/5eg/ - Fifth Edition General

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>>54086018
>But I'm a Loremaster about to hit 6
>actually getting your hands on Lore Mastery
You're a monster. Let forces of nature tear it all down.

>>54086046
My players are currently in the Eye of the All-Father. It's pretty nice. It's been an interesting experience trying to describe things so the players get an understanding of just how massive everything is.

>>54086064
The Cleric deserves it, I swear. He's been pissing me off for over 3 months asking what kind of Wizard doesn't have Identify, since we have a magic item and no idea of it's effects. Thing is, he's a Knowledge Cleric. Identify is one of his fucking domain spells.

How would a GOO warlock fare in Out of the Abyss?

Man, whenever I have a session where I'm prepared and everything fires on all cylinders and all my players are really into what's going on, it just makes me so happy.

I wish I had that flow feeling more often.

Going to play a short module at level 5, SCAG and PHB allowed only.

Any notable builds at that level? Halfway tempted to go with Sorclock, though I'd be missing out on the stat up.

Has anyone encountered any issues with the UA Ranger? One of my players is playing a ranger and it feels like his damage output and accuracy are absurdly high.

Also, what can I do to challenge ranged classes in combat?

>>54086187
Is he playing a hunter ranger? Because Hunters do actually do good damage, they're just not considered particularly interesting.

>>54086187
>One of my players is playing a ranger and it feels like his damage output and accuracy are absurdly high.
That's the case for default ranger too, but it's only an illusion. They are actually no better than rogues, with hunter's mark being their version of sneak attack. Except at the cost of a spell slot.

>>54086187
Winding tunnels.
Jumping spiders.
Traps that trigger ambushes.
Depending on frontline, very fast/nimble enemies.

How do you settle on a character?
Our GM gave use three weeks of prep, so put of excitement, then indescisiveness and finally boredom I ended up with nearly a dozen.

How do you run your campaign? What's the magic level? How high is the lethality?

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>>54086165
Must be a nice feeling.

>>54086282
Ask your fellow players who they might be interested interacting with in-character, and who might be most useful to the party.

>>54086301
If your build doesn't revolve around fire resistance and setting yourself on fire you're doing it wrong

>>54086222
Against favored enemies at level seven he's routinely doing 40 damage in a round. I guess now that I've typed it up that doesn't seem like a ton compared to the Cleric's Shatter or the Warlock's Fireball.

Honestly my main concern is just that with Cleric+Paladin front line, I'm having difficulty finding monsters to damage him or contain him when he's always 30+ feet away from the action.

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>>54086165
I had that feeling this week with my dungeon filled with riddles and animated armor that spoke in riddles.
They even flubbed their only wish that I granted them at the end of the dungeon. All according to keikaku.

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>>54086329
Just give enemies the firebolt cantrip, or magic missile. It'll be fine, I promise.

>>54086158
>see Demogorgon
>go crazy
>jokes on you, I'm already crazy

>>54086329
>Cleric+Paladin
There's your problem, not the puny ranger.

>>54086357
>>54086298
It feels so good to be like describing stuff in the environment and having the players ask questions about it or want to interact with it. Or when players ask NPCs what their opinions are.

And I finally got to a point where I feel confident describing overland travel. It just makes me want to DM more. That's the best feeling, when you did what you wanted and you feel like everyone still wants more.

>>54086384
Hah! Good one.

>>54086401
Can you elaborate?

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What Warlock Patron am I?

>>54086301
I tried though its a fairly new group so they've limited experience.
Answer were (translated)
"Idk"
"Something cool"
"Well my choice depends on your choice"
And the GM "You know the world better than me so you know best"

>>54086420
Paladin is the strongest class in the game, and with a personal healbuffslut he usually turns into a total powerhouse.

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>>54086384

>>54086446
I thought that was the bard?

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>>54086430
I dont know, but definitely a powerful one.

>>54086430
D&D's Greedy Jew is Mammon, archduke of the Third Layer of the Nine Hells. So, Fiend.

>>54086434
>>54086301
Oh ad this just dropped.
"War Cleric of Kord played like BatB Aquaman but voiced by Brian Blessed."
This from the second most experienced of the group.

>>54086180
Sorlock doesn't really shine until 8th.

Strongest would be Barbarian, since 5th is when they shine.

Barb 1 / Rogue 4 also works. Take Shield Master (or be V. Human for Shield Master + ASI) and knock everything prone.

Moon Druid 2 / Totem Barbarian 3 comes online at 5 this level, too. Wildshape into a Brown Bear and Rage. Two more levels of Barbarian and you can Extra Attack with a Crag Cat, which is the otherwise superior CR1 form.

>>54086612
>Sorlock doesn't really shine until 8th.
SeaGoo Sorlock of Cthulhu does.

>>54086484
Bard is.. different.

Paladin definitely has the bet combination of survivability and damage by himself, without necessarily trying to become a powerhouse. Multiclassing aside, they are definitely the best at both damage dealing and tanking all at once, while still having unreasonable levels of utility.

Bards requires some thought, and they are still a squishy caster, but in the right hands, they can absolutely demolish entire encounters by themselves.

I still have this horror story of a Bard player, where I tried to incite some anger by having a cult kill someone the character cared about. I expected the character (a rather "shy" and quiet girl) to try talking her 3 other high level characters to help her with clearing iut their den, so I prepared a cult den that would not exactly be dangerous, but should at least take some resources out of them, before a planned fight during the night.

She decided to go on a solo rampage. All in all it became a deadly encounter, and Jesus Christ I had to ask her to alter her alignment away from Good because of how insane she went about her vengeance. (She agreed, thought it was good character development, before anyone spergs out about alignments)

I had no idea Bards did "terrifying and psychopathic magic user" so much better than warlocks, but damn man.

>>54086654
What exactly did she use?

>>54086329
>>54086368
I recommend nets. They become restrained until they cut open the nets or otherwise free themselves. It's reasonable to have a creature run up and throw a net on them.

Is toll the dead ok to use? Or is 1d12 too strong?

>>54086430
I think he must be a Great Old one.

In one of the games, he works on the side line against an actual God that wants to destroy the world. He doesn't seem particularly interested in the outcome, but rather the road to whatever the conclusion may be. He has a really odd morality. Fiend is a no go, they are inherently evil, and this guy is not even on that scale, and if he is, he is true neutral.

Raven Queen and Hexblade are too specific, neither matches. Could also be Fey, but the powers granted considered, he certainly feels more like a GOO than a Fey.

Maybe seeker? Only heard about it, never really read too in-depth about it. The positive plane shit certainly doesn't for either.

Did I miss anything?

>>54086654
Go on...

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>>54086654
Elaborate on this. What exactly did they do on their rampage?

>>54086187
Unless you have a billion encounters a day, they're just weaker versions of wizards that spam fireball all day.

>>54086671
All kinds of things. Tons of torture. Force cage on 5 mooks + crown of madness and drinking cloud, heat metal, healing to let them suffer a bit longer, burying living people in the walls, etc.

There was 1 survivor she let go on purpose. One arm isnt quite where it is supposed to be, and he is unrecognizable by anyone he used to know.his voice also sounds off, as if something is stuck in his windpipe, and he was text burned into his skin in 4 different places saying "I am a bad guy".

The cult is widespread, and they are now taking two tests whenever they see her, 1 for whether they know her or not, and one to check if they can avoid being feared by her. Whih is funny, because it is a 21 year old 150cm tall, 45kg unimposing girl, who looks weak and fragile.

She was level 16, so it was KINDA expected to go badly, but the amount of enemies made me think she would still struggle. I was wrong.

On the other hand, their fight during the might was quite difficult, because she really didn't have any spell slots left. So hey, I got what I wanted from it.

>>54086861
>4 different places
Should have been 40, my bad.

She was a tad too... descriptive in her actions, and actually made one player leave until she was done.

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>>54086861
>>54086887
Edgy, but it feels like the right kind of Edgy.

>>54086403
In character I believe they're really feeling it, but afterwards when I ask for input I get the bare minimum most of the time. I think I worry too much about railroading even though everything has been 100% on the players.

>>54086187
I played past level 5, and the issues disappeared. Rangers hit their peak damage at level 5 and don't really gain anything else substantial for damage until level 17.

Bard
At-Will Power: 1/5. A lore bard without their resources can only really cast rituals, use a couple of weak class features such as song of rest and spam vicious mockery. They can, however, attempt grapples and interact with the environment, I suppose. Could obtain GFB/BB with a feat or multiclass or use of secrets or something.
Burst: 3/5, can only really cast the one major spell a round but has access to some powerful damage/control/buff spells such as polymorph, as with most casters.
Survivability: 3/5, doesn't have to get into melee, can easily grab moderately armoured.
Team Support: 5/5 Healing word. Slightly buffed counterspell. Aura of Vitality before paladin for an average of 70 HP healed per person per cast. Song of rest, cutting words, etc. Make an enemy use its reaction to run and take a reaction attack in the process. Vicious mockery. However, limited bardic inspiration and spell slots.
Utility: 4/5 has a number of spells and great skill variety and usage and rituals but wizard is better at this with magical utility and making up for poor skills by having int for int skills which is otherwise very rare to have a high stat in.

Paladin:
At-Will Power: 4/5, weaker than fighter unless you're an oathbreaker and weaker than barbarian early on but it's still great.
Burst: 5/5, seriously. You can spend four spell slots in a round just vomiting smites, and the smites are good.
Survivability: 3/5, aside from increased saves has...
(cont)

>>54086430
Since Philemon is supposed to be a representation of the collective unconscious, and the Astral Plane is where dreams exist, Astral Searcher is probably the closest.

>>54086976
>Survivability: 3/5, aside from increased saves has...
I dont even care what you are going to say next, you are actually retarded if you think 3/5 is correct.

They are 4/5 at least

>>54086976
Survivability: 3/5, aside from increased saves has to be in melee mostly to function and can't exactly heal themself when downed. No particular tank abilities other than having high AC potentially and good saves. Bordering on 4/5, I'd say they're more survivable than a bard, but they've a slow speed, meh skills and it adds up to a lack of versatility which could endanger them.
Team Support: 4/5, still great. +Saves to everyone is invaluable and they can use their action to heal, but it's not quite bard level.
Utility: 1/5, this isn't your role and there WILL be someone else in the party with high charisma, so that's not awfully unique either. You do get spells for some utility but you might as well attack and smite with them and you don't exactly get a lot. Bordering on 2/5, really.


I'd say they both have their good points and bad points.

>>54086947
If you're worried about railroading, then you probably aren't railroading. There's a big difference between "I've got stuff planned" and "here comes the plot train choo choo."

As long as the players are able to react to what you present to them, you're not railroading.

>>54087001
>When barbarian exists
>When moon druid exists
>When barbarogue exists
>When, heck, even wizards survive better than them sometimes because the wizards can just hang out at the back and not give two shits as they dance around invisible or hiding in an illusionary box or whatever
They're nothing special on survivability. They have good raw defences but nothing else.
If your DM runs everything as a generic hack and slash then sure, I'd give them 4/5, but when you factor in other things the paladin is at the front putting themself in danger.

I worry I'm throwing too much money at my players.

I'm scaling up Sunless Citadel for a party of level 3 players. The group has a paladin, barbarian, druid, and ranger.

Should I increase the number of enemies since they're a bit lacking in multitarget damage, or should I just use slightly higher CR enemies to account for higher player HP?

>>54086729
Nah, it's pretty good and the d12 only jumps in the 2nd round of combat unless you're low on the list. It's a pretty good Cantrip, but it's a Cantrip in the end with no added effects.

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>>54087011
Ok cool, I avoid saying 'you have to x' , plan a bunch of stuff out and have someone ask them if they want to do something.

>>54087038
I'm worried about the same but weapons have durability so it's fine I think.

>>54086976
>4 spell slots
?

>>54087116
>Attack, smite
>Extra attack, smite
>Bonus attack, smite
>Reaction attack, smite
With PAM and/or sentinel you can quite reliably get a reaction attack.

>>54087053
Sometimes it's fine to be urged by an NPC. Or forced to do something. Think about movies where the hero is forced to do something they don't want to do, then they figure out how to work it to their advantage.

You can also convey urgency this way. Also, remember that your players want to play. They're there to do stuff. You don't always have to ask them "is this ok?"

Death or knowledge cleric?

>>54087116
He's assuming Polearm Master for a bonus action attack and a reaction attack.

Basing class power purely on combat is a flawed position to determine best class in the game, but he's right about the combat power for a sub-level 10 game.

>>54087053
>weapons have durability
Come again

>>54087027
>Inmate magic resistance
>Getting Cha bonus to literally all saves
>Healig aura on a Paladin who literally cannot fail his concentration saves
Yeah okay buddy.

>>54087141
For most OoC stuff there is charisma and things like Command.

>>54087141
>Basing class power purely on combat
That's what 'utility' is for.
Also, survivability kind of includes non-combat a bit as well.
And so does team support.

Well, assuming it's about my post with all the /5 numbers, you'd see that the gist is 'paladin sucks outside of combat'.

>>54087053
>but weapons have durability
What.

>>54087181
All that "utility" makes up half or more of the game unless you're playing an MMO with dice.

>>54087053
>durability
>weapons
Whoever does this kind of shit, has a special place in hell reserved specifically for them.

>>54087134
I've accidentally created a sense of urgency in the old ruins they've decided to explore. I hadn't thought of anything beyond a floor but they wanted more so on top of more things that actually threaten them they're going to try and save a woman they don't know from the undead trying to convert her and she's likely going to be a part of someone else's backstory.

>>54087186
>>54087200
Special stuff doesn't last forever.

Does /5eg/ even talk about anything creative anymore or is it always just sperging about which classes are best?

I had a good time using that ancient giant cidery filled with drunk dragons scenario from awhile back.

>>54087160
>literally cannot fail his concentration saves
You'll have, what, +5 or +6 to con saves at level 8 or so?
It's hardly that infalliable.
You also have to wait until later to get aura of vitality whereas bard gets it at 6. And it also disrupts paladin's at-will damage if they go for anything that gives them bonus action attacks considering that they get improved divine smite on bonus attacks.

You have to realize that there are a lot of cases where just having high saves isn't going to save you. If you have to run from enemies you're going to be at the very front and you're going to be the slowest and you're not going to have any spells to boost your speed or suchlike.
If you have to balance on a bridge and not fall into a chasm then you're probably going to have sub-par dexterity and lack acrobatics proficiency.
If you're fighting a monster with very strong melee attacks (Hint: Most monsters have much stronger melee attacks and you can't use cover against them) then you're not awfully good at fighting at range.

In raw hack-slash survivability, yes, you're kinda tough. Not the best, but tough.

A wizard on the other hand can almost harmlessly take a level dip of cleric and run around with 20 AC, boost it up to 25 AC with a shield if needed, use portent to auto-succeed critical saves, not even get in range to have to make those saves in the first place or use many other spells to make them an annoying bitch to deal with such as blink.

>>54087199
Yeah, so what? If that's the case, just consider the utility rating as more important than other stuff, which is probably what the poster already had in mind, because the Paladin's rating in the other fields surpasses the Bard's.
Your post adds nothing of value to the discussion.

>>54087199
A lot of things don't require skill checks or magic to solve. There are often many ways to solve it and a DM isn't going to require you have a wizard with a certain spell to get past something, but will have an alternate possible route.
Combat, on the other hand, almost always takes damage to solve.

>Have 21 dex
>"above anything human capable! a God himself!"
>A low as fuck level goblin hits me with half of his attacks

>>54087251
I just skip over all the "blank room, 1v1, who's better" stat comparisons and optimal build talk. I know minutia is really important for balance and strategies, but it's also boring and pedantic. And it reinforces that there are "right" ways to have fun or play the game.

>>54087289
>>54087199
Well, actually, I'll take back what I said because it's mostly irrelevant in light of >>54087288
Adjust how valuable utility is to your DM. If utility is really important for your game, then bard is more overpowered.
If your DM does one long rest per fight but all non-combat things have hardly anything you can apply utility to, paladin is way overpowered.


The question is, can people ever decide upon an 'ideal game' with the perfect balance of skill checks, non-skill-checks, combat and fucking around?

>>54087344
Dexterity isn't entirely about speed. You can dodge and fuck about as much as you want but you can't outrun bullet.

Give reasons to play a sorcerer instead of a wizard. Subtle spell is the only thing I can think of...

>>54087355
>outrun
Why outrun when you can move out of its trajectory? You can't outrun a punch either and fighters (irl) don't get hit 100% of the time.

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>>54087357
I have only one line for you that will undoubtably convince you to play sorcerer:

There is no reason to play sorcerer and your party will already have someone with high charisma, but yet nobody with high intellect. Sorcerer is babymode. Play a fucking wizard.

>>54086861
>pissing off a level 16 character
No sympathy.

>>54087384
If you made things more realistic nobody would be getting hit a lot of the time. Maybe the really big constructs and stuff.

But combat would drag on for far too long. Though they could try to remedy that.

And anyway, the whole thing about HP not actually being meat points so technically you might not even be being hit.

Still, if you're against a 10 strength peasant without weapon training holding a weapon they'll have +0 to hit and if you're using mage armour with 22 dexterity that means they have a 10% chance of hitting you each round. Which is ridiculous, yes, but eh.

If the goblin has over +0 to hit there's a reason they have it - weapon training or high stats or both.

I'm brainstorming up a statblock for a Zombie Horde based on Swarm tactics.

Other than arbitrary stats, do these seem good for abilities?

>Mob of Undead
>Medium to Gargantuan Undead

>Mindless Horde- If an attack or spell would damage three or more tiles of Mob of Undead, deal maximum damage instead of rolling.
>Mob- a Mob of Undead can move through spaces as small as 5 feet wide without squeezing, however it must end it's movement in a space large enough for it.
>Strength In Numbers- The Mob of Undead has an extra attack for every size above Medium it has.
>Cut Them Down!- The Mob of Undead is a Gargantuan Creature at full health, Huge Creature at 75% Health, Large Creature at 50%, and Medium Creature at 25% or lower.

Going to have a shitload of HP but pitiful (maybe just 10) AC.

>>54087426
>And if you're using mage armor
Yeah, and if I'm flying 40m meters in the air and the peasant doesn't have throwing weapons he can't hit me either. That's not the point though. The point is that a demigod of speed is piss easy to hit and as fast as anybody.

>>54087348
It's a shame really. That idea I referred to made a really fun adventure and it started with the idea of what would make dragons flatulent.

>>54086329
It is at this time that you should remember "frontlines" aren't a thing in DnD 5e, and enemies can just run around melee combatants (or past them, eating the single reaction attack they get vs the whole group) to get at the "backline".

Not that it's actually going to make much of a difference if the Ranger built well, because they'll still have solid AC and d10 HP. If anything it'll give him a chance to finally use those short rest heal die that have been going to waste.

>>54087477
Oh I forgot one
>Split Up- As part of it's movement, a Large or larger Undead Mob can split into two smaller groups and a Medium or larger mob can merge into one (up to a maximum size of Gargantuan) or merge into a larger one.

If a group splits in two, divide their HP in 2 (rounded down). If two groups merge, add their HP together.

>>54087357
Fluff

>>54087575
Typos but you get the idea.

>>54087357
Pal/Undying Light Warlock/Draconic Sorcerer

I infact played a full Sorc that was dealing on melee similar damage to our Battlemaster

>>54087426
>If you made things more realistic nobody would be getting hit a lot of the time. Maybe the really big constructs and stuff.
Reminder that hit points are not meat points and a "hit" does not always mean a physical connection.

>>54087607
>played a full Sorc that was dealing on melee similar damage to our Battlemaster
how?

>>54087406
To be fair, they didnt know. They just needed some sacrifices, and happened to take one of her friends (urchin backstory, so the friend was of the "no family or important people will miss me" social rank.

Except for the level 16 Bard, of course.

>>54087240
>Special stuff doesn't last forever.
Kill yourself.

>>54087813
First time I have seen that response actually be a fitting reply.

Kudos anon.

>>54087813
>I don't want to break Nar'Sil
Babby.

>>54087713
V. Human
Pretty good rolled stats (to avoid MAD), got in the end 18, 16, 15, 14, 12, 10
Picked weapon master feat (greatsword, and other stuff) +1 to Str for total of 16
Then it was a matter of quicken cast GFB or twinning BB, eventually picked GWM (like the battlemaster)

I was making two attacks before he could. Is not something I'd recommend to anybody because you need many good stats (not high ones, just 15s and 16s) and is resource intensive and you have to know how to manage it, but you can pull off similar damage to him in most of the levels (remember games usually don't go beyond 14th level).

>>54087813
That's it?

>>54087867
Nar'sil broke under some pretty specific, extreme circumstances. Its durability is basically infinite outside of that.
If powerful things weren't infinite, they wouldn't have had to go to mount doom.

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Need ideas for exploration-based campaign a la West Marches set in the mountainous north

How do you feel about giving legendary reactions to monsters during single-monster encounters?

I often struggle with monsters being too easily overtaken by their single action every turn, compared to 4+ actions from the players. But when I've run creatures with legendary actions, I don't have that problem.

>>54088111
Consider giving yoour single monsters abilities to summon minions. The actual fact of the matter is, a part of level 5 characters can beat a kraken just because they have more actions than the kraken unless its in it's lair. But if you add a couple of dominated sharks on the kraken's side, the fight becomes much more even and the main monster is still the kraken.

>>54088111
Legendary Actions are literally designed for solo monsters. You're using them exactly as intended.

>>54086287
>How do you run your campaign? ?
Day by day, I never make any plans the Players may fuck up, I just make up some locations, lose plots than can be plugged into that and enemy archetypes that may be plugged into that yet again
So they might go to: wild lands, a village or ancient ruins
Encounter: people in need, an ambush or a mystery and be confronted by
The Helmeted leader of: a Hobgoblin patrol, A band of bandits, a Death Cult

>What's the magic level?
Wizards and dragons but no Magi-K-Mart.

>How high is the lethality?
Inversely proportional to player intelligence, I never set out to kill them, i just place hazards them may use to kill themselves.

Could a Human become a Cleric of Gruumrush? I don't actually intend to mind you, I just mean hypothetically speaking. Would he be cool with it or tell you to fuck off?

>>54088167
Right, but something like a Behir or Remorhaz is a fine solo encounter for a level 8 party. But it's likely to get it's teeth kicked in after maybe 2 turns, which means it might not do much, which is disappointing.

>>54088236
>Could a Human become a Cleric of Gruumrush?
Yes if he could spell our lord's name correctly

>>54088163
>minions
But then it's not a solo enemy anymore. There's something special about teaming up against a single, badass monster.

>>54088256
Any monster not specifically designed to be a solo monster is going to be a glass cannon unless it was designed to be a frontline tank as part of a larger group.
Solo monsters have specific mechanics for a reason.

Thinking of making a foreign region with differing ethics than the mainland, going to go Feudal Japan (with Hobgoblins, and rather than half-assed Weeb shit I'll be going full-on /his/fag on it).

I'm thinking of replacing the Good and Evil part of the usual Alignment Chart with "Honorable" and "Dishonorable". Does this seem usable or is it redundant with Lawful and Chaotic?

And before people sperg about
>muh alignments are dumb
this is more for me as a DM tool than for player reference.

>>54086403
How did you get to that point? I'm still working on my technique.

>>54088286
Hey, Rum-rush sounds like a noice enough fella. Where do I sigh up?

>>54086287
>How do you run your campaign?
I have an overarching story planned out, but individual adventures are written out between sessions. I typically have a good idea of how any session would start but only a rough idea of how it will unfold or what the consequences will be. Player agency influences these consequences, and by extension future sessions.

>What's the magic level?
Fairly low. Outside of energy blasts and fairly basic utility spells, the players don't even use too much magic, which suits me just fine. None of their weapons have plusses, and each player has 2-3 magic items that have mostly non-combat or utility uses. And this is at level 14.
(Note: magical weapons don't need to be +1 or greater to overcome resistance to nonmagical weapons. They just need some sort of enchantment on them, like Fish Command.)

>How high is the lethality?
Outside of really stupid player choices, roughly nonexistent. But player characters HAVE died before, typically by doing extremely reckless things during significant plot moments.
The resulting resurrections are always good for some interesting role-playing, especially when the cleric worships the god of death and has a demon advising him.

>>54088399
>Dishonorable Lawful
>Dishonorable Chaotic

>Honorable Lawful
>Honorable Chaotic

That's kinda weird.

I want to play a barbarian but I can't choose a race to play

>>54088399
Honorable-dishonorable sort of rolls both good-evil and law-chaos into it, because it assumes lawful good is the baseline, and thus doing what's socially expected of you will typically correlate with doing the right thing.
I wouldn't use the system for players, though, because of the stigma of the word "dishonorable."

Would be nice to have an even mildly historical portrayal of feudal Japan, though, especially considering Japan itself has an extremely biased view of its own history.

>>54088454
Whatever you think is coolest, famalam. Barbarians are extremely good at their main job (tank, big hits with the right weapon/feats) regardless of race.

>>54088459
>Whatever you think is coolest
But I can't decide what race is the coolest!

>>54088454

Dwarves are cool imo. When I get the chance, I want to play an alcoholic dwarf berserker that drinks and rages to forget some kind of traumatic event that caused him to be outcast from his clan (killed a brother or something)

>>54088454
Lizardfolk

>>54088473
It's a pretty subjective topic, though. I personally think wood elf barbarians are dope as fuck, but a lot of people like the classic aesthetic of a half-orc berserker, or an angry dwarf, or something more exotic like goliath or lizardman.
Shit, human barbarians are pretty much as pimp as it gets, if you play them interestingly. Or high elves using a mystical battle-trance. Or halflings with an inferiority complex.
As you can see, it's a pretty big question.

>>54088331
Solo monsters have the legendary and lair mechanics because it simulates having multiple combatants while only requiring a single one. There's no requirement that only special monsters have them.

It makes sense to have legendary actions for something like giants. Rather than having two attacks during one round, instead they swing their one attack, then during someone else's turn they swing their other attack. It breaks up the damage so it's less "the wizard takes 80 damage" and more "the wizard takes 40 damage and now has to retreat". I think it leads to more interesting single opponent encounters.

>>54088331
Well, summoned minions. Aint it still something special when your pit fiend enemy tears at the air with it's claws and summons forth devils to help destroy you?

>>54088399
Pretty sure regular goblins dont even exist in most sides of the oriental adventures section of most campaign settings. Replaced mostly by hobgoblins, so if they are the main pest enemy of a fuedal japan style land, I think it would fit well, in-lore too. Lots of japanese stories about hobgoblin type yokai

>>54088523
>Solo monsters have the legendary and lair mechanics because it simulates having multiple combatants while only requiring a single one.
Yes, but while keeping the aesthetic of one monster. That's sort of the point.
>There's no requirement that only special monsters have them.
Of course not. The requirement is using them when you want a solo encounter.
>Everything else you said
Pretty much, yeah.

>>54088524
>Aint it still something special
Sure, but it's a different special. Variety is the spice of life etc.

>>54086484
I think bards are the best class in this edition myself. Being a full caster while also being good at fighting or skills means they can be helpful in every situation

>>54088459
Idk man. Honor is a different axis. I can totally see a Lawful evil charcater being honorable in that he always kao taos and never fights dirty. Puts duty before glory and will respond to a duel request with haste.

I can also see a chaotic good character being dishonorable in being drunk at all times, even in court, skipping out on raising the bastard they fathered, not fighting "fair" or refusing duel request/coldfeeting them.

Can see the same Chaotic Good person being honorable in that they do the right thing. Engage in proper etiquette, duty before glory, but they may not like to follow the law or believe that the law is more like guidelines

Does chapter 3 of Storm King's Thunder absolutely require a map?
Homebrew world, the setting resembles Kara-tur and the giants have been replaced with, well, Oni. The problem therein is that I don't have a map drawn of the area, and most of the chapter 3 things are location-based.

>>54088702
Shit man, the "honourable evil knight" is a ridiculously common concept.

Yeah, he is evil, yeah he has basically no morals, but he does have his honour, and is more likely to let an opponent recover is he trips, save him from falling off a cliff, and generally avoid any kind of dirty tricks.

He'll still kill just about anyone, but he wont fight dirty or take advantage of accidents.

>playing D&D with irl friends
>group hired by Judge Lennon, head of the guard and peacekeeper in the court of Warrior King Maxwell Harrison
>courtiers are going missing and it's too large a job for the guards to handle, it being a suspected mass murderer
>we do our business and are led to the forgotten dungeons deep below the castle to search for the bodies
>after a while of searching and finding the dead bodies, we are led down a lit hallway where we hear something
>DM says, "you all hear a loud BANG and the desperate yell of a male voice, do you proceed?" and we say yes
>"as you reach the entrance to what looks like a large torture chamber, you hear the same loud banging noise, but twice and the yelling stops"
>"walking into the chamber, you all see Warrior King Maxwell's gigantic silver warhammer come down upon the head of Judge Lennon, bursting his head like a split melon"
I put the pieces together and the entire quest was done for me, my ambition to roleplaying was over and all I could think of was what was going on in the DM's head. But I loved it
You guys ever have a similar situation?

>>54088408
Well, I did improv in college. So that plays a big role I think. I don't think I'm an expert DM or improv-er. But I do know that scenes tend to go well when you apply the "yes, and" principle. Whenever someone says something, and it makes sense for it to be that way, agree and elaborate. So when they're talking to NPCs and I choose words or an accent or actions, and my players comment on it, then I'll be like "yeah, that's exactly what he sounds like, and it's really bizarre."

As for the environment stuff, that's taken some getting used to. Basically I try to describe the general surroundings, and any of the major features, then anything else important or flavorful. Basically start big and work down. But be pretty brief. If the players care about something they will ask and you can go into more detail. Your job with environments is to highlight things they should be interacting with.

What do you have problems with?

>>54088800
>You guys ever have a similar situation?
this one time Sergeant Pepper had secretly commissioned a yellow sub nautical device to battle an apparatus of Kwalish

I'm lying, i just wanted you to know i saw what you did there

>>54088710
You can skip most of chapter 3 by having some way/reason for the players to meet Harshnag (or his proxy). I recommend meeting him in Yartar so the players can see the Great Dame and find out about the Golden Geese tokens.

Chapter 3 is a garbage fire and best glossed over. I didn't find most of the "quest hooks" from chapter 2 leading into chapter 3 to be compelling, so I just made my own.

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>>54088800
>>"walking into the chamber, you all see Warrior King Maxwell's gigantic silver warhammer come down upon the head of Judge Lennon, bursting his head like a split melon"

Le ebic meme brah xD

I would have packed up my shit and walked out.

>>54088800
I don't get it.

>>54088931
Nevermind.
Jesus. I'd do this >>54088930 but punch his teeth in the way out.

>>54088930
>NO FUN ALLOWED

It's fine to include some humor in your games but it shouldn't seem forced. In this case it's hard to tell whether it did though.

>>54086287
>How do you run your campaign?
Trying a play-by-post system for online games.
Actually seems to be working out okay so far.

>What's the magic level?
Middling-high. Things have an explanation beyond 'lol magic' but magic isn't too uncommon.

>How high is the lethality?
It should turn out to be pretty high, but the intention is that if anyone dies it'll be the player's faults for pushing themselves too far, taking risks or just being stupid. All three of which are similar. The idea is to do lots of smaller damages over a day rather than a big 'fuck you instant death'.

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What's the best sacred oath to pick up for a righteous war god of the sun? I'm looking for a kind of crusader vibe.

>>54088930
>>54088800
Someone pls explain

>>54089464
Conquest

>>54089056
I did think it was funny and told the DM so, but he didn't get why I didn't want to roleplay for the rest of the session, it was unfit.
Humor depends on the type of game and how deeply it's rooted I guess

>>54089481
>>54088931
https://youtu.be/YdeoYVLAROA

>>54088833
I think I have lots of trouble with correct description- I have a problem with dwelling on details that aren't very relevant. But at the same time, my players don't usually seem interested in the environments

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>>54089565
>This video is not available

>>54089606
It's a Beatles song

>Want to send the party to hell to retrieve an object
>No Paladins or Holy magic

>get a choice of pointbuy or rolling stats
>roll
>10 11 6 11 8 15
Mistakes were made

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>>54089630
go balls deep in hell and if you leave alive, you're the man

>>54089464
Don't listen to trolls. If you want to be righteous, the Oath of Devotion is your only option. Every other oath is for butthurt teenagers who feel personally attacked when someone expects them to uphold basic standards of behavior.

>>54089630
>needing god on your side when traversing hell

Did you even play Doom?

>>54089726
I think Crown has better morals than Devotion dbh

>>54088399
Maybe replace alignment with a caste system and a measure of dharma, or how well you're living up to your caste. After all, not everyone in feudal Japan was expected to act like le honorabu warrior, only those who were born into that caste. People we'd consider evil could be living up to their caste perfectly well (tyrants who expect absolute obedience, greedy merchants, warriors who kill over meaningless trifles and fight wars they don't believe in) and therefore seen as upstanding examples to live up to for those in the same caste. Monsters, foreigners, and "untouchable" underclasses are all in the same boat in their inability to earn dharma and respect no matter what they do.

Playing an artificer, with my background I get 4 tool proficiencies. However, a ton of them, like the alchemical supplies, seem useless. Can you guys give me examples of using tools not named thieves tools or herb kit?

>>54089764
Crown has no morals at all, only adherence to earthly law. It's the "don't blame me; I'm just following orders" alignment.

>>54073859
>In DnD terms though, this would mean removing every school of magic except Evocation.
Wall of Force
5th level evocation
>We have to do more

>>54073930
I've done worse. I've talked to him about that chart. I'd say "corrected" but he's incapable of taking correction these days.

>>54075583
Seems like an opportunity to use vampire spawn. Then reveal that he has a bunch of these.

Or face the vampire and have him seriously fuck them up and thank them for delivering the meal. Up to you whether he kills his victim here. As a hint, a vamp can drag a character 60' per round while still attacking.

>>54076183
>If you're intending to use your Pact Weapon as your primary attack, you're going to underperform your expected damage by quite a bit
A rapier averages 1 less damage per attack up to 10. A greatsword averages 1.5 more damage on each attack.

>>54076715
But a level 4 paladin gets 6d8 smiting and a level 4 BM gets 4d8 superiority plus 1d8+5/6 or 2d6+3/4 from action surge. That almost matches or beats the paladin with no short rest at all.

>>54089842
>but he's incapable of taking correction these days.
I told him that his Summoner PDF incorrectly referred to spell slots and not spell points like the progression table claimed and he had it fixed in minutes.

>>54089604
Here's my suggestion: pick one cool detail per room. Or put the cool detail on the main feature of the room. And shorten everything else. If your players care about something, they'll ask about it.

>>54089824
Sewing together flesh golems, altering armor so people can wear the stuff they find, making scaffolds and siege engines and other feats of mechanical engineering, learning a musical instrument (which it turns out doesn't stack very well with learning Performance, since you only add your proficiency bonus once, so you really only need one or the other.)

>>54087636
Except when you use poisoned weapons. So you know guys, poison makes you extra accurate.

>>54089726
Devotion sounds so bland, though. I don't want to be a knight in shining armor paladin; I want to be a violent crusader that values destroying aberrations against my god over all else. I don't think having an oath that perfectly follows into the general law and moral compass of the setting is very interesting.

Plus, our party cleric is a pacifist, so it'd be interesting to have some conflict there.

>>54089678
>Wotc tells you the average rolls for char creation are 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8
>Do the maths
>Is actually 16, 14, 13, 12, 10, 9
Fuck you Wotc

>>54089464
Conquest.

Make them fear the sun.

>>54089483
>>54090006
Just checked this out. I'm into it, it'll be pretty interesting to get into this change, since my character started out as a kind of gullible and well meaning fighter.

>>54089895
I don't know where people get this idea that devotion paladins are pacifists. Did you read that somewhere? [citation needed]. Paladins are given not just permission but a mandate to violently fight the forces of evil, and when those forces are undead, fiends, constructs, or aberrations, then the laws and customs of war do not apply. You only offer quarter to evil humanoids, and even then a spoken request for them to surrender at the start of a fight will more than suffice. If they refuse quarter, which they will almost all the time, you proceed with the slaughter.

>>54089829
The social contract is what holds society together

>>54090046
It's not to say that they're pacifists, but there's a clear thematic difference between a devotion paladin and a conquest paladin. One of them is a beacon of hope for the followers of their god first, always committed to protection. If there was a choice between a kid dying to a stray firebolt or an imp escaping, you can imagine they'd shield the child.

On the other side of the coin, a paladin of conquest's focus is on subjugating and destroying aberrants and enemies to their god. They don't care about saving the little girl because the immediate repercussions of letting it go is worse than the eventual good that saved individual might bring.

In my eyes the difference between oaths isn't their varying degrees of pacifism or violence but more a difference of perspective and importance. The goals are relatively similar, but how each oath goes about them, their attitude towards 'the fight', and what they're willing to sacrifice in service to it are different.

>>54090150
And that society is evil more often than not. Preserving the status quo of society isn't a worthy goal in itself. One must preserve only the good and tear down the evil, even if it's "the way we've always done things around here."

playing as a paladin for the first time and am about to hit level 5

>double the spells slots means double the smites, two of which will be 3d8
>double attack
>free horse

this seems gigantic. are there any bigger power spikes in the game from one level to another for a class?

>>54090046
also this is almost exactly how i am playing him as well. thanks for clarifying for these scrubs

>>54090255
Everyone gets a huge powerspike at level 5. Third level spells are super good. Fireball is a hell of a spell, as is Spirit Guardians.

>>54088447
>DL
>Le_Happy_Merchant.jpg
>DC
>Standard Bandits and other crooks, crazy-ass mountain men
>HL
>Proper Samurai
>HC
>Lazy vagrant samurai like the MC from Samurai Champloo

>>54090255
Level 5 is a huge bump in general.

I'm just got to Paladin 2 / Sorcerer 3 and I can twin booming blade followed by a quickened green flame blade, smiting each time for an overall total of 15d8 + 12 damage once per turn per day (10d8 + 6 against a single target).

My DM also only have us do one major combat per day so I basically overshadow the party rogue and fighter in terms of tankiness and damage.

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So... For those who care or are curious about it, D&D Beyond released Phase 2 AND Phase 3 for beta user use like an hour ago.

I've not toyed around with their character creator yet, or see how they handled the Homebrew Content stuff, just wanted to post said announcement here and see if other anons had started toying with the tools at hand.

>>54090215
>Preserving the status quo of society isn't a worthy goal in itself
But preserving civilization is, you don't want to end in a civil war, do you?

>One must preserve only the good and tear down the evil
You can change society, but you should it respecting the institutions

>"the way we've always done things around here"
In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, "I don't see the use of this; let us clear it away." To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: "If you don't see the use of it, I certainly won't let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.

i want to do a oneshot for a group of inexperienced friends as my regular group cant play for a while

however, im too lazy/busy to design one myself. anyone have any recommendations?

What race works best for being a bard? I rolled random stats and got stuck with high charisma so I'm playing something charisma based.

>>54090659
>an hour ago
Like 15 hours ago. They released it last night, but no one posted it here because no one in these threads actually pays attention.

>>54090659
Messed with the character creator. And its pretty shitty and doesn't even have all the sub classes from the PHB

>>54090710
I just dont care because 5etools makes it redundant.

5etools da best.

I've having a lot of trouble balancing encounters around a level 3 four man party.
They all have a shit ton of trouble in combat and all get very low, but then the barbarian eventually gets a crit and one shots whatever they were fighting.

>>54090792
Try enemies that are good against the barbarian in particular, but weaker to the rest of the party, if your issue is them relying on the barb to win all the fights

>>54090668
The second "type of reformer" isn't a reformer at all. It's a conservative, and he'll dig his heels in as hard as he can, and even if he'll let any changes happen, they'll be as minor as possible for any given initiative. Guys like those one are assholes who, for example, caused civil war in your Murrica.

>>54090792

Party composition? And what have they been fighting?

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>mfw I change an enemy's ac mid fight and the PCs never catch on
Bunch of goobers

>>54090659
I think it's all still SRD stuff.

Here's what I anticipate: Beyond will be garbage for 3 months as they smooth over bugs, everyone will complain about a variety of things, then people will try it out and it will be better than anticipated (because they were expecting nothing) and it'll be a decent tool at the table.

I use Kobold Fight Club and D&D 5 Spellbook all the time. If Beyond has those tools plus more, and doesn't run slow on my phone (like Dragon+ does) then I'll be super happy.

>>54086046
Two groups.

DM'd White Plume Mountain. Added some elements from Return to White Plume Mountain, so by the end of it the party has a bouncing baby boy named [spolier]Kelvan[/spoiler].

Playing through Sunless Citadel as a Barbarogue Lizardfolk. Sided with the dragon, after four 4-hr sessions, we finally made it to the grove and then stopped.

>>54090880
>he second "type of reformer" isn't a reformer at all. It's a conservative, and he'll dig his heels in as hard as he can, and even if he'll let any changes happen, they'll be as minor as possible for any given initiative
Ad hominem

>caused civil war in your Murrica
I'm not american, why did you think that?!

And I think we should just agree to disagree

>>54090690
Run an adventurers league module. They're really good for 2-3 hour one shots and can be expanded to larger campaigns if you want.

Out of the Abyss still sucks. We even made it to cracklestew and it's still railroady as shit.

>>54090923
try AltGr + s

>>54090898
Yeah, fuck those players who trust their GM, haha, lets take advantage on that.

>>54090668
>you don't want to end in a civil war, do you?
Every country has both good and evil in it, and there's nobody better to destroy a powerful villain than the villain's own good countrymen. So yes, I want civil war everywhere. And yes, this will cause harm to some good people, but there isn't a single change you can make that won't be detrimental to someone somewhere.

>You can change society, but you should it respecting the institutions
False. The mere existence of an institution does not make it worthy of respect.

>You shouldn't be allowed to change something until you see it as good, at which point you won't want to change it
Stonewaller please go.

>>54090898
>GM gives goblins more than one bonus action (as they do multiple bonus actions in a single turn)
>Tell him this
>"It's a special kind of goblin that appears in this premade campaign, but seeing you're such a metagamer you get xp penalty"
>"Does the entry in that campaign say they can take multiple bonus actions? I doubt it"
>"You complain more? how about you lose a level"
Players can't never win

>>54091034
>You shouldn't be allowed to change something until you see it as good, at which point you won't want to change it
It's not what was said, stop distorting the meaning

>>54086046
Currently exploring a dungeon right now. We ended up getting involved with a bunch of weird mages hiding out in the middle of the woods. First they sent us off to collect the venom from a giant, psychic, charm-spamming toad that nearly killed us when it slapped our sorcerer with near-incurable swamp madness. She got better though.

Anyway, once we got back we were a lot more cautious, but these old bastards still had us by the balls so to speak. They were about to teleport us somewhere else for some other ingredient, and we basically bargained for them to drop us right outside a town near the target so we could resupply. Only instead of a town, we ended up in a dungeon. Eerily empty, aside from all the evidence that it was used as a torture chamber at some point. We're currently trying to find our way out right now.

>>54090912
I agree with your general sentiment, that after 2-3 months of bug fixing and improvements should let Beyond become a viable competitor for the other character creator options out there.

I tried stating out an NPC in my group's campaign with Beyond, as sort of a test of the character creation system. To it's credit, it took me ~20 minutes to make this NPC (level 7 Lore Bard). I'd imagine that a level 1 character can be made in like 5 minutes.

>>54089858
Yeah, his homebrew seems fine. Just don't talk to him about his baby.

>>54091054
>Things that absolutely didn't happen

>>54091054
Every DM does this. It's not because they hate the players, it's to provide a more exciting challenge. The catch is that you do, in fact, have to take advantage of your players' trust.

Which cleric do I play? No war or tempest

>>54091054
You need to drop that game as soon as possible, anon. You're never going to have fun with that kind of draconic DM

>>54091228
Love

>>54088107
Steal exploration mechanics from Pathfinder Kingmaker Adventure Path so you can build your own settlement while retaining 5e ruleset so you don't need to play the equipment grind.

>>54091228
Forge

>>54091228

What's the rest of your party?

>>54091237
Not him but I know I saw a homebrew about that here a while ago.

>>54091196
it looks like you misquoted, but on the chance you didn't every DM does not give exp and level penalties for pointing out goblins shouldn't have extra actions

>>54091243
Paladin, wizard, bladelock

>>54091271

I'd say Knowledge or Life domains personally.

>>54091196
>>Things that absolutely didn't happen
It 100% happened
He refused to show the campaign, which btw was Lost Mine of Phandelver
There were some exchange of words, I left the moment he said "Shut up, I'm the GM, I'm God"
Went to home, dld Lost Mine of Phandelver and discovered he was bullshiting us the whole campaign

>>54091228
Trickery! Be a gambler!

>>54091271
>Bladelock
Poor guy

>>54090255
1 to 2 druid of the moon by far the biggest in the game

>>54086046
Why isnt the discord in the general

>>54091398
They are more into the RP of things than hitting big numbers. They'll be fine.

>>54091336
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj4nJ1YEAp4

>>54091450
What's the point? What can you discuss on the discord you can't discuss here?

Reminder that if your DM has a "fumble chart" or whatever, they're retards.

>>54091560
Your mother has a fumble chart for landing on my dick.

>>54091560
>Master of X
>5% chance to fuck it up completely any time you do it
>'But it's fun!'

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>>54086046
That's a sick fucking image m8

So here's my thing, my party is currently in Chult as a result of playing The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (TftYP) in the FR setting. ToA doesn't drop until what, September? I need to fill Chult time until then.
I already have the 2e Jungles of Chult adventure printed out as well as the DM Guild Chult adventure that just released in Dragon+ (which is weak but fixable). I'm well set for Chult themed shit and I keep pulling more from the new ToA streams airing daily.

My question for you fa/tg/uys is this:

R8 my Encounter Table m8

Based it off the encounter tables of Out of The Abyss with some 2e City System thrown in.

Everything below 20 on the Terrain chart is meaningless, I don't have anything for roll modifiers so I was just filling in space. I'll finish filling in the reference page #'s too.

>>54086282
make it an even dozen
put them in whatever order
roll a d12
use that one

>>54091560
>>54091579
The best fumbles are the ones that complicate the game. I like those ones a lot, and my players do too.
>Your spear misses the goblin... and pierces the barrel of oil behind him, cracking it. Black grease begins to trickle onto the ground, coating its and your boots.
>the Fighter starts cackling maniacally and making plans to blow shit up
The only problem is that sometimes it's hard to think on the fly for ways to complicate the situation: there aren't always convenient barrels of oil lying about.

>>54086282
>Game soon
>Make character
>Make another character because game hasn't started
>Other people say what they are going to play
>Make another character that will fit into the party better

>>54091256
You're right, I meant to quote >>54091020.

>>54086282
I come up with a concept and then wait for it to get shot down by party makeup because I'm not willing to start a fight by saying I want to play X role.

>>54091560
Shouldn't necessarily need a chart, but fumbles should definitely complicate the game and make it more interesting. They shouldn't damage the player outright ("you hit yourself with your sword" is bafflingly stupid) but it should give the potential for greater play while adding danger, i.e.

>Your axe misses the goblin and cleaves through a support beam! Both you and him make a dex saving throw, or get hit by the falling platform above.

>Your attempt to intimidate the NPC frightens him a little too much - and he starts loudly calling for nearby guards! What do you do?

etc. It's a good way to shake things up and add uncertainty to a roll system that's otherwise strictly pass/fail outcomes.

>>54091750
>>54091657
I agree, but I'm talking about
>Oh you rolled a 1? Roll on my table!
>LOL AHAHA YOU CRIT YOURSELF THAT'S HILARIOUS

>>54091450

Are you retarded? The discord was in the general like 3 threads ago and a million people started REEE'ing.

>>54091782
That's understandably stupid. I hope no anon here is cursed with such a DM.

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Why are sexy NPCs suddenly taboo? Even the fucking succubus in Tales from the Yawning Portal is barely showing any skin.

>>54086282
>build a character
>develop a backstory that leaves them open for story hooks the DM can use, but not tied down to any motivation in case the DM already has a plot in mind
>develop personality based on backstory and significant connections
>game starts
>"You have amnesia."
>character turns into a straight man with no personality to accommodate all the other characters' wacky quirks
Sorry, I don't have any advice for you, I just felt like bitching

>>54091812
Current year

>>54091812
Puritanism presented as progress.

>>54091812
Umm, sweetie, that's so objectifying and misogynist.

>>54091664
You now have backup characters if yours dies.

>>54091799
Mine does this. Thank god I didn't make the hand crossbow fighter I was planning. I'm playing a whizzhard, forcing saves n' shit.

>>54086046
>dat game
I actually have the victory fanfare that plays when you beat a level for the ambient soundtrack of my house games.

>>54091812
anti-sex SJWs control WOTC now

I'm going battlemaster with my fighter. What artisinal tool set will I be able to actually get use out of in typical play?

>>54092021
Alchemist

>>54091812
Sexual stuff gets awkward at the table. Some people are always more into it than others and that causes tension unless everyone is 100% on board. And fantasy porn is readily available so you don't have to involve other people.

I've run a couple of one-shot linked adventures for diaper fetish friends of mine where the diapers were heavily emphasized. There was a mommy succubus in one adventure and it was well-received.

Anyone have that PDF of the old martial maneuver dice thing from the playtest?

>>54092261
All the Next playtests packets in the Mega in the Next folder.

>>54092269
Thanks

>>54092152
But shirtless guys and girls in bikinis have been around since at least the Conan days. They're fantasy staples, and D&D's never had a problem with them before.

Is there something similar to Homebrewery for making creature statblocks?

>>54092309
They're trying to bank on the SJW and libcucks, you aren't the intended audience anymore for wotc.

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>>54092152

>That spoiler

>>54092315
http://www.critterdb.com/#/index is really nice. You can also export to Homebrewery format through it.

>>54092327
Thanks friendo

>>54092309
>>54092319
>Shirtless guys
This is what I don't get about the SJWs. Instead of trying to remove sexy women, why not add in more sexy men? Everyone wins

>>54092309
Eh, I don't think it's the thing that draws people to fantasy or keeps them there. Also, HP Lovecraft actively reinforces anti-black racial stereotypes. So using Conan or "that's just the way it is" as justification for something isn't a great argument.

Also WOTC has done surveys and studies on how certain aspects of D&D are received by the average person (I actually did one in college a few years ago, it was basically looking at promotional material for D&D and Magic and seeing how I reacted). It turns out that half-naked women will actively turn off female players. So WOTC dropped it because it was potentially losing them 50% of their revenue.

I'm one of those free-love types, so I don't care if people are naked or whatever. But it turns out a good amount of people associate half-naked women with blatant sexism and don't like it.

>>54092324
I'd love to run more diaper-themed games in the future. Honestly it's great being able to be open about your fetishes in roleplaying situations.

Does anyone have the Path of the Enraged Wizard?

>>54092360
The vast majority of liberals are totally there with you. The problem is that appeasing the most people possible usually requires the puritanical approach.

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>>54092419
>diaper-themed games
What the fuck is a "diaper-theme?" Is it just normal DnD but everyone's an adult baby fetishist? Or are you running a god damned kingdom built on the foundations of egalite, liberte and shitting without toliets?

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Does anyone here have any experiences regarding severe wounds as penalties for falling unconscious?

I'm about to run a campaign with a darker tone than what our group is used to play, because we wanted to try something new. I don't want to be that DM, but they actually asked me to implement that + sanity

How do I make it to not be like
>you've lost your hand and there's no healing here in the wilderness, well you shouldn't have been going for two-handed weapons :^)

Is the table in the DMG any good for that?

>>54092480
The table is at the same time too severe and too lenient. Most of the injuries are immediately healed by magic, and those that aren't require high-level magic to heal at all.

>>54092454
The first one. Basically just regular Adventurers League-type adventures, but the players characters are in diapers and it's treated as normal by the population (unless it would make for fun teasing or embarrassing situations). It just so happens that plastic-backed diapers are common in the world (even though it's a fantasy world), etc. It played just like regular one-shot adventures, except sometimes someone would joke about wetting themselves after getting hit hard or being surprised.

If you've never ran a magical-realm adventure with a bunch of like-minded fetishists, I'd highly encourage it.

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>>54092504

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>>54092419
>>54092504

Please, I beg you, no more...

>>54091228
Light is right

>>54092522
He spoilered it for a reason. Horrifying reasons, surely, but spoilers are always at your own risk.

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>>54092504
Come fucking on. What kind of an excuse is 'it's just normal in the world'?
You have fucking magic and gnomish and dwarf technology and fucking everything and anything and you don't have a single justification for how they have plastic or haven't considered using something aside from plastic?

Try harder.

>>54092309
>But shirtless guys and girls in bikinis
The pictured succubus above is basically wearing a bikini, so if this is your standard then what's the problem?

>>54092567
You're right. I should have put more thought into this.

Actually I have a sub-fetish for fetishes being treated as completely normal, so in a strange way it somehow makes it hotter that diapers are just treated as normal with no justification. That wasn't the intent when I made the game though, just a little bonus for me.

>>54092581
That's a 3.5 image of one of the zulkirs of Thay (abjuration, I think). The one in TotYP is wearing more than Fall-from-Grace

>>54092499
That's what I thought aswell

Losing a leg or a hand can be pretty brutal in a dungeon or in the wilderness as it may shut down a martial completely

On the other hand Scars or festering wounds sound pretty boring


Maybe they have to drop to 0 hp, fail a con sav throw and after that I'll let them roll on a more serious table

Reminder that it's as easy to switch from NE to NG as it is to switch from LE to CE.

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>>54092610
You sick fuck.

It's people like you who eat it up when they make a movie like 'sing' for example which has everybody as an animal for no obvious reason and nobody even questions it, there's no explanation and nobody actually acts like the animal they are either. They're just animals because 'everyone else is doing it and it looks cute'.

This is what is truly destroying modern media.

>>54092647
Hey! Sing wasn't my idea! It wasn't even that good! Zootopia on the other hand...

>>54092454
>egalite, liberte and shitting without toilets
Quick, someone make a coat of arms

>>54092659
>The diaper fetishist is also a furry
Gee, who would've thunk

>>54091228
Light is great

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Just like to say that the female Shadow Elf Wyvern Rider from Chronicles of Mystara makes my dick stiff

>>54092659
Well, at least zootopia did something with it, so that passes.

If I ever see a movie where everybody is wearing diapers for no explanation, we're going to need to have a little talk.

>>54092642
Going from evil to good is the scrooge switch.
Going from lawful to chaotic is a radical change of political view, most likely.
I'd like to say one is easier than the other but it really depends. A severely lawful character would have a really hard time becoming chaotic. A child might have an easier time becoming chaotic or lawful as they grow up.

>>54092742
I'd be just as confused about that movie as you haha. I'm not sure there's enough of a market for it (yet).

Zootopia was great. It actually inspired me to run a murder-mystery city adventure in Baldur's Gate (using the Murder in Baldur's Gate pack, but not the actual adventure). I'd happily play a Zootopia-setting Sam & Max type of video game any day.

>>54092740
Nobody asked.

>>54091783
Gotta agree with the reeing the trannie known as cammie started to try to sell its snapchat friend

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What CR should this be?

>>54087038

You're not. In 5e once your players have enough to trick themselves out in best in slot mundane equipment and pay their overhead/lifestyle expenses, it just becomes an RP resource. Now is the time to let them start throwing it around for prestige/connections.

>>54091812
Was the sexy Rezmir an official variant or who did that?

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>>54092849
Not sure why it saved with the top half cut off.

Basically it's a giant dumb meat wall. Anyone that's stupid enough to charge straight into it will get mulched but you could pick it off slowly at range at just about any level (assuming you were somewhere with enough room to maneuver)

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>>54086046
Would you allow Gnorcs in your setting?

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>>54092865
Pretty sure that art existed long before HotDQ ever came out. Rezmir's official art is pic related, she's a half-dragon after all.

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>sneaking around and find a innocent man hanging from a hook on a wall
>use silence to prevent him from screaming when we pull him off the wall
>let the big strong men do the lifting
>only get 14 with +9 modifier and advantage
>the attempt fails and he slides back on the hook and passes out

This is what I get for trying to play a good character.

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>>54092849
>>54092892

>>54092395
>It turns out that half-naked women will actively turn off female players.

I just don't believe that. All my female players are degenerates of varying sorts and typically love evil bikini sorceresses

>>54092480
I have them roll on it every time they drop to 0, helps alleviate the "pop right back to 1 hp every round" style of play

I agree with >>54092499
however, and I will probably re make the table for my next campaign

>>54092939

Clearly they weren't in school that day.


Hah, I made a joke. I feel great now.

>>54092922
I would just say you succeed without trying if you're strong.

Like, seriously, what's the problem?

As long as it's within your lift limit, why do you have to roll?

>>54087357

Twinned buffs. Using Quicken for mobility or item interaction. Casting touch attacks from the back line and fucking with snipers with Distant Spell. Spell Sculpt *any* spell.

>>54093136
Turns out there was nothing nearby to give away our position. We were rolling just as a formality to keep up the illusion of it.

>>54092939
This.

>>54093174
Then how did you fail at something you should be able to do fine unless you're time pressured or something?
I can't imagine that guy was there for only 6 seconds.

>>54091819
i would just pass on playing and say no thank you. amnesia is almost never a well-done and interesting start. it's just taking possible flavor and work and throwing it out for making people with no hopes but to grow into something they were already capable of being.

>>54092939
You're polling people who are already in the hobby, and therefore more likely to be permissive or okay with that. You're not polling the greater population that might not be okay with that, or might have preconceived negative notions about TRPG's that seeing evil bikini sorceresses feed into.

>>54092892
It took me about 20 seconds to realize this wasn't called "undead horse." I was very confused for a bit.
That said, the sizes and the hp cutoffs are all wrong. As it is, a gargantuan creature would split into 2 large creatures, or 4 medium creatures. A gargantuan creature is the size of at least 4 large, or 16 medium. You've got the horde shrinking inexplicably when it splits.

>>54093136
>>54093271
Absolutely this. There shouldn't even be a chance of failure. Maybe of accidentally killing the dude, but that's not a strength check.

Is Dead in Thay any good/ how deadly is the doomvault

>>54093295
Ah yeah I seem to have fucked that bit all up.

>>54093283
Back up, no critical thinking and suggestion of possible sampling bias are allowed on 4chan.

>>54093332
It's an easy enough mistake to make; geometry isn't intuitive to the human brain. Other than that the monster looks great. I might use it.

>>54093295
>>54093332
Also, the Sizes aren't 100% solid as it's a mob, I'm more concerned with it's size matching up mechanically with Hp than actual logical size, since it's mechanical size is what determines it's extra attacks.

>>54088710

A map-map, no. But you may still want to make yourself a chart of how the various places fit together just to keep it straight.

Alternately, nothing says you have to have a big sandbox right there and then. Pick a few encounters/events out, put them in order, and run them like they were chapter 2 or 4.

>>54092939
>>54093283
>game with new players
>premades
>one of the girls says she doesn't want to come back because she was 'triggered' about the bikinimail picture her character had

>>54093312
I mean it's called the Doomvault. So it's not exactly a walk in the park.

That being said, WotC adventures tend to skew their encounters easier (excepting of course HOTDQ where they had no clue what they were doing and the early fights are absurdly difficult).

As for the adventure itself, I'd recommend cherry-picking the parts you find interesting in the Doomvault, because otherwise you're looking at 20+ sessions of dungeon crawling.

Is Loremaster still best class?

>>54093410
They sound like nice people, taking care if a retarded kraken and all :^)

>>54089878

Or it makes attacks that would normally just be disregarded more damaging, your call.

>>54089842
>A rapier averages 1 less damage per attack up to 10. A greatsword averages 1.5 more damage on each attack.

Depends on how high you're going, though. Thirsting Blade covers 5-10 but past that EB continues to add bolts while TB doesn't add more attacks. If you know it's a 1-10 game that's less important.

>>54093410
>HOTDQ where they had no clue what they were doing
Wasn't there a fight against assassins that were far too powerful? I think the game got changed partway through the writing of the book and the stats stayed uber-high.

>>54093353
Shit, right, carry on.

>>54093394
That just seems weird.

>>54093463
The fact that everytime you take poison damage on a hit means it draw blood in contrast to your (or other anon?) previous "not all hits are actually hits in D&D due how HPs are described". If you poison your blade all hits ARE hits.

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>Looking at blogs
>Listening to podcasts
>Watching streams
I know that you aren't amazing at something when you start, but all of this stuff makes me realize how inadequate my own feels. I'm running muh first real game and my world isn't really developed.

My players literally said they wanted "generic fantasy" to start with and it destroyed my motivation

>>54091812

They're trying to throw all kinds of art at us so we have choices. If you want a succubikini, use the neglige'd one from the MM. If you want to put some pants on the girl, use the other.

>>54093510
Yeah, one of the common complaints from new DMs getting into 5e is that they started on HotDQ and wiped their party on the first encounter. I think it's less common of an issue now that there are 5+ campaigns and LMoP for new DMs to choose from.

>>54093273
I have hope it'll get better. The DM is my best friend, and I've played campaigns with him before. He always manages to surprise me with where he's going with them, and we're currently on our way to getting our memories back by questin', so it doesn't seem like this is going to be a permanent thing. I think he just did it to get the party together, which I can't really fault him for: I never quite figured out how to do that plausibly either. The rest of it (subsuming my character's personality) is mostly just me lacking assertiveness and roleplaying skill.

>>54092309

No, you never had a problem with them before. Not everyone was enthralled with lineart titties on every page and some of us appreciate having a whole bunch of stuff we can use for different purposes.

>>54092319

And it's working.

>>54092360

Google the phrase "equal opportunity cheesecake merchants"

>>54093394
If the player isn't creative enough to imagine her character in armor she likes then she shouldn't bother to show up again. Besides, anyone that actually gets "triggered" by things is not some one you want to hang out with.

>>54093394

Have you tried not telling your players what they're wearing? It works for me.

>>54093595

It's one thing to get hit and it's another to get nicked/scratched/splashed with some of the poison. I'm starting to think the inside of your head looks like a Bioware dialogue wheel.

My boyfriend finds himself distracted whenever we play D&D. He really enjoys it, but he has difficulty with NPC interactions and listening to descriptions. He may have ADD, but that's not for certain.

Outside of medication, what are some ways I can keep him engaged?

>>54093797
Premades generally just have an image of the character on the sheet

>>54093866
I feel like this is a question better asked to a therapist or somebody who knows him better rather than a bunch of anonymous people who just happen to play the same game.

>>54093866
Promise to touch his wiener if he role plays better.

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I want to make a wizard that uses a shield. I'm not specifically looking to get into melee range as much as I'm wanting to cast spells from behind the safety of my shield similar to pic related. Looking at the magic users that have shields that basically limits me to Valor Bard, Stone Sorcerer and Hexblade Warlock. Which should I go for?

>>54093866
I've never had players who are perpetually invested. Even if I can capture three players' attention, the fourth one will usually be on their phone.
I've known a few girls who play who get really invested whenever the DM describes monsters or animals in detail, though, and climactic battles (as in, ones with growing risk of TPK) can draw attention for players who might be counting on their teammates to succeed.

>>54093939
If you don't want to melee, valor is the best of those 3. You could also take one level in cleric or fighter, or start as a dwarf or variant human and take medium armour and shield prof at level 4

How do I play a Druid who wishes for the destruction of civilisation without causing inter-party conflict? I'm planning to make him a member of a Shadow Circle of Druids.

>>54093893

Literally none of mine do from any source. None of the official ones do. I've played in sealed envelope games in 4 states (the first step is admitting you have a problem) and none of them have. The closest thing I've seen is that the PFS premades feature artwork of the Iconic for that class.

This is not actually a common thing outside that. Honestly, handing out pictures that say "this is exactly what you look like" was a bit weird before you started picking out bikinis for people to wear.

Why did Tales of the Yawning Portal make Tomb of Horrors so easy?

>>54093982

I have this effect at my table, but it's because I encourage phones at my table. It's an easy way to tell who's engaged when, who needs a break, and what gets people looking up. I'd also rather have someone entertaining themselves with Clicker Heroes during the parts they don't like than trying to amuse themselves IC.

If you don't take it as an insult, it's practically a cheat code for a good session.

>>54094049
Oh, I've had two DM's that have given us premades with pictures, so I assumed it was always like that. I guess they just put the pictures on them themselves

>>54094007
You could start smaller and only wish for the destruction of a civilization that none of PCs like

>>54094077
It was always easy

>>54094077

5e is built around a different idea of what the game is about than AD&D was. It's meant to be more difficult, but still in line with, the other TYP dungeons and usable as a drop-in for an ongoing narrative campaign rather than a faithful adaptation of S1.

While I appreciate that, I wish they'd gone with a full-bore actual 5e Keep on the Borderlands and dropped a PDF of a just-changed-the-stats reprint of the original. That way they could have kept to the whole "use TYP alone or as drop ins" motif and still let the most deadly dungeon of all time *be* the most deadly dungeon of all time, but they didn't.

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>>54094082
I mean, I allow phones too: that's why I know that they're uninterested in the first place. I just don't know how, for most of them, what to do get them to stop browsing reddit or whatever.
Once, with a different group, all of my players pulled out Magic decks and start checking their land curves and goldfishing. At first it was just because I was drawing out the map, but they kept going even after I was done and for the rest of the session. It was really bizarre, but they all insisted that they were still paying attention. Maybe I should just accept that I'm not that good as a DM, but I can trust at least one of them to be honest and he said I did well.

>>54094282

Honestly, yeah that's a little weird. That said, if they keep showing up they like something about it so you probably actually are a pretty good DM.

>>54086737
One of Igor's characteristics is his endless faith in humanity, and he's a servant of Philemon, the Collective Unconscious manifestation of humanities good traits.

>>54092908
sure, I'd use g'norcs as some kinda easy fodder mob that faffs about until the dragon comes by and chomps em up

>>54094007
The typical adventuring party is a force of total, usually accidental, anarchy and entropy. In their wake, plans are spoiled, ecomomies crash, and governments collapse. The druid just has to stay with the party, help them do the things they want to do anyway, and not tell them exactly why.

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>want to make a cocky rapier duelist
>cant decide between Swashbuckler Rogue, Valor Bard, or some sort of Fighter

Rogue seems good but man if you miss that attack it feels REAL bad. Anybody play Valor Bard at all? I've only played Lore for Bards so I'm unfamiliar with how fun it may be.

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How do I show the party that they'll need a specific weapon in order to fight a boss?

>>54095307
Have NPCs the party can meet that are worn down veterans or broken former heroes that tried to defeat that boss in the past but were not able to.

Have those same NPCs have been studying for a long time on how to defeat said boss. Have them learn about its weaknesses.

What music do you play to get yourself/players in the mood?