengeance pleb), you should be fine. I'd justify it, since the +1 AC or + to damage from an offensive fighting style would be worth the dip.

>>53061361

Unless you're going dex fighter, 10 dex is fine (you can dump it, but it DOES affect intiative and dex saves), because heavy armor allows you to simply ignore your dex bonus/penalty.

>>53061218
"Canada" Joe Meagher

>>53061218
Chareth Cutestory

>>53061379

If you're using it in two hands you can use GWF with it; doesn't matter if it has a property or not. But no, you can't use PAM with it. Also, if you use it 1handed while Mounted, you don't get to use GWF with it.

>>53061361
15/1X/14/10/1Y/8
Either 13 Dex / 12 Wis, or 12 Dex / 13 Wis
+2 Str / +2 Con from Mountain Dwarf
Dump your first ASI to +1/+1 in your uneven stats (Str and Dex/Wis)
or use your first two ASIs on feats which give you +1 to stats to shore up your unevens. Resilience is a good choice if your Wis is the uneven stat.

>>53061218
Blakewald Slingo

>>53060896
A true turretlock can, at level 17, fire 12 eldritch blasts in one round, or 18 eldritch blasts in one round if hasted

This requires at least level-2 dips into both sorcerer and fighter, for action surge and quickened spell

>>53061385
The statline I rolled is 15, 13, 12, 9, 9, 7.

Being a mountain dwarf gives +2str and +2 con, so I have 17 strength and I'm using my 9s for int and wis and 7 for cha.

So really I want the 15 con is what you're saying?

>>53061450
ASI?

>>53061483
Ability Score Increase

>>53061483
>rolling for stats
>getting something worse than point buy
Why is your DM a douche

ASI = Ability Score Increase
Every class gets them at the same levels (they're on the level up chart), but Rogues and Fighters get more of them.
You can get +2 to a stat of your choice with your ASI, or +1 to two stats. If your group is using feats, you can also take a feat in place of an ASI's stat increase.

First ASI is at class level 4.

>>53061483
>rolling stats
Abandon that game

>>53061518
>>53061523
>Why is your DM a douche
What's wrong with rolling stats?
Our DM hasn't even been involved, we've just been reading the book and making up our characters so we're ready to play once finals week is over.

>>53061048
sounds manly

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How do you tell bad homebrew apart from good stuff? What are some red flags that absolutely scream "retards made this"?
D&D wiki has a shitton of homebrew races and classes, but I've no foresight to see if they'll get fucked up quick as the campaign goes.

>>53061585
Don't use anything on D&D wiki

>>53061585
>D&D Wiki
Well there's a good starting point for red flags

>>53061600
>>53061606

Why? Legit curious, the more details the better.

>>53061566
>What's wrong with rolling stats?
Have you seen what you rolled?

>>53061585
Compare it to other things in the game. For example is a race is getting something like a feat or a +2 to a stat with a +1 in two other stats with a bunch of other shit on top of it, its probably broken

>>53061613
>oh no, my character isn't 100% optimal, time to go cry in the corner making a pouty face

>>53061566
If your DM hasn't given you character creation instructions, either take an array or the point buy in >>53061450
Those stats you rolled are strictly worse.

Rolling for stats is shit because this isn't the 80s anymore where every PC is as disposable as giftwrap and you throw 50 barbarian followers or sheep at every dungeon to skirt your DM's "rocks fall" traps. There's enough random bullshit in the game without getting stuck in a shit party--especially as a bunch of new players--with no group synergy because the stat rolls "forced" everyone into weird race/class combos that don't mesh.

I mean, shit, if you're gonna roll stats, it's something done at the table in full view of everyone. You could walk into the game with everything higher than 12 and what's anyone gonna do, claim you lied about your rolls? Tell you they're too good to be random? That's the whole point of stat rolling; giving yourself unreasonably high stats when no one's looking and unbalancing the game.

And even if everyone is perfectly honest (they're not), all you get is a party where Brad has godly stats and you're stuck being subpar and contributing less to the group. What's the fucking point? D&D is supposed to be fun, not some fucking social commentary on the supposed inequalities of race or the genetic lottery.

>>53061566
Rolling for stats basically has the potential to ruin games from the get-go if people roll unevenly. Sure, it's fun to have a 16/18/16/14/13/15 on your character, but your friend that rolled 15/13/12/9/9/7 isn't going to have as much of a mechanical impact, on the game, lessening their fun. So, if you have a person constantly stealing the spotlight, it removes a lot of enjoyment from the game simply because it is skewed in their favour.

Also, not rolling in front of your DM is bait for people who'll say "Oh yeah, I totally rolled 2 18s and 3 16s." Either roll dice in front of the DM, or do it in a Roll20 chat log for posterity.

Just FYI, 27 point-buy is the absolute patrician way to play, as you and your party will start on equal footing.

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>>53057017
Yo, I'm making a lich character.

Is "Almolond" a cool name?

>>53061638
>having a shit character is fun guys, it's totally RP potential

go and stay go

Seems like base AC is pretty much capped at 20. That seems ridiculously low.

>>53061662
>Is "Almolond" a cool name?
Makes me think of an almond so I dunno, probably not?

>>53059899
this pretty much.

>>53061664
>fighter with 17 str, 12 dex and 15 con is shit
???

>>53061638
It's not even about optimal, it's about not having shit stats like yours. You seem to be fine with three negative modifiers so fuck off and enjoy being worse than everyone else in your group.

>>53061662
no, not really.

Newish DM here, am I meant to make skill checks for NPCs against the players?

For instance, am I meant to roll a Deception check for a villain in disguise against my own players?

>>53061662
Your players will constantly refer to your character as "Almonds", so no.

>>53061712
Personally I don't unless it's contesting something like passive perception for stealth against the party

>>53061566
Rolling for stats has about a 56% chance of giving you at least one 16 or higher stat and an 18% chance of giving you two 16 or higher stats.

16 in one stat is already beyond the available range in 5e

>>53061585
>>53061637
I mean you could be Dragonborn and get a +2 str and +1 cha and get a breath weapon

>>53061218
Blackbo Shadings.

>>53061677
Considering most high-level creatures have an AC of like, 26 or some shit, it's honestly not that bad.

>>53061585
I would say anything that violates the basic design rules of the game, such as niche overlap, murky party roles, adjusting/ignoring core class abilities, handing out free spells, extra attacks, etc, but UA has been shitting out classes like those for months now. I believe they even mentioned at one point every class must have some ability in all three of the "pillars" of the game (exploring, combat, social), when even the base classes don't do this.

>>53061712
Also, another question.

How do DMs typically make it clear what an NPC is doing in combat?

For instance if I had an Orc who's using his aggression trait to move an extra 30 feet with a bonus action, should I make that clear to the players why he's able to do that? With enemy spellcasters, should I make it clear exactly what spell they're casting or should I be vague about it?

>>53061695
>being ok with having 7 int

shit dude, I didn't know you applied your real-life stats to your characters

>>53061727
i find this so amusing at my table, whenever someone tries to come up with a 'cool' name, everyone will just call him by closest sounding normal word available, especially with tabaxi's long ass names and tiefling's special snowflake names.

>>53061644
>That's the whole point of stat rolling; giving yourself unreasonably high stats when no one's looking and unbalancing the game
Why do you play with assholes?
>>53061645
>Either roll dice in front of the DM, or do it in a Roll20 chat log for posterity
Why would you do anything OTHER than that? It's not like any of us have dice to roll with privately.

>>53061779
I'm a dwarf fighter, I need to hit things, not write novels. That's why we have a half-elf warlock, halfling bard, gnome ranger and dragonborn cleric as the other party members.

>>53061644
>>53061645
Rolling for stats is pretty much an holdover from earlier editions where ability scores didn't matter even remotely as much and as long as you met the minimum requirements for your class you were perfectly good to go. The 2e PHB recommends that if someone fucks up their rolls enough to to classify for any class, they either reroll until the do or the DM brings it up to the minimum for the class they want

>>53061218
Niglet

>>53061698
To be fair modern class design doesn't usually require more than one or two stats to be high or even above negative. Really if you can't specialize in a thing you're better off dumping it and letting someone else in the party specialize at it

>>53061774
It depends on the knowledge of the players. How versed are they in Orcish attributes? If one of them has spent his life as an anthropologist studying Orcish combat, then maybe they'd know. Otherwise, it's just "the pissed-off orc runs at you with a look of crazed bloodlust" or some shit like that.

>>53061774
Uses fluff-descriptions, think them up yourself

What does using this ability look like? Make it clear enough that knowledgeable players can pick up on it. In your example I'd suggest something like. "The orc snarls and surges at you with inhuman speed" even if it really isn't "inhuman" speed considering how slow everyone moves in 5e

>>53061794
>gnome ranger and dragonborn cleric
All's well then, as your party is full of literally unplayable garbage.

I hate being a heal bitch.
Are there any alternatives to clerics?

>>53061677
Without magic items that's it. Later when enemies have +10 or more to hit it's about mitigating damage and surviving attacks.

>>53061774
I only describe what the PCs are actually seeing and never use game terminology because muh immersion, but most DMs I've had just say what ability they're using and how it works mechaincally

>all these people not rolling stats
Shit stats aren't even bad in 5e because they throw a free +2 ability score increase at you every handful of levels

>>53061827
Light Cleric becomes damage output.

War Cleric is really good at pretending to be a martial.

Trickery Cleric is a Rogue with no expertise but helps someone get even sneakier.

Knowledge Cleric is for the Wizard who found Jesus first.

>>53061827
heal botting is worthless in 5e, the best heal spells are either bonus action heals (healing words, aura of vitality) or out of combat heals (prayer of healing), anything else is worthless in combat compared to just attacking and only healing back KO'd allies.

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>>53061789
My first campaign years ago had a villainous cult called The Black Charade that everyone always called The Black Parade.

When should you be rolling perception versus just checking against passive?

Is any of the Third-Party stuff in the trove worth even half a shit?

>>53061874
>"I'm low and need healing"
>"I'll heal you when you're down, otherwise I'm just wasting actions"
>"Stop being a munchkin"
Healing is suffering

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>>53061645
>Just FYI, 27 point-buy is the absolute patrician way to play, as you and your party will start on equal footing.
32 point buy with no racial stats

>>53061865
Anon don't you realize that unless you have a 20 in two stats by your second ASI you're having BADWRONGFUN

>>53061900
>>"Stop being a munchkin"
reeeee

the don't deserve your healing, anon, fuck them.

>>53061789
I do that in character, because my character is a dick.

I actually know everyone's names and have no problem pronouncing it, my character is just an uncaring asshole.

I also write all my notes in character as well, and draw out maps and keep track of who has what loot. Which is really fun.

>>53061865
In exchange for not getting a fancy feat that lets you do new and cool things.
Shit stats hurt more in this edition that the last two, because they make you chose between stats or feats.

>>53061898
You roll when you ask to roll. Other wise use passive. If they walk into a room their passive perception is what you explain off the top.

>>53061903
thats tardation.
if a character goes down they miss an attack action.

>>53061909
up to 15 or do you use another formula to scaling it up?

>>53061909
Poor humans

>>53061918
Feats are a bad addition to the game anyway.

>>53061903
>"I need healing."
>"Are you dead yet?"
>"No."
>"Then stop being a pussy and get in there. You gotta earn your heals."

CN Cleric was fun.

>>53061911
>people are mocking our demonstrably shit taste so I better torch this strawman

>>53061919
I'm asking because I my current character has a passive perception is over 20 on account of the observant feat. Still our DM always calls for a roll. It just feels like I'm not really getting much investment out of it when rolling is always going to be unreliable.

>>53061903
Healing someone only when they're down just leads to a total halting of damage ouptut and they'll more than likely just be beaten back into unconsciousness by the time it gets back to your round

>>53061937
Feats are fine. Things like Sharpshooter, Crossbow Expert, GWM, PAM and war caster are bad

>>53061932
Up to 16, 15->16 is 2 points.
If you want to go to 17, make it cost three and up the point pool.

Alternatively you can say 27 point buy and +2/+1 to whatever the fuck you want. The point is to divorce people from the overwhelming urge to go Gnome/Elf/Human if they want to play a Wizard or something.

If you're playing OD&D or 2e I see no issue with rolling for stats because the game is mechanically built and the rules are written with that as the intent, and the only way to get actual "shit" stats is if you somehow roll low enough that your character can't be any class

No reason to do so with a game where stats alone can make you OP or gimped

>>53061981
>Healing someone only when they're down just leads to a total halting of damage ouptut
This depends entirely on the initiative order. I'd rather have the healer continuing to attack rather than spend an action to heal me, especially when a single enemy attack can easily wipe out a heal spell and drop me anyways.

>>53061965
Most DMs always call for rolls because they are retarded and never learned how to write down passive scores.
Sorry, but your passive score will probably be useless forever.

>>53061965
Yup you aren't. DMs don't use passive perception that much. You can probably ask him politely if you can change the fest selection cause he doesn't use passive perception. He will either say ok, or say no and then start using it. Or be an asshole and do nothing.

So for an Immortal Mystic, which seems to be the only playable variant, do you use the 10+DEX+CON formula or do you use Inertial Armor's 14+DEX?

Also, Bestial Claws vs. Brute Strike vs. Lethal Strike?
Bestial form gives you Tough Hide, Brute Force makes you a grappling god, Mastery of Force gives you ranged options and shit but you are probably not pumping up INT at this point, Psionic Weapon gives you the +3 magical weapon.

Outside of that Iron Durability for the +1AC focus and over all resistances and Giant Growth for the reach and +1d4?

At this point are the two extra disciplines as good as I think they are, compared to going Soul Knife?

>>53061981
Healing someone in combat just leads to them taking the damage and going down anyway. People seem to think that in combat healing is going to get them back a ton of health, but unless you are a life cleric with channel divinity up, or have higher level spells, it isn't the case

>>53062029
Also, you are pretty much forced to go STR for this thing, right?
Dex seems to work much better with a Soul Knife, but no idea how their DPS actually compare, given all the shit that wants to use your bonus action, not getting TWF nor extra attack, etc.

>demanding you play pointbuy only and only letting poeple play the most optimal race for their chosen class is not minmaxing
t. /tg/

>>53062093
>tfw mountain dwarf who rolled 18s for every stat
prepare to get dunked, nerd

>>53062093
As far as I know people were just saying rolling for stats in this edition was dumb, not any of that other shit

>>53061900
The monster packs are pretty good. Tome of Beasts from Kobold Press and 5e Foes from Necromancer Games.

>>53062163
This. Shit, there was even someone suggesting completely removing racial stats.

Hey /5eg/. I want a long dungeon crawl to put some friends of mine through, some real Gygaxian horrorshow. Anything premade like that you guys could recommend?

Oh, and does anyone know how hard it is to convert from the old AD&D adventure paths? I could just steal things from /OSR/ too I guess

>>53062187
tomb of horrors

>>53062187
Against the Giants.

>>53062093
>only letting poeple play the most optimal race
you know, it's easier to put together a coherent argument if you're able to read.

>>53062205
>>53062218

You filthy apes, I meant if there was anything like I described literally made for 5e, maybe even third party stuff. Not literal crawls Gygas had a hand in!

>>53060397
Half orc.

I figured it'd be worth it bc we have a Paladin and then a smattering of rangers/casters.

Figured they'd get attacked and I could turn around and smack guys for free advantage but I'll skip the rogue.

Can't decide between barbarian and fighter but definitely going melee.

>>53062022
>>53062025
I'm bad about calling out passive perception, but I guess it's because I never really truly understood it.

Rolled stats rules:

4d6d1 6 times.

Highest stat is made a 17.

Lowest stat is made an 8.

Everyone starts with a great stat and a shitty stat. Even if they want to be a gnome fighter they wouldn't be bad.

Best spells for a Bladelock?

>>53062312
and for the 0.38% of the time when someone's lucky enough to role two 18s? Or the 3.4% of the time when they're unlucky enough to role two 7s or lower?

Can you even play this edition as a low level dungeon crawler ( roll stats, start at level 1) or would you need to learn OSR systems and play that instead?

>>53062355
Drawmij's Retroactive Class Change

>>53062396
if you roll stats and start at level 1, you have a 56% chance of having better stats than is possible by point buy

>>53062379
Then one 18 is made into a 17. No 20 20 stats. Then one 7 is made an 8.

It keeps it playable, but the four random rolls will still make or break your character. It keeps everyone on some kind of level playing field, often a +4 modifier, and everyone has a weak spot.

>>53062312
>everyone starts with a great stat and a shitty stat
As always, you could've accomplished this much more easily and fairly by just using point-buy.

>>53062424
>a 56% chance of having stats whose total is greater than that of point buy but aren't necessarily conducive to a good character or the class / race you want to play*