Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition General Discussion
Old thread >>43586839
>All official WotC content here (now including the SCAG)
https://mega.nz#F!UVkTnT5b!FJ34UZ98BMY2mEtexenS7g
>Tools for 5e, other stuff, miscellaneous homebrews
http://pastebin.com/X1TFNxck
>Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide Map:
https://mega.nz/#!CowGWLKT!yiwaLeoLWcsV4d8uY5DmqsmPxTw3ZIdpz8xAzaYkQ5II
> November's Unearthed Arcana:
https://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/02_UA_Underdark_Characters.pdf
What's your favorite piece of 5e art?
>>43603903
>favorite 5e art?
Mu'fugga Spearchucker.
this is kinda irrelevent but is sword coast adventure vidya any good?
>>43603947
there's a vidya wat m8 u kekking me around here?
Does anyone have any idea what the next D&D 5E book is going to be?
>>43603903
Doctor Strange arcana domain cleric in SCAG. They need to hire that artist on as a full time employee.
>>43603986
An official module featuring Giants, loosely inspired by a shakespeare play. That's all the info we've got so far.
>>43604000
is that legit or are you just making it up?
>>43603995
He is a dapper fellow. Incidentally last thread mentioned mixing Arcana Cleric with Druid Magic Initiate for Shillelagh. What would be a good narative reason for a Arcana Cleric to dabble in druidery?
>>43604006
What kind of answer are you honestly expecting to get from that question anon?
Research it yourself.
>>43604106
They just fucking love magic, all kinds. Seems pretty logical to me, if you worship magic you probably want all of it you can get.
>>43604006
Legit m80
>>43604114
>Yes It's the truth
>No. i'm having a laff
seriously, kill yourself my man
>>43604006
It is legit, but very very little else is known about it. Hell, before "Rage of Demons" was properly announced, all we knew was that it was a game based loosely on "Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass".
So for Deep Stalker Magic, when it says "You are always able to cast these spells" what does it mean by that? As in they are on your spell list with no strings attached, or you can cast these spells at will?
>>43604106
They're a cleric of the Ideal that Magic is the purest expression of the divine. Magic, in all of its forms. They have learned to draw power from their faith, from the laws of the weave, and from the elements themselves.
>>43604152
It would probably say if it was at-will, but you can attempt to argue it in your favor
>>43604152
That's another example of Mearls using shitty language to explain something. It's a "you learn them and have them prepared at all times."
>>43604360
They probably feel like they can get away with shitty wording if it's UA
>>43604448
That and Mearls has been phoning these things in since UA Ranger.
Soo. Bladelocks and Palasorcs. What's the current verdict on them?
>>43604360
>>43604152
>>43604448
>>43604464
Some of the writing in 5E really seems obtuse for the sake of being obtuse or 'retro', forget the fact that the latter doesn't even make sense except in people's heads.
I've made a flying tiefling wizard and I'm determined to keep my fighter/paladin dragonborn, monk/druid high elf and ranger/rogue arrakoa friends alive.
I've invested heavily in illusion and control like spells to screw up the bad guys and hopefully give my buddies time to do their thing. How do you think it'll go?
>>43604477
>bladelock
You can melee better as a Dragon Sorcerer+Undying Light Warlock+Paladin with Green Fire blade cheese.
It's almost a palasorc
>>43604490
>flying
Like the tiefling with wings or tiefling using a spell for flight?
If it's a spell, you probably gotta maintain concentration which means you can't do controlling spell that last beyond one turn
>>43604515
>with Green Fire blade cheese.
To me it seems like this'll end up (inb4 >implying) being to Gishes what Dr. Boom is to Hearthstone or Mystical Space Typhoon is to YGO, i.e one of those staple options without which one ends up feeling just a little naked.
So my 7 int half orc figher kinda made a pact with the Lord of Sloth or something like that, i dont remember the fuckers name. I do remember that i have a decent CHA and warlocks get the best cantrip in Eldritch blast. should i use my next stat boost for CHA and multiclass?
>>43604566
>one of those staple options without which one ends up feeling just a little naked.
This doesn't make sense, if you mean "If you don't do this, you suck", it's not completely true because you can still do a Warlock-Paladin that can shit smites that do good damage on people, and then at warlock level 17 you can just true polymorph yourself into a Pit Fiend and smash everything.
>>43604550
Tiefling with wings build. There's a tiefling option that lets you swap out infernal heritage to have wings instead, that's what I've made
>>43604586
>This doesn't make sense, if you mean "If you don't do this, you suck"
Not quite. You can (or could) run a YGO deck without Space Typhoon and run a Hearthstone deck without the good doctor, there's just an incredibly short list of reasons not to.
>>43604578
It could be good if you want to be utility, get temporary HP for whenever you kill someone, and have the ability to hex for more melee damage.
>>43604578
Is your main class primarily ranged? Are the majority of your abilities independent of wielding a weapon? Do you have 16 Cha or higher? If the answer to all these questions is yes, maybe. Otherwise, no.
Actually...
>>43604586
>>43604578
>>43604566
>>43604515
>>43604477
How to make the Warlock more interesting than a free Eldritch Blast dispenser?
>>43604610
nope, yes, and almost yes
18 str half orc sword and board, possibly soon to be replaced by some other weapon and a shield, because i kinda got arrested and lost them
14 CHA though, and next fighter level i get the ability score improvement
>>43604633
warlocks have a lot of cool shit too, its just at level 1 they're just "I cast Eldritch Blast" nonstop, once per rest using something like Witch Bolt
>>43604642
>Witch bolt
Shitty as fuck spell
Does Thirsting Blade stack with Extra Attack from Fighter? IE can i attack 3 times? And if i use Action Surge, can i take another action to attack three more times?
>>43604693
No. Thirsting Blade specifically does not stack with Extra Attack.
>>43604693
Nope, unless you give a mean blowjob to your GM.
>>43604702
but can i still use up Action Surge to attack 4 times?
IE attack, extra attack, action surge to attack, extra attack again?
>>43604693
Read the PHB, mate, it says it doesn't.
>>43604711
With action surge you make as many attacks as you'd do with a normal action bar bonus actions. If you have two attacks (Normal and extra attack) you'll make to extra with action surge, 4 in total, yes, but you only get one bonus action per turn
>>43604717
i am reading it, and i dont see anything like that, might be in the wrong section though, im looking at the classes and features
>>43604707
sadly, he just got married. i dont think his wife would be happy with that.
>>43604726
Look in Multiclass, dumbo, you're multiclassing.
Hey /5eg/, I was wondering if anyone would like to help me work out a TempestCleric/Sorcerer build, with Cleric5/Sorcerer3 being the goal before heading back to Cleric or maybe even doing a 2 level dip in Paladin for the fighting style and Smite. I know it's going to be sub-optimal, but I enjoy the flavor of it and I doubt it will make my group hate me. But first, a little information on my character.
>3rd level Cleric of Akadi
>Rolled 16s in STR, WIS, CHA
>(We had no Face and I'm slightly more comfortable RPing than most of the others.)
>More of a focus on keeping the party safe from danger with supportive abilities and by making himself a threat rather than blasting, but is still a competent blaster
>A compulsive liar and remorseless thief that only targets the rich for amounts they won't miss
>Reveres the concepts of freedom, exploration, family, and travel
>Hates those who would seek to maliciously control others
>Especially hates slavers who I know through meta knowledge will play a relatively large part in the story to come
>Has established the nickname "Bloodless" for himself
I haven't run anything past my DM yet, so of course my options are subject to change. As far as I'm aware a Cleric can prepare spells of any level they have slots for, so multiclassing with sorcerer will give me full spell progression with the exception of my Domain spells, and my Domain abilities are the only things I'm otherwise delaying at 6th and 8th level. I don't find the 6th level ability to be all that game changing, and the 8th level ability will work well with GFB, -if I'm interpreting the RAW correctly- but otherwise I'm not too shaken up by waiting for it.
Now I would like to hear some opinions, my fine elegan/tg/entlemen.
I'm unsure about what Sorcerous Origin I should grab.
>Storm Sorcery
Seems like an obvious choice given my domain and Goddess, but I'm only intending to dip for metamagics at this point, all I get is the 10ft movement.
>>43604800
(cont.)
>Shadow Sorcery
Has very good 1st level abilities, which makes it the one least likely to get DM approved. However, I do have backstory and the "Bloodless" name I earned that support it with fluff, so it's not quite a completely mechanical incentive.
>Favored Soul
Fits in with my clerical nature, but I'm not sure which domain I would take, since Akadi only really fits with tempest. I suppose I could try to find a justification as to why another God would sponsor me, like Mask approving of my thievery or some other such thing, but I feel like it would be a stretch. I'm still not even sure which domain I would be interested in, and whether or not my DM would let those spells count as being compatible with my Cleric spell slots, which may prove to be useful.
Spell selection is also a bit of an issue. I'm basically our entire front line, and so I use Shield of Faith to pump my AC to 21 (Magic Items + Shield + Heavy Armor). That leaves me with a difficult decision as I level as to what the hell I'm going to do with my concentration. I am considering Warding Wind as one of my Sorcerer spells, so that it is much more difficult for enemies to get past me or target my back line with ranged attacks. Shield is probably a must-have as well, as my DM seems to like throwing very hard hitting enemies our way. (I have rolled above average health, but have not gone one session so far without nearly getting killed in one enemy's action. Thankfully I have kept most of my allies from getting hit by being a wonderful meat sponge.) I like having out of combat utility as well, but with such a limited selection of spells I will have to balance utility with survivability. Are there any other suggestions for useful abilities, such as Invisibility, Misty Step, and See Invisibility?
I wish they release the mystic soon, psionics were always been one of my favourite classes, not only because they're balanced casters, but also killing mofos with your mind.
>>43604800
>rolled 3 16s
>hasn't run by DM
Roll in front of everyone
>>43604830
I already rolled in front of everyone, we started at level 1. I'm planning ahead for character progression.
>>43604804
First off, Shield of Faith eats your concentration, so you're out of luck there.
Second, there's no reason Favored Soul must come from direct approval from a god. Perhaps you're descended from some kind of divine being many generations back who was in the service of the god of thieves or travel, which has been an unknowing influence on your character's disposition. But your spell slots between the two classes are shared when your multiclass - it's just the ability score you cast with that's different.
Third, if you want to be sticky, but don't have feats, consider taking Booming Blade from the SCAG. It basically immobilizes an adjacent target unless it wants to eat extra damage. Do NOT take Invisibility, as that will just cause enemies to focus more on your allies. Prioritize things you see yourself doing (presumably, holding back large amounts of enemies), and leave utility spells to the primary caster of the group rather than the tank. Unless you're also the primary caster, in which case, what the fuck is the rest of your party doing?
So I have a quick favor to ask. I've been playing AL for the past few months and I'm having a bit of trouble deciding what I want my latter level feats to be. I'm playing a sword and board battle master goliath.
I plan to use my first 2 ASI to bost my Str to 20 and then to use the next 2 ASI to get Shield Master and Tough. Atm I'm thinking of making the last 3 ASI be Resilient (Wis), Resilient (Dex),and ASI 1 Wis & 1 Dex. This would make my stats Str 20, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 16, and Cha 10. Is there something I'm overlooking or is this pretty solid? I like the way it looks personally but I would love to hear some feedback.
>>43604975
What do you find your role in the party generally is? You're presumably wearing heavy armor, so you've basically maximized your own survivability here, but with your defenses so high, you might not need Tough any more. Unless you've got no healer or something.
I'd consider swapping it out for Martial Adept to fuck with enemies even more, or Sentinel for stickiness to protect allies.
Why the 16 in Wis anyway?
>>43604910
Yeah, I knew about Shield of Faith eating up my concentration. Hence my dilemma of "Is this worth what I could potentially be doing otherwise in most situations?" I see myself using things like Call Lightning should we ever be laying siege or something, but it doesn't seem as practical in most indoor/dungeon crawling situations.
As for your second point though, I never really looked in to Favored Soul in previous editions and the UA only gives single sentence of fluff. Something about it being useful if Gods are prominent, and that the Sorcerer has a fraction of a God's divine power, so it seemed like a "Chosen One" kind of thing. Thanks for clearing that up for me!
I was considering Booming Blade already to fit with the Tempest theme and all, and the obvious applications. It deals pretty great damage too, for a cantrip. As for Invisibility, I was thinking that would be something to help when we're sneaking around, and avoiding combat since it wears off the moment you attack. It would also be nice to have it for myself, as most of my party is unaware of just how I come across all of the things that I do.
So far the rest of my party consists of a Warlock, a Mage, and a Ranger. The Warlock is mostly focused on blasting, and with the few spell slots he has it would be difficult to expect him to cast things like Invisibility when we're expecting an upcoming fight. Our Mage on the other hand, is (thankfully) more interested in control. He'll probably be the one picking up quite a few of the supportive spells now that you mention it, which was a massive oversight on my part.
As the most proactive member of the party I often find myself forgetting about my party's talents, which is definitely something I need to work on. Thanks for the reply my man.
>>43605002
So many things use wisdom saves that bolstering my Wis and getting Resilient almost ensures no paralysis will stop me and no charm spell will turn me on my allies. At least that's the plan.
I looked over the martial adept feat and considering that you get so many maneuvers as is and the dice restore on a short rest i feel it would be a waste. as for Sentinel, it would be grand, possibly better than tough. As for a healer, it's sort of touch and go in AL. Sometimes you get a life Cleric and a Bard who both can heal the party and buff, sometimes you have a melee ranger who dies too fast to heal anyone, but goliath stone-skin and battle master parry does help reduce any damage i do take when i do get hit.
>>43605051
As a fighter you can reroll saves 3 times per day (also inspirations)
>>43605068
True, but the longer you can save those rolls the better. You never know when a long string of bad rolls may come along and almost get you killed. Plus most of the save related ASIs will be at the latter levels (14, 16, 19).
Why there're backgrounds like veteran, knight, royal spy, hired assassin, etc that imply a lot of competency but 1st level characters die if a thug sneezes in his general direction?
Hi, I'm the guy from the last thread who was about to start a 15th level campaign with a Devotion Pal3/ Undying Light lock6/ Draconic Sor6, there's a small problem...absolutely every other player picked 1 level in UA ranger for ambuscade and the GM is going to ban UA. I'm going to try my hardest on convince him to allow other UA stuff because not everything is broken (in fact most of them are just ok).
On the bright side my rolls were 17, 15, 14, 12, 12, 9. So after adding half-elf 18, 16, 16, 12, 12, 9.
Leave it to the warlick to fuck up our campaign
>Wizard finally gets wish
>Decides to have every party member write down on a piece of paper what they want most and he'll ask for it
>Dwarf bard gets his dead wife back
>Halfling rogue gets a bunch of gold
>My paladin gets to see faith in his god restored
>"Alright warlock what did you write down"
>he stays silent
>Wizard reads his wish out loud while channeling the spell
>"I wish Tharizdun, the chained god was released from the bonds that bind him"
>Heavens are in panic
>Tharizdun gets set free and the entire abyss and all it's princes march on the realms
>our faces when
>>43605313
Sucks that you can't use UA but I would be lying if I said I would not do the same if my whole party did that. I wish you luck with your convincing. On the other hand you could always switch to sorclock if it continues to be banned. You got solid stats for it.
>>43605347
How is the wizard casting wish at will? And channeling a spell that takes one action?
>>43605347
Thats just perfect! A perfect plot-hook to end a campaign with. The end of the world vs. the PCs. I wish to hear more as the story develops.
Also, somewhat ironically, I have a game that will end in a very similar fashion if things go according to what I have in mind.
>>43605350
B-but I didn't pick ambuscade, I knew it was broken and non tested and I decided to not be an asshole by picking it, why he has to punish me too? Why GMs always ban an entire source/book instead of banning what they think is too strong? I don't get it.
>>43605361
We took rests, we were nearing the end of the campaign so we just rp'd it as one wish per day for every party member that wants one, warlock wanted to go last
>>43605386
Very true. That's a good argument to tell him. If I had to guess the main reason he banned the whole source is he was worried the whole thing was busted since everyone picked up a few levels from it.
>>43605386
He doesn't know if anything else in the UA is going to get abused too.
What he did was a knee jerk reaction not unsimilar to forcing all the kids in a class to miss recess because of two or three goons. Or something along those lines.
Because you're an adult just make an IRL charisma roll, explain why you want to play what you do; that you avoided the ambuscade thing because it seemed cheesy, and that you're ok staying out of UA if he still feels crappy about it.
You'll be pretty well off if you don't even make him give you answer and you just ask him to 'sleep on it' or something, and in that case make a back-up if he still disallows your build.
Also, UA isn't a book, its basically a collection of material that needs playtesting and official WotC encounters + adventures won't allow it.
>>43604633
darkness + devil's sight combo.
the warlocks are all about invocations, everything else they can do, other casters can do better.
I hate the way goblonoids and orca look like in 5th ed
>>43605461
Shadow Sorcerer does that billion times better.
>>43605313
your players are retarded, and your DM is too.
the firsts are optimizing outside of the DM safe zone, and the latter is knee jerking.
are the ambuscaders rogues too, for dat assassination? has the DM asked for a party ready for harder-than-usual challenges?
>>43605491
Shadow Sorcerer is only from a UA and is hilariously overpowered anyway so that's not a surprise.
>Normally be DM for my group
>One of them wants to try starting his own separate adventure
>We will all be starting at level 20
What kind of ridiculous minmax character can I make to abuse the fact that it will never not be fully built? Sorclock? Some kind of smitebard? Vanilla battlemaster?
>>43605497
I think there was a rogue, but I don't think he had enough levels to have three turns in the first round.
As for the level of the campaign it, supposedly, going to be "hardcore", no additional info. But Ambuscade, imo, would make that a walk in the park, specially if everybody, but me, has it.
>>43603903
Ok, /5eg/, I'll play OotA and I really, really need help here.
The party consists of only 3 people, a rogue, paladin and a wizard.
No races or paths have been chosen yet.
Help me, /5eg/! What should I expect?
Do we need to min/max?
Give me anything other than " 3 people? You're fucked!" and " Keep prisioners alive, they will carry you lame as party" .
>>43605491
SSs can't see inside someone else's darkness.
you're with a party, if anyone wants to play a darkness slinger, everybody else needs devil's sight, or great tactics to avoid having to fight in the darkness.
and once they have devil's sight, they might as well throw down some darnesses too, it would be more tactically flexible if the shadow sorcerer had it too!
as a class, they're gutted by seeing only inside their own darkness. but that's the maximum emo possible, if that's what you're looking for!
>>43605514
I would make a GWM fighter and kill everything in one or two turns. Paladins can do the same thing with their smite but I like fighters more.
On the other hand you could make a bard or a wizard with wish and break the game that way.
>>43605544
Keep the prisoners alive, Min/max as much as you can without making some robot of a character, cover all your bases. You will need a cleric or bard so the paladin can act as a main front liner without having to use spells to heal. Life Cleric would be best but arcane cleric and bard with healing spells works too. Also, don't rely on items or material components. You start pretty much bare naked. Have fun, I've been enjoying OotA a lot.
>>43605537
you know, there are some things that I'd only throw to an ambuscade-happy party.
waves of enemies with combined arms, traps, environmental hazards... all within proper CR, but way more deadly than the too-common braindead hordes.
only martials get to ambuscade, anyway, and if they hadn't gone rogue, and gotten alert too, they weren't really abusing it.
>>43605589
Ambuscade is useful to casters too, it gives you an extra turn (entire turn, with action, movement, bonus action and reaction) at the begining of every combat and you can't never be surprised.
>>43605609
with an action you can only use to Attack. it's not as useful for casters.
being immune to surprise is good, but not game-breaking. there's a feat for that, if you really want to, it just means the DM can drop assassins and other stealthy opponents on you without having to double check if they'll insta-kill someone, or having them target the tank even if they know there are better targets.
>>43605544
Get an arcana cleric instead of a wizard.
>>43605544
Paladin, go half-elf
Rogue, go swashbucler
Wizard. go drow
>>43605544
3 people?
You're dead kiddo.
DEad, it will be nothing short of a miracle if your lame as party gets to part 2.
>>43605509
Only because of Strength of the Grave, though.
How do you suppose that should actually have been worded anyway?
>>43605514
Halfling Open Hand Monk 17/Divination Wizard 2/Whatever the fuck you want 1. Reroll everything ever, and force enemies to fail their saves against your save-or-die. Piss off your DM.
Polearm Master/Sentinel Anything with Tunnel Fighter(Personally, I like Crown Paladin for Champion Challenge). If possible, throw Bladesinger/Barbarian for AC or Monk for saves in there for more survivability. Shadow Sorcerer also works.Undying Light Warlock 6/Shadow Sorcerer 1/Lore Bard 5/Whatever 8. Keep casting Animate Dead like a motherfucker, and use your Speak with Dead Invocation to have the zombie keep making puns, and also occasionally answer important questions. Perform a rendition of Thriller after Animating enough zombies by chaining short rests. Refuse to fucking die like a motherfucker, even if Strength of the Grave fails you.
>>43605659
>swashbuckler
Is it that much better than the other paths for this adventure in particular?
Havent played oota
>>43605670
Strength of the grave is fine.
Strength of the grave at fucking 1st level is not fine though.
>>43605544
Look kid, it's kind of a burden to me, but some people say that Im one of the best, if not the best, gamer this board has to offer and when it comes to D&Dnext its not different.
Min/max the shit out of everything, dont be afraid of taking that extra edge. Cheat, fight and fuck your way out of wethever comes your way.
>>43605544
Prisioners are dead weight.
6 hp? Really, nigga?
Also, theres nothing to say about party builds, desu.
Just get shit done, dude.
>>43605674
it's better if you're fighting alone.
you can't rely on getting flanks with only 1 melee combatant, the other option is to hide-and-shoot, but that's a skill check, more failure-prone than just getting your sneak attack in.
that said, I'd rather have the 2 fighters go ambuscade ranger - assassin and then branch out into paladining or roguery, and convince the wizard to be a bard.
then you might stand a chance.
>>43605544
Darkvision is a must.
Not sure about the rest.
>>43605544
Why not Paladin, Bard and Cleric?
>>43605685
Shut up, Virt.
>>43605544
>what should I expect?
Getting killed.
>Do we need to min/max?
With 3 people? Yes.
>give me anything blablabla
You're not gonna make it.
>>43605667
>>43605696
>>43605667
>>43605749
Not anon and I havent played OotA, im interested on doing so, but is it really that hard?
>>43605347
>>43605375
There's just one problem, though. Why the fuck did the wizard agree to make that wish? He didn't read it first? And even if he didn't read it first, he didn't notice that something was very wrong halfway through reciting it and cut himself off?
>>43605777
>just one problem
>a fucking wish from a mortal wizard makes the god themselves piss their pants
>>43605836
A wish a mortal wizard made that conceptually he isn't allowed to make. Wish is still a spell cast by a mortal.
>>43605347
Some of those are outside the safe boundaries of a Wish. Did the wizard just make a lucky roll each time to not permanently lose his ability to cast Wish? And did the DM not try to twist the wording of some of these wishes?
>Dead wife - depends on how long she's been dead. If you can bring her back with a Resurrection, that's legit. If you need a True Resurrection, though, expect to have her bones brought to you, or to have her come back as a zombie or some such.
>Gold - okay, that's legit. I like that halfling. He's likely to crash the economy once he realizes the wizard is a free gold machine.
>Restoring faith in a god - This could go wrong in so many ways. Maybe just one more person believes, or people believe for only a few seconds before being able to exercise their free will again, or maybe there's a powerful religious revival that takes a much darker interpretation of the god's teachings. Maybe all remaining followers of the god lose their divine powers, thus technically increasing faith because now their faith is unsupported by evidence.
Do in the DMG appear gnomish or dwarven repeating hand crossbows? Sage mentions their existence to be used with crossbow expertise and shield but I can't find them. DM is going to start a 8th level game and everybody is going to have access to one magic/rare weapon.
>>43605347
Wish does not an omnipotent wizard make.
Party is a bard, hunter, and death cleric. What's a good fourth member for the party? I'm thinking a rogue or barbarian.
>>43605916
Ranged hunter or melee hunter?
Immo a Barb or a Fighter, you need some front liner that can stay in the front line.
>Death cleric
Evil campaign?
The Undying Light Warlock serving Meridia guy here again, from yesterday. How feasible would it be for that lock to carry and use Meridia's Beacon as his spell focus?
>>43605908
Not really. I'm playing a gnome eldritch knight, and I just fluff the Crossbow Expert feat as knowing how to operate a repeating crossbow. If you want you could take one of the higher-tech weapons in the DMG like a semiautomatic pistol and use the stats for that.
>>43605916
Could always do with something with Tunnel Fighter to protect the squishies. So probably a Fighter or Paladin.
>>43603947
Heard that it should be avoided and is bad.
>>43605993>>43605993
A little too much for level one. I doubt you're the only warlock fighting the undead in her name. Got to gain her favor and be her number one. Right now you're just a number two.
Also, I want to say how jelly I am that you are playing a game set in Tammriel. I don't play gish characters, but I would totally roll up a Breton spell sword (eldritch knight) in your campaign.
>>43603903
What would a christian cleric be like?
Life? Light?
>>43605761
Not that hard, if you have 4-5 party members.
management can be a bitch.
>>43606175
>*tips fedora* ironicly
>>43606184
How come?
>>43606175
Depends on the time and the branch.
>>43606175
The DMG mentions ways to treat monotheism. Generally, gods who are supposed to be all-encompassing let their clerics pick whatever domain they want, since there isn't anything that doesn't fall under the god's purview. The Christian god has aspects of life and light, but also of death and even of trickery (like that time he trolled Abraham.)
>>43606223
>like that time he trolled Abraham
made me chukle.
You're good, anon.
>>43606223
And War, remember that time he told a bunch of slave guys to exterminate a couple of tribes (women and children included) just because?
>>43606272
>he
>not He
>inb4 not She
>inb4 people start replying with the dumbest shit tumblr came up with
Could you guys help a first time DM? I have some ideas that need developing. I have vague ideas of goblins with some kind of steam-powered technology, I see them in my mind with mini-steam-mechs, power armors, old guns (still in a regular fantasy dnd setting) more advance that anything by humans yet, the kingdoms barely can hold them or understand what's going on. I also see the party encountering a broken warforged and fixing it or it just activate suddenly if they leave it alone (one of them is a artificer) and it joins their party... and turns out to be central to the plot somehow later, important somehow
Could you guys help me with some plot ideas and stuff?
>>43606272
Yeah, pretty much everything. He could be Arcana. Remember how he told everyone not to trust any wizards who come into town showing off miracles, and then later he took the form of a wizard coming into town showing off miracles? He's like Obi-Wan meets Littlefinger.
>>43606292
The Christian god is a guy with a magical invisible penis that he used to rape a teenaged girl once. Whether Tumblr believes in a different supreme being is entirely up to them.
>>43605849
Wish can do anything so long as DM allows it, book even describes itnas "most powerful weapon a mortal can wield"
>>43606175
Knowledge because the only book you need is the bible
>>43606340
>so long as DM allows it
It also describes the extent of what the DM should ideally allow.
>>43606223
Plus Old Testement YHWH is Tempest as fuck
Are there official guidelines somewhere for designing your own spells?
>>43606313
Goblins fleeing from threats found out ruins of an underground rock gnome kingdom, with advanced -steampowered- tech. They conquer the place, which had some monsters, but nothing too powerful.
They learn on how to operate all the shit and even make their own, idk, maybe their leader was into this shit and made it mandatory.
They get something good going on there, for 50 years or so, but goblins breed fast, and they need outside resources, they start pillagin the surface with their gizmos.
>Gnomes might've gonne extinct ages ago, because of a plague or some shit
>these goblins are not as evil as "normal" goblins, and their society works diferently.
>quests may include getting hold of samples of goblin tech
>gossips go around, about wizard goblins or something
>A goblin will kill himself before revealing how their shit work, also, some magic ex-machina gave them advantage against mind controling spells and similar shit.
>there ar some know points with similar tech, but mostly beyond repair, including golens and shit.
Give me more stuff to work with here, anon!
>>43606313
Avoid both those things.
Dealing with the weird rules for tech is something to avoid as a new DM, especially when the edition doesn't even have tech rules yet. Once they're published and you're more experienced, go for it.
Stay far far away from the Warforged thing. It's DMPC in spades.
>>43606391
DMG has them
>>43606313
Hi, I wrote>>43606396
and I agree with >>43606401
You should try a vanilla game, and see what you can pull. Go basic, but also, go fun.
>>43606292
in during
>not Zhe
>>43606167
I'm actually DMing the Tamriel game, and the Lock is an NPC, a potential ally, and quest starter for Meridia, if the party get a hold of his Beacon. The NPC's starting in the same jail as the party (cause it's an Elder Scrolls game after all), and if they talk it out with him, he's gonna help them, something I came up with because there's only three of them, and resurrection spells don't exist.
>>43606425
This nigga knows what I'm talking about.
>>43603903
>What's your favorite piece of 5e art?
The Downs Syndrome Elf on page 162.
>>43605544
I pity you, anon.
>>43606419
>>43606401
If you really want weird goblin tech, give them Rube Goldberg machines. Something that can't be taken out of the dungeon and used by the PCs. False walls that lift monster cages when destroyed or pushed down, also revealing bait behind the PCs that the monster will eat after killing them, pulling a string on an alarm to let the goblins know to reset the trap. Bags of flour strung up all along the ceiling, so that anyone who pulls a string will dust the entire complex with flour and reveal any invisible creatures as gaps in the flour. Seesaw drawbridges with enough friction to let a goblin pass but that wobble all over the place when a human tries to use them. You know, stuff that PCs could build with current tech if they had too much time on their hands.
>>43606401
>>43606419
I see, sad to be honest... and I was thinking maybe the warforged could be BBEG
also maybe the tech could be more Eberron-ish?
>>43606440
In that case then I guess there is no real problem to that. Frankly though you should just let them die I'd they do. Just the way games go.
>>43606512
There is an Unearthed Arcana for Eberron in 5e worth looking at
>>43606526
Yeah, that's the basis of the setting, they gotta be careful, but that balances out with Birthsigns, and Greater Powers. I just wanted to know what people thought about the idea. The party's composed of an Orc cleric of life, who was raised by a priest of Mara, a tratidionalist Green Pact Bosmer moon druid, and a Khajiit rogue. Gonna be fun
>>43606512
It sounds a little like you're thinking like a vidya. In a vidya, you have a lot more control over the players. You can keep them on rails, dictating a narrow range of things they can do and objects they can use. You can make the PCs stupider than the players and force them to do things in cutscenes against the players' better judgment. In tabletop games, you have to account for the fact that they're going to try to loot and use anything a bad guy drops, and that they might realize that this NPC with them is a villain before they're supposed to.
>>43603903
I fucking love the manticore
>>43604515
>Green Fire blade cheese.
Could anyone enlighten me as to what this cheese is? I'm aware of the cantrip, but not of mechanics allowing it to be abused. What are they?
>>43606670
1.Cast GFB cantrip in your turn
2.With sorcerer metamagics twin it or quicken another one
3.You're now casting 2 GFB per turn
4.Due being Fire damage you get +Cha from Undying ligth tand +Cha from Draco sorcerer 6
>>43606710
I don't think getting +CHA from two different sources would allow you to add double your charisma bonus. That doesn't make any sense.
>>43606735
It always worked that way unless specified otherwise.
As a GM you can allow it or not, but is not like he's going to outdamage real martials.
>>43604800
That's not how Cleric prep works, or every single full caster would just take Cleric 1 for full access to their list.
>>43604800
>>43606799
This. A Cleric 5/Sorcerer 3 has fourth-level spell slots, but he can only prepare third-level cleric spells and only knows second-level sorcerer spells. Those fourth-level spell slots can only be used by casting level 1-3 spells at higher levels than normal.
>>43606710
So that's
>melee attack+1d8x2 to first target
With a greatsword, that'd be (4d6+2xSTR)+(2d8+2xCHA), averaging to 20 plus 20 more if both your STR and CHA are 20(this is being generous), for the +5 modifier.
That's 40 damage on the first target, with 2d8+2xCHA to be spread among one or two additional targets.
This is decent, but in no way remarkable, and definitely not broken.
>>43606780
I'm pretty sure it explicitly forbids that kind of munchkinry in plain english in the player's handbook. Looking for the page right now.
>>43606847
They're both untyped bonuses to damage, so they do stack.
That said, assuming 20s in all relevant stats at level 17, you're dealing 9d8+2*Cha+Dex (55.5 dmg avg) and 3d8+2*Cha (23.5 avg) to a secondary target within 5 feet twice in your turn each as your nova; followed by 4d8+2*Cha+Dex (33 avg) and 3d8+2*Cha (23.5 avg) twice each turn following. A little more on the primary if you're not using a Finesse weapon.
You may as well sink 2 levels into your choice of Warlock, 3 into your choice of Sorc and 12 into whatever the fuck you want, and Hex with your bonus action first turn before shitting out out 4d10+4d6+4*Cha (56 avg) every attack until you run out of Quickens.
Yeah, it's good, but I feel it's far too much investment for something that isn't worth the cost.
>>43606837
Cheese dont usually mean broken or overpowered.
GFB can be Twinned RAW but will not be interpreted as RAI at many tables.
>>43606735
The only thing with stacking rules is proficiency bonus.
>>43606847
>>43606735
>Holy shit, this synergy that really isn't much must be stopped! next will be rogue/monks to avoid their advantage to one attack every turn at 7th level!
>>43606921
Quicken it then.
>>43606921
I'd allow it.
And then send waves of enemies with fire resistance at him once enemies wise up.
Yeah, he's got a cool trick, but the rest of the party need time to shine too, buddy.
>>43603903
My favorite art is on page 135 of the MM.
>>43606921
I'd rule that you can't twin Greenflame Blade because it targets two creatures.
>>43606983
He's spending resources to do that, are you going to throw enemies with resistance to stun once the monk reaches 5th level?
Are you going to throw enemies with resistance to all types of damage if the group has a wizard?
Also elemental adept.
Also2, you don't punish a player shutting down his strengths, you attack his weaknesses
>>43603903
This is my favorite piece of art in all the books.
>>43606921
GFB can target two creatures and can't be twinned.
>>43607025
RAW it doesn't target though, but I think that RAI it targets, depends on the GM, the difference is 2 sorcery points or 1 sorcery point.
>>43604800
>As far as I'm aware a Cleric can prepare spells of any level they have slots for, so multiclassing with sorcerer will give me full spell progression with the exception of my Domain spells
You are aware wrong. The book is extremely clear on this, and there's been sage answers to confirm it because people are retarded and don't even read the multiclassing section when they want to multiclass.
>>43604975
Resilient lacks the text that says you can take it multiple times, so don't plan to take it multiple times. You also shouldn't take tough before you have 20 Con. It's not very good.
>>43605514
Half-Orc GWM Champion. Make sure you have 20 Str, 20 Con, athletics prof, and just trip anything Large and lower and go to town on them with GWM crits.
>>43606899
It's not overpowered, but I have a feeling since it is UA material, it's going to go like Extra attack.
>When you cast a spell that does fire damage, add your charisma modifier to that damage.
+
>When you cast a spell that does fire damage, add your charisma modifier to that damage.
=
Add your charisma modifier to that damage.
>>43607086
If it doesn't target, then you still can't twin it. If it has one target, it's the creature that takes the extra fire damage.
There's still booming blade.
>>43607086
This isn't Magic. Things can target without using the word "target." And the difference can be pretty big because if it didn't target you could quicken one and twin the other.
>>43607034
His weakness is that he's sunk all his resources into being a one-trick pony. Congratulations to him, but enemies in campaigns do sometimes have enough brains to realize things like that. Eventually enemy casters are going to wise up and think 'Maybe I should cast Fire Shield on myself before fighting this guy' or 'Maybe I should send Fire Elementals at him instead of Air Elementals'.
Yeah, I'll give him the chance to be awesome in combat, but the game will inevitably become boring for everyone else during combat if it becomes 'Sit back, don't die and let this guy carry us.' Everyone else needs time to be awesome as well.
Yes, Elemental Adept is a thing he will take inevitably. NPCs will just have to respond accordingly, like the intelligent beings some of them are.
>>43607123
What I meant is that RAW it mentions "the target" and "a secondary creature", never mentions "two targets" or "one target and another", so in the most strict RAW, twinned should work, but not RAI.
Crawford already mentions that twinned doesn't work, but is up to the GM.
Also doesn't seem fair that, for example, a MC can add INT and CHA to damage, but a MC can't add 2xCHA.
>>43607157
>'Sit back, don't die and let this guy carry us.'
Ok, cool, ban Fighters, Paladins, Rangers and even Barbarians now that you're at it, because they outdamage the 2xCha guy
>>43607086
This is the sort of rule vagueness I thought we'd be done with in 5e. God damnit.
>>43607199
Also casters than throw fireballs, they also outdamage him and affect more targets.
You should ban anyone that is able to deal more than 4d8 total at any level.
>>43607208
Pfffhahaahah, 5e wording is fucking horrible, mate.
>>43605544
The most important skill is Survival. Make sure at least one person has decent wisdom and survival proficiency.
Your wizard is going to lose his spellbook at the start and he's not getting it back.
>>43607170
A lot of D&D spells target without saying "target." Charm Person, for example. But you could still twin Charm Person. So that secondary creature on GFB is still a target even though it doesn't say, because it's a particular creature designated by the spell.
Anyone giving clerics automatic proficiency in their god's favored weapons even if they normally would be limited to simple weapons with their domain selection?
>>43607199
This, a martial or any other caster with the same level of optimization is going to be as good, if not better, than this guy.
I hate this kind of Me vs Them thinking, what do you want? a medicre character that can't deal with shit? and enemies being "so smart" are going to play nice with him?
>My fighter makes bazillion attacks
>Well, fuck your fighter, I through at you monsters with resistance or immunity to S/P/B, that's what you get for being good
>Does that mean that if my character dealt 1/4 damage they'll miracously surpass that resistance/immunity?
>No
If you want to "win" the game instead of making everybody have a good time just rock falls them.
>>43607199
But, they don't? Excluding some Fighters, of course, but they're literally called Fighters, for God's sake.
>>43607217
Welp.
So, the level 17 Long Death feature is useless, right? Its a huge ki sink for something marginally better than normal attacks.
Would it be better to multiclass instead of taking a Long Death to 20? Where should the stopping point be? 14 might be ideal, since that nets you a boost to your unarmored movement, and the almighty Diamond Soul. Where should you go after that? Rogue or cleric seem quite flavorful. 6 levels in death cleric, maybe?
Does anyone have the female Samurai on p140 of the PH? I can't find anything online
>>43607285
No. Players don't really notice or care what their god's favored weapon is unless they're really mired in 3.5. Even there clerics didn't always get proficiency in their god's favored weapons by default, and the favored weapons didn't make any sense. Like why the hell is Gruumsh's favored weapon a spear?
>>43607293
To be clear, my point is not 'I don't like this build, so I'm going to fuck him up'; my point is that enemies will respond to what you do. If you optimize to extremes at the expense of your other abilities - if you artificially make your character stupid by giving him only one move to ever use, ever - any competent enemies are going to take advantage of this.
This applies to martials and other casters as well. They're not going to be nice and say 'Oh, well, I guess I'll just line up with everyone else to get Fireballed' or 'That last guy ate 8 attacks in 3 seconds from that guy with the greataxe! Now it's my turn to fight in one-on-one!'. NPCs in campaigns should be able to think outside the box just as much as PCs, because it's a roleplaying game, and PCs should be a product of the world they're in.
If your party isn't optimized, fine, give them foes proportional to their characters' skill levels - but this applies to optimized parties as well. There's no sense of achievement in completing a fucking walk in the park.
>>43607296
>But, they don't?
Paladin and Ranger do, anon
See, this sorcerer/warlock needs to be at least 7th level to pull that.
>Paladin 7
he has two attacks, three if he uses GFW (and crits) or PM, lets say he has both, because the sorcelock also optimized.
2d10+1d4+15+30 = 58.5 (without counting fighting style and other paladin features like smite, hunter's mark, etc)
>Sorcelock
2x (2d8+15) = 48 to the first target 2x (1d8+15) = 39
>Ranger with sharpshooter
3d10+15+30 = 61.5
Tell me, how he outdamages these two?
>>43607398
What other options have martials like barbarian or champion fighter?
>>43607374
Gruumsh gets a spear because it's really important to the orc origin story. Of course the game really needs a d8 piercing martial spear
>>43607399
Sorry, sorcerlock should deal even more, a sorcelock with 20 on Dex AND Cha at 7th level is pretty much impossible.
>>43607443
>even more
Fuck my fighters, less, meant less.
>>43607399
Why sorcelock doesn't have PM and GWM too? seems like you're building him to deal less damage on purpose.
>>43607076
OP here, that's a great picture. I might have started the thread with it instead of the goblins.
>>43603986
Probably yet another fucking module that gives us fuck all in terms on content, as well as some faerun specific backgrounds and.....ooh, ooh, more races! Because we TOTALLY need more of those.
Fucking bastards. They finally balance feats somewhat, then refuse to make any.
Inb4 WAHHH mae your own
>>43607582
>virtualoptim memes
You were banned, stay banned.
>>43607533
Because neither sorcerer nor warlock have proficiency on any heavy weapon?
>>43607398
Might just be the games I play in, but our party doesn't tend to leave survivors to report our weaknesses.
>>43607170
Nothing to do with fairness. I just expect the same logic that gets used elsewhere.
>How many superiority dice does a Spell-less ranger 8/Battle Master 6 have?
4.
>How many attacks does a Barbarian 5/ Fighter 5/ Paladin 5/ Ranger 5 make when they take the Attack action?
2.
>When a Purple Dragon Knight 7/Dragon Sorcerer 1/Rogue 1 with expertise in Persuasion parlays with a dragon, what does he add to his Cha check?
Double his proficiency bonus.
>When an Undying Light warlock 1/Red Dragon Sorcerer 6 casts Fireball, how much damage does he add?
His Cha Modifier.
The established precedent is that multiclassed abilities can be redundant. If we start getting rules based on what's balanced instead of what's intended, it will be a major design shift.
I know the PHB has rules for donning/doffing armor, but are there rules for exhaustion from sleeping or resting in armor?
Do you have to don / doff your armor to get the benefit of a short / long rest?
So I ran a Great Pumpkin (40-foot pumpkin patch monster) fight for halloween because I love halloween. They are four level 6 PC's and it was a CR 13 monster meant to scare and chase them into the graveyard further. They spent almost half their spell slots trying to kill it even after I showed them it could do 30 damage to an NPC (I had to pull punches when it actually hit them). Eventually they got the idea and ran from it, BUT NOW!
I jokingly mentioned that there will be a Dire Giant Turkey for our thanksgiving game. For the first time ever, my players are preparing in advance, getting real jazzed up about how to kill this giant joke turkey. So of course now I gotta run it! 2 Questions for you gents.
1) A young blue dragon is a hard challenge for 4 level 6 PC's. It has 152 HP, 18 AC, +9 to hit, and 3 attacks a turn that do 16 damage on average each if they hit. If only 2 of the dragons attacks hit a turn that 30 some odd damage against a players that only have 40-50 hp. How do you use a higher CR monster without killing the party? I was looking at the DMG for monster creation, but if I lower his damage per round his health shoots way the fuck up.
2) Any ideas for a giant dire turkey monster? The session before thanksgiving I'm going to have the city folk boarding up their windows in preparation for the great turkey. No one knows where it comes from or exactly when it will show up. But it always happens around this time.
>>43607685
And yet primary casters' spell slots stack?
The text in the PHB specifically states:
>When you gain a new level in a class, you get its features for that level. A few features, however, have additional rules when you’re multiclassing: Channel Divinity, Extra Attack, Unarmored Defense, and Spellcasting.
That's it. Multiclasses abilities can be redundant, but that doesn't mean that have to be. Features don't stack because of the way the features themselves are worded (as seen in Expertise, in which you have to pick a different ability each time, or Superiority Dice, which states you 'have' a number of dice and do not 'gain' a number of dice) or because they are specifically stated not to do so. Anything else is fair game unless DMs or errata rule otherwise.
>>43607317
Every level still increases the hp given by their first feature, and the general monk's Empty Body is still amazing. Touch of Death is an expensive burst damage feature, like pumping up a Sun Soul's burning hands, or a 4Ele's Fist of Unbroken Air. It looks like the strongest similar ability and still doesn't look good enough to actually use.
If you do decide to multiclass before acheiving 1d10 martial arts damage and Empty Body, Rogue is pretty much the only option that gives extra damage, though if you want to try cleric, pick one that gives useful spells, like War for Divine Favor.
>>43607685
>>How many superiority dice does a Spell-less ranger 8/Battle Master 6 have?
>4.
Citation needed
For the rest, when it's specified, it's, nothing much to add, when it isn't I follow the same rules as previous editions.
>>43607398
>>43607157
I'd be using both booming blade and GFB though, depending on the number of enemies and how near are one to another, will they also throw enemies with resistance to fire AND thunder? These evil dudes seem to have unlimited resources.
>>43607685
So by this logic bladesinger can't use mage armor? because "precent" on unrelated stuff?
>>43607685
>>How many superiority dice does a Spell-less ranger 8/Battle Master 6 have?
>4.
Due to the wording of the feature ("you have four superiority dice" for both with no mention of gaining them, unlike the Martial Adept feat).
>>How many attacks does a Barbarian 5/ Fighter 5/ Paladin 5/ Ranger 5 make when they take the Attack action?
>2.
Because of the wording of Extra Attack and the specific rules in multiclassing
>>When a Purple Dragon Knight 7/Dragon Sorcerer 1/Rogue 1 with expertise in Persuasion parlays with a dragon, what does he add to his Cha check?
>Double his proficiency bonus.
Because of the rules on proficiency bonus stacking in multiple parts of the PHB
>>When an Undying Light warlock 1/Red Dragon Sorcerer 6 casts Fireball, how much damage does he add?
>His Cha Modifier.
Because you pulled it out of your ass.
>Different bonuses
>One is +Cha to radiant and fire
>Other is +Cha to fire
>Huur dunt stuck duur
So I guess +Int to evocation damage and +Cha fire also don't stack if you use a fire evocation spell? After all they're also different bonuses.
>>43607416
Sure, but spears suck.
And Talos' weapon is a quarterstaff, if I remember correctly. Because nothing strikes fear in the enemy like a rampaging marauder swinging a fucking quarterstaff.
>>43607267
Thanks anon!
Any suggestion on paths and stuff?
>>43606600
>i'll attack him anyways
>>43607772
>A few features, however, have additional rules when you’re multiclassing: Channel Divinity, Extra Attack, Unarmored Defense, and Spellcasting.
>Features don't stack because of the way the features themselves are worded (as seen in Expertise, in which you have to pick a different ability each time, or Superiority Dice, which states you 'have' a number of dice and do not 'gain' a number of dice) or because they are specifically stated not to do so.
Of those, the way that Channel Divinity, Extra Attack, Expertise, and Unarmored Defense are worded means they wouldn't stack. Expertise and Unarmored Defense have additional rules in the first dozen pages of rules that reinforce that they don't stack, and spellcasting needed the extra multiclassing rules to explain how it works, otherwise it might be assumed that you only have the spell slots of the highest level casting class, or that the spell slots are tracked separately for each class.
The other features still got clarification/rules on how they're treated, so not only do you not add together the two unarmored defenses abilities (as already explained in Armor Class on page 14), you can't even have both of them at the same time.
It's fair because it's not overpowered or anything. It's probably not legal, because both abilities are redundant, and it will probably be ruled/written that way in any finalized material because I expect the most heavy-handed rulings possible.
>>43607780
Both their features say that you have 4 dice, then tells you what levels you get an additional die on.
>>43607881
>>>When an Undying Light warlock 1/Red Dragon Sorcerer 6 casts Fireball, how much damage does he add?
>>His Cha Modifier.
>Because you pulled it out of your ass.
I pulled it out of experience with Crawford and the system so far.
>>43607753
Once the giant turkey is killed, let the party feed it to the town in a thanksgiving special episode sort of way. Have them kill some indigenous goblins beforehand and everyone happily forgets they are all dead now.
How good is 5e to run a midnight campaign? how would you introduce heroic paths?
>>43608027
If any of you are willing to play a drow, pick drow. Don't play any other kind of elf.
The wizard should probably pick Conjuration School so that he can create weapons for you with it's ribbon and bolster your low numbers with summons so that enemies don't overwhelm you.
>>43608238
>dont play any other kind of elf
is that a spoiler?
Is half-elf ok?
Has anyone fought the Chapter 1 Vrock in OoTA?
>>43608279
>is that a spoiler?
It depends on the gm, I wouldn't risk it.
>>43608279
>Drow = traitor loser for them
>not drow = kill this motherfucker
>>43608286
Look kid, I have. It was no biggie.
I fucked it good, advantage attacks, spell attacks, regular attacks, you name it. Now, was it worth it?
Thats a different story, anon... a story I, even being one of the best, if not the best, gamer this board has to offer, may not be ready to share, not out of fear of my peers and subordinates looking down on me... but fear of the awe it would cause... for I was amazing and my GM got fucked once again.
>>43605868
>Wish twisting
It's shit.
>>43606367
>It also describes the extent of what the DM should ideally allow.
Well, this /is/ the kinda thing that the GM obviously SHOULD allow, simply for its entertainment value.
>>43605347
Niiiice.
>>43608286
What Vrock?
So I've decided I'm going to DM the starter set for my group.
I play regularly in Adventurers League, and 1 other person in my group played as a teenager. I have to teach everyone else.
So, what I've been doing so far is taking the digital maps, scaling them for print, and I'm going to put them on probably cardboard and make them large enough for figures to be placed. I figure this is the best way to get some of the group into it, by having figures and large pieces that they can interact with.
Besides the maps, is there anything else you nerds recommend I do to help facilitate?
I'll be a first time DM, and the vast majority of the group has never played a tabletop RPG.
Also, any newbie DM advice is appreciated.
>>43608364
>let me have my overpowered wishes even though they go against the rules
No, you can play PF if you want this kind of shit.
>See undying light
>Think "this might make monks (sun soul) not be the worst martial damage dealers!"
>Add +Cha to spells
>Sunbolt is a spell attack but not a spell
Fuack
>>43608453
Tell them, verbatim: "Read the fucking book."
>>43608477
Aye, that's the plan. I'm going to send them the PDF of all the rules.
To elaborate:
Is there anything else I can do, that any of you have done, to help facilitate enjoyment or something that helps bring new players into the adventure and helps them enjoy it.
>>43608457
Whoa son, chiiill. It's the end of the campaign and wasn't done by the wizard to put his own fun ahead of everyone else's. Rule 1 >*
>>43608364
When a PC wishes for more than the safe limits of Wish, your options are to give it to them (which sets a rather dangerous precedent,) having the wish simply fail (which is always an option, but isn't very interesting,) or having some fun with them (which can give the campaign some direction if you do it in the right way, and it teaches the players a timeless lesson about hubris.)
>>43608494
Bring a list of random fantasy names and random wilderness encounters. Eventually someone's going to ask the name of someone who doesn't have one in the book, or someone's going to botch a Survival check or go off chasing a red herring. Write down the names of the NPCs who actually are named, too, so you don't forget.
>>43607008
My favorite piece of art is Excited Kuo-Toa.
>>43608453
Actually do the thing that the starter adventure recommends and ask each player how their character knows the dwarf who hired the party. It'll tie them into the campaign a little. If they're vague or say something that sounds interesting, ask follow-up questions. Keep having NPCs talk to one particular PC at a time to force each player to take turns talking in-character.
>>43608593
I love that shit.
I wosh those guys had a more bully-wug personality
>>43605670
Strength of the Grave - if it were to remain a 1st level ability - should have it apply as X/long rest, with X being either your CON or CHA modifier.
If they wanted to have that ability be a 11th or 18th level class feature then it's fine.
>>43607123
I am quite positive you can take resilient multiple times, but I thought it over keeping in mind the other suggestions and shifted my goal to picking up Lucky, since I can use it to reroll bad saves. As for getting con to 20, it's not a necessity per say. Con 18 and tough nets you a good bit more HP than Con 20. Plus you don't need Con 20 since your proficiency +4 on Con saves is more than good enough for all con related saves.
What I decided on instead is Str 20, Dex 10, Con 18, Int 8, Wis 14, and Cha 10 with Shield Master, Sentinel, Lucky, and Tough as my feats. That should cover my saves and boost my HP to roughly 244.
>>43608593
>tfw your players make a party of kuo-toas and you approved it without bothering to check for shenanigans
>they all hold hands and spam lightning
Hearty keks were had.
>>43608654
I don't see how one race has a better personality than another. Bullywugs are aggressive assholes who can't hold their alcohol - like my dad. Kuo-toa are very spiritual lunatics who get overly absorbed in arts and crafts projects - like my mom.
>>43604477
>Some of the writing in 5E really seems obtuse for the sake of being obtuse or 'retro',
I don't think it's deliberate.
I think >>43604464 is that Mearls just doesn't know how to write to make himself understood as a human being.
>>43604360
But rangers dont prepare in the first place
>>43608555
>>43608629
Thanks m8's.
>>43605214
Because you were a competent normal person before you started adventuring; normal people when they get hit by weapons designed to kill tend to die right away.But really it's just that D&D mechanics and fluff have always had very little to do with each other, with the fluff being vague and the mechanics being prominent. How else do you explain Vancian Casting, where no setting ever made for D&D has ever explained the reasons for an incredibly precise and arbitrary number of spells that only do very, very specific things? They never even try; magic just works that way with no explanation.
>>43605480
>goblonoids
I think they were trying to make goblins look more like hobgoblins and bugbears, who are supposed to be closely related.
>orcs
Uuuh...too green for you I guess?
I mean, orcs used to look quite a bit different, but that was a long, LONG time ago, before WarCraft popularized the current look back in the late 90's.
>>43605214
Easy
>Veteran
So watched a war from distance
>Knight
Your father was a knight, he gave you his armor
>Royal spy
You once over heard the king wishpering something to the queen during a joust
>Hired assassin
You found a dead criminal and collected the bounty
>>43608968
For me, I explain Vanician magic system as it being you exercising more control over your source of arcane/divine energy (for more spells/day) and having said well grow deeper as you gain experience (for higher level spells).
>>43605214
None of those backgrounds demand competency. Any stupid shit can become a veteran just by surviving. A spy might just be good at standing around and looking innocuous and nothing else. A hired killer could just be any poor dumb fuck who looks scary. And knights could have been knighted due to political pressure, impressing a lord with manners and pleasant demeanor, or even kicked upstairs because his master wanted to be rid of him. For every Ser Arthur Dayne there's a Ser Waymar Royce.
>>43609048
>For me, I explain Vanician magic system as it being you exercising more control over your source of arcane/divine energy (for more spells/day) and having said well grow deeper as you gain experience (for higher level spells).
And why does reading the special words from a scroll let you cast a spell then?
And for the record, with Wizards at least the actual original explanation editions ago is that Wizards are literally memorizing complex formulae and then "forgetting" them once they cast them.
That's why reading it off a scroll works, though the words (or scroll) vanish once you use it.
>>43606799
>>43606836
Well it seems I have shitty reading comprehension. I don't honestly take much time looking at other builds outside of what I see floating around here, but I always figured people didn't bother dipping Cleric because they didn't want to be any more MAD than necessary when Wizards can pretty much get all of the important spells for the cost of a scroll. I've seen a couple of people multiclass Druid and Cleric so it seemed reasonable to me.
I guess what fucked me up was I looked at
>The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
and then completely ignored
> You determine what spells you know and can prepare for each class individually, as if you were a single.classed member of that class.
something that I only noticed after you two made me realize I was being a complete idiot.
>>43608692
You don't understand - as per page 180 of the PHB:
>A creature’s current hit points (usually just called hit points) can be any number from the creature’s hit point maximum down to 0.
Now look at Strength of the Grave:
Whenever damage reduces you to 0 hit points, you can make a Constitution saving throw (DC 5 + the damage taken). On a success, you instead drop to 1 hit point.
Past the first time he's reduced to 0 hit points - and he could just carefully apply self-harm via repeatedly inflicting 1 unarmed damage if he really wants to - he only ever gets reduced to 0 from 1 hit point. He can't go below 0. As a result, he never suffers the consequences of taking damage at 0 hit points. And it also means he makes his saving throws at a DC of SIX.
Consider that Sorcerers have proficiency in Con saves. And consider that, by the default rules, criticals on 20s only apply to attack rolls. You can't critically succeed or fail on skill checks or saves. So, if the Shadow Sorcerer has a total of at least +5 between his proficiency and Con bonus, he cannot possibly die.
>>43609042
>>43609071
Yeah, but in general backgrounds are supposed to make your character seem competent in their area of expertise, which explains why they're proficient in X skills. It's fine to use the most "disappointing truth" fluff you can come up with, but it shouldn't mean you're shoehorned into being a coward/turncoat/liar.
I'll give you the knight ones were actually pretty good, but neither of those hired assassin explanations make sense. In neither case do they actually kill anyone, or are even explicitly hired to do anything.
>>43609159
What has that anything to do with damage? even if you have 1 HP or 0 HP if I hit you for 20 damage you still receive 20 damage, or did you forgot the rule: Instant Death?
>>43609147
Because making a spell scroll inbues the energy of the spell itself in the paper, delaying the casting of the spell itself until the scroll is used.
Keep in mind that to make a spell scroll you have to know the spell itself in the first place, so for me I envision it being that you impart the scroll with a bit of your magical energy that day when making the thing in the first place.
>>43609159
You might want to read pg 197
>>43609159
Unless they get crit by an attack, of course. At which point they get splattered by the peasant with a good arm who picked up a lucky rock.
>>43609159
This is a case when RAI>RAW. I would make the DC the total damage of the attack suffered +5.
>>43609232
...Fuck.
Yes, I did. Guess I've been reading it wrongly this whole time. Mea culpa.
>Whenever a creature takes damage, that damage is subtracted from its hit points
You take 20, then substract 20 from your hit points (which you only have 5 for example), but you still took 20 damage first.
>>43608795
That made chuckle.
>>43609231
You don't have to be particularly good at killing to be a killer-for-hire. 1st-level PCs are still better at fighting than an ordinary person. A first-level fighter or rogue can cut up insurers, cheating spouses, and merchants who fail to pay their protection money all day. And a good spy will never need to fight, so it makes sense that he'd be trained in a couple of dialogue skills and nothing else.
>>43605544
Convince the Rogue or Wizard to Bard instead?
:)
Once a paladin had improved divine smite, do they still have to expend a spell slot to get the bonus 1d8 vs undead and fiends?
>>43609159
Isn't negative hp a thing?
>>43610144
No. Hp and death work like in 4e
>>43609463
You do realize that first example involves not killing anyone and just pretending to have done the deed, while the other one implies you look scary enough that you don't have to fight anyone right? The second half of your statement about 1st-level PCs makes no sense in the context of the original comment, that being how an average thug can destroy them without issue.
>>43610767
So pick one. You won't even get to be an assassin until 3rd level, anyway, so you may as well have gotten your start as a petty extortionist if you went with the criminal background.
>>43610841
>Hired assassin
>Nah, you're just an extortionist or a thief
And when you pick officer in soldier background you're in reality low tier militia...I love these backgrounds.
>>43608496
It post-hoc ruined the campaign for everyone but the warlock faggot.
Get. Fucked.
