/5eg/ - D&D Fifth Edition General

Also, what's up with you fuckers not posting a new thread before the old one dies? It's happened twice in a row now

Silent Image or Bane? You get no further information other than I'm a Warlock.

Would you consider dracoliches and dragons raised from the dead by necromancy the same thing, challenge wise? If there is a separate stat block, I cannot remember it very well.

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Alright /5eg/ I'm interested in running a game for a group of 5 or 6. I've never GM'd before, and I just recently was able to participate in my first full campaign, which sparked even more interest into this hobby.

So what I have so far, and Im open to critique, but as a foundation for the story I want my players to only be able to choose monster races from this pool: Goblin, Orc, Hobgoblin, Bugbear, Kobold, and Pureblood Yuan-Ti. They are apart of an elite group blood knights (Some sort of cultist knights) under the same villainous deity. Their mission was to delve into this deep cavernous labyrinth for ____ *insert magical artifact or something here* But the campaign starts with them waking up at the bottom, or possibly at some bonfire (a la Dark Souls) or something. I want it to be a long dungeon crawl through a spooky magical labyrinth full of puzzles and monsters and loot and varying landscapes that are all underground. Is that a solid base for a campaign? Should I limit classes/find certain new classes for specific races? I want to start them off at higher level than 1, what would be a good level to use?

I have many more questions, but any tips or comments on what I have so far would start to push me in the right direction.

Thanks guys.

>>54884128
Zombie and skeleton dragons would be chumps compared to dracoliches.

How do you play an evil character without being a dick? I'm curious what it would look like in/out of character.

I've played most alignments but nothing evil yet out of the fear of making an unfun game/making the game all about me.

>>54884070
Bane, since it scales

How are you getting either of these spells, anyway? Magic Initiate? They're not on the Warlock spell list or any of the expanded spell lists for patrons

>>54884070
Neither.

>>54884136

Don't start off doing something unorthodox, start off doing something normal and tropey so you don't have to learn a whole bunch of weird shit while you figure out how to do the normal duties

>>54884174
What weird shit would I have to learn other than the racials/stats of the offbase race?

Since we just ran a 5e tropey campaign, I want to keep their interest with something new, what are some things I would need to keep track of because of the unorthodox races?

>>54884166
Magic Initiate choosing Bard. Scaling doesn't matter much as I will only be able to cast it at lowest level.

>>54884167
Golly that seems silly.

>>54884136
It's up to you but I almost always start players at level 2. Level one in 5e is almost completely determined by luck. A lucky crit from an enemy has autokilled a player before in a game I was playing. Level 2, they still feel weak and new, but it's a bit more stable.

Also like someone else said, don't feel bad starting with super simple shit and working your way up.

Most important thing I can stress to a new DM is that you can't plan everything, it will just take too much time. Have a good outline of the session to come, but planning every minute detail is suicide. Also remember to talk to your players, get a sense of what they're enjoying and what they aren't.

You sound really eager so you'll probably be fine. Good luck Anon.

>>54884213
Concentration spells competing with hex will usually be a worse option. Silent Image isn't terrible, but is, generally, redundant with Minor Image, a cantrip. Personally, i'd go with Healing Word, using it as an emergency option.

Here's my homebrew spell lists for warhammer fantasy setting:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HSe3I_7ueoAFopOkEplcwyX-9rtWeDkbqlPAIBWxm8M/edit?usp=sharing

I made it for an evil campaign I'm running in the setting, so it has some lore in it for my players who are unfamiliar
Includes many of the lores of magic with re-flavored 5e spells and homebrew spells, some races, and feats for users of different lores of magic.

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Would be the most terrible thing if I replaced the 5th ed skills with the 4th's? I'd also change dungeoneering to engineering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v2_JDz2Di0

>>54884155
LE is what you want or LN where others look at you as LE from another side.

>>54884287

I'd say what type of mechanic you are and then say go to /sci/.

>>54884137
But by how much, do you think? I don't think I'll get to throw a dracolich at my players for at least a year, but as a climax against an evil necromancer? Might be dope.

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>>54883947
All sorts of cool shit. Crocodiles, kobolds, a swarm of pirahnas in the enclosed river, and a pissed-off Merrow for good measure. Also, it's chock full of traps. See that ladder? Top rung is balsa wood, enjoy a ten foot fall. Those pillars you have to jump on in the first section? Make too much noise or alert the kobolds and they pour sand on them. My players best be using their ten-foot pole.

>>54884289
>real D&D players don't care about the quality of the rules!

>>54884155
Remember that being evil doesn't mean killing everyone you meet. We've had a few evil characters in my group over the years that emphasise callous selfishness rather than outright cruelty:

>A spoiled but cowardly halfling warlock
Always looking to cut corners and take the easy way out to achieve what he wants, regardless of consequences. Easily shouted down by the rest of the group and sees himself as above petty quarrels but is really just too afraid to disagree with the barbarian.

>A con-man Valor Bard
Living his whole life as a lie, pretending to be a legendary knight and reaping all the benefits. Continually mocks the stupidity of townsfolk for believing his facade and giving him free board, but by all outward appearances upholds and respects the law he claims to represent

>A Mercenary Dwarf Fighter
Personal morals aside, he'd been paid to do the same job as the party and wanted see it through, even if his allies slowed things down with their moral qualms.

>>54884413
This is just the stuff I was looking for. I was finding it really hard to understand what is evil, as opposed to someone thinking they're doing good.

Thanks anon

What's the party level? I think if you turn something into a zombie first you apply a general template:
>lower int to 3 and cha to 5
>lower dex and wis to 8, maybe 6 (lower AC accordingly)
>immunity to poison and the poisoned condition
>Undead Fortitude
>maybe lower its con and HP as well (and if you do, then the breath weapon save DC as well)

>>54884439
Should've been a reply to >>54884343
Also give it proficiency in Wisdom saves if it doesn't have it

What's the sweet spot of a party in terms of numbers?

>>54884501
5

>>54884501
Prob 4

>>54884501
4 or 5 good players

>>54884224
Honestly if they have any experience with RPGs I'd just jump right to level 3. never made sense to me to play through a couple sessions before choosing your major class features, especially when it's things like "the oath you swear as a true paladin of paladinning" or "which school you went to as a wizard".

Is Matt Mercer's Gunslinger balanced compared to a Fighter with a bow?

>>54884413
I'm a bit new to DnD.
So a snake oil salesman type would be considered evil even if he's not out killing people.

>>54884743
Depends. A person who genuinely believed in their miracle cures could be good, a salesmen just dealing goods of a dubious nature is often neutral, and a person who knows that their actions could cause harm but choose to do it anyway for personal benefit is acting evilly.

>>54884501

4-5 is great, 3 or 6 is okay. 2 or 7 is actively unpleasant but doable. 1 or 8+ is going to require heavily, heavily modified rules to not be actively miserable for all involved.

>>54884795
>1
You just don't know how to do 1 on 1 campaigns

You start small, super basic ideas like "I'm a fighter who wants to make a living providing "protection" to tavern owners and shopkeepers. Things like that. It relies heavily on players/DM's to be able to RP very well

>>54884695
It's basically a Ranger with some home brew features. It's fine.

>>54884792
My character won't be trying to cause harm to people, just scam them of their gold a bit. Almost literally an old timey snake oil salesman.

How do I roll dice so I can hit the number I want more often? Is there any good techniques for this?

>>54884897
Buy crooked dice or consider why you want to cheat at tabletop RPGs and evaluate your priorities

>>54884906
I don't wanna cheat, I just wanna roll better slightly more often

>>54884840
That's probably evil, illegall and dangerous, but not Evil and self-destructively vicious just enough to be really Evil, if you catch my drift.

>>54884908
>wanting to influence the outcome of a dice roll
>an object literally created to be as unbiased as possible
>not cheating

I'm not sure you really understand what cheating means.

>>54884840
It really depends on intent. Build some scenarios and answer them
>If someone was extremely poor, and couldn't feed their children if they buy it, do you do anything? Do you care?
>If someone offers you a months worth of gold to slip some poison into a known customers product, do you do it? Are you offended, or interested?
>If an old rival comes into town, and you have weight with the locals, do you get them chased out of town? Have them dispatched?

It's pretty clear you aren't good, but are you evil at heart, or simply a neutral character that does vaguely evil things.

If a creature is concentrating on a spell, and then is turned or frightened, does it break concentration?

>>54885049
Yes

>>54885087
>>54885049
I can't seem to find any rule that would confirm that, neither being frightened nor turned incapacitates you.

>>54885049
>>54885087
Source?

>>54885122
I would actually argue that Frightened doesn't automatically break concentration, but it would certaintly trigger a roll.

The rules say this:
> The DM might also decide that certain environmental phenomena, such as a wave crashing over you while you’re on a storm-tossed ship, require you to succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration on a spell.

And as a DM I would definitely include being Frightened as worthy of a concentration save.

Turned enemies flee in abject terror, doing absolutely nothing except run away from you as fast as possible. I would definitely count that as breaking concentration.

>>54884287
Constant +5 to skills you're proficient with, instead of your proficiency bonus?
Are you OK with rogues having +13 to skill at 1st level? If so, go for it, i guess.

Only thing that might be an issue is grappling, shoving and similar - relatively big starting bonus means specialists can succeed more often against unfocused characters. Bounded accuracy was in the game for reason - so that every roll is "exciting", for it has significant chance for both success and failure.

What do you hope to accomplish by this ruling?

On the other hand, engineering instead of dungeoneering sounds like good idea.

>>54884501
3

>>54884897
Fuck you, Anon.

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So I'm running a campaign based on Aztec/Mayan mythology and I am trying to work on some sacrificial stuff for it. One case i was thinking that making a sacrifice to a specific god could get you a bonus of some sort.

Pic related is my blood magic. Any opinions?

>>54885242
I like the idea of blood magic as metamagic in combat but otherwise I think it'd mostly be ritual stuff. Not a fan of giving out free spell slots though. You could rig up a simpler formula for like N*HitDie per Sorc Point plus the CON save.

It would probly fuck sorcerers though.

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What can I use as an elevator pitch to sell my co-workers on trying D&D?

They're women, but already play lots of board games and video games. They're really into Bethesda games.

>>54885284
So on empowering it'd be like pop 3 sorc points and do 3*d6 plus con save?

>>54885291
A human moderated Co-op sandbox world that is written as you go powered by IMAGINATION and tropes.

>>54885304
That's the idea, not sure how that scales throughout the game, you could run some numbers at various levels and see how punishing that would be and maybe mod it. HitDie*.5 or something instead if that fits better. There'd probly have to be some introductory cost too. Some feats or a custom class feature. Ritual stuff would be nicer though, not a lot to balance in that shit.

>>54884795
I enjoyed 1 on 1 campaigns

>>54885322
>>54885304
Oh maybe have those hit dice used for blood magic consume the hitdice heal per short rests just in case it gets too cheesy. Also one unified way to keep track of uses per day other than 'how beat to shit am I?'

>>54885322
Fair point. I'll have to do some calculations. And how do you mean ritual stuff. L ike one of the blood magic spells is a ritual? Or they can like pick a ritual spell to add to their spell list?

>>54885334
So instead of damage during the battle empowering a spell the hit dice would be just expended and unavailable to use for healing during a short rest?

>>54885373
Bloody versions of ritual spells seem like they would be much easier to fluff through without massive balance issues.
>X HP damage replaces Y costs of materials for spell
>Doesn't have to be your own blood in this case so barbarian bloodbag powered spells could work maybe

For the hit dice I was thinking both, temporary HP could breeze past damage restrictions so making them 'consumed' would just make them slightly more limited and make players think more carefully about it per-day.

Honestly, just a half thought out description of this sounds better to me than the sorcerer class already.

>>54885323
>I enjoyed ERPing with random dudes on the internet

>>54885434
its not gay if their character is an elf

>>54885440
I'm not judging his want to suck elven dick, I'm judging his need to like about it on a slovakian wine tasting registry

>>54884413
>by all outward appearances upholds and respects the law he claims to represent
>but he's only faking it
>Haha stupid peasants thinking just because I saved the village Im some kind of hero!

Is he tsundere to the concept of being a hero?

>>54885403
Okay cool! I hadn't thought of ritual spells while working on this so I'm gonna have to go through again ha.

I've also been thinking about giving small mechanical buffs based on sacrifices to specific gods. For example if a player cuts a heart out with a sacrificial knife in the name of Huitzilopochtli then he would get like 1 bonus damage on all damage rolls for like a week or something.

>>54885470

I mean...Dragonheart.

>>54885481
Ritual spells could be the coolest, it would explain/enable giant mass sacrifices and shit for high level spells. I dunno about fightan/enchanting mechanics as much as the spell side though.

>>54885488
That sounds interesting. Like a group of lower level spell casters could cast a higher level ritual spell if they had enough sacrifices?

>>54885500
No idea. Sounds like a good campaign hook.

>>54885507
Reminds me of Circle Magic, but with more dying.

Thoughts on this house rule to help combat not feel so static?

>when you roll a melee weapon attack, if the attack roll is within 3+/- the AC, both characters involved move 5ft.

The movement can be either stuck together and moving, or rotating / pivoting around each other, or whatever. Still fleshing out details. Also, I'm applying common sense so moving over / into hazards like traps or sheer drops isn't an automatic fuck you, or probably not even possible unless an action / grapple is used to do so.

>>54885526
I'm pretty sure that would invalidate some stuff. Like on-hit-shove-as-bonus-action sounds like it's in there somewhere. I know open hand monks would get fucked.

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Thinking of playing a Theurge Wizard. Regarding their selection of Cleric spells:

>Beginning when you select this tradition at 2nd level, whenever you gain a wizard level, you can replace one of the wizard spells you add to your spellbook with a cleric domain spell for your chosen domain. The spell must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
>If you add all of your domain spells to your spellbook, you can subsequently add any spell from the cleric spell list instead. The spell must still be of a level for which you have spell slots.

So does this mean you need to be level 10 to even start collecting non-domain Cleric spells? Or, for example, at level 3 T. Wizard take your two 1st and 2nd domain Cleric spells, which allows you to then take non-domain 1st and 2nd level Cleric spells?

Also, what's a good domain to go?
Thanks

Whoa, monk looks really fun this edition.

>>54885533
Both player and monster would stay engaged as in within 5 ft of each other.

Would you allow two players who can cast the same ritual spell to be able to cast it together as group casting and bump up the spell level?

>>54885670
It's just very toe-steppy. there's loads of other mechanics which do that and relegating it to a simple attack is not going to mix well. If you have nobody else who has any means of grappling, 1 melee guy in your group and he's not built for control maybe you could give him that.

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>>54885564

>>54885687
No but I'd maybe allow to half the casting time on succesful Arcana check.

So dead threads is the new meta?

Anyway, catching up on some autism I'd missed and I wanted to share this.
>>54846539
>but they should at least remove the superfluous "in addition" and maybe just rephrase the whole section.
They actually did change that section in future printings, and you can see it in the SRD version of the text.

"If the d20 roll for an attack is a 20, the attack hits regardless of any modifiers or the target’s AC. This is called a critical hit."

If that makes you feel better.

>>54885810
Oh damn, I missed a chance to include one of these in my reply.
>>54846892
>That post is like 4 hours old.
>2 days and 9 hours ago.
I do this because I have a lot of dead time at work and ya'll don't post enough during these hours.

>>54885689
What if I treated it like a lair action, or combat complication, where it randomly effects combatants within 5ft of each other. Each round the back and forth nature of melee combat muddles the battlefield and simulates the chaos of a real melee.

>>54885982
Could be interesting, I definitely see the reasoning for it, just a lot of homebrew does not interact well with the base game rules. Not like they're sacred but there's PROBABLY something like that somewhere in the rules that could be repurposed or used as a guideline.

Maybe something like shifting terrain rules around mid fight (which already have checks associated with them) and forcing a move on the same space they occupy.

>>54884826
1 on 1 sounds too intimate. Some stuff requires a group of people to not be awkward

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How am I /tg/?

How would a monk vs a paladin fight stack up?

>>54886171
>Dawnforge shit
No.

>>54886191
What is dawn forge?

>>54886173
>smite
>monk dies

Or

>monk runs away

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Alright 5eg, I need help building a vampire killer sorcerer. I generally choose my spells based on what life events happen with my sorcerer, like at lower levels he got his ass handed to him by lots of undead things, so by the time he got 4th level he chose chill touch and shield. At fifth level he chose haste so that he not only could get away from the baddies, but also to give the martials more confidence so hopefully they just rush in and take the damage instead. Now strahd has been really pissing him off lately so he has fireball, and I'm pretty sure we are close to level 7, and I'm not sure what would fit well. Wild magic sorcerer and my spells so far are 1st: mage armor, chaos bolt, magic missile, shield. 2nd:scorching ray 3rd:fireball, haste

>>54886212
Dawnforge is a piece of shit Youtuber who started a harassment campaign against other RPG Youtubers using fake accounts, drove some of these RPG Youtubers from Youtube, got caught and got called out on it, and then blamed it on his brother.
He comes across as creepy and overbearing in his videos because only his way of doing things is the right way.
He made fun of Critical Role and Dice Camera Action and told them off because the DMs running the games weren't him and he'd do a better job.
He interviewed Matt Mercer, only it was a one sided interview because he only used video grabs and sound bites of Matt Mercer. That was fucking creepy.

>>54886238
Monk goes in and flurry of blows with the open hand monk.

>>54886173
Monk would Stunning Strike Paladin until he won. Paladin wins if he's still alive after monk exhausts his ki.

>>54884155
>>54884413
I've played evil characters before. He was charming and friendly to most people, but only because he always chose the path of least resistance.

Randomly killing children? Likely to bring the guards and cause trouble.

Being polite and likeable? People help you in your goals.

Travelling gnome merchant vastly overcharging you for the item you need and he's got no guards? Kill him, take everything.

Evil just means you don't worry about the morals of a choice.

>>54886173
Once in a blue moon the Monk will get off a few stunning strikes (DC: 12 vs Paladin's +5 CON+CHA) which will let him win, but otherwise the Paladin is tankier, does more damage with smites, and can heal himself to full at least once with Lay on Hands

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My players are joining the local actor's guild

What are some ideas for plays that I can write that are going on?

>>54886363
Lawful Evil can have morals too. It just means you place your moral code over that of everyone else, by force if need be.

You can be an evil bastard without being an outright monster.

Should I trade my cloak of protection for a whistle that can cast animate dead? I will only have 11 AC without it.

>>54886430
What's your character class and playstyle?

>>54884501
Been playing with 3 or 4 players and 2 simultaneous DMs. Shit is actually way better than normal

>>54884501
5. We currently play with 6, but two of them do so little it feels like 5 anyway

>>54886480
Having two DMs is great if they work together and play off each other well. Especially conversations with NPCs can get really fun.

>>54884155
You don't even need to be terrible to be evil. Your average thug, thief or conman are all technically 'evil'. Lite evil is basically just having very flimsy morals - you can even be actively against killing people (unless absolutely necessary) and still be definitely below neutral. Being a crafty suck-up is usually easier and more profitable, anyway.

If you're a high enough level warlock, does war caster proc eldritch blast to be cast with more than one ray at that single target?

>>54884155
Also remember that characters are not necessarily static in morals. They grow and change. My old Neutral Good Oath of Ancients paladin became Lawful Good during the course of the campaign.

And I'm currently playing a character who used to be a torturer for a criminal gang. He's charismatic as fuck and used to lying his way through every social encounter in his life, but the current party is kinda growing on him since this is the first time he's ever had something that might be called 'friends'. And he's willing to go extremely far to protect them.

Yes, I'm ripping off the new Star Wars novels but fuck you, Sinjir is awesome.

>>54886395
CURSED PLAY!

>>54884155
The most important thing to keep in mind when playing an "evil" character is that even shitty people have friends/family/people they care about. Pure indiscriminate evil does not exist, and makes for flat characters.

So I had a idea for a spellcaster that lived in a desert community, so he and his fellow spellcasters just went with manipulating sand.
Was just thinking what tools would be appropriate for other places that are not deserts, clothing that can be transmuted into sand, a container of sand, anything else?

>>54886533
It doesn't say anything like "the spell must not be able to target more than one creature at its current level," like the errata does for twinned spell, so sure I'd count it.

>>54885544
>Or, for example, at level 3 T. Wizard take your two 1st and 2nd domain Cleric spells, which allows you to then take non-domain 1st and 2nd level Cleric spells?

This is correct.

>>54886622
Pocket Sand

>>54886395
>>54886618
Yeah I was gonna suggest something like the hanged king's tragedy or episode 3 of ghost stories.

if you just want normal stuff, you could always search through titles of lesser-known but real plays and make up things for them to be about. bonus points if your players know the titles and (incorrectly) assume they know the content.

>>54884501
In person, I'd say 3 or maybe 4 if they're all experienced.

If it's online I actually like keeping it to 2 or 3. If 2, I provide some interesting hirelings for the party to choose from to help pad out the constant 1-on-1 interactions.

>>54886430
>11 AC

excuse the fuck out of me? is it even possible to play 5th edition with such a low AC? this game is almost entirely balanced around a very stable 14-20 AC on every single damn character, regardless of class.

>>54884897
git gud

>>54886395
Pull some Phantom of the Opera shit.

>>54886395
The King in Yellow

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>>54886395
Do your own twist on a Lysistrata. It's a short play, but it's an absolute classic for raucous fun. Go read it and then start thinking up of how a similar scenario might apply or play out in your campaign setting.

The great part is, unless you're playing with artsy thespians, most people know absolutely nothing about the play, so you can easily avoid the situation where people instantly recognize what you're doing or where you're pulling stuff from which always makes things like this lose their fun.

>>54886854
10 base + 1 dex + no armour
certainly possible, probably a bad idea

>>54886430
i am also curious to hear more about this now
what is the deal with the 11 AC character

>>54886173
Monk. Spend 1 ki to disengage as a bonus action, kite forever with 60' move speed. Quivering Palm, doesn't matter if he passes his save, 10d10 necrotic. 4 ki to become INVISIBLE, for 1 minute, and resistant to ALL damage. Advantage on every strike, paladin has disadvantage. It can't be dispelled, even if a paladin had access to dispel magic. Also proficiency in ever save, better Second Wind, Sanctuary by default.

How do I stop my DM being stupid in combat? All he ever really does is hit the big guy that can take a lot of hits.

What's the best refluff or reflavoring of ki points and monk features in general that you've seen or used? Tired of this weaboo fightan magic.

>>54884048
I had a bard in my last 3.5 party who was a complete sellout powergamer, so I gave him a cursed rapier - it would act as a quickened weapon, allowing him to make two attacks per turn, but ONLY if he shouted an advertisement for the store that it came from in the same round. It had to be different each time too. Having him bellow "GET STRAIGHT TO THE POINT AT THE EMPORORIUM, LOWEST PRICES IN THE WOLFSWOOD GUARANTEED!!!" at the bugbears he was currently trying to skewer was breddy good.

>>54887090
>powergaming bard
>3.5
You should have congratulated him cause thats fuckin tough.

>>54887046
Just seeing this post now made me think you could reflavor it to be something like energy or whatever it is that rogues have in WoW

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>>54887046
All martials are constantly functioning at 80~% of their absolute physical potential, ki is an abstraction for tapping into that remaining 20% to reach peak performance. Ki is limited because pushing your body to breaking point extensively will cause irreparable damage to yourself.

Kind of falls apart when invisibility and other magic bullshit like comprehend languages starts happening.

Alternatively, Ki is MOTIVATION

>>54887046
>>54887144
see also >>54849945

>>54887023
i mean if you're at level 17-20 the paladin is going to have a ton of nonsense on-hand too. whether or not the monk wins that fight really depends on how the paladin has levelled up and what spells he has access to.

hell a vengeance paladin can abjure the monk and have him be frightened for a full minute if he doesn't make the save (as long as he does it before the monk turns invisible).

he can also negate the invisibility advantage with vow of enmity - again, providing he casts it first.

at level 20 he can fly into the air until your invisibility wears off.

really there's no answer to the question that isn't "well it depends what each of them is doing."

>>54887036
>wanting to die
Dude somtimes dm's dont be assholes cause they want everybody to have fun sure its fun to spice it up a little bit throw a nice intelligent boss enemy and his goons that fuck the wizard first and then the big dude some hp-wearing down traps and such
But combative dm's is something nobody likes
Think about it this way
If you had a god who really hated you and had control over everything going on in your life except what you could do (he couldn't control where you walked how you talked or anything)
But he could control everything else, does it really sound fun to have a guy who can literaly control everything that happens to you be out to get you?

Hey lads, my dad is about to start a new campaign for us and we're starting at level 2. Are there any viable Frontline gishes besides paladin and Eldritch Knight? I love fucking shit up with sword and spells but I've played alot of those two

>>54887046
I just basically fluff it is a different form of magic that uses the body as a conduit to focus. Wizards have their spellbooks and crystal balls, sorcerers have their blood, clerics have their gods, and monks have their own method.

There's nothing wrong with weeaboo fightan' magic.

>>54887229
I think there's a long scale between "the DM is machiavelling us into disgustingly hopeless situations" and "the DM won't stop attacking the fighter under any circumstances."
those aren't your only options.

>>54887255
oh yeah absolutely
But i have seen some pretty dire tables
did not know if you were one of them the kinda people who as a wizard take a shred of damage from a enemy and shriek as if it was really them who just got poked for 3 damage with a spear

>>54887240
You could try doing something with UA Hexblade Warlock.

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>>54886248
Well fuck me I guess.

>>54886248

Well, you're a little bit in trouble. You're not exactly a vampire slaying machine as sorcerer. Well, you are a slaying machine, but not a vampire slaying specifically

You don't have a lot of spells known slots available to you to begin with, but I'd reccomend you grabbing See Invisibility, Daylight for fighting shadows and shit, (doesn't count as sunlight sadly) protection from energy (sorcerers dont get absorb elements right?) for that fireball spam.

Watery Sphere and Wall of Water are absolutely mandatory, which means Cone of Cold will combo well with those two spells

>>54887240
Been playing stine sorc, am level 3 right now. As long as hes allowing additional content other than PHB youd probably enjoy stone sorc

>>54887381
I'm liking the see invisibility idea, and do watery sphere and wall of water count as running water against vampires? Im not sure my DM would agree if so.

>>54887463
Well, depending on his ruling, those two would be significant.

Maybe ask him if they can if a cleric has you on Bless at the time or something.

See Invisiblity definitely does get a little under rated, especially in settings where you have to see into the Ethereal Plane

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Hey guys, DM here, need some help.

I'm trying to work out a cool, relevant threat to oppose a four-man party of level 7 PCs. I've never actually run or played a game that went this high in terms of power level, but one guy wanted to reuse a character from last time. I can think of loads of low-level threats just off the top of my head, but when it comes to stuff like level 7 through, say, 15, I'm lost.

I'm not talking about XP or anything like that, I'm just conceptualizing right now. It's more like, are we talking about entire-civilization-level threats yet, or is it too soon for that? I know it's too soon to talk about preventing Asmodeus from eating the world, like it might be at levels 15-20 (I really don't know), but level 7 PCs are definitely going to be a bit bigger than beating, say, a bunch of bandit raiders.

Once I get the threat level right, I'm sure I'll be able to tie it back to swashbuckling somehow, but I can't do that until I figure out until I can tell if they should be fighting Davy Jones, a whole pod of giant squid, or Cthulu.

>>54885202
>Only thing that might be an issue is grappling, shoving and similar - relatively big starting bonus means specialists can succeed more often against unfocused characters. Bounded accuracy was in the game for reason - so that every roll is "exciting", for it has significant chance for both success and failure.

What you call "exciting" I call "unrewarding." Players should be rewarded for their specializations; their expertise ought to have actual, non-negligible consequences.

>>54885291

"team building activity" that "promotes cooperation and fosters respect for different skills" and other office buzzwords

>>54887512
id suggest looking up a random encounter generator putting in your number of players and levels and then picking deadly or hard difficulty
keep generating untill you find somthing you like and then tie a story to it
i suggest goblinist random generator its pretty good

>>54887512
At level 7 these guys are basically the Defenders. They save the city from the Hand, maybe a local vampire, or a coven of hags and their dark dastardly sindicate, but they're certainly not downing any major dragons or elder gods any time soon.

They can recover the dutchesse's jewls, or go on a bank heist, but their highest spells here are Polymorph and shit, not Disintegrate.

Check out Tales of the Yawning Portal for level apropriate dungeon crawls, or maybe the Barber of Silverymoon.

Why is /5eg/ so boring? Is it the glacial content release rate that we get?

>>54885470

Saving the realm ironically. Becoming a mythic hero for the jape.

>>54887579
>saying my trigger words like this
so i have had a rage building for a while on the half of 5e with its lack of lore for anything the need to constantly refer to old editions and wonder "what has changed in the design scheme that could change the lore well who fucking knows because it would take a team of 20+ people who understand previous and current edition design to fucking figure that out"
On the other end of that 5e is the same thing over and over it has werid mechanics that date back to the dungeon crawling era and then entire subclasses that are devoted to that
But then gip a lot of that content with how they made other things
all in all i love the system i cant tear my self away from it but i find my self literaly fucking unable to grasp some of the werid design choices
not to sound like a fag but im thinking of attempting to learn 2.revised or 3.5 in the near future so i can get more crunch im just so annoyed at 5e's lack of mechanics all around no cool systems for a lot of the cool shit i wish existed

>>54887542
then dont make them roll those things, shouldn't change combat though cause it works.

>>54884048
I had a bard named Leonardo Ollamh in my last 5e campaign. I have to admit I lost to this bard as a dm. He was the a local guard helping out, a merchant pushing his wears, a noble strolling through his back yard and at one point a god speaking to a preying cleric. Everything he did as a lore bard was to push to the one agenda of having a good story to write about. He started wars, assassinated nobles and kill innocent people and at one point blasted the fighter off a mile drop because he was getting in the way of his story. Some people might think of him as that guy from the way I'm talking about him but he really did put on the best performances I could ask for.
And as much as a I hate to admit it [my campaign would of been rather dull without him.]

>>54887639
>i find my self literaly fucking unable to grasp some of the werid design choices
Such as?

>im just so annoyed at 5e's lack of mechanics all around no cool systems for a lot of the cool shit i wish existed
The entire point of 5e is to NOT have overly specific, niche mechanics but instead provide the framework for you to easily make them yourself, which it excels at

>>54884155

Wario is the paragon of the Neutral Evil adventurer. Some say CN but that ignores his villainous history. He's arguably just mellowed out a bit, no need to be scheming anymore when youve got a mountain full of moolah to retire to.

In 20 words or less, what's the best replacement for Core Ranger in terms of balance?

>>54887701
UA revised ranger

>>54887701

I can answer with just four: Unearthed Arcana Revised Ranger.

I want my players to RP dysentery and having the runny waterfall shits. Anyone done anything similar to that? What are some common pitfalls or things to enjoy? Some ways to make it fun? Thanks.

>>54887701
Favored enemy adds to damage

How have you made memorable battles /tg/

Alternatively, how do you make NPC's? I've been using the DMG method but something feels off about it.

>>54887746

is.......is this magical realm

>>54887733
>>54887736
thanks
>>54887749
That seems simple. By how much?

>>54887746
GRRM pls go

>>54887746
Don't fucking do this you creepy autist
>Some ways to make it fun?
It will never be

>>54887682
yeah i explained that really shittly lets start from the top
>Werid design choices
So they nix a lot of 5e's dungeon crawling aspects they give everybody the options of stealthing and listening and free skill checks for everybody so rogues are no longer special
But then they release a lot of content (besides volo's which i loved) which is just so much fucking killing monsters and almost dungeon crawling
They still have a system where its like what 8 encounters a day? i think most people are lucky if they get 2-3 encounters in a session and thats gonna be a long session if they want to get anything else done

>5e lack of mechanics
5e has a crazy lack of mechanics which means people who are good at making mechanics have to make them
Im shit at that
I can give you as much flavor as you want i cant however design a well balanced home brew and im not good at gauging them on how balanced they should or should not be
5e also has a crazy lack of flavor thankfully im at least competent in coming up with that on the spot
basically i want more mechanics i want more systems i want more "cool shit" i dont care if i have to invent a universe from the top down i just want the systems to be done when i get done fleshing it out

Onto other shit
>5e's classes
ooooooooh daddy have i got a doozer for you
Take wizard objectivly a fun class objectivly the best class they have the most shit to do (not counting cleric who get class specific shit to do)
now compare the game skiping mechanics of wizard of things like "charm person" "detect thoughts" "clairvoiaynce" "teleport" etc all give you cool plot advancing (or breaking in some cases) stuff
Now take classes like sorcerer, or warlock
I love the flavor behind them
But god above do they not anger me mechanicly
warlock is a rogue who learned a bit of magic
sorcerer is a weaker wizard with less cool spells and who is "slightly" better at combat spells
It sucks i love the flavor but hate the mechanics

>>54887288
Do i need to worry about str or Dex for that? Also, should i go with pact of the blade?

>>54887786

I had my players engage a god of dance in a "dance battle" once by performing stunts and feats instead of attacks. They'd make skill checks dependent on what they were doing contested by the god's "AC." It was a fun shake-up that let my players get a lot more creative in a "combat" scenario.

Examples include aggressively krumping (Athletics), salacious hip gyrations (Intimidation), using Create Water to douse themselves like one of those 80s music videos (spell attack roll), and remembering the moves to a complex line dance (History)

>>54887746
What are you fucking stupid

The obvious answer is to dose their drinks with liquid laxative make them feel it

>>54887843
If you want to wield a two-handed weapon, you'll need strength, otherwise charisma should be enough. Pact of blade fits the flavor but mechanically is probably the weakest.

>>54887818
>they give everybody the options of stealthing and listening and free skill checks for everybody so rogues are no longer special
What the fuck are you talking about
>basically i want more mechanics i want more systems i want more "cool shit"
Like WHAT?
>Now take classes like sorcerer, or warlock
These classes are just fine.

Is English not your first language or are you just a dumb teenager? Your writing is fucking dreadful

>>54887814
How is this creepy? The world has many dangers, and infectious diseases figure prominently into my campaign setting. I think illness and disease can be a great boon for the right setting to make things seems that much more dangerous and high risk.

>>54887853
I'm pretty sure doing that IRL can technically be considered "poisoning" in the eyes of the law, even if it's non-lethal. So I'd rather avoid that.

Got a Paladin sword and board. Got shield mastery. Any second feat worth with it or nah. Might get Human Determination from UA for those moments when almost over the edge.

>>54887818
you're either a shit dm, massively retarded, or trying to meme. gtfo

>>54887909
give yourself real dysentery, then use that as an inspiration

>>54887818
5e is not for you. It is intentionally trying to limit the cruft you love so much. For something cruftier I recommend Pathfinder, where every character requites you to refer to a dozen different sourcebooks to collect all the modular larts required to keep up with the group.

>>54887804
The UA Revised ranger has it at +2 initially, and then +4 at level 6.

It also changes a few other things. Just use it, it's good.

>>54887947
>pathfinder
no thanks i think ill try 2.somthing or 3.5 before i throw my self face first into a pile of sweaty autist

>>54888090
Pretty sure you're past that point already

>>54887916
Go rogue for expertise.

>>54887818
>warlock is a rogue who learned a bit of magic
What's wrong with that? Not every arcane caster needs to be a copy of the wizard.
Since its inception in 3.5, the warlock keeps getting redesigned, but the prime directive always seems to be "nothing like the wizard."

>>54888090
Pathfinder is literally 3.5 on crack. There's fundamentally no difference between the two games.
2.something may or may not be to your liking. There's a lot of published material including some very granular subsystems. On the other hand, balance is handled, or rather "not handled," by letting things be unbalanced but having different XP tables.

What do you guys do when the DM makes a mistake that you are aware off and works in your favor? Mention it because of fairness or keep silent?

>>54887916
It's a common player mistake to take superfluous feats at the expense of being able to hit things. The only feats required for some PCs are Sharpshooter and Great Weapon Master, maybe Polearm Master if you want to be cheesy. Since you don't use any of those, get a 20 Strength and then maybe think about feats.

>>54888287
I mention it. That way, when I catch a mistake that works against me, I can correct it with a proven history of fairness and not trying to cheat.

>>54887904
INB4 the first non-PHB weapon introduced is that elven longblade or whatever that's two-handed with finesse.

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I am running curse of strahd, should i let one of my players be a firbolg?

>>54884070
It just struck me that there may be a meta reason those warlock invocations only allow one cast per day. In 4th edition, any power that had an effect lasting longer than one round, like summons and (save ends) debuffs, would be a daily power. And warlock is definitely the 4e class.

>>54888391
Fighter is the 4e class. All the things everyone used to have in 4e, like action points and second wind, have become fighter features. Warlock is closer to its 3.5 version than its 4e version.

>>54887849
Oh shit, I like this. And how would they get attacked in return?

Just, lots of damaging lair actions?

>>54888389
Best way to work a firbolg into a game:
> Make sure the race fits into the setting (not as a geographical niche, but as a member of the world at large)
> Make sure their unique traits (including invisibility, illusion, and magic detection) fit with the game you're running and won't cause any mechanical issues
> Wait do these guys seriously have advantage on charisma checks made to influence plants
> Fuck this race

>>54888389
If you like. There's the Whole Yester Hill bit, might be fun to have him talk to the Gulthias tree. Or win

>>54888522
Or wintersplinter*

Remember that a Gulthias Tree comes statted in Tales of the Yawning Portal

>>54884136
So with the races/setting I chose, what are some issues I could run into?

Also what do you think of limiting class options for certain classes or adding a class or two to certain races?

I was thinking of everyone starting at level 3, so they understand they're at least established in whatever class they choose (story wise it makes sense) I was thinking of having the Labryinth be a series of "Trials" they're preforming for their deity to reach some sort of valhalla-esque place.

>>54888499
I agree with this. The 5e warlock is an attempt to combine the flavor of the 4e warlock with the mechanical vision of the 3.5 warlock but without being terrible and underpowered and actually having a niche separate from "shitty wizard," which all wizard-like classes inevitably occupy.

>>54888541
Gulthias trees are cool. Are they some sort of interplanar virus that's been seeded across the multiverse, or is the one in Sunless Citadel implied to be the first one?

>>54887904
You lose your bonuses if you wield a 2h weapon though right? Hmmm, mechanically chain is the strongest i think

>>54888581
Mechanically Chain and Tome both give you expanded utility options; neither really affects combat, unless your DM buys into the "advantage on every turn" meme.

>>54886130
Seems more like you have issues when being one on one with someone else.

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I want to make a template for a type of powerful undead similar to the Eternals from Amonkhet. Would any problems arise from using the dracolitch template and applying it to non-dragon creatures? I'm thinking the magic resistance might make it too tough.

Do any races get a +2 bonus to CHA besides half elves?

>>54888752
Tieflings

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>link the myth drannor announcement in our group's discord chat
>it formats the link, shows the entire cover of the book, as well as the first few lines of the article
>LOST TALES OF MYTH DRANNOR, D&D ADVENTURER'S LEAGUE, SIX ADVENTURES FOR FIRST TO TWENTIETH LEVEL CHARACTERS!
>five hours later our DM sees it and asks "what is that"

can't believe this guy is capable of running games desu

>>54888752

Aasimar, Tieflings, Zendikaran Vampires, and Yuan-ti Purebloods.

>>54888579
A Gulthias Tree is born when a particularly powerful vampire gets staked in the heart and pinned there to rot. They are named after the first vampire, Gulthias, I think

When I ran Curse of Strahd, I made it so the vampire who birthed that Gulthias Tree was the Terg emperor whom the Von Zarovich came to Barovia to slay. Strahd staked this motherfucker but it cost him grievously, and were it not for Vistani help, the Terg's first victims, would have died from the battle.

What's the benefit to casting a spell as a ritual compared to normal?

>>54887579
Even if we do get new stuff/rules/adventures like the season 7 AL death curse most if it gets ignored.

>>54884501
3 or 5.

You want odd numbers in your group so there's never a split decision.

>>54888893
it doesn't consume a spell slot

>>54888893
no expended slots

What the fuck can I actually do with a herbalism kit, even with proficiency? I don't see anything about herbs or whatever in the books that I could use with it.

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>>54884048

>https://www.dndbeyond.com/

>Limited character slots
>Have to shell out 20 bucks to use PHB content even if you already have the book
>Requires Twitch account
>Sells subclasses for 2 bucks a pop

Fuckin ell

>>54888922
>>54888925
Thanks guys, didn't know

>>54888962
readthebookblackman.png

>>54888927
Gather plants and extract their valuable parts for later is in alchemical and cooking endeavors.

>>54889034
What plants? What parts? What endeavors? There's nothing on this in the books.

Any decent homebrew for Chaos God based-classes or adjustments?
Obviously the regular thing would be Berserker for Khorne, Wizard for Tzeentch, etc. I'm more looking for specifics though, rather than just fluffing a standard class.

>>54888960
Yeah, it's fucking awful. I'm gonna hold Hasbro accountable, though, and not boycott the game. Just that ridiculous service.

>>54889040
It's really more of a roleplaying thing.

>>54889040
PHB 154

>>54887579
Why are you so gay?

>>54889118
>I carefully identify this very rare plant which gives you +200 temporary hit points every short rest

>>54889123
I already read that, which is why I asked. There is no resource on which plants I can gather, which herbs are produced by them or the compounds needed even for the antitoxin.

>>54889118

Oh yeah, same, I already have 5e and enjoy playing it, but fuuuuuuck me

>>54889151
Those seem like pretty monotonous details that can be hand waved with "your character knows the details and does or does not find what they need when they go looking."

>>54889151
5e isn't going to give you specifics. But if someone is poisoned, the herbalist might roll to find antidote herbs in the surrounding area. You don't need specific names unless you're feeling creative.

>>54889058
I don't think there's too much overlap between WH players and 5e homebrewers, but I could be wrong.

Someone give me a good name for a panther I'm taming.
I like it to be a reference to a fictional panther, but the DM would probably disapprove of Bagheera and that's the only fictional panther I know of.

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Does anybody here play an Aarakocra?

Are they fun to play?

>>54889206
Aryana

>>54888962
beyond just not consuming spell slots basically anyone (with brains) can do ritual magic. Pick up Ritual Magic on a monk and be a magic monk with a primary caster stat.

It's powerful as fuck but I think the reason there's so little cheesing on it is the lack of spells generally.

>>54889181
>I don't think there's too much overlap between WH players and 5e homebrewers, but I could be wrong.
You would think their would be a decent amount, but I haven't found anything great so far. Guess I'll keep looking.

>>54889206
Caroso

>>54889206
Guenhwyvar

>>54889189
Antitoxins are specifically mentioned in the PHB, so that's a good place to start. But as a DM I'd probably allow its use to treat diseases - like, use your herbalism check instead of a medicine check, or make a check with advantage if you have both.

>>54889189
Page 151, PHB

>>54888512
>Just, lots of damaging lair actions?

Basically, yeah. Radiant damage laser light show, exploding disco balls, dance floor trapdoors, fire-breathing amplifiers, thundrous instruments, dancing so fast that lightning shoots out, etc.

Even though my players couldn't hurt the god's form, they could hurt his PRIDE by upstaging him, and I made that clear up front so they knew what was up

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>>54884048
So it's been a while, is the Mystic still the strongest class in the game?

>>54889236
Had a player play an Arakorcan monk
DIVE KICKU was shouted more than once, and it was a blast for everyone involved
Also because 3D fightan, you can use ranged weapons with no cover penalty.
But they're banned in Adventure's League games for that reaon

>>54889422
This mystic technically isn't in the game yet.

>>54889333
BRB reinstalling Crypt of the NecroDancer

>>54889422
It never was

>>54889333
Disco Stu rolls to Seduce You,

>>54889422
>psionics
bleh

Also, that would be Loremaster Wizard.

Does anyone else find 'you die if this reduces your health to 0' really fucking cheap?
We had a beholder zombie sprung on us (CR 5 and lvl 5 party) and because of my monk fucking up a dex save on the disintegrate ray I instantly died as it dealt my max hp as damage, which is even lower than the average roll damage.
Dying normally isn't too bad, but completely losing a character by a single die roll feels like such an awful end.

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warlock player wants to theme his spells around hellfire. i have a rough understanding of the previous editions hellfire class archetype but i need help balancing it out.

hellfire blast: deal a extra 2d6 fire damage to a eldritch blast you hit with. you immediately reduce your HP maximum by 1 after every use. HP max restored after long rest.
hows this for the 1st feature?

i also want to give him a last resort or trump card.
he can permanently reduce his CON score by any number to multiply the damage on a fire spell by said number. character dies at 0 CON?

Is it possible to hide from enemies with Truesight? Like, behind a wall or whatever?

>>54889597
That's what happens when you fight beholders, anon. If your DM was foolish / murderous enough to throw it at your party without giving enough information and a way of running away, that's on him. If you guys took your chances even knowing how dangerous beholders are, that's on you.

That's like complaining a medusa petrified you. That's what they do.

>>54889659
Warlock Pact of the Fiend already revolves around hell fire. There's no reason why hellfire should be more fiery than Angel Fire, or Elemental plane of Fire fire.
Hell, lots of hell is just meat and ice and no fire.

If he reaaaaly wants to make his fire super fire, refer him to the elemental Adept feat and fluf it as unlocking hellfire

>>54889597
Nope, sometimes people just get erased in a world full of magic and monsters.

>>54889690
We walked into the tower of an necromancer fully expecting a fight, we did not expect an undead beholder 60ft up and a very gently sloping spiral staircase.
I certainly didn't expect to roll a 2 on a dex save.

>>54889597
I expressly don't use things like this against my players - especially because I don't have resurrection magic in my setting, so death is death.

It feels way too cheap. Anything that can autokill somebody (say,a sphere of annihilation) has at least 3 seperate peices of info telling them so.

What do you guys think of this http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?375670-New-Paladin-subclass-Oath-of-Seeking-(rogueadin)

It feels like it's too strong because of the second channel and that aura but I'm not sure.

>>54889751
Misses the point, just play a Ranger, or an Oath of Treachery Paladin, if you simply must pretend the Arcane Trickster does not exist

>>54889597
Still better than "You die if you lose 1 save."

>>54889659
2d6 extra damage at-will to a spell that typically deals 1d10 is EXTREMELY powerful. The original hellfire warlock paid with CONSTITUTION, not a single hit point at a time.
Honestly, I appreciate that you're looking out for your player but your current suggestions don't really work well within the game. Just have him play an Infernal Pact warlock, they're firey enough (and everything else >>54889693 said).

>>54889724
There's a reason "save-or-die" is a derogatory term aimed at past editions. It was never very fun.

>>54889751
>giantitp

>>54889809
And yet certain people still aim for that kind of adventure or they wouldn't exist. Just barging in and trying to fight a beholder is asking for it.

>>54889724
Consider this your lesson that you are not that kind of person, I guess.

>>54887046
I just call it a different form of magic that everyone can tap into naturally with enough training. Call it Vigor/Vitality/Grit/etc and explain that, while high-level fighters and paladins get their strength and speed from it and the rest get their bonus HP from it, monks are aware of it and channel it directly.

Same exact thing, I just don't call it ki.

>>54889751
Sacred Subtlety is too effective and/or lasts too long.
Blessing of Skill feels bad. It makes your initial choices have no negative consequences, which makes them less meaningful.
The aura doesn't actually feel that broken, but it's not as combat-themed as other auras.
Overall, I think it makes the paladin class too good out of combat, with powerful mechanical bonuses to things that are typically other classes' roles.

>>54889879
Well, they didn't barge in on a beholder, it was sprung on them. And they didn't know it can do what it did.
I'm not saying it's not a good choice for certain people; it feels like the real problem was a lack of early communication between players and DM about what sort of game they all wanted to play.

>>54889904
>an undead beholder 60ft up and a very gently sloping spiral staircase.

Thats like an invitation to GTFO.

>>54889724
Seems like your DM was silly to throw you against something with a disintegration ray that deals more damage in average than the PCs' HP. They might be CR 5, but that doesn't mean you should put them against a 5th level party. They're meant to be the minion of a more powerful enemy when the party is higher leveled.

That said, what's done is done. Might be frustrating and if you want to talk to your DM about it, that's understandable, but see this as an opportunity for trying out a new character.

>>54889489
>>54889236
I'd love to have Aarakocra in my games as a PC race but the flight just seems way too hard to balance against unless you go underground or something.

>>54889919
See
>they didn't know it can do what it did

>>54889888
>high-level fighters and paladins get their strength and speed from it and the rest get their bonus HP from it, monks are aware of it and channel it directly.
I like this approach. It's more accurate to how ki should be portrayed anyway.

>>54889888
consider this idea stolen
also, nice trips

>>54886466
Level 5 Wizard, Necromancy School, I usually stay in back and don't go anywhere near the front.

>>54888860
>A Gulthias Tree is born when a particularly powerful vampire gets staked in the heart and pinned there to rot.
How have I never heard that before, that's awesome flavor.

>>54888960
Christ, it's even worse than I thought.

>>54886854
>>54886940
Reason I have 11 AC is because wizard doesn't get any armor proficiencies, and neither does sage. My base AC is 11 because of my 12 dex.

What do you guys think are some good classes for subhuman races? I want to involve some homebrew classes that would make sense for a Goblin, Orc or Hobgoblin (i.e. Shaman) but I don't want to have some stupidly overpowered "OC PLS DO NUT STEAL" shit that isnt balanced in the slightest.

Any suggestions? Have you guys allowed your subhuman players to use all the available conventional classes?

>>54890080
That's why you get Mage Armor, anon

>>54890080
You're a wizard, mage armor lasts 8 hours and shield is a reaction.

>>54889206
Panther Mcpanths

>>54890088
>Have you guys allowed your subhuman players to use all the available conventional classes?
Why wouldn't you?

What's the name of the warlock invocation that gives you a second attack?

File: party time.gif (825KB, 266x199px) Image search: [Google]

825KB, 266x199px

>>54889955
>>54889975
Glad you like it!
>also, nice trips
Ayy. Love me some trips.

>>54890289
Thirsting Blade

>>54888287
I mention it. After all, i am my groups rule lawyer!

>>54889597
No. It's combat, what did you expected?

>>54889664
I believe so, yes. You probably can't hide in shadow, but hiding behind wall will probably work.

>>54890247
Goblin or Orc Sorc makes less sense to me than a Goblin or Orc Shaman.

My OP is right here sort of explaining my backstory behind it all
>>54884136

Would Phantasmal Force work well against Strahd?

>>54890489
>Goblin or Orc Sorc makes less sense to me than a Goblin or Orc Shaman.
Why? Anything can be born with the gift of magic, even monsters. Hell, if you want shamans, just reflavor a cleric or make a druid that's a bit more hardcore and blood-sacrifice-focused than most.

>>54890489
>>54890553
Perhaps this is because Sorcs don't make any goddang sense to anyone

>>54890571
Speak for yourself

>>54890589
They literally don't make sense, that's their thing. They don't KNOW magic, they have it. Maybe it's dragon blood but not like dragonborn or a God did it. Anything goes.

I think the idea of some sort of primitive magical tradition is more reasonable than spontaneous magic users in every generation personally.

>>54890631
Sounds like you just don't like the class fluff in general.

>>54890080
okay yeah i figured it was a caster thing.
those other guys are right though, invest in mage armour if you haven't already. you'll have 14 AC instead of 11.
hell if you do you can wear whatever you want, since it replaces your AC rather than adding to it.

>>54890631
>They literally don't make sense, that's their thing.
Are you retarded or baiting?

>>54890651
I think it has been mistreated, it made sense originally and now in context it makes less sense and also the mechanics got raped by everyone getting spontaneous casting. Not a fan. I honestly have always considered bardic spellcasting totally in line with sorcs' fluff and they still manage to make perfect sense by being spontaneously magical people so I'm not against it entirely.

In this case I just think it's more likely to have racial/tribal/regional themes to the magic they do learn if there's some actual tradition to it. Be this a shaman or a deity/priest hierarchy or some alternate type of school like a voodoo tradition it all fits better. Of course a deity/favored soul link can also be sort of grouped in there but they don't fit with NPC spellcasters mechanically.

>>54890659
>Explain every sorcerer's source of magic
>You literally can't that part is immaterial fluff to be determined as a rule

>>54890052
Yeah, its pretty metal.

The Gulthias tree also provides with two fruits a year, one week before the solstice, one that does the same effects as the spell Heal, the other one the same as Harm I think. Both have 1d4 seeds that in one week becomes blights

Additionally, you can take a branch off the tree to craft a Gulthias Staff which is a pretty dope weapon on a monk or druid with Shillelagh

>>54889206
T'Challa

>>54890768
Oh and they also can have up to 4 thralls, that are permanently covered in Barkskin

>>54889927
CR aside, a Beholder Zombie is a just below a Medium encounter for 4 level 5 characters. The Disintegration Ray is only a 25% chance occurrence when it uses an eye beam and a L5 Monk has a pretty good chance of success. It's probably not something I would throw at a party right out of the gate, but it's well within the realm of success for a group at that level.

why are crag cats and tressym not listed as monstrosity? Why are Winter Wolves?

>>54890857
For the same reason as the Cranium rat.

Nature is a magical thing

>>54890849
It does seem like bad design, though. 90% of the time, the fight it too easy. 10%, someone simply dies.
That's not the proper way to do balance, and for the most part D&D has moved away from it over the years.

>>54890754
Sorcerer makes no less sense now than it did in 3e. It was always "your magic comes from weird heritage and/or random lulz."

>>54886173
>How would a monk vs a paladin fight stack up?
depends on the fight, straight up melee, each side hammering away at each other? Paladin.

But the more you add to the fight, the greater the advantage the monk gains, as the monk is more mobile and able to perform hit and run tactics. Also depends on level, monk needs ki, which is based off their level, paladin also gains more smites as he levels, but if the monk has enough ki to prevent being attacked then all the smites in the world wouldn't matter.

>>54891023
Dragon blood was one of the big contenders and now there's basically proof that ain't it. Hell, dragons aren't even magic now.

>>54891075
The type also matters. Isn't there a Paladin that gets spirit guardians? You can kiss you monks mobility and melee game goodbye in that case.

Especially if it's the Devotion Paladin that gets to add CHA to attack rolls.

>>54889888
i actually do this already. but i call it chi. and it can mix into ki, which is a bit different in my game world.

So the DM is going to let my ranger use things that aren't technically ropes as a material component for Snare. I've got vines and entrails approved so far, what other rope-likes are there?

>>54891147
that's true, but then, a kensei monk can grab a longbow.

>>54891292
Snakes.

>>54891292
Should just carry a whip or two. Never know when they'll come in handy.

>>54889597
Why does DM make your characters die instead of going unconscious first?

>>54891358
Because they're disintegrated, it's not the DM's discretion in that specific instance.

>>54891079
>Hell, dragons aren't even magic now.
That's not true. Why would you imply that?

>>54891371
They aren't casters, they are magical but not casters.

>>54891390
Dragons having spells is an optional rule but it's still there

What does "on initiative count 20" mean?

I just noticed this when looking at a dragon lair action, haven't heard if this or anyone mention it before

>>54891474
On the initiative count of 20. What do you think it means?

>>54891474
When you roll for initiative, you get a series of numbers. You follow these numbers from highest to lowest to determine turn order. At the point in the order where the number 20 would be, that is initiative count 20.

Why do people talk up paladin/warlock so much? Is it just because it does lots of damage?

>>54891506
Short rest spell slots for smite spamming

Do war clerics get extra attack? Also, how good are Valor bard as a Gish?

>>54891522
Does it say they get Extra Attack? No. No it doesn't. So they don't.

>>54891503
Oh I feel dumb, I've never heard anyone refer to that as initiative count. Always just initiative

>>54891522
I don't think any clerics get true Extra Attack

>>54891520
So yes, because it does a lot of damage. Don't forget hexblade or pact of tome for cha to melee damage

>>54891390
MM dragons are magical as fuck. They are so magical, they warp the reality around them and turn their hiding spots into something close to demiplanes. This isn't natural at all and proves that dragons aren't 'normal'.

But the actual point is that you seem to trick yourself into some kind of mindset that the MM or any other book is somehow authoritative on how elements of a certain game world work. But that's not the case. But if you want to go with the MM and want them to be casters, use the variant. I will always use it, but I'll also buff it to stupid levels. In my world, dragons are the strongest spellcasters.

>>54889236
if you DM puts you in a lot of outside encounter, it's somewhat trivializes things unless he throws a lot of ranged attackers at you. i played an aarakocra ranger and just sniped goblins from a tree and they couldn't do shit. on the other hand, you really feel crippled when you're stuck inside with nowhere to fly.

>>54891522
Valor bard isn't so bad as a gish but they're more a combat cantrip spammer and less a nuker.

>>54891596
Fair, I never meant nonmagical as in mundane. I run strictly Prime Material games so a lot of the theory shit that's kicking around gets into problematic areas. Dragons are magical as fuck but dragonborn are mundane as fuck and ruined everything. That was my point.
You can tell WotC is deliberately watering them down though
I really prefer to run my dragons as fucking masterminds than just demigods though, they're the best at schemes.

>>54886171
Oh, gee, the mystic arcanum mechanics on a class where there's no wish, but there's foresight, I wonder which spell the character is going to choose to pick to use every day.

Is there any reason to not allow the Bard in my game to use Shillelagh on her shortsword? Does the "only wooden weapons" clause actually matter in a balance sense? Just seems like an annoying flavour thing that would force my Bard to smack people with a staff instead of the sword she wants to use.

What's the guess on the next UA?

>>54891719
A system for determining genital endowment for PCs

>>54891717
I don't think that'd really change much balance-wise but it is against the flavor of the spell. Up to you

>>54891717
> Does the "only wooden weapons" clause actually matter in a balance sense?
the most overpowered weapon to use it with is wood, so not really

there's nothing really stopping you from using a wooden sword though.

>>54891719
Something regarding attack rolls and defenses that is overly convoluted and/or doesn't make much sense.

>>54891644
First time I read the 5th edition MM I thought the same, but looking more closely, I thought they tried to shift the magic instead of removing it. Moving the visible parts of their magic into their lairs and making those more important is basically a title drop for the game.

>>54891629
I had a flying tiefling in my curse of strahd campaign.

>His horrible, horrible death was a convenient foreshadowing for the party that there was a Roc in mount ghakis

>>54891644
>Combat cantrip spammer
So just spam BB and GFB?

>>54891719
I demand information on medicinal herbs

>>54891719
let's see initiative, experience, next is probably an alternative to-hit ruleset. THAC0 anyone?

>>54891717

You do realize that with Shillelagh the bard could use her lute as a sword, right?

>>54891738
I'd love to see the lawsuits over that.
>>54891750
So THAC0?
>>54891764
Who knows, they may throw in the food UA with that.
>>54891765
I'm shocked we didn't get that this month.

>>54891745
If she were a Druid I would totally enforce the spell flavour on her, but she's a Bard casting it with a Foclucan Bandore and her character doesn't really have any "naturey" flavour to her.

>>54891775
How would I justify the lute not just breaking over the enemies head

>>54891775
A lute is an improvised weapon, not a club or a staff.

>>54891761
Truth is, a lore bard with a level in sorcerer is a better gish than valor bard.

You can get Mage Armor, Absorb Elements and Shield, Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade, and still keep that level 6 Magical Secrets feature to grab Spirit Guardians and Elemental Weapon

>>54891803
a magic spell was cast on it.

>>54891783
THAC0 and armor all having different levels of AC for different types of damage

It'll return and everyone will hate it

>>54891761
They get vicious mockery which might scale past BB&GFB, I'd have to look. Then a bonus action melee attack when they cast.
>Take 2 attacks
>Take 1 spell and spend your bonus action for an attack
tough trade.

>>54891775
>>54891803
>>54891812
Shillelagh with the druidish magic initiate for goodberry is so good, too. IF bardic whip wasn't dead maybe it would be less appealing.

>>54891803
With the bit where it is now a Magical Weapon
>>54891812
>A bard that isn't proficient with Lutes
Travesti

>>54891717
Yes. Shortswords are light weapons, which would make them better in some applications than clubs or staves. They're also finesse weapons, which doean't matter with Shillelagh but may matter for something like Sneak Attack. If your player complains, apologize for not twisting around every detail of the game world to better suit her whims and then move on.

>>54891839
>>54891775
Proficiency(Drum Something)

>>54891839
You're intentionally conflating weapon proficiency and tool proficiency. Either that or you're just retarded.

>>54891857
All bout dem whips. Finesse+reach.

>>54891876
>He doesn't know what the fochulcan bandore is

I'm pretty sure you're the retarded one here, and I grieve for your Bard to have such a sorry lout for a DM

>>54891821
Honestly I'd love if they did some work on AC, not THAC0 but new armor and shields. Most of what's there for armor is good but I'd love to see some more specialized armors (natural resistances to things at a cost like mobility or stealth penalties) and shields intended for ranged characters (e.g. a buckler which provides +1 AC on turns when you don't attack with a two handed weapon or something). IRL archers would actually use small bucklers on the hand they held the bow with so even just a +1 AC shield that doesn't eat up a hand would make sense.

>>54891895
Whips are a meme

>>54891719
A late-game component that folds into Backgrounds mirroring AD&D's 'authority as a class feature' elements: A list of special features keyed to each PHB background, and a suggestion that it's more tied to the background feature than the the exact background concept so you know what to goes with customized backgrounds and all the official backgrounds introduced since launch which are mostly adaptations of PHB options.
So Nobleman gets a guard unit that scales in a limited fashion to their tier, Thief becomes a ringleader, Artisan gets people that help him craft (effectively cutting all craft times by 2/3), etc.

Mearls mentioned once that he was kicking ideas around for a system not unlike 4e's Paragon Paths but tied to backgrounds, and this is how I would do it.

Do divine smite and eldritch smite stack?

>>54891839
Ohlam almuni here, can confirm, we take a whole semester in Lute Fencing as some sort of weird fetish shit as part of our performance arts degree.
Never had to use it though

>>54891922
You were counting on me not knowing what that is so I'd shut up. A magic instrument that lets you cast some spells with it is still not a weapon, so you still don't get your proficiency bonus if you crack someone over the head with it, even if you know how to play it.

>>54891934
Yeah, mostly from me in here I think. I'm still pissed they're martial and not exotic.

>>54891972
yes.

>>54891922
I'm the DM who asked the original question and that guy is not me, by the way.

>>54884897
play bard or rogue faggot, get the lucky feat, play halfling

>>54888389

Yes Ian. Yes you should.

>>54892038
Don't do it, Ian, it's a trick!

>>54891981
>Yes, I know of the magic item that requires two hands to use in order to cast a spell that requires to keep your hands on for the whole duration.
>Of course this doesn't mean the spell wasn't design to treat the instrument as a club, clearly it means that if the bard wanted to use it with profiency, maybe he should have though of that before not growing a tentacle apendage

I'm not saying you're wrong annon, I'm saying you're just awful at parties, which makes you the worst DM in the world for a bard, which fortunately according to:

>>54892020
Doesn't seem to be the case.

>>54891857
In that case, I know for a fact she is never going to multiclass into Rogue, and I don't see how the light property affects anything considering the fact that a club is also a light weapon. So I will let her Shillelagh her short sword.

>>54891985
I'm glad they got rid of exotic weapons. Player options that lock you into using a single weapon are not fun. They're just feat taxes that make most of the magic weapons you find unusable. Even the slightly broader versions that exist in 5e are no fun.

>>54891719
4e's save system

>>54891985
>I'm still pissed they're martial and not exotic.
If you're still pissed that exotic weapons no longer exist you need to do some soul searching. It's been 3 years, mate.

>>54892059
Don't listen to him, Ian! He's the evil twin!

>>54892081
Even if the additional properties never comes up, I think this is a bad idea. You know what "shillelagh" means, right?

>>54892103
Do you mean defenses instead of saving throws, or do you mean choosing the higher of two abilities for a saving throw? (Or both?)
'Cause I've done a LOT of math on that second one.