/5eg/ - Fifth Edition General

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Best setting coming through!

>>54488104
2nd for Gnome master Race

>>54488138
Fuck off, Stone.

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Stop adding constitution modifiers to monster hp and slowing down combat

>>54488188
Gee Billy, why do you get TWO forced memes in your post?

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Looking to make some monsters that have some sort of 'magic eating' trait. Are there any features or traits already established, or just reflect/resist type ones?

Reminder that half-orcs aren't people and shouldn't be allowed in any civilized society

>>54488209
Can you elaborate what you mean by "magic eating"? As in using magic makes them stronger?

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Keeping my campaign organized has become a real problem. I feel like I am trying to do too much with a simple notebook that my notes are beginning to look more like schizophrenic ramblings.

I was looking at using Obsidian Portal or Evernote. Anyone have any suggestions, tips of the trade, or personal stories on notekeeping for a campaign?

I've also been really struggling on keeping consistency in an adventure and maps within a specific dungeon. Most of the time I just "wing it" which works sometimes but often my players get too off track and I lose control of the game.

Need some help here!

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I was contemplating a alternative to death saving throws for my next short campiagn.

Instead of saves PCs have a pool of HP equal to their regular HP. This secondary pools pool drains after the primary HP pool hits 0. If the second pool hits 0 the PC dies, but are otherwise fine. The secondary HP can only be recovered with expensive magic/potions/rituals and leveling up.

Thoughts?

>>54488188
Okay I will.

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I've been working on an undead monk enemy, kinda like a lich if it was a monk instead of a wizard

tell me whatcha think

>>54488236
Mm, either consuming a magic item, or getting hit by magic gives some some sort of buff, either nullifying the damage or reducing it in the process. I'm fine with setting up my own stuff, just wondering if there's any official material to work with.

>>54488272
Just use Vitality you mong

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Just finished my first set of dungeon tiles. I'm really excited to use these in game!

>>54488209
Tiamat has an ability called Limited Magic Immunity, where it can make spells lower than level 6 fail against it. You can tone this down to absorbing cantrips and level 1 spells.

Alternatively, make them innately know the spell Counterspell.

What spells should an arcane trickster have other than the obvious disguise self and various illusions?

>>54488369
Thanks, it's a good start!

>>54488369
>>54488400
I wouldn't tone it down. A Rakshasa (CR 13) has this feature as well.

>>54488188
>I can't win D&D in one round anymore like muh 3e!
Poor sweet baby

>>54488364

Looks cool! Hope you have fun, anon.

>getting to play irl and with minis

I'm jealous.

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Reposting on the new thread: My 10th-level players will probably ask a favor from a Hag coven, and I'm trying to think of what they'd ask in return, stuff that should be disgusting or somehow lead to their downfall and despair later on, but I have no idea what to do. So far all I have is half a gallon of the aasimar paladin's blood and/or the young elven druid's virginity.

We're playing Tyranny of Dragons, btw.

>>54487999
As much as I'd like to do that, I'm trying not to derail the campaign too much, as anything too time consuming would likely lead to the party turning down the offer.

>>54488442
The plan is having the party defend a rite from monsters wanting a nice magic snack, so having a few versions to toss around will be useful either way. Now that I think of it, crag cats have spell turning, I could use that too, those things are only CR1.

Asa paladin, do I lose too much damage going 1h/shield compared to 2h?

I'm thinking of going either crow or vengeance.

>>54488593
If you're grabbing GWM, you lose a lot of damage, yeah, but you'll still be viable with your smites and such.

>>54488209
Check out the Tarrasque, the Flail Snail and the Crag Cat. They all have some form of spell turning.

A better idea might be to give your creature a small radius antimagic field, but that could be really annoying.

>>54488536
It was surprisingly easy. The tiles were made from foam (maybe $50 in materials) and took like three post-work days of work to make. If you're interested look for Black Magic Craft on YouTube.

Mini painting is pretty easy and is a lot of fun. Reaper has really cheap models for tabletop play and nowadays there's a lot of resources for learning how to paint on YouTube.

>>54488272
I'd do that but the secondary HP pool is their max HP instead.

Also if you really do want a cushion it's not a bad idea to use something like a 'death's door' thing when a player hits absolute 0 where any further damage makes them roll for possible injuries/death/unconsciousness and they're also disadvantaged on pretty much everything.

>>54488630
Do you think that the +2 AC is better overall than the damage boost of GWM?

>>54488831
>Hire wizard to graft extra arms to your body
>Get GWM and a shield at the same time

Is two weapon fighting really as bad as everyone says it is?

>>54488279
First I'd ask why are their Con, Int and Cha so low. You'd be hard pressed to find any epic level enemies with a stat below 10. Bear in mind that Cha is not about how they look, but their force of personality and will, besides also their defense against banishment and several other effects (And 5 is -3). And why doesn't it have proficiency in all saves? Monks get that, right?

The skill bonuses make no sense. History is -3+7=(+4) or -3+14=(+11); and Acrobatics is 4+7=(+11) or 4+14=(+18).

Does Mind's Eye use a reaction? Even if it doesn't I'm assuming they can at most do this once per round, yes?

All in all, for a boss, your Incorruptible is a chump. Those 90 HP are not going to hold for long, especially at the level where a party is supposed to fight against it. I doubt it is indeed a CR 21, you'd probably have to buff him quite a bit to get there.

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>halfling sorcerer
>it's a halfling with the hyperactivity of a gnome and desire to fuck shit up joking and playfully
>also the face of the party
>just came back to town after defeating bbeg
>after making him drink a concoct made of ale powder and a failed invisibility potion sample, which turned his whole head to fire until it stopped being funny and we put it off, we paraded the guy through town in the most flashy way possible
>We literally raised hell in town after making the three political figures of town face each other, given that BBEG had been dealt with
>stuff happened, and it was decided I'd throw a party for all of the town
>Next morning, my party finds me asleep along a female halfling
>they decide to feed me some magic viagra while i'm asleep

Now I need to decide what will my character do for next game under the effects of an aphrodisiac, given how much he likes to party hard. Any suggestions that won't lead into me becoming That Guy?

Don't think I dislike this situation though; it's the perfect excuse to flaunt a high roll on dick size i did privately with my DM in case something like this happened

>>54488935
t. that guy

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Thank god for Pinterest.

>mfw downloading a bunch of battlemaps for roll20

>>54488309
Fuck vitality and the horse you rode in on.

>>54488831
>>54488895
Or suck your DM's dick for an Animated Shield or a Dancing Greatsword.

>>54488935
>high roll on dick size
Wow. What a game huh.

>>54488364
Neat. I myself have a collection of custom modular 5" tiles. Nothing beats old-school dice and minis

>>54489032
Do you have the new Curse of Strahd ones?

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>>54488138
>mfw i'm deleting gnomes entirely from my setting and replacing them along with halflings with a nature sprite race

>>54488935
>Any suggestions that won't lead into me becoming That Guy?

sounds like you're already there

>>54489102

Nah, I was focused on generic stuff that I could use for random encounters.

>>54488720
Thats the thing. I'm trying to avoid the whole "don't heal until 0 hp" thing and the death spiral that happens from penalties from low HP.

My group really enjoys hard won victories, but your turn spent saving is boeing. So this keeps them in the fight while providing a real incentive to remain healthy.

But if it's to much, I might consider a death saves at absolute 0. Save or die style.

>>54489210
My DM is just giving exhaustion once you get 0 hp.Dont know if thats hardcore enough for you.

>Normal Humans get +1 to every stat
>Elves of all kinds get a ton of benefits
>Dragonborn, Tieflings, and Half-Orcs also have fewer features
Is it worth giving them a racial feat of their choice for free, or is that ridiculous?

>>54488934
These are some valid points. Thanks guy

>>54488388
Featherfall has saved my as
As has Mend

>>54489355
Normal human is ass, you're over-valuing the 6 +1s. Tieflings and Half-Orcs are fine as they are, but Dragonborn does need a bit of love.

>>54489355
Normal humans are easily the worst race in the game mechanically

>>54489395
I didn't mean to imply that normal human would stay as-is. It really is one of the most boring options. Really, +1 to every stat when other races can avoid death, avoid sleep, reroll critical failures, resist magic effects, or get free cantrips? But, yes, Dragonborn is a bit underpowered.

>>54488364
This is great

>>54489100
I have a set of clear plastic tiles. I like them a lot, but they never evoke that "You're actually there" feeling that dungeon tiles do. It also feels weird to place terrain on them.

I know a lot of people print out birds eye view of terrain and put it under the clear tiles, but I've never gotten it to look right. There's always a scaling problem or it just looks weird.

>>54489117
I replaced them with rat people.

>>54489450
Thanks anon!

>>54489518
>rat people"
Call them the "Zurcdets"

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>>54489117
>>54489518
I wanted to keep Halflings, but I see no use for gnomes. What's a good substitute? Nezumi work The Kara-Tur Rats, but what other substitutes are there?

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>>54489629
I have a custom setting where Ratfolk replace Gnomes, for the most part. I basically did my best to replicate the Pathfinder Ratfolk to be up to snuff with 5e. I think they fit better.

Other cool replacements could be Darklings, some sort of Nymph or some other small Fey creature with toned down magical abilities. Nymph could make a cool race with elemental based sub classes like Genasi.

>>54488544
Help?

>>54489512
The 5" tiles are just that. No grid, just the "floor", I have wooden slats, stone, water, sand, and grassland. The terrain I use is custom made or cast from hirst arts molds. Walls are kept low to allow ease of play.

We don't adhere strictly to the positioning rules. For us, anybody on the same Tile simply counts as being within 5 feet. Feels like a good mix of grid play and theater of the mind.

>>54488544
The virginity one sounds like it could cause problems. I'd avoid it.

Also the half gallon of blood sounds difficult to wrangle in game mechanic perspective. Take a bunch of damage or exhaustion? Ok, I'll just rest for the next couple of days. Or just produce the blood over the course of a few days. I don't like it and I don't think it'll play well.

I think an easy one is "we want a child." Why do they want a child? Who knows. But they want a child. Or even better, they want to replace a child with a changeling child (or a hag child or whatever). To arrange that they could be like "crack open the window of a nearby village elder's house". No other explanation needed, the hags just need the window open so they can feel "allowed in" and steal their child in the night.

My players have gotten into the habit of sending the one or two stealthy team members ahead to scout out as much of every area as possible, and it's gotten to the point where half the time the rest of the party doesn't get to do much of anything while they wait for the scouts to do their thing and report back. How can I keep everyone engaged when they do this or, failing that, encourage them to not send scouts ahead in every single situation?

>>54490247
Ambush the scouts a few times
Have enemies send troops ahead and have them take on the smaller party staying behind

>>54490247
Ambush them with phase spiders while the scouts are away
Then ambush the scouts with phase spiders
Phase spiders everywhere

>>54488188
Hekaton is such a reactionary ruler. All he ever wants is for people to stop doing things.

>>54488935
>halfling with the hyperactivity of a gnome
So, a halfling

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>>54489032
>not making your own in RPG Maker

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>>54490509
F-fuck that's a good idea

>>54490247
Teach them why it's a bad idea to split the party. At some point the scouts are bound to roll low and be noticed by enemies with high passive Perception or advantage on perception checks (+5 to passive). Or maybe they stumble upon some magical trap or alarm that sets off the whole dungeon after them. Or just, you know, areas you can't stealth through.

>>54490541
Some guy posted a guide on how he did it a while ago. Should show up in the archive if you search rpg maker on tg.

>>54490247
More complex and potentially magical traps. It doesn't matter how stealthy you are if you trip up a pressure plate or get mind fucked by a rune on wall.

>>54490485
What? Nah, half links are chill, if anything he's describing a Kender.

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>>54490509
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5XWgWWeg7w
IT'S TIME

>>54483273
If healing is good mid-fight, then healing becomes mandatory mid-fight and the game becomes shit for healers, and shit for everyone else because now they need healers. No?
>>54483400
This. Or don't let yourself get ganged up on by all the monsters in the fight.
>>54483414
>Well, he can roll his saving throw each round...
Actually, the player still rolls a d20 and marks the result. That's a little reduced from a normal round, but not that different in kind.

But death saves are basically a death's door or 0 hp is special system. It's a buffer so that a PC doesn't normally go from full function to dead in one "thing," but instead gives the players time to react. I haven't seen anything that does it better for D&D so far. Some moron just bitches about it unproductively instead.
>>54483605
>Suddenly, threats you could easily brush away become life-threatening
If you're low on HP, a few low damage hits is now life-threatening. The point is that as long as you're conscious, you aren't [usually] one attack from death. Unless it's really big and gets you by massive damage.

Look, if you go with a -hp threshold, then it takes a long time for low damage hits to finish off a beaten PC, and big hits already get that effect with death by massive damage. There's no improvement. If you go for death at 0 HP, there's obvious problems. I shouldn't even care though since I don't even agree with your "problems". I suppose you could make a dying track to go from healthy to death in stages, like 0 HP is disadvantage on offense, 1 failure is disadvantage on everything, 2 failures you're also prone/immobilized, and 3 failures you're unconscious and dying on your next turn. Stretch it out or condense it down to taste. Then you're just making 0 HP "Danger" instead of "Beaten" and you're being extra unfair to NPCs that don't get death saves.

>>54490232
The virginity one is mostly just to be disturbing. They are hags after all, but they'd say it in a joking manner.

What I'd do for the blood would be basically what you said. Lose around a quarter of their HP and a Con save against exhaustion. But the idea is not that losing blood would be a hindrance to the party. The idea is "Are you ok with letting these hags have some of your blood?"

Now, your suggestion has got me thinking. Make a seemingly harmless request that has awful consequences. I just need to figure out a way to make it fit with my plot, or tie it to something.

>>54489774
>snuff
*stuff

>>54490663
>If healing is good mid-fight, then healing becomes mandatory mid-fight and the game becomes shit for healers, and shit for everyone else because now they need healers. No?

4e more or less had that solved, with minor-action healing or adding healing onto 'Doing other stuff' so you don't have to spend your turn just healing.

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Tell me about your setting.
Tell me about your gods.
Tell me about your races.
Tell me about you party.

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>>54490735
>Setting
World has some crazy fucked up magical shit.. People tend to be born with innate magical ability more so than not, especially in certain parts of the world. As such, most people not born with magic rarely, if ever, choose to research it, leading to a diminutive number of wizards in the world.

>Gods
H-Ha ha, what Gods?

>Races
your run of the mill races from the players handbook. Aasiimar are unique and small in number. Only two in the world currently.

>Party
A regular human battlemaster who is quite brutish and not good in social situations, a wizard, an Aasiimar Paladin on a mission, a warlock who is in the process of unwinding the fabrics of reality like a cat with a ball of yarn, and a Sun Monk medabot-like warforged.

>>54490735
A half a century, demons invaded the world and ravaged much of the powerful human and elven empires. Only through the treachery of a balor demon were the people able to stop this invasion. However, much of the world has been reshaped, and the wound of war have not yet healed

>>54490875
>H-Ha ha, what Gods?

do clerics not function or do you have another system in place

>>54490663
>If you're low on HP, a few low damage hits is now life-threatening.
You're at 1 HP. Monster hits you.
Healer just heals you back up again like it was nothing, unless the DM has a monster attack you in which case you just die. It's a black and white 'DM decides to kill you' or 'you're perfectly fine'
Which does give the DM room to decide how they want to play, but still kinda sucks because players aren't always sure how the DM is going to play it and makes player characters oddly glass cannons in comparison to monsters.

You can use other systems instead of death saves instead of just flat death at 0. Some of those systems give you more health but remove that net of death saves, and that makes you pretty much in line with NPCs.

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>>54490735
>Setting
Low fantasy. An adventurers' guild regulates all adventurers through bulletin boards. They have hostel-like taverns all throughout the realm.

Thousands of years ago there was an ancient race of sorcerers who enslaved all the other races. /something/ happened that killed most of them. Those who survived became the deities worshipped today.

Everyone has a magical energy in them. Those with an excessive amount can just naturally toss it around (sorcerers) while others have to use tools as catalysts and study it to make use of it (wizards).

>Gods
6 gods in the main pantheon. Countless others. 6 gods are illegal to be worshipped (gods of murder, tyranny, etc). Other than that, there are countless other gods of random shit like sports and painting and education.

>Races
Human folk: humans, halflings
Elf folk: elves, gnomes
Stone folk: dwarves, giants
Wild folk: orcs, goblins, gnolls, trolls

>Party
A human female cleric who worships the neutral goddess of death. Sees death as rest and seems to have no fear of combat or pain. Huge pussy in other regards.

Elf druid who can't stop preaching to everyone about veganism.

Dwarf warlock who gives 0 fucks and just wants to make money. Sold his soul for more time on earth. Loves to fuck with people.

A quiet half-orc fighter who is basically the Chewbacca to the dwarf's han solo. The party thinks he's retarded but he has a high wisdom score and an average intelligence. On his own he's proven to be the most capable but nobody trusts him to do anything and they treat him like a child.

>>54490671
Nah, up to snuff is the right usage.

>>54491014
Or you could not go around picking fights at 1 hp because any two critters, or anything with multiattack, could easily kill you.

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>>54490735
>Setting
Orcs controlled most of the continent until a glacial dam burst and a ginormous deluge wiped out most of their settlements along the river they used as a natural barrier against the war-torn human lands. The humans united (through conquest) in the wake of the deluge and push west. They also plundered artifacts and magical secrets from the Dwarves, whose nation was destroyed by the same Deluge. Using these secrets (and with a little help from mercenary-inventor Gnomes from an island that's mysteriously getting closer) they crack steam engine tech way early and even leapfrog blackpowder weapons on the way to developing magically-powered gauss crossbow-guns. The Humans had a Civil War, the Dwarves had a Revolution in their new desert home on the other side of the mountains they were previously living in, and the Orcs mysteriously packed up and left for a few years which gave Humans and Dwarves ample time to swoop in and take most of their land.
Now it's Wild West time.

>Gods
Monotheism, but every race/nation worships differently. Orcs and Halflings (who are Gnomes) are animists/spiritualists. Humans have God and the Devil, but they're both distant, with no messiah figure; Elves follow the same, but they're not as preachy about it. Dwarves also believe in the same God and El Diablo, but they think God is too busy to answer prayers and delegates most work to Saints, so they pray to those instead. Gnomes are Hindu, and everyone assumes their Goodguy and Badguy are just some weird interpretation of God and Devil so they have an excuse to NOT Deus Vult their asses (because the Gnomes are superwizards and would probably magi-nuke their boats before they got close).

>Races
Orcs are Native Americans, Humans run the gamut of European cultures, Dwarves are Mexican, Elves are French-Canadian, Halflings are Mongolian (and an off-shoot of Gnomes), and Gnomes are Indian.

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>>54491463
>Party
Elven Rogue who used to be a smuggler but got caught, reeducated, saw the light, and now works as a Boat Cop for their nation's waterways and mercantile interests, while also tracking down the old crew that burned her.
Human Sorcerer and Marshall who casts all of his shit through his gun. He's chasing down the mysterious Tall Man who fucked up his life hardcore.
Human Bard and Preacher who miraculously survived a terrible disease found only in the West when he was young, and now wanders around using his minor celebrity and divinely charmed life to minister to the settlers while hunting down the wild monsters who are also afflicted by the disease.
Human Fighter from out of time. A Knight from the old days, when the humans still had kingdoms and warred. He was petrified and kept as a souvenir by a wizard, then wound up in various royal galleries and eventually museums before someone realized, "Hey, this isn't a nice statue, this is a dude who got stoned," and reversed it. Now he's indebted to an arcaheologist who's sent him West to help out his other students.

I'm hoping one of the other interested guys joins in with a Dwarf or something later.

I took Mage Hand and Minor Illusion. What's the best attack cantrip for a Wizard

>>54491450
If you get lucky with initiative and the healer goes just before you or have really good saves, it will take more than two attacks to down you considering that would only be two failed saves if it's a melee attack. Or if the enemies split up their attacks, or if the DM has made it clear that monsters only attack downed players if you give them a reason (so they have to see you healing first) or if you have anti-crit protection or if the monsters use ranged attacks or if the monsters use AoE attacks or if the monsters use anything that isn't a melee attack. Or if your AC is so high a melee attack still wouldn't have likely hit anyway, or if you just stay at a distance so the enemies couldn't melee attack even if they threw a rock and downed you.


But if your DM makes it clear that monsters will try to outright kill players it becomes sacks full of bullshit given how easy it is for a player to hit 0 in some games, and if you get unlucky with initiative that'll mean the next monster will walk up and finish you off.


I'd honestly rather not make players rely on initiative and healers.

>>54491520
Ray of Frost. You're not going to kill anything, so you may as well kite for days. Also, unlimited chilled drinks.

>>54490735
>setting
i'm working on it, trying to go with a "swords and sandals setting with fantastic elements". Like being more inspired by Mesopotamia and ancient Rome and Egypt/North Africa, and maybe central asia, rather than your run of the mill central/western european medieval fun, but with fantastic magical elements to it. Again, working on it.

>Gods
undecided, first draft had the gods "lost" (secretly they existed, but in such a reduced state they couldn't even leave their 'area' or make contact with followers so everyone believed they were gone). Now I'm wondering of going with multiple pantheons, as in there is a few overgods that rule over a few other pantheons below them, and the overgod at the top of each one basically reside at a !not-mount-olympus sort of deal.

>races
humans, elves of either a muscular jungle or fleet of foot desert variety, both deliciously brown, some sort of small nature sprite race I want to put together to replace halflings/gnomes. Dwarves, though not mountain mining types, kobolds, MAYBE dragonborn, and some sort of actual half-dragon race that looks more humanoid than dragon, then 1-3 more

>party
none i'm still building the world

>>54488279
You didn't use the official design your own monster CR guide did you?
This is in no way CR21 material.

>>54491648
>swords and sandals setting with fantastic elements
Barsoom, my nigga.

>>54488209
There was an unofficial archetype for sorcerer called "Blue Sorcerer or Cobalt Sorcerer" where whenever they failed a death saving throw from a Spell they could use their reaction to learn the spell. This is added to their spell list and they use it as a sorcerer spell if they have the slots for it.

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>>54491648
>elves of either a muscular jungle or fleet of foot desert variety, both deliciously brown

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>>54491855
Brown is love.

>>54491902

Yeah but nobody wants to play in your fetishbait setting, anon.

>>54491920
Different Anons.
But I have had Brown Elf as an option in one of my previous settings, as a replacement for Drow.

If monsters are a commonplace how would that affect a country's military?

I'm wondering mostly if a country would have simply more people in it's army or less but more skilled.

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>Enjoy thinking up and theorycrafting new characters.
>Will never get to play 90% of them because DnD activity is fucking DEAD in my area and I can only play through old friends, infrequently.

>>54491920
I would gladly play in his fetishbait setting. Brown elf is life

>>54491951
I've got an entire notebook full of character concepts that will likely go unplayed. I pull from it for NPCs sometimes though.

>>54491951
>>54492041
Join the fucking club, friends.

>>54491948
That really depends, which isn't a good answer. If monsters are commonplace, any bastion of civilization would either have fortification, or a great defending force. Or both. So the situation could be either way you described.

>>54492041
Tell me about it. Going to college soon, though. Hopefully I'll be able to put some character ideas to use there.

War Caster + Polearm Master + Booming Blade

>>54492100
The monsters are over there and they don't bother anyone. Until, of course, they do. Then the various nations are playing catch-up.

Imagine if one day, every bear, wolf, and moose decided it was their life's mission to head into the nearest populated area and fuck people up. Also, guns don't exist. We've spent so long thinking, "Yeah, bears are dangerous, but they stay over there and don't fuck with you unless you're in their shit or fuck with them first," that we'd be completely caught out by their deciding to ruin our days.

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>>54491920
it's not fetishbait if everyone that plays is a normie and is none the wiser.

>>54492134
>War Caster
Boring
>PAM
Is it possible to die of boredom? We'll find out
>SCAG cantrips
>beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

>>54492134
Would only work with a quarterstaff.
>booming blade range: 5 ft
>reach weapon range: 10 ft
Can't abuse it as well as you'd like, sadly.

>>54491948
Depends on the monsters that are their main problem.

If any schmuck can kill 1, but they come in droves, expect an untrained peasant horde. Most bronze age wars.

If they're very difficult, and anyone not super trained is wasting their time if not immediately dead, then expect swat teams. Attack on Titan.

>>54492177
>Variant Human
>three stats
>only time for one stat ASI before the game peters out
Why do people theorize about these meme builds?

>>54492177
If you can't get the reach, then you don't need polearm master.

Maybe grab Sentinel for the times you would rather stop them from moving entirely rather than just penalize it?

>>54492214

>not also getting sentinel so they can't disengage from you

>>54492283
That's what booming blade is for. If they move, they boom. Doesn't matter if they disengage.

>>54492306

I thought the whole point of War Caster on this build was so you can catch someone with a booming blade with an opportunity attack. If all you want to do is run up to melee and booming blade someone the only thing your build needs is magic initiate.

>>54488209
In Tome of Beasts, the Witch Queen has an ability where whenever she dispels or counters a spell, she regains HP equal to twice the spell's level.

Also, I think one of the beholderkin in Volo's has a devour magic ray, which negates a magical effect on a person (like mage armor) or an item (+1 sword becomes regular sword until combat is over)

>>54492327
Woop, you're right. If polearm master is gone through don't get smacked on the way in anymore do they.

>>54492383

Oh, you misunderstand. That one guy was pointing out the implausibility of getting 3 feats in an actual game, so I was adding to the meme by adding a 4th feat.

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>>54492279
Sentinel wouldn't work either. The reaction attack the feat gives you isn't an AoO, therefore not triggering War Caster. I think the combo would be super cook, honestly, but it doesn't RAW.

>implying a DM would be that vigilant to notice this shouldn't work
>implying I wouldn't totally allow this to work in one of my games, but that I wouldn't force you to scream hellion quotes when you did so

>>54492430
>cook
cool
damn cellular devices

>Necromancer banker
>adventures to find riches to fund his investments
>uses profits to establish a guild/cult of wealthy people who can take loans, invest funds, etc. (essentially a bank for evil people)
>prefers the dead because they're cheap and won't betray him; his skeletons are the only ones he treats with real respect, like he's convinced himself they're his friends

How's my idea? What should I change? Any ideas to add? Got a cooler idea?

If it matters, this is for an evil adventure, and 2 of the other 3 players are also undead/death-themed.

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I have a dilemna. I'm using Forgotten Realms, but I got the itch to customize it to my liking. It won't be 100% accurate, but changed a bit and simplified. I do realize that nothing is ever 100% on-book. To start, this might not ever be relevant except to the person who wants to roll a cleric, but is it worth taking a dawn war/4e approach to the deities?

The SCAG lists 98 gods in total- The Normal Pantheon (49), The Dwarven Pantheon (13), The Elven Pantheon (12), The Drow Pantheon (5), The Halfling Pantheon (6), Gnomish Pantheon (9), and the Orc Pantheon (6). Obviously, I don't want to have to remember all of these exist I guess I don't have to, but still.

Cutting down on the number would be ideal for me, but this would bring up another problem: The planes. There are 16 of them total, and only 9 alignments/gods/etc. Should I revert things to Elemental Chaos/Astral Sea, or fluff out 7 more gods? Should I cut the extra planes, or find some way to explain them? Does this really matter because planar travel might not be utilized for ages?

There is no correct answer, but I'd like some advice.

>>54492461
If you tell you players you're running Forgotten Realms, they're going to potentially have very particular expectations, and may be frustrated or disappointed if you start changing things.

If you make minor changes, tell your players about them (not necessarily in detail).
If you make major changes, just make your own setting instead, using the guidelines for creating your own multiverse in the DMG (these will help you figure out what the various functions of the planes are, and which planes the game/spells/etc will expect you to have, etc.) And then you can just go like "yeah it's sort of like a simplified forgotten realms" and everyone will be on the level.

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>>54491951
>the only reason I don't get to make use of my characters is because my half-neet friends refuse to free up a few hours per week

>>54492459
Maybe something like MtG's Orzhov guild? Offer 'life extension loans' and if they can't pay up with exorbitant interest you reduce their lifespan by that many years, possibly killing them and claiming their corpse semi-legally?

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>>54491951
>have neat character ideas that I want to play
>fast talking, horny archfey patron warlock
>Battlemaster Monk punchman who fights with his fists
>Shotgunslinger with Close Quarter Shooting
>can't play any of them, because I am forever a DM

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Is it possible to have a game with serious RP being actually good? I've been playing for only a little while, but it seems like our sessions only see good RP when it has a humorous bent.

That's not even to say it was OOC, it's just that whenever people try to do anything other than hijinks it veeerry quickly becomes cringeworthy. At least in my group.

I guess as a more general note: how do I improve in my RP'ing?

>>54492880
Oooh, that's a good idea. I'm gonna use that.

So now that I've got a concept I gotta figure out what race I want to do. Never thought that would be the hardest part of making a character.

>>54492944
most of us aren't actors or writers

when we're playing with friends and strangers, nobody really wants to have big emotionally charged exchanges during an activity that for most is not meant to be stressful.

I don't bother playing serious characters for this reason. Nobody cares what my dark past is, so why play a character that is just going to come across as edgy when everyone is doing slapstick comedy?

Unless everyone in the group is on board for that sort of thing at the start of a game, it's not gonna happen.

>>54490735
Setting: a conceptually lightweight but geographically extensive multiverse that combines 4e's cosmology with those of Chronicles of Amber and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.
Custom-fitted to allow gothic horror, faerie stories, and Arabian Nights-esque tales while maintaining minimalism and consistency.
Big-picture: existence is a spectrum between Order and Chaos, with different paths between the two.

Gods: none, actually. But various historical/legendary figures have cults and churches dedicated to them. Many deities are worshiped by different cultures in different ways - for example, one culture's harvest deity is another's reaper of souls.

Races: in keeping with the theme, relatively few races exist (at least originally).
Humans are humans.
Elves are gregarious reflections of humanity that appear in positive-energy planes. Since sentient souls crave balance, they are creatures of dark desires - lust, greed, jealousy, etc.
Grimlock are the opposite of elves - brooding and morose, but with a tendency towards cooperation, charity, and loyalty.
Dwarves are people of chaos, existing almost entirely to change the world around them. Their architecture defines gravity, and their crafts defy physics in general. They produce swords with impossibly sharp blades, tools that never seem to wear down, etc.
Devas are the people of law, and they exist to fill a role in an ideal. For example, a given deva might be a weaponsmith and spend their life crafting spears for an army. When firearms become superior weapons, that same deva will become a gunsmith overnight, because it's just a different physical expression of what he was already doing in essence.
All other races are derived from those. Goblins are crossbreeds of humans and grimlock bred for specific jobs. Asura are deva who have lost their purpose and always have an itch they cannot scratch, becoming aggressive and greedy/power-hungry/lusty/some other form of needy. Orcs are cursed humans or elves.

>>54490735
Unfortunately the first three are somewhat bland, as I DM an Adventurer's League campaign, which is set in the forgotten realms. The specific campaign is Tales from the Yawning Portal, so I have been taking them to several locations away from the sword coast, like Chult, Neverwinter, and Thay. Luckily, I have introduced one God into the game thanks to some shenanigans in-game. which has been secretly acting as antagonist to the party since they defiled his Temple. Zotzilaha, the God of Vampires. He mostly acts behind the scenes, only ever talking to the party once, which was to give them one sole chance to return what they stole from his temple.

The party itself, however, is quite an interesting one:

>Assassin Rogue 4 / Hunter Ranger 7, A human who always stealth's ahead to find traps and enemies, but is horrid at perception checks. His lack of darkvision only hinders the situation. He is also the definition of a murderhobo, preferring to kill people anytime there is even a slight chance they could be considered an enemy. However, his flaws are immensely overshadowed by his killing power.

>Moon Druid 8 (1), your average, friendly, Firbolg Druid. Has a sentient pet bear who is the size of a cat, and is very in tune with nature. He loves animals, and loves being animals. He puts his beast forms to good use.

>Valor Bard 8 / Ranger 1, a Half-Elf bard that is quite the sharpshooter. He is quite effective at finishing off weakened foes, and his magic gives his party an edge when they otherwise are quite outmatched. He also loves to shout crude but ineffective insults in combat.

>Moon Druid 8 (2), A blue scaled Dragonborn druid, she is not as in tune with animals as her Firbolg ally, and usually is casting all manner of varying spells to control and harm the enemies in combat. She is also unnaturally gifted in dispelling magic. She has destroyed powerful arcane locks and freed True Polymorphed adventurers to their true form.

To be continued momentarily.

>>54493079
I think you're not giving players enough credit. My group is made up of one ex-theater kid, one choir boy, a band kid, and two people who have never performed anything. But they all love their characters and the world they're in, and it's created some fantastic roleplaying over the years.

>>54492944
It's possible, but it doesn't happen with every group. What helps is having good immersion, a DM that knows how to let players roleplay, and no shitty players who are only there for killing and joking.

>>54493153
>Vengence Paladin 8, a Tiefling hailing from Thay, she is one of three recent additions to the party. She has yet to reveal much about herself, but has a deep seeded hatred for undead. She is a fine warrior, gracefully and mightily wielding a pike to pierce her enemies from afar. She is also quite capable of tanking blows.

>Plains Druid 8 / Life Cleric 1, An Orc who was mysteriously found within the dungeon the party currently travels through, she wields might magic that even she cannot fully grasp. Her healing is quite effective, and her offensive magic is also quite powerful. For an orc, she is quite sensible when it it comes to when to engage the enemy and when to hold back her aggression.

>Red Dragon Sorcerer 8, A Goblin who wields unparalleled prowess in fire magic, he is the last of the recent additions to the party. He suffers much teasing from the party due to his race, but overall the party has grown to befriend the little Goblin. His mighty fireballs might of helped persuade the party into liking him though.

One thing I forgot to mention, the Rogue / Ranger despises mirrors. Especially magic mirrors. He went int a room filled with them, and he had nothing but bad luck. One turned into a Black Pudding and tried to eat him, the other turn all of his money and jewelry into worthless lead and glass. He they destroyed all the mirrors in that room without remorse, and every suspicious mirror he has seen since.

Toss me a random encounter for my Mystara/Karameikos/Duke's Road RE table. Preferably something more interesting than "1d6 wolves"

>>54493452
2d6 wolves

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>>54490735
>setting
A northern ocean, it's surrounding coastlines and the multitude of saxon-esque brother-cultures and their iron-age not!Celts just south, a central southern valley full of tiny warring kingdoms (Sengoku Jidai as seen through the aesthetic of 11th-century knights and lords), and the surrounding cultures of not!Iberian hill peoples, remains of an old not!Rome to the west, their Rohirrim- and Hun-inspired rival steppe peoples further to the west, southern-most mountain-dwelling "sky people," not!Inca-but-iron-age, and not!Icewind Dale barbarians in the north-eastern wastes.

No one's been further west (getting past the horse folk is a bitch), no one's been past the wastes who care to record it, and south of the sky people is a fetid jungle no one's been able to get through. There are a few other features and peoples, but those are the highlights.

>gods
Real, but they don't fuck with the world except through disguise and weaker idols. Powered by belief, so religious wars of conversion and destruction aren't uncommon.

>races
Mostly just humans. The wood folk are elvish in nature, the northerners and far-westerners come off as a bit half-orcish, but I've not really decided whether or not to go whole-hog.

>party
None yet. Haven't actually run a game in it.

>>54493468
C'mon seriously, I have a few ideas already like a handful of bandits and a thug to boss them around or a random spike in weather severity, but I need some more benevolent REs

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>>54490735
>setting
Late Georgian era technology. After a calamity that literally sundered planar travel/communication and whipped magic, the world's just getting back to that point of pre-apocalyptic greatness. Low magic as a result (anything over 2nd level is impossible without multiple people/mcguffin status).
>gods
They whisper, but it's like playing a game of telephone with at least a dozen people.
>races
The current location (city of over a million) serves as the capital for a nation built around a constitution dictating racial standings, with goblinoids (namely bugbears/goblins) being the most recent addition.
>party
Dick-ass monk noble, gobbo stabber, a lizardman snake of divine fury (zealot barbarian), researcher tiefling bladelock, dragonborn soldier, and a tabaxi bard with (no longer) immaculate hair.

Pic related for most recent session.

>>54493452
An ogre with some goblins. He attacks by hurling the goblins at the party.
For a more serious suggestion. Some poor motherfucker stuck in a short time loop by a curse on an item he stole from a nearby dragons lair, have him run at the party screaming and begging for help like he's being chased, make it sound really bad then just as the party is ready to fight he blinks out of existence, reappears down the round and repeats the sequence. If the party figures it out and manages to get rid of the curse they free him. The theft happened hundreds of years ago and he's been subconsciously aware of what's happening the whole time but unable to consciously deviate from the state of mind he was in when a dragon was chasing him, upon freeing him he basically goes catatonic and shuts down due to what was effectively constant torture for hundreds of years but hey, at least he can die and be free now and maybe the party gets a neat item out of it that they can trap someone with or something

>>54493718
>down the round
Whoops. That should be "down the road"

>>54489410
Not true, the worst is Dragonborn because it's lame as fuck and requires a stat you don't even get a boost to for your Breath Weapon.

Normal Human is a terrible pick in 95% of situations, in the rare MAD build or if you have badwrong fun and roll stats then it turns into an alright/decent option. There's still likely better picks, but picking it is far from the worst choice on those builds.

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Why shouldn't a wizard be given an Amulet of Conjure 1d6 Magmin once per long rest?

>>54490735
>Tell me about your setting.

Fairly generic Fantasy setting. I wanted something familiar but I didn't want to be tied down to the lore and history of FR.

>Tell me about your gods.

Not terribly different from the FR pantheon but more variation in gods by culture, depending on the race. Orc gods aren't evil assholes, just rugged survivalists. Humans and elves have tons of different gods.

>Tell me about your races.

Most stuff is pretty identical to your standard FR fare.

Elves come in Wood, High, Dark, Sand, and Snow flavors. Sand elves range from Bedouin camel archers to Persian wind wizards that are constantly at war with cloud giants. Snow elves are ice nazis that enslave anyone.

Orcs (they use the half-orc stats) are less ooga booga wild savages and more like Nordic-Slavic-Mongol crossbreeds. They have a few "kingdoms" on the edges of the traditionally "known" world. Orc mercenaries are popular with Sand elves, not!Arabs, and not!Byzantines.

>Tell me about your party.

>High Elf Evocation Wizard dedicated to "unlocking" the secrets of magic, believing this will elevate him to godhood
>Orc Bladelock (Ashen Wolf Patron) that was too weak to become a "true warrior" so he made a bargain with a dark power but was exiled from his clan for doing so
>Mountain Dwarf Vengeance Paladin who is on an "eternal pilgrimage" since the holy site he was traveling to was destroyed by giants and their goblin slaves. So long as he is on this pilgrimage he cannot return to his normal life until the perpetrators have been destroyed.
>Human Ranger (Revised UA) who was rescued by Dwarf Paladin after being captured by Snow Elf slavers, along for the ride to repay debt since he feels he doesn't have much else going for him
>Half-Elf Lore Bard pretending that he is only interested in writing the perfect story which is why he's traveling with the group but secretly wants people to like him and feels that the group are the first people to truly accept him for who he is

>>54493872
>requires a stat you don't even get a boost to for your Breath Weapon.
That's a strange argument against dragonborn. Hill dwarves and high/wood elves get proficiency with strength-only weapons despite not getting a strength bonus. There's no reason races have to get bonuses to the stats their abilities use - it just means they're better suited for classes that use those same attributes.

>>54490735
>setting
Prison cages and a fighting pit.

>gods
No gods here from the looks of it.

>races
All of em.

>party
Got a Warlock, a Wizard, a Cleric, a Ranger, and a Fighter, all in rags and whatever they can pull out of corpses during fights as equipment.

2nd session is in a week

>>54488544
The still beating heart of a child

>>54494115
Considering it's 50% of their race and the only feature that they can use every session? That's a huge issue. The AoE does alright damage, but they should've had more.

Compared to Elves who get a ton of stuff and same as Dwarves, they're just plain bad. They require a class that uses STR and most of STR users are V.Humans for obvious reasons.

I'm not saying "Never play a Dragonborn", I'm just saying that they are far weaker then other PHB races. I'd say even lower then Orcs from VGtM. Personally I'd allow Dragonborn to get the 1d4 claws and +1 Unarmoured AC feat for free. Those are situational but they give the race more substance.

Though my Dragonborn Elements Monk was the funnest character I ever played. Non optimising groups are so fun.

>>54494209
>50% of their race and the only feature that they can use every session
Arguably, that would be their +2 strength, at least until level 8 (where most everyone maxes out their primary stat anyway)

>most of STR users are V.Humans for obvious reasons.
Only if you play with munchkins. My group has a half-elf barbarian.

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>>54492461
Just tell them it's a parallel realm, much like Toril and Earth are parallel of each other.

Oh god... you guys are right about Warlock...

Playing this class after Druid and Cleric and it feels limited as hell. 2 spell slots until level 11 suck hard.

>>54494450
You feel like a pauper with the party/DM.

>"P-please guys, can we short rest?"
>either we get a long rest so no visible difference between the full casters
>or "No time, I'm feeling great, let's keep going"

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>>54494450
The sad part is, a good warlock player will always spend those slots on Hex and Armor of Agathys, so really you have ZERO slots if you wana not be dead weight to the team in a serious fight.

>>54494450
You were playing it wrong.
You wanted the warlock to play like a cleric or druid, but it's not a full spellcaster. It's a damage-dealer with reliable utility, more like a magical rogue than a wizard. I
m sorry that you went in with the wrong expectations, but that's not the warlock's fault. The warlock is a great class, but it suffers from bad PR and people not understanding it.

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>>54494493
>Not making short-rests 5 minutes like they were originally intended in the playtesting before all the 3.5 grogs bitched endlessly.

>>54494516
>Warlock is a magical rogue

Warlocks fail even at this though, as Bards get a much better spell list for it, have more than 2 spells slots, more skills, and class abilities that aren't just a sad attempt to keep up with stuff other classes get normally. There is no reason to ever play a warlock over a full caster, or even a half-caster like Arcane Trickster. The only thing Warlocks can do is be an Eldritch Blast turret, and at that point you might as well just pick up a crossbow and be a Fighter.

Look, Warlocks have cool flavor, some of the best in the game, and I love their character concept... but mechanically they just do not work, because there's almost no role they can fill that isn't done better by another class.

Making short rests 5 minutes like >>54494523 suggested helps alot, but it also renders Battlemasters even MORE lightyears ahead of every other martial in the game because of how much it enhances their maneuver and superiority-dice spam.

>>54494516
I had magical rogue (AT/Wizard and Bard) before and it still has more utility than a Warlock.

Something I just want to share

So I'm in technically my third campaign for D&D (First one I had to leave due to time and I just didn't like how it was being played, 2nd one I ran but fizzled out, This one my friend, who was in the one I ran, is running it)

We just had our second session today (Sunday) continuing tomorrow (Monday)
>D&D 5e campaign
>Good friends first time running a campaign
>Has had not very much experience with ttrpg at all
>Runs campaign on rails harder than Jesus was nailed to the cross
>Campaign is travel around recruit npcs and get the legendary weapons
>Little freedom but still fun having encounter after encounter with little talk
>Actually has interesting and thought out encounters so gets pass
>Party is Me (Aasimar Warlock GOO), Sister (Dragonborn Champion Fighter), and another friend/sister's bf (Human Assassin Rogue) All level 7
>Beginning of 2nd session Rogue hasn't shown up yet
>Screw it start anyway
>Travelling from Dwarf kingdom to the Gnomes in the north
>Rogue has to check out some stuff (not yet arrived)
>Bad idea not bringing him with us
>4 of us (Warlock, Fighter, dmpc Ranger, dmpc Barbarian that we "recruited")
>On road just traveling north
>Road opens to clearing eventually
>In clearing in front of us large white thing (See Bone Devil) and 6 fire dog things (See Hell Hounds)
>Ok might be tough
>Fight starts, not too bad so far.
>Then it all starts to go downhill
>Barbarian can't hit shit, gets the shit hit out of him
>Ranger just standing off to the side occasionally hitting an arrow on something
>Fighter 1v3ing Hell Hounds off to the side
>Warlock turned into Eldritch Blast bot for consistent chip damage
>Barbarian face tanking everything, not hitting anything back goes down
>Bone devil then flies over and 1 shots Warlock (muh 12 AC)
>Fighter now 1v2ing on low health after killing 1
>Ranger still being mostly useless
>Then the dice gods bless the fighter
>Fighter 2 HP 1v2ing against 2 full HP Hell Hound

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>>54494589
>but it also renders Battlemasters even MORE lightyears ahead of every other martial in the game
>battlemaster fighter
>lightyears ahead of paladins

>>54494589
False dichotomy: there are degrees between "full support utility" and "full direct damage that's useless outside of combat".

Warlocks are competent combatants that bring more utility than martials through cantrips, invocations, and the odd spell when fightning isn't happening.

Short rest issues aside, which has more to do with party composition and the DM's encounter pacing than an inherent trouble with the class, the one argument you can make against Warlocks, and that is mirrored on all sword and board martials, is that GWM/SS are so absurdly good they make pretty much all other direct damage options look weak.

But you don't see grognards shitting on S&B Fighters with anywhere close to the enthusiasm as they complain about Warlocks.

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>We need some water themed spells for Tritons
>How about Shape Water, Create or Destroy Water?
>No let's go with Fog Cloud and Gust of Wind

>>54494652
Paladin is a half-caster though. "Martial" generally refers to Fighter, Barbarian, and Rogue, and sometimes Monk.

>>54488924
Yes. But you dont do it because its good but because its fun. If you want to minmax without gishing and sucking your dms cock so you can cast with both hands full you dont twf.

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>>54494710
>bring more utility than martials
WOW, THEY CAN DO A THING EVERY NON-MARTIAL IN THE GAME DOES BETTER THAN MARTIALS.

Doesn't change the fact they're still worse it than literally every other class with any casting.

>>54494648
Continued

>Wielding a greatsword of cold or something op af (extra 3d4 cold damage)
>Proceeds to roll 19 against one Hell Hound (crit).
>Crit damage and extra attack take down the first one
>Action surge imnotdoneyet. Hits the second one with an attack.
>thiscouldbeit.
>Crits the second attack thisisit. Rolls enough damage to kill it.
>Proceeds to then run into the trees and try and heal as the Basically full health Bone Devil continues its rampage.
>Ranger still untouched

>Recap
>Warlock down, Bone Devil standing in front of downed Warlock
>Barbarian down about 40 ft behind Bone Devil
>Fighter in the trees at 2 HP 60 ft from Barbarian
>Ranger on other side of Barbarian about 60 ish ft away
>Still some Hell Hounds left
>thisisnotlookinggood
>Then suddenly DIVINE INTERVENTION
>See DM Fiat
>Everyone back up at 5 HP
>Bone Devil literally still in front of Warlock (me)
>Bone Devil's turn is next
>Back to rolling death saves it is for me then
>Fighter goes back with Barbarian, Bone Devil turns it's attention onto them
>Rogue player suddenly joins
>Ohheyguysiwasjustcheckingsomethingintownohmygod
>Bone Devils flies over to Fighter and Barbarian
>Rogue gets Warlock up with potion
>Proceed to turn fight around with little difficulty after that

And that was only the first encounter. The second encounter I found out the hard way that yes things that are literally made of ice are immune to cold damage.

>>54494759
They can do that thing every non-martial in the game does better than martials.

While doing better damage than every other non-martial.

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>>54494851
You sound like someone who's played the game for like a week. There are classes that put out wayyy more damage than Warlocks spamming Eldritch Blast. Warlocks don't even have a resource to "Nova" with, unless you're multi-classing.

So basically Warlocks are worse at utility than every other caster in the game, and do less damage than most of them. The only caster who's really gonna do less is Bard, and Bard doesn't need to do damage to win fights.

Stop fighting man. I just want to share my experience (and dissapointment) on Warlock.

I'm just gonna ask my DM to let me change my character class while retaining the same flavor. Maybe Wu Jen Mystic, so I can keep blasting stuff.

>>54494710
Except most of those "full support utility" classes are ALSO better at damage than Warlock, if you know how to build them. Eldritch Blast is good, but it's not nearly the damage-king you think it is, and often times damage is the least effective way to get through an encounter in DnD anyway.

>>54494890
Give examples of casters doing round-to-round damage that's better than warlocks.

And they do have a nova option with Hex+Scorching Ray.

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>yfw Warlock is the stepchild and forever multiclass dip of the caster crew

>>54494932
At what level range? Because we know you will just keep moving goal post.

>>54494932
>Hex + Scorching Ray
Lol, there's half to all your spell slots spent, good job.

Stone Sorcerer with smites
Paladins with smite
Clerics with
Evocation Wizards with Overchannel (max damage will be more than what eldritch blast averages out to)
Any caster with the ability to use multi-target damage spells more than twice in group fights.
In fact, fuck it, a crossbow expert fighter will do more damage. We don't even need casters here.

Warlocks suck bro. I know you REALLY like the IDEA of Warlocks, I do too, but they suck.

Also, as numerous people have pointed out, direct damage is often the least important factor in deciding the outcome of fights after like... level 4.

I sure do hope they put out a revised Fighter eventually.

>>54494890
Tome locks are on par with non-wizards for utility, and warlocks do significantly better sustained DPR than every other caster.

They aren't as effective at aoe, but they are roughly on par or superior to rangers for most of the game in terms of damage.

>>54494994
>Also, as numerous people have pointed out, direct damage is often the least important factor in deciding the outcome of fights after like... level 4.
Man that isn't close to true. Raw damage can win any encounter, non-damage still relies heavily on damage from other sources to win the majority of encounters.

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>>54495000
>Tome locks are on par with non-wizards for utility

Holy shit dude, you're grasping so hard this has to be bait. You can't honest be THAT biased.
>>54494890
You sound like someone who's played the game for like a week.

Ohhhh, that explains it.

Can someone post a tier list (pvp)? I'm going to be participating in a PvP heavy campaign soon.

Was thinking of running paladin, it will start at lvl 1 but go up to around lvl 5 according to the GM running the tourney. If anyone is interested, it's going to be posted to youtube and we hope to start an esports style tourney scene. The rules allow for the creation of traps and other prep work too, it's inspired by pubg and those types of battle royale settings.

>>54495017
Nigga, i don't even like Warlocks, i prefer long rest resources, but access to rituals makes them more versatile than sorcerers, clerics have strong but niche utility, and bards rely on Magical Secrets for specific aspects of the game or they are no better than rogues. Druids may have them beat, but its more campaign dependent, as a number of Druid utility spells are environmental.

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>Sell my soul for phenomenal cosmic power
>Can only cast two spells

>>54494932
Cleric with Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon
That's just with a level 2 and 3 spell, and after you cast those you're still free to use your action to attack + mini-smite
All in all you're doing 6d8 + WIS + PROF + STR/DEX, at level 8. And you're still a full caster when you need to be

>>54494982
Your pick

>>54494994
By level 5 a casting of Hex lasts essentially all day, so you can just cast it and take a nap :)
Or take Magic Initiate

If you're going to add multiclasses into this mix and the hand crossbow fighter, then, let's bring Sorlock to the table. Sustained offense on par with the SS+CBE combo.

And sure, save-or-lose is cool. A lot of it is concentration, too, so you cast it and then have to find other non-concentration things to do with your actions. Warlocks get to attack.

But keep moving those goal posts, no?

>>54494728
To be fair why the fuck would an oceanic race ever need to spout more water

>>54494728
>I know, I'll destroy my habitat!

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>>54495044
>elven archer deals the same amount of damage as me with string tied to a piece of wood
>my boipucci is pounded by barbed demon dick for the rest of eternity

>>54495044
>Per hour

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>>54495044
>Sell your soul for cosmic power
>Can literally get cosmic power by going to church, studying books, or even just being good at playing fucking music.

And this is why Warlocks aren't intelligence-based casters.

>>54495087
Though I don't disagree with the concentration and the general feel that Hex is, short of its disadvantage on saving throw aspect, quite limiting, Hex can be transferred whenever as a bonus action as long as it's still going.

I just wish Warlocks got high level invocations/abilities that didn't either end up taking one of your precious spell slots.

>>54495087
>Hex also requires a new target within one turn of the last one hitting 0HP
Except it doesn't.

>If the target drops to 0 hit points before this spell ends, you can use a bonus action on a subsequent turn of yours to curse a new creature.

>>54495114
And the sad part, is being good at playing music gives you BETTER magic than selling your soul does.

>>54495041
You can't go wrong with V. Human Barb, especially Bear Totem for a mage heavy game
Pick up either PAM or GWM

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>>54495087
It's not within one turn, it's on a *subsequent* turn.

Short rests don't interrupt concentration.

Why do you think it has a 24 hour duration at higher levels? It was meant for 6+ level warlocks to only cast it once per day and keep it up for the rest of it.

Are you sure you aren't the one who's only played the game for like a week?

Sure, hate on warlocks if you want, but get your facts straight.

>>54495131
Ah yes that better magic like... the minor damage inflicted with Vicious Mockery? Oh wait, i know, the 9th level Power Word: Heal!

>>54495124
Hex doesn't give disadvantage on saving throws.

>>54495067
Obviously Tritons have an anatomical sac that filters sea water and can store it for later use.
Very handy if your party misplaced their waterskins.

>>54495155
I wish. The last time i played a Triton, my DM sent us to a desert, and gave me disadvantage on fucking everything.

>>54495147
To be fair, Power Word Heal is the only class-exclusive spell in the game. No class other than Bards can get it by any means without multi-classing.

Honestly I think Clerics should have it as well, if not be the ONLY spell list to have it, but whatever, it's probably legacy-baggage or some shit.

>>54495041
It mostly comes down to initiative, but (Moon) Druid is the PvP king due to Conjure Animals and having ready counters for the strongest tactics.

>>54495147
Better magic like more than 2-4 spell slots, and spells over level 5 that don't come from a spell-list full of garbage.

>>54495168
It's significantly worse than the cleric equivalent Mass Heal, Power Word: Heal is a consolation prize.

>>54495163
What a dick.

>>54495178
The bard and warlock lists 6-9 are roughly equal yo.

>>54495178
You mean 6-18 spell slots of their max level. You ARE using the recommended encounter/rest formula right? You aren't just doing it wrong then bitching you did it wrong?

>>54495052
Necromancer Wizard.

Can you guys help me with something that makes me feel super fucking retarded?
I'm suddenly legitimately confused on how health gain works with hit die.
>In two 5e games
>One game every time we level up, we roll hit die and add con modifier for new health.
However, according to rules as written, health gained is "[Hit Die] + your Constitution modifier per class level after first"
>So in the other game, it's gain [Hit Die] + Con Mod times (class level - 1)
Which one of these is the correct way to do it?

>>54495199
>Warlock Level 7 spells: 4
>Bard Level 7 spells: 10

>Equivalent

>>54495133
> Bear totem Barb
> Get hit by Phantasmal Force of an iron maiden
> You are now blind and restrain and take psychic damage forever

>>54495041
> PvP in 5e
You are playing wrong edition bro. All PC are glass cannon, it's pretty much come down to "whoever get the first initative" win. Please go back to 3.5e or Pathfinder for that e-penis contest shit.

>>54495216
(X+con)+Y(1dX+con)

>>54495221
>Warlock level 6 spells: 12
>Bard level 6 spells: 7

>>54495216
The latter is for when trying to calculate health for a new character over level one
ie
>your level 4 monk with +3 con rolls a 5, 5 and 10 for his health
>his starting health is 10+3 = 13
>add 5 + 5 + 10 + 3x(level-1) = 13 + 29

>>54495240
>>54495235
Okay, the wording makes sense now. That actually cleared it up for me, thanks.

>>54495168
>>54495182
Is Power Word Heal the only way to remove the stunned condition in 5e? I'm trying to find a way to revert Divine Word.

>>54495234
we want to test out 5e esports prospects

>>54495408
It literally isn't "e".

>>54495402
Depending on the source, dispel magic or remove curse may work.

>>54495402
>>54495462
Divine word, specifically, is instantaneous, so Dispel Magic is out, and it isn't a curse. As far as i can see, Power Word: Heal is it.

What classes and backgrounds go well with Triton

>>54495016
This, people here meme about how control and Wizards don't even need damage spells to rule.

As someone who played to level 14 as a Wizard, I deeply regret that I never picked up spells inflicting much damage. My only real options in that department were Magic Missile, Wall of Flames and Fireball.

At lower levels I really wish I was casting things like Thunderwave, Ice Knife, Shatter and etc. rather then having to resort to Web and Grease most fights.

>>54495537
Haunted One, Far Traveler, Hermit, Urchin, Sailor, Outlander.
I like using the non-basic employment options if i'm playing a race uncommon to a region, and any of those fit pretty well.

Personally, i played a Haunted One triton who had been raised wrong by sea hags.

>>54495559
Similarly, gaving played to 14 on cleric, i spent more turns attacking than not. Damage is real damned important.

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>>54495562
>urchin
hey you funny guy

Thinking of playing an Ancestral Guardian Barbarian soon. Anyone have any good ideas on how to do it? I was probably going to be using a Warhammer and a Shield.

I was thinking of maybe doing a Bard or Sorcerer dip down the line because it makes sense for the idea, but that seems awful. Anyone have any thoughts other Barbarogue?

Should my Hill Dwarf Fighter take the Tough feat and max CON just for the meme?

>>54495609
People theorycraft all the time on a 3.PF mindset, forgetting concentration is a thing, and that sure you can cast a buff or disable that tilts the fight in your favor, but what the fuck do you do the rest of the fight?

You already casted and are maintaining the most effective non-damage effect you could've used for the situation, so your other 2-3 turns are going to be spent attacking.

Wizards and Clerics do this with their spell slots and class features. Sorcerers and Warlocks do it mainly with their cantrips. Either way you want damage to finish the fight faster.

>>54495691
It's not full meme unless it's Barbarian.

I have a player who wants to play a bulky, unarmored defender type character but doesn't want to go barbarian. Would it be a bad idea to give Unarmored Defense (Con) to a Paladin in exchange for Lay on Hands (or some other class feature)?

>>54495814
tell him to play a barbarian or get the fuck out

>>54495814
Redemption Paladin, my dog.

>>54495822
Nothing about the barbarian fits the characterization he's going for (think Braum from League of Legends) and another player wants to make a Barbarian anyway. I like his character idea and I'm willing to work something out to make it not 4-ability MAD, I just want some outside opinions on this idea I had.

>>54495827
Damn, hadn't read that one before. But one of the biggest character traits was using a shield to protect allies. I might just change it to 14+DEX and allow a shield instead of how it's written. Thanks for the suggestion

>>54495867
If you want a shield then have you considered Stone Sorcerer?

>>54495867
Okay, he can go 1 level in barbarian. This is why multiclassing exists.

>>54495883
I'll make sure to suggest that when we build the character tomorrow, it looks like it could work really well with a bit of flavor changes

>>54495894
He's still really new to the game so I'd rather not deal with multiclassing at all, and taking a level in Barbarian without ever using Rage seems like too much of an investment when I can just adjust things on my end with homebrew or UA

>>54494506
As a reminder, temp hp does not prevent concentration saves. If you're needing that AoA hp, you'll be losing hex. More spell slots will not make up for you playing like a moron.

>>54495928
AoA does not require concentration and does not prevent Hex in any way. Stop trying to defend this garbage class, people got sick of your fanboy'ing like 3 hours ago, fuck.

Hunger of Hadar is one of the best spells in the game, anytime you aren't on an open field.

Creatures that can normally get around Darkness still are Blinded inside it, and allies with dark vision can see right into it.

>>54495944
There is no reason to use the spell period.

>>54495920
I really don't see how or why he wouldn't be able to use """""Rage""""" for his not-barbarian.
But I'm not going to argue with your clearly mentally handicapped friend.

>>54495946
But anon, where will I get my pickled octopus tentacle

>>54495964
Your component pouch?

>>54491492
Oh, that sounds cool. I want to hear the story of the Stoned Knight with his cowboy companions.

>>54495981
That must be one smelly pouch.

So Eldritch Knight with a Greatsword. Good or Bad idea?

>>54495987
Stuffed full of poop and octopus limbs.

>>54495998
This is why any self-respecting mage uses an arcane focus

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>>54496008
A good mage carries both, in case they get disarmed.

Technically there's nothing preventing you from carrying like 10 component pouches, as long as you have the carry-weight limit for it.

>>54496008
Emergency situation, bear grylls style, you can eat your octopus. Can't eat an inanimate rod.

>>54496033
Hold on there are wizards who only carry one of either?
When I play wizard I have at least 3 component pouches and a backup arcane focus on my belt alone.

>>54496033

>10 component pouches
>not just 10 foci

>>54496057
>empty out component pouch
>suddenly have storage
>drop foci
>suddenly make a mess

>>54494890
I'd wager warlock does utility better than a sorcerer. And a bard more often doesn't need to fight to win, but if you're in a fight, they'll still want something useful to do.
>>54495050
>All in all you're doing 6d8 + WIS + PROF + STR/DEX, at level 8.
>Adding proficiency to your damage roll
How new are you?
>>54495240
>Monk with d10 hit die.
Envy.jpg

Why is playing as a Grappler so much fun?

>>54496063

How big is a component pouch? What else are you going to put int here? If you have a backpack which just about everyone gets the storage space from the component pouch is negligible

>>54496033
Can a Bard use component pouches and foci or do I have to carry a dozen instruments with me?

>>54495997
Better than any other option imo

Could someone please put up the pdf with all of the OotA npcs? Thanks heaps.

>party includes one person I allowed to take both Mystic (nerfed) and Changeling
>is a full-on powergamer, metagamer and murderhobo
>causes frequent problems most of the time, but is also one of the party leavers and a friend so mostly just deal with him by throwing higher-end problems at him
>is only tamed by attachment to chaotic good cute girl in group, who just wants to help every NPC
>Mysticling really wants Deck of Many Things added to the game
>be pretty laid back DM with everything, say I'll add it in but won't say where or how to get it
>meanwhile tabaxi faelock, party goof who always rolls high on persuasion/deception in hilarious situations but always low in combat, is away for a couple of weeks
>she's super sad that she doesn't get to play
>do a private online session with her to tide her over and give her character something to report back on after she returns, reason for character being away
>she visits the fae woods and I let her leave with a gift, a single playing card with things written on it that change every so often to give her cryptic clues about the world around her (and mess with her head)
>card is also a secret extra-dimensional storage space for the Deck of Many Things
>faelock comes back
[1/2]

>>54496242
Based on the wording "you can",the Instrument is just an option that the Bard can take, he's not required to have an instrument to cast spells.

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>>54496293
>party proceeds into dungeon
>faelock goes down in combat with multiple shadows (which are personal revenge against mysticling who summons shadows the whole time, which is a pain to design encounters around)
>takes one hit while down because I like to run the risk of death, so far the party always revives themselves just in time
>fucking critical fails on the next death save
>turns out later she had inspiration and could have rerolled
>oh well
>after the fight, they're looting her body, discover that the playing card has opened up and revealed the Deck
>three players draw cards, the middle one being the Mysticling who is delighted
>first player draws the card that allows you to rewrite history
>Mysticling draws ruin and loses every non-magical item
>third player draws 50,000gp
>first player rewrites faelock's death so it never happened
>as a result the Deck was never revealed
>because this would mean a paradox where the card couldn't then work, rule that every card takes effect regardless of the paradox
>tabaxi is restored to life, other player gets 50,000gp, and Mysticling still has no items
>but their characters don't know how it happened or that faelock has the Deck
>mfw

>>54496306
>Mysticling draws ruin and loses every non-magical item

Heh.

>>54496301
It confuses me though because all the other magic classes have a similar wording, with wizard saying "you can use an arcane focus" and cleric saying "you can use a holy symbol" etc so could I not use a holy symbol as a bard? Also Sorcerer doesn't say anything but I guess it would be silly that they could start with an arcane focus and not be able to use it.

I tried browsing r/DnD and it is absolute garbage, like mind numbingly bad. Has it always been this bad?

>>54496364
What's bad about it? Never been there.

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How do I get to his restaurant from Faerun?

>>54496364

I have a multireddit with
/r/AskGameMasters
/r/DnD
/r/DnDBehindTheScreen
/r/dndnext
/r/Dungeons_and_Dragons
/r/DungeonsAndDragons
/r/rpg

Between those subs there's normally four or five good posts a day. Normally I just head to behindthescreen and sort by new to help out all the first-timer DMs.

Will it look bad if I go to my DM with a Dwarven Barbarian with this for stats? I won't lie that it's minmaxing but it is very... Dwarfy.

17, 13, 17, 10, 10, 8.

Plan to grab Squat Nimbleness with my first ASI and raise DEX and CON by one with my second. Going for a Battlerager who does a mix of grappling and two-handing a Warhammer.

I'm running a game focusing around the development of a colony in the New World. Anybody got any good music for this? It helps me get into the creative planning zone.

>>54496493
You're playing DnD. It's a minmaxy or die system. If your DM has an issue with minmaxing he should be running a different system more suited to less mechanic-focused characters.

>>54488209
As an action, the monster ends one magical effect it is aware of within 20 feet of it. Then, if the creator of that effect is within [melee range], the monster makes an attack against it as a bonus action.

Optionally, the creature could also gain temporary HP when it does this.

Cut out the bonus action attack and it also works as a Legendary Action for a boss encounter.

>>54496493
It's not minmaxing at all.

In fact it's kind of dumb with the other things your saying.

Your first ASI should go into +1 STR/DEX for better to-hit, damage and AC, and then at level 8 you need to pick up Great Weapon Master.

>>54496552
No feats, DM's added in other weapon balances. I'm not going to type them out but it's effectively a buff to all martials. Rest of my group is fairly casual and so even if weapon feats were an option I'd avoid them.

Really I'm more gonna have fun with this, that's why I'm going for a single classed grappler even though it's not great.

>>54496492
/r/dnd is trash even by reddit standards.

>>54496242
>not rolling Big Band

>>54490735
>Setting
Large plane with four major continents. Current campaign is on one of the smaller ones which is still bigger than Forgotten Realms. All continents are surrounded by oceans with one continent just 300 feet from the surface of the ocean where I'm going to run a full aquatic/archipelago campaign eventually. Current campaign is on a continent called Aergos where permanent magic items have practically died out except in the hands of the ultra wealthy and families who were around when the Artificer Lord Madreius was creating magic items with his Five Forges. He disappeared and most of the knowledge was lost in a war in which the Ancient Dragons battled one another.

>Gods
10 major Gods. The racial gods are known of but not worshipped in a great way. Most people on Aergos worship one of the 10 in the pantheon.

>Races
Humans, halflings, high/dark elves, hill/mountain dwarves, goliaths, goblinoids, dragonborn, draconians, giants, gnomes, lizardfolk, tieflings and kobolds.

>>54496721
>Party
Lizardfolk Barbarian who fled his homeland. Is a variant created by an ancient black dragon which controls his homeland. On a mission set by the ancient bronze dragon who controls the ancient dragonsbane weapons he wants to kill the ancient black.

Hobgoblin Warden who was sent out from the Yurmattis Empire (hobgoblin homeland) to deal with the exiles who were threatening the peace with the hill dwarves to the west, the humans to the south and the elves to the east. A warden is a no-spell ranger/fighter hybrid I created.

Halfling Musicmaker whose village was destroyed by the exiles the former was sent to deal with. Has a good relationship with the warden since the warden saved him and helped him take revenge on their intro. Is currently dragging the party along to Silversong City where the Silversong, a clan of Musicmakers, are located.

Tiefling Investigator who's tracking a necromancer who attempted to raise one of the companions of Madreius in the city named after the hero. Almost killed her on their second encounter with the necromancer in question with a bowl she kicked at the necromancer. Is loving how I built the investigator like an ace detective mixed with Jackie Chan combat.

Human Templar of Vemnas, God of Justice and Combat. Served as a protector of the Temple of Vemnas in Aiyer where the investigator was. They tracked her down together but couldn't kill her (so many 1s...) before she escaped. Wants to take the party to the Godsmount when he goes on his pilgrimage.

Dwarven Cleric of Kauris, Goddess of Fertility, Protection and Love. Used to be a protector of the former King of Chasmcap (mountain dwarf kingdom located on top of a massive chasm in the far east) but on a trip to the Godsmount, had a vision of Kauris welcoming him into her arms as one of her children. Found the barbarian when he was dying on the side of the road and saved him. Plays a gruff old dwarf who is actually a
softie and is DEVOTED to 'Mother Kauris.'

How disturbed would you be if a player at your table played a beast master ranger who sadistically abused his animal companion, took out any frustrations on it, beat it with a whip, and choked it until near the point of passing out, but was otherwise a pretty nice and cooperative guy with the rest of the party?

>>54496788
His beast companion runs away the first chance it gets. Or make a secret roll every time he abuses it. On a set roll, it does whatever it takes to kill him or escape and dies trying.

When he tries to get another, make him pay out the ass to buy a new one or spend weeks trying to find an animal to serve as his companion.

Or, in my setting, one of two goddesses would lay a curse upon him which causes animals to avoid or attempt to murder the everliving fuck out of him.

I tell my players session one if the campaign is evil, good or anything aligned. If it's evil, have at it. If it's a good campaign? Prepare the anus.

>incendiary cloud
>The cloud moves 10 feet directly away from you in a direction that you choose at the start of each of your turns.
>away from you
>in a direction you chose

This is absolutely retarded. Which one is it?

>>54490735
Setting:
>Prison plane for an ancient demigod abomination created by Orcus
>held there by six "Pillars", weapons imbued with the souls of six heroes who trapped themselves on the island plane forever
>Pillars are stored in towers only visible on a second layer to the plane, like a source code
>cultists found a way to punch through the first layer into the second by tearing a hole in it, stored as a stone
>removing the pillars from the towers causes the bindings to fail and the plane to collapse a little bit more
>time and minds are warped by the extreme proximity to a murder demigod in a coma
>plane is only inhabited by people who are a combination of the dreams of the six heroes and those of the demigod
>party doesn't know that they're only dreams, believe they were kidnapped in Faerûn and abducted to here
>they're a little more than a dream, as they're actually a long-standing plan by Orcus to release An at a later date, and were smuggled into the plane along with the demigod-binding magic

Party:
>Tabaxi Faelock who's super dumb and super gay, flirts with every man he sees, chases after butterflies, but tries to persuade people he's actually a world-famous detective, and somehow always succeeds
>Mystic Changeling who wants to re-establish an order of assassins he used to belong to, but has an alliance with the half-orc cleric
>Half-Orc Cleric, who wants to start a war between the humans and the elves to benefit the oppressed orcs and bring glory to Gruumsh
>Half-Elf Bard, who just wants to help everyone, but occasionally has moral breakdowns and does questionable acts
>Halfling Monk, who was sent on a quest away from his monastery to ensure he didn't die in an oncoming attack, and to protect a powerful staff the monastery owned
>Half-Orc Sorcerer, who has only written half of her backstory so far, lost her child to slavers

Gods and races are as standard, save for An, the demigod whose body is the island and for whom the plane is a prison.

I'm already running a 5th ed campaign is Xanathars guide to everything worth getting? Or any of the other sourcebooks for that matter? I already have the core books and Volo's guide to monsters.

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>>54496788

>>54496825
They're all worth having, but you could just get the PDFs.

>>54496814

I didn't say he was evil, it's just an animal

>>54496814

RAW, no

>The companion obeys your commands as best it can. It rolls for initiative like any other creature, but you determine its actions, decisions, attitudes, and so on. If you are incapacitated or absent, your companion acts on its own.

> its bond is always, "The ranger who travels with me is a beloved companion for whom I would gladly give my life."

>>54496831
Holy kek

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>>54496815
If I understand it, it's sent any direction, as long as it's away from you, as it pertains to where you are currently standing.

As an example, I stand and cast Incendiary Cloud and send it West before moving 30 feet East. On my next turn, I can send the cloud North, North-West, West, South-West, and South, but not South-East, East, or North-East from where I am on the current turn.

Or I could be completely retarded

>>54496879
Why can't I have it move towards me? It just doesn't make sense. It also says "directly" away from you.

>>54496896

You choose the direction by repositioning yourself

:^)

>>54496815
Any direction, as long as it is farther from you than the starting position

DMing for the first time with a group of players that are new to d&d. Putting them through the starter campaign adapted to a homebrew setting.
Are low level encounters meant to be so fast-paced and enemies so short-lived? Does pacing change as more levels and combat features get introduced or are encounters still regularly completed in two to three rounds?

>>54497182
>moves 10 feet directly away from you
>directly

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>>54496831
>That image

>>54497199
They might get a little little longer but I've never seen an encounter last more than 15 or so rounds, and that took the entire 2 hour session.

>>54497199
Depends on the encounter. I've had long ones and short ones - short ones tend to be better for basic fights otherwise the players get bored, but long and incredibly tense ones serve better for boss fights, as their resources get slimmer and slimmer throughout.

The difficulty I have is trying to make a boss sufficiently powerful without just one-shotting PCs.

>>54496896
Sure you can have it move directly towards you if you're a fucking suicidal retard.

>>54497207
>implying it just doesn't mean it moves on a straight path

>>54497238
I've been toying with the idea of reskinning trumpeter from nocturne as a boss battle probably as an angel+devil abomination.
I probably will give up on it for the numerous reasons it's a fucking awful idea.

Is there a more fun/involved/interesting way of allowing my party of new d&d players to learn important information about monsters than an in-combat knowledgecheck? Simple things like fire's effects on trolls are still unknown to them and I'm not sure how to clue them in on it without just giving it away.

>>54497377
>fire's effects on trolls are still unknown to them and I'm not sure how to clue them in on it without just giving it away.
Have them run into a troll skeleton (like a corpse, not an undead). Put scorch marks on the wall or make a note that the bones are charred.

If a wizard fails to exit his demiplane before the spell expires is he trapped in there? The spell demiplane creates a door from where you are into another demiplane but if you make a door from 1 demiplane to the next how are you going to get out?

>>54488209
>>54488635
The beholder has the antimagic cone which functions as the antimagic field spell.
You could give a creature magic resistance + antimagic cone which gives temp HP equal to spell level of all magic it absorbs. If you're feeling really nasty, give a +10 hp and permanent absorption per item level (eg. +2 becomes +1 first round, mundane 2nd).

>>54497431
Yes. You could use Plane Shift to escape (provided you have the appropriate metal rod) or you could arguably cast Banishment on yourself since you're not native to that demiplane

>>54497469
What if you're a Clone who just recovered from a death. For banishment, are you a native to the demiplane? What determines nativeness for a plane?

>>54497514
>What if you're a Clone who just recovered from a death.
I'm not aware of any specific rules. If I were DM, I'd rule that a Clone's native plane is the same as the original creature's.

>>54497514
>Nativeness
I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination but I would say that "nativeness" is determined by where your soul was created or where it belongs (Material Plane).

>>54496788
I've thought about doing this as well, I talked with some people and most kinda agreed about how they'd like to see it played.

I highly recommend making good use of the ability to get a new one for 50gp. In that once you get to higher levels then basically use your pet as a trained suicide bomber of anger and attacks. Hell even strap explosives to the thing.

I wouldn't choke or beat it for fun, but for reason. Act like an old school lion tamer, how they basically made sure that the animal knew it was his bitch. I'd make good use of choker chains and probably a whip for more servere issues.

Lastly don't play "sadist for the sake of it". No one likes traveling with that. If other party members are upset by your methods of using whatever animals you can find as improvised warriors then point out that they often kill people for very little reason, and that they probably would've killed the animal if they met it anyway.

>>54490735
>setting
ye olde roman shit
>gods
I don't pay much attention to them desu
>races
standard D&D stuff, plus animal people
>party
Horrible necromancer child, less horrible fighter child (long story involving baleful polymorph), horrible thieving sorc, a literal healslut, kinda oblivious sorc, and a fairly nice ranger.

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What are the three most effective characters to play in Storm King's Thunder? (single-class).

Which spell to poach from Wizard list as Wu Jen?

Dispel Magic and Counterspell?

>>54491653
Didn't know there was one

Thanks to you too

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>>54490735
>Tell me about your setting.
Fritz Lieber's Nehwon, 20 years past the last novel.
>Tell me about your gods.
" ... the gods have very sharp ears for
boasts, or for declarations of happiness
and self-satisfaction, or for assertions of
a firm intention to do this or that, or for
statements that this or that must surely
happen, or any other words hinting that a
man is in the slightest control of his own
destiny. And the gods are jealous, easily
angered, perverse, and swift to thwart."
- Under the Thumbs of the Gods
>Tell me about your races.
Various races of Man. The tall hardy men of the Eight Cities, the Northmen, the Mingols, the Eastern-men and the hairless Eevanmarensi, the swarthy men of the Southlands, the native peoples of the Klesh Rainforest, the strange subterranean Quarmallians and the undersea Simorgyans.
>Tell me about you party.
Best friend is playing a Southerner Holy-man entangled in the God's machinations,
His wife is a native Klesh Ranger out exploring the land of Nehwon
Another friend is a noble Arcane Trickster from the opalescent city of Tisinilit
And the new guy is a stout Barbarian from remote Rime Isle.

>>54496788
As a DM? Unless he had an absolutely stellar reason for writing his character like that, I'd tell him to either cut that shit out or find a new group. Edginess for the sake of edginess is a huge red flag and I'd honestly be creeped out and wonder if he was using his character to act out his psychopathic fantasies.

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>>54490735
>Eberron
>Eberron gods
>Eberron races
>tfw none of your friends want to play in an Eberron game

>>54497831
Bow to your friend's superior taste in settings.

>>54497839
Thanks for the hot take, cunt.

>>54490735
>Tell me about your setting.
Massive, sea-sized forest that supposedly rearranges itself at night. The culture is based on Appalaichan and midwestern logging folklore, so the woods are full of nasty cryptids and other fearsome critters. Lots of coal mines in the swampy region to the southeast. Guns exist (reskinned crossbows with 19-20 crit range but 1=misfire).

Local legends for the forest's wondrous properties include it being grown over a mass grave of dragons, it being the first ecosystem ever formed on land, it being planted by a single magic seed from the gods, and it exhaling magical energy into the world the way mundane trees exhale oxygen.

>Tell me about your gods.
28 of them in total, each paired with another, and most of them based on a figure from American history or culture. P.T. Barnum as a Trickery god, for example, or John Wayne (in character) as a god of the wilderness.

>Tell me about your races.
PHB races are in it, as well as homebrewed Sasquatch and Mothman races (slight variants on Firbolgs and aarakocra). There's also the three Volo's goblinoids, orcs, drow, and duergar; I wanted a lot of racial options to accentuate the old American idea of the melting pot. These "evil" races aren't necessarily evil in this setting but can still only find refuge in the more isolated mountain towns to the north or in the seedy, criminal communes by the coal mines.

>Tell me about your party.
Still can't get there shit together because there's not a single day of the week where all of them are free at the same time and no one wants to bring the hammer down about who's just not going to be able to play.

>>54493509

Keep a Google Spreadsheet of travelling shopkeepers handy. Have them sell exotic items or unusual trinkets when they cross the players' path.

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>have an idea
>unable to write it down
>lose it

>>54488083
how have you incorporated patron gods with warlocks?

>>54490735
I hate these "blog at me" posts, because it feels like no one ever reads the replies.
>>54490875
>>54490914
>>54491077
>>54491463
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>>54491648
Well this one got read at least.
>>54493131
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>>54493481
>>54493550
>>54494105
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>>54496721
>>54496787
>>54496822
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>>54497831
>>54497948
I know I don't.