>Official /5eg/ Mega Trove, contains all official 5e stuff:
https://mega.nz#F!UVkTnT5b!FJ34UZ98BMY2mEtexenS7g
>Pastebin with homebrew list, resources and so on:
http://pastebin.com/X1TFNxck
>/tg/ Character Sheet
https://mega.nz/#F!x0UkRDQK!l-iAUnE46Aabih71s-10DQ
How did your Tarokka reading go?
>>46344358
my players haven't gotten to Madam Eva yet, but my DM draws are compelling. I was worried about the helper, but then realized some cards have multiple options.
Are other DMs rolling for loot in CoS in addition to the loot the adventure describes for each encounter? I haven't been and my players are complaining about the perceived lack of loot. It is pretty sparse so far.
>>46344358
>tfw our Barbarian got tricked into becoming a Djinn
we asked our DM what he could do with his new powers and he said ''MR ANON SIR WHAT WILL YOUR PLEASURE BE''
>>46344513
Well to be fair, Barovia is basically a vacuum, with the odd adventurer wandering into the land. It stands to reason that worthwhile loot is few and far between.
Hey, the 5th person in our CoS group just dropped a few days before the campaign began, anyone interested in filling the slot?
https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/43915/curse-of-spook
Mondays, 7pm to 11pm EST.
here, have a theme song to go with your op
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVI6pGfHB2c
>>46344561
>voice only
>no newcomers
Fuck off.
>>46344570
COP OUT
>>46344579
we don't use the in-browser VoIP client, that shit eats dicks.
Just got done DMing our weekly session.
A wizard, monk, and two fighters (one melee tank, one ranged) are trying to stop a group of lizardfolk from ransacking towns along the edge of a forest. Find out that the king's been deposed for an even stronger badass. They go in, meet a warlock trying to find and kill necromancers (good, because our final enemy's right-hand man is a Drow necromancer.)
Take out all the guards (only 4 Lizard soldiers and a Shaman), bury the bodies, and hide when they hear the badass coming. He's talking with a Drow rogue (specced Arcane Trickster) about keeping his end of the bargain. Our tank runs out and tries to reason with the lizard, actually draws fire from the Drow. The lizard takes a crit to the jaw, and gets beat the fuck up (despite almost killing our ranged fighter with a crit). The Drow gets surrounded by our tank and our monk, and gets to half health, then uses her blinding powder to get away. Blinds both players next to her. As she tries to escape, they take attacks of opportunities at disadvantage. Both hit, bring her down to 1 HP.
After resting, they track her down, bleeding out by a stream in the forest. While talking to her, an echoing voice calls out that it's time to come home, and the Necromancer creates a Dimension Door behind her and pulls her through. Our monk tries to save her, grabs her on a 25 Dex roll, so I had to manually blast him off with Eldritch Blast to make him let go.
God I fucking love this game.
>/5eg/ Discord server
https://discord.gg/0rRMo7j6WJoQmZ1b
The Discord has LFG, homebrew talk, and shitposting. There's memes about it too!
>>46344703
is full plate at level 1 anon there?
>>46344741
he's the server's chatbot
Would you allow a Cleric of Saint Patrick who is a rat exterminator and mutliclasses as bard to sing Irish folk music?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTMh26kHIYY
>>46344809
>a Cleric of Saint Patrick
You have to worship a god.
For custom classes/archetypes, how far would you go without stepping on the toes of preexisting classes/archetypes?
I've been working on a Tactician class that operates like the Fighter's Battle Master save for granting more ally-related power (attacks, spell casts, etc.), but I feel like the current Battle Master, short of a wider girth and more consistent times to use these ally attacks, covers the idea for the most part.
>>46344826
Saint Patrick is pretty much a demigod desu, close enough.
>>46344826
Tell that to "St." Cuckbert.
>>46344854
I prefer stuff that is wholly unique. If you just ape parts of other classes/archetypes, why does your custom class/archetype even exist?
>>46344826
I don't think that's true by the rules, and is picking a domain really all that different than picking a favorite saint?
>>46344901
the St. is abbreviated. It's short for Steve. Steve Cuthbert.
>>46344960
>I don't think that's true by the rules,
Apart from all the stuff in the cleric description that mentions 'your god' or similar. Or this line:
>As you create a cleric, the most important question to consider is which deity to serve and what principles you want your character to embody.
>>46345013
>''Your humble servant asks for your guidance, help me in my quest, I call on you, OH GREAT STEVE''
>>46344960
Generally the Domain is that which your god holds sway over, isn't it? If you want to get away from direct divine influence, why not play a humble folk hero Paladin of the Crown, or something along those veins? Pretty sure Paladin oaths are stated in such a way that they don't necessarily need a god to function.
>>46345020
Oops. I was just going by old shit and didn't really look at the 5th ed blurb on clerics and their religions
>>46345152
Is that 3e or 4e?
>>46345187
3.5 player's handbook. It basically says the same thing for all divine spellcasters. I haven't played much 4th and never as a cleric so I don't really know what it says there
>>46344593
Skype eats dicks too
How's this for a boss encounter against 4 level 3 PCs?
>>46344358
Assume I do not have the war caster feat for what I am about to ask.
Say I'm holding a weapon in one hand, and my other hand is empty, but I have a shield stowed.
If I cast a concentration spell, such as haste, for instance, that requires somatic components (using my free hand to cast it) could I then, take out my shield, and concentrate on the spell with both hands holding something, or does maintaining the concentration require continuous performances of the spell's somatic components? I haven't been able to find a clear answer in the PHB. Opinions?
>>46345463
RTFM, baby. Look a little harder in the spell casting chapter.
Someone posted an old Path of the Brute version in the last thread. I've updated it quite a bit after play testing various versions. Here's the current version, renamed to Path of the Savage, if anyone is interested.
>>46345492
I've read the entire spellcasting section. It doesn't have a clear answer.
I'm thinking of making an archer eldritch knight. Any particular spells I should get? I figure shield, counter spell, haste and maybe mirror image are kind of good, but I'm wondering if I've overlooked anything major
>>46345585
Yeah it does. You either missed it or aren't comprehending correctly. You're a faggot, and suck at reading.
But here you go anyway. A Somatic component is just that; a component. Under the Components heading on page 203 of the PHB: "A spell's components are the physical requirements you must meet in order to cast it." Meaning that the only time components are necessary for a spell is when the spell is cast.
>>46345629
Ok. These are the three passages I was explicitly looking at. They don't forbid what I'm trying to do, but they also don't even mention it or explicitly state that it can be done, so I was unsure.
Basically what I was asking was "do somatic components for concentration spells need to be continuously performed for the entire duration of the spell's concentration?"
>>46345744
No. Components are only required for the initial casting time of the spell.
>>46345669
Like the above guy said components are only used for casting which you aren't doing when you concentrate. In any case concentration doesn't take any action so it really can't be anything much more involved than thinking.
The last entry is just to clarify that you can't concentrate on another spell while casting one that takes more than one action (like find familiar or whatever)
>>46345586
Depending on where/what you expect to be fighting, give Misty Step a consideration
>>46345407
Boring. why do they need to spot a fucking giant wall of bones . why does it have so much hp
they will just shoot it from range. It will take an hour to kill
why would you make this are you retarded
>>46345407
>Change the rejuvenation trait for this creature to holy water instead of a wish spell to kill it after it falls, because otherwise they will definitely have to fight it again and that will not be fun for them to fight this creature several times while wherever they are.
>Level out all the save DCs on the actions to the same DC 14.
>The saving throws should be +4 on Str and Con since thats what his Str and Con scores are, though there is no reason to list the saving throws as is anyways since the creature has no proficiency score.
Other than that your soild.
>>46345789
>>46345787
That makes sense. Thank you for the advice.
>>46345821
>Even when the Wall of Bones is in plain sight, it takes the appearance of a wall of bones
This made me giggle.
>>46345407
Is this meant to actually be fought or just an area hazard? It also looks like you could just kill it safely from 60 feet away which makes the HP just seem tedious more than anything particularly with the regeneration/wish thing. Basically after they find it I imagine a party would just spend a few minutes throwing cantrips at it from a safe distance every time they need to cross it
>>46345918
Its supposed to be fought in a tight winding room made of bones. I gave them a "bomb" to kill it the first time. Then when they are coming back around they have to fight their way through it. Hence why the "it looks like a wall of bones" line
>>46345821
Look at the shit ac fuck boi. The party can do easy ~30 or more damage vs the 9 ac. In 8 to 10 turns the wall should be dead.
>>46345586
flame arrows
So a chainlock with an imp or sprite familiar can cast touch spells through his familiar without breaking the familiar's invisibility, what kind of shenanigans do you think could be pulled from this?
>>46346030
For what purpose
8-10 turns of what? "I shoot the wall of bones"
Jesus Christ. A wall of bones is cool as a spell, or a lair action or just an environment
As a fucking enemy its boring. You are a dumb cocksucker
>>46346102
The imp becomes visible if it casts a spell
>>46346164
The imp is invisible until it attacks or it's concentration is broken. The find familiar spell lets your familiar deliver the touch spell using its reaction. It doesn't use the imp's attack and doesn't break invisibility
>>46346078
Thanks for reminding me about the elemental evil book I didn't even think to check it. I don't know if it would be worth it at higher levels when there's other things to concentrate on, but that's definitely a good one for earlier that I could swap out if I need it
>>46346217
>the familiar can cast deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell
Read the fucking book
>>46346030
Just because the party can kill it isn't really the point. I could block a party's path with a "boulder of bones" that has no offensive capabilities, 1 AC and 1000 HP. Even a solo level 1 character could kill that, doesn't mean it's a good enemy design.
>>46346248
>Invisibility. The imp turns invisible until it attacks or until it's concentration ends.
Likewise you blind fuck
>>46346248
>Invisibility. lhe imp tums invisible until it attacks or until its concentration ends. Anything the invisible imp is carrying or wearing is invisible as long as it remains in contact with the imp.
RAW it doesn't say the invisibility ends when casting a spell, although seems like something an errata or a tweet should have picked up considering how other cases of invisibility works.
>>46346276
Spells count as attacks dude. C'mon. Let's try not to be retarded so early in the thread.
>>46346276
You cock feather. Casting that spell IS an attack
How high primary, secondary and tertiary stats have to be acceptable for a PC at a given level? In other words, if you start with 16 in your primary stat, when it's worth it to raise it?
How much of a bad idea is it to create a God and religion for my campaign that's more or less the combination of most Christian, Islamic, and Jewish sects and believes?
Mainly the ones typically seen in or associated with occultism or more fringed ones?
My two PCs are okay with it, but one typically goes full on fedora whenever we pull up Christianity.
>>46346301
I can keep going. For the sprite:
>Invisibility. The sprite turns invisible until it attacks or casts a spell, or until its concentration ends.
Notice the addition? A spell taken as reaction doesn't break invisibility on an imp. Sorry if your braille copy of the handbook isn't up to par.
>>46346298
>>46346301
Not the original guy, but I thought that only certain spells which are specified count as "attacks". For example (Eldritch Blast's description):
>A beam of crackling energy streaks toward a creature within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 force damage.
Why specify "ranged spell attack" other than the fact that not all spells are attacks?
So if there's a Touch spell which doesn't specify itself as an attack, then it shouldn't break the invisibility, as I see it.
>>46346326
General rule is ASAP. Only cases I can think of are Sorcerers that focus on only buffs, and even then it's still a good idea. Feats just aren't that great, except for 3 or 4 of the martial ones.
>>46346326
Depends on how primary your primary stat is. Obviously you want it at 20 as soon as you can get it, but it depends largely on your class, and what you're trying to do with your class.
For example, my Primary Stat is Wisdom (16), my Secondary is Con (15), and my Tertiary is Dex (13). I'm a Moon Druid, so my primary form of combat is my Wild Shape, but I know I can only do that so often, so I need to be able to hold my own outside of Shape, which I do with spells and my Shillelagh'd Quarterstaff. At level 4, I'll put a point in Con (15+1) and Dex (13+1) to give me more HP and a little bit more AC when not Shaped. At 8, 2 points in Wisdom (16+2), and at 12, 2 points in Wisdom (18+2). At that point, I can either keep putting points into Con, or pick up a few feats (such as Sentinel or War Caster).
So while I only get my Wisdom to 20 at 12th level, it's for a very specific reason given my roll in the party. If I were a Land Druid, I would probably pump my Wisdom to 20 as fast as I can.
>>46346357
Because the sprite HAS a spell. The Imp doesn't. Fine, well done champ, as long as the spell doesn't involve an attack roll the imp stays invisible per RAW.
No decent DM will allow it though so go fuck your own arse with a remote control
>>46346417
why are you getting so buttblasted about a guy figuring out a funny RAW mechanic and asking what kind of shenanigans could be pulled? are you literally just upset because you were wrong?
>>46346417
Hey man, I know it sucks getting reamed on the internet, but the way you solve this is reading about the subject being discussed.
>>46345407
You basically just statted up an obstacle trap as a monster.
How about this:
"In this room is the Wall of Bones, by the time a PC is close enough to see it they will have triggered the enchanted bones beneath the ground, at the edge of the danger zone the bones only do 1d4 damage (DC 12 Save), but if they decide to venture deeper it may do as much as 3d6 (DC 15 Save). The wall itself may be destroyed with fire, acid, or by hacking at it for a good 15 minutes (STR 15 check, failure takes 20) with the players having to make a DC 15 Dex save every 5."
I would also add a way to get rid of it or bypass it completely. For example: "It may also be instantly drained into a grate activated by [A LEVER OR KEY OR SOMETHING GUARDED BY A MONSTER OR AN NPC WHO WANTS SOMETHING] located [SOMEWHERE NEARBY BUT NOT TOO CLOSE]."
Other ways the PCs might solve this problem:
>Grab some stone tiles/shields/whatever from somewhere and lay a path through the bones to the wall
>Use necromancy to make then bones stay in the ground
>Find a secret passage that bypasses the whole thing
>Shoot at it with arrows
>Throw lantern oil at it
>Figure out a secret pattern that allows them to walk through the field with impunity
If you want something similar that might work as a boss encounter take a look at the Phalanx from Demon Souls.
>>46346417
There's no need to be upset because you were wrong (you were pretty wrong though dumbass). Just let me have some ideas on how I can utilize it. Half the fun is seeing that it's legal, but the other half is using it in play
>>46346331
it's a tabletop game.
about wizards
and dragons
and priests raising the fucking dead
how much of a stretch would it be to believe that maybe something has created or is powering these strange majicks?
>>46346331
>create
>>46346461
glossing through the PHB i only noticed two offensive non-attack touch spells: bestow curse and symbol. on the other hand, there are a multitude of touch spells that simply buff/heal/etc. or have some utility purpose. so probably more useful for that.
Best three cantrips for a GOO tomelock to pick up? I'm thinking about Guidance, Thautmaturgy, and something else that's can be roleplayed as spooky and eldritch.
>>46346331
Base it on Catharism, which is basically dualistic Christianity.
There are two Gods that may or may not be the same being. One is the evil god of the physical world, the other is the good god of the spiritual world. The evil god in Catharism was sometimes called Satan, but they were generally referring to Old Testament God, not some random fallen angel dude.
Evil god trapped good god's soul buddies in the physical world, who are forced to reincarnate forever unless they can live lives without sin or physical excess. If they continually live lives of sin or physical excess they probably become demons or something.
Now just give the gods names like Margh and Blargh, or The God Below and The God of the Beyond, or whatever the fuck.
>>46346573
Definitely going to be a buff thing, I can see protection from evil and good at up to 100 feet away coming in handy somewhere down the line. Possibly let me cast hallow with my imp while I do something better with my time, but that's way too situational and shouldn't even require my imp be invisible in the first place. Would be funny to see what happens when a fiend creates a circle that forbids fiends from entering though
Just dipping one maybe two levels for a Bladelock, which is better? Barbarian or Fighter?
>>46346609
Catharism is one of the things I'm taking stuff from, along with Kabbalah and some other stuff.
>>46346538
Meant based on or something along those lines.
>>46346587
I'd say message, but you'll already have telepathy for taking the goo. I'm guessing you're already taking minor illusion/prestidigation outside of your spellbook, so you can take dancing lights and combine them into a humanoid shape for fucking with people maybe?
>>46346768
Thanks. I've never read dancing lights before. It's a neat spell
Hello, anyone got any tips for DMing a large party? Doing the usual googlefu for advice/ideas but curious if anyone's got any useful input. Party is 7 players, looking for ways to speed up combat, and keep things running. Also they've agreed to not split the group up. Trying to run something that is a mix of RP and combat, not a straight dungeon crawl.
>>46346697
I'm doing a bladelock with barb dip. Firing off my few spells and then raging (not doing many spells that require concentration, yes I know I'm being retarded not using Hex all the f'n time)
>>46346877
As long as they know the rules and plan their move it should move along OK.
They won't however, so don't be afraid to wrap up combat by just letting them kill shit after a few rounds
>>46346877
It's not quite as bad as it seems. Probably especially so for 5e.
You get some bystander effect, so they're not gonna be all really active all the time. Rather than catch all tips, just make sure to get to know the group well so you can bounce focus around from time to time. During minor lulls I'd directly ask less active players what they're doing during [Whatever it is players X, Y and Z are doing].
New player question.
From Hex
Until the spell ends. you deal an extra 1d6
necrotic damage to the target whenever you hit it with
an attack.
Does hitting them with Eldritch Blast count as an attack?
>>46347213
see
>>46346365
>>A beam of crackling energy streaks toward a creature within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 force damage
>a ranged spell attack
>>46347213
Anything that requires you make any sort of "attack" roll is an attack.
I can see where you might be confused, since Attack and Cast A Spell are two different things, but you've gotta remember that some spells require a "Melee Spell Attack" or a "Ranged Spell Attack". Eldritch Blast is one of those.
>>46347248
>>46347258
Alright cool, thanks. That should make it a bit safer to use without wasting the spell slot since I feel like I'd lose concentration in Melee pretty quickly.
>>46347213
yes, each separate ray on eldrich blast counts as an extra proc on hex. In theory, with agonizing blast, eldrich blast, and hex, at level 11, you could deal 3D6+3D10+15 since you get 3 separate rays at level 11.
>>46344358
Found this on my messy desktop. I assume it's from an old /5eg/ but do the Pact of the Blade changes/invocation here look like decent homebrew fixes?
>>46344741
I've been busy dodging shootings at my local theater working the BvS premiere. Sorry I can't keep the shit osting up 24/7 anons. I've let (You) down.
> Full plate, second floor of death house, no bad effects, can totally be worn as regular armor by PCs.
>>46347279
It's a bit weak, still. Removing thirsting blade cost is a decent boon but eldritch armor is basically useless. If you want that just say you can bond with an armor as well as a weapon.
The big problem with blade pact is the tome can easily get shillelagh and get around the MAD of the melee warlock. I'd give charisma to hit and damage with the pact weapon automatically.
I've been trying to scale down high-CR creatures to get a feel for monster design, tell me what's wrong with this one and why I'm an idiot.
>>46347388
HP is a bit low, even wit damage resistance. Probably double the HP
>>46347279
>still only two schools for EK and AT
No sir, I don't like it. Would like it if it was obtaining a third at X level, but loathe only having two.
I've not played an EK yet, but almost everything about playing an Arcane Trickster is underwhelming as hell, and I'm not quite sure why.
>>46347428
Yeah, probably worth upping it a bit. But the CR 13 rakshasa only has 110...
Also wow this thread is dead.
>>46347955
Well, it's 6:15AM CDT right now. I would imagine that's a good amount of traffic either sleeping or just waking up.
>>46347955
Yeah I get you man but the Rakshaha does have much higher magic immunity and other physical immunities as well.
On second thought, since level 3 pcs would only have 2nd or lower magic and probably no magical weapons the amount of HP is probably right
>>46344826
I think that's rather pedantic and would absolutely let them worship a Saint and their domain as part of a greater faith.
>>46345135
Really the only default assumptions you can maintain from the PHB is actual stats and the rules to play the game. Everything else is "true" basically of Forgotten Realms. Yet there are setting options that don't have gods, but mere forces. Can you not play a cleric in those settings? Of course you can, to think otherwise would be absurd. Clerics have a Domain, this domain can, but not necessarily has to be, associated with a god.
So in a game i'm in 2 players rolled up monks with these stats:
No.1
12 Str
16 Dex
14 Con
17 Int
16 Wis
10 Cha
No.2
10 Str
18 Dex
13 Con
12 Int
15 Wis
16 Cha
What multiclass shenanigans should i suggest them?
Swashbuckler and Warlock fit on the high Cha guy.
The other one can pull off a bladesinger.
>>46348082
why would number 1 be a monk when he could be a wizzard
>>46348090
It's a 5 member party.
We had 3 guys who rolled up stats for decent monks and they all decided to take the performer background playing three circus acrobats.
Also those are before racials and he took wood elf.
They use every chance in the game to do poses and flex their muscles.
I myself am playing a Barb/Ranger with the Eagle totem and the chick in our party is playing a Cleric/Ranger.
DMG pg. 11 FOOD AND WATER NEEDS
A Gargantuan sized creature requires 64 pounds of food per day
AN ANCIENT RED DRAGON CAN SURVIVE ON A SINGLE ELK FOR ~10 DAYS
>>46348156
Well sure, but it's probably going to want more than that. A human can "survive" on a minuscule diet as long as they have water but you bet your ass they'll eat better food if it's available.
>>46348156
Also the food and water requirements are wack for basically all the sizes
Humans living of a single pound of food a day? Come the fuck on
>>46348156
1. 64 lb of *food*. How much of an elk can it digest?
2. On the other hand, it's a dragon - maybe it completely oxidises every single molecule in that 64 lb that would burn exothermically.
3. Heat loss goes like surface area, shit's sub-linear, yo.
>>46348180
Water per day might be ok actually
>>46348193
According to 24hourcampfire.com, ~1/3 of the weight is edible meat
So 1 elk would net your dragon around 220lbs of meat, which would keep him going for 3.5 days
>>46347279
Hi there
Bladelock is fine
Honestly, the Food needs part of the table is woefully, WOEFULLY inadequate.
Your typical horse eats TEN to FIFTEEN pounds of fucking hay per day not FOUR FUCKING POUNDS
>>46348235
Adult elephants eat between 200-600lbs of food per day and drink 50gallons of water
DND says they eat 16 pounds and drink 16 gallons
Get me Perkins he is fired
>>46348156
Can't most dragons just cast Create Food And Water? Maybe they're subsisting almost 80% of the way on Magic and simply skip a step and conjure the food directly into their stomach.
>>46348306
45lbs and 45 gallons isn't enough for a Gargantuan creature
>>46348324
Oh right, I forgot it's a set amount and not changed to the summoner's size.
In that case "it's magic nigga" is my response.
>>46345533
I was the one posting it. Thank you, sir.
>>46345533
Actually, thinking about it, a non-brute with a Heavy Weapon would do much better stuff even without the features of any other Path.
>>46348252
is the food at least to scale between creatures? if X animal eats 10lb of food in real life and Y animal eats 20lb, and in D&D they eat 5 and 10, it's not really a big deal?
Hey, I TPKed my Death House party, because the fight with ghouls spread to the shrine room and the wizard decided to immediately grab the orb on the statue. Ghouls dead, adventurer corpses abandoned, the two players who didn't make the session have tough times ahead. My questionwould the ghasts break out of their holes to eat the corpses?
>>46345407
> CR5
> Can't kill without spending a 9th-level spell slot
Stop.
>>46348156
>>46348306
>>46348324
>>46348332
You guys, you guys. I got it.
Goodberry.
Bam, problem solved.
I need stupid monster ideas. Give me your best/worst.
>>46348714
A spider dragon. Looks like a typical black dragon, except its breath weapon is just a whole bunch of spiders.
Not projected out either. It just opens its mouth and thousands upon thousands of spiders start pouring out of its throat, slowly crawling toward the party when they hit the ground.
>>46348714
A squid-like creature that can mimic a pointy hat, drains spell slots from casters.
>>46348738
...stealing this
>>46348738
>>46348761
You both fucked it up. These are amazing.
>>46348714
dire sea urchins
>>46348714
Large frog that disguises itself as a melon or similar fruit. Kills creatures that come to eat it with a powerful scream, then eats them.
>>46348767
Ah, true. I just have spiders on the brain. Probably from all the spider hallucinations I'm seeing from not sleeping last night.
Anyway, actual stupid ideas:
Gelatinous sphere. Way faster than a gelatinous cube, though it has a vital weakness: slight inclines.
Greater mimic. It's a mimic that takes its role very seriously, and never attacks anyone, since treasure chests don't do that. Does such a good job at mimicking a treasure chest that it's literally impossible to tell it apart from one.
Dust monster: looks much like a rust monster, only its tendrils apply a thick coat of dust to anything they touch. Really, really annoying to clean that after you're done fighting it.
Wink dog. It's like a blink dog, only its teleport is half effective. They live very short lives.
>>46348714
Gold coin that when placed in a bag merges with all the money in it, turning all non-gold pieces into gold (even if they are worth more) and becomes a monster with iron golem stats and HP equal to 2 times the total money in the bag in gold
It can sense money and will prioritize acquiring more to gorge itself by any means necessary over actual combat, grappling any enemies around it that have money on them, taking it and then letting them go in order to eat it, gaining hp as per the previous formula. Only when all money has been assimilated will it actively attack
A detect magic spell will reveal only the coin in the center is magical and is keeping the whole thing together. Casting dispel magic on it will make it turn back into a harmless pile of money. If the money golem has taken over half its HP in fire damage it solidifies, becoming a statue that weighs 1lb per 100 gold it assimilated, worth as much as the raw material.
>>46348881
Forgot to mention: if dispelled, the pile of money stays all gold pieces
Alternatively, if defeated normally, 10% of the money is lost in battle, but the coin in the center remains magical. It is a philosopher's stone as per the transmutation wizard feature
So due to DM Improv, I have to stage a naval battle involving some pirates next week
how would you guys handle long range combat with cannons? or movement in the water?
>>46348714
Parasite that instantly kills any target it attacks and eats the brain, stealing its body and all of its memories. It nests in the brain cavity and takes the shape of the consumed brain. It cannot remember being a parasite
>>46348943
There are siege rules in the DMG
I would recommend using spelljammer rules if you want the whole ship-to-ship action thing
>>46348943
Modified Facing rules that dictate the directions ships can move in, where they can fire their broadsides, and give bonuses or penalties to attack and defense depending on whether a ship is angled at 0°, 45° or 90° relative to another.
Ships themselves constitute creatures on their own map, and each have individual creature-scale maps of themselves, which can be stuck beside one another to simulate boarding action.
If really like getting bogged down during combat, have an injury table for where on the ship cannonballs land, and keep track of where crew members of each ship are from round to round a la FTL.
>>46344854
It depends. For individual games I might tweak a class or path if the player wants to do something more specific (such as perhaps giving the Light Cleric weapon proficiencies and +1d8 fire damage if they would prefer to play it with a more martial bent) but as far as actual, fully fleshed out class/archetype options go I would prefer they keep far away from stepping on the toes of other classes.
>>46346111
He could use it as a way to force a party down a certain path. Say the wall is closing in on them when they're in a corridor or on a bridge that is ruined. Then again, a simple moving trap would suffice too, so we can assume that anon really just wanted that FFXII sequence from Dynast King's tomb
New DM. Gomna do my first play of DnD this saturday. I have this story. Really need some general tips.
A human rogue urchin, a dwarf paladin sage and a human fighter soldier. Their quest is to find and kill the crime lord Van Dael and it takes place in a huge yet unnamed city run by criminals and corrupt guards. They can bribe fight and earn criminal trust all the way ti find Van Dael so there are plenty options on how to play. And each character also has a side mission. The rogue has a crippling debt he needs to replay. The paladin needs to find out how the intoxicating drug called Dust (what the criminals make and sell) is made and where it comes from and the fighter has to find an old army friend who is now an addict. I was thinking of making a map but that kind of limits my imagination. So should I just wing it and write down where everything is in the go? also any tips in general would be great. Sti
>>46344544
I would argue that the land is filled with fallen adventurers treasure. Stuck there forever if people cant leave.
Very possible to get treasure there Id say
Just volunteered to run a 5th Ed game after our PF tpk.
how is the new strahd book? Thinking about running it or using it for inspiration.
>>46349183
It's good.
>>46349149
Sounds like a great start. I would at least establish what districts exisit in the city (the pier, marketplace, slums etc) to give the players a general idea od where they can go, after which you can populate them with whatever you want on the fly.
>>46349149
Have a rough city map, and numbers for how long it takes from one location to the other.
Have a list of a few things that are happening around the city, that the PCs will encounter if they end up going to them - they don't have to be related to the plot, but should all have elements that can help you guide the PCs onto the rails (like helpful NPCs to save, suspicious conversations to eavesdrop on or incriminating evidences to discover).
Have a list of important story events that the PCs should pass through, and how they are affected by other events and the passage of time.
And be prepared to throw all your notes out the window when your PCs do something completely unexpected 5 minutes in, and you lose complete control over where the rails are headed.
Right, let's stat these bastards
>>46348738
Black dragon, but with poison immunity. Breath weapon creates 1d4 swarms of spiders per age category.
>>46348761
Can change its appearance to any headgear, DC 15 check to identify.
20 ft fly speed
11 AC, 15 HP
+ 4 stealth/move silently
14 Dex, 14 Con, everything else in the 4-8 range
Grapple, +4 to hit, DC 13 str check every round to escape.
Does 1d6 piercing per round and causes its victim to expend its highest-level spell slot.
Magic resistance - because fuck you.
>>46348783
Move speed 20 ft
AC 15, HP 30
Throws needles in a sphere around it (recharge 5-6). Dex check to avoid (15?). Needles do 1d6 going in, and impose disadvantage on all dex checks until they can be removed (DC 13 medicine check, otherwise take another 2d6).
>>46348795
This should be surprisingly dangerous, like all things-that-look-like-things. 30ft cone of 3d6 thunder damage, save for half.
Very little HP, maybe 12.
>>46348861
>Gelatinous sphere. Way faster than a gelatinous cube, though it has a vital weakness: slight inclines.
120ft move speed on flat ground, 6 ft on inclines of more than 15 degrees.
>>46348881
Statted already.
>>46348738
I'm going to have to ask you to kindly stooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop
>>46349214
>120ft move speed gelatinous cube
Please no.
Why does the sorcerer have a much smaller spell list than the wizard?
>>46349164
Anything of value would be snatched up by Strahd or other powerful entities.
>>46349308
wizard's gonna learn a whole bunch of situationally useful spells. For a sorc they'd be trap options.
>>46349308
Are you serious? Because wizards are students and masters of the arcane, sorcerers are regular people to whom magical shit just happens
>>46349308
more casts per day
natural power vs actual studying
Has anyone ever played a mentally retarded character or something similar? I'm really tempted.
As a DM, I just killed my first PC.
It was fun. Dangerously fun.
>>46349321
Counterpoint: Sorcerer can learn Detect Magic, but not Fire Shield.
>>46349352
pretty much every barbarian i've played with falls into that category
>6 int or worse
>>46349337
I'm referring to the list of spells sorcerers can choose to learn, not the total number a sorcerer can have learned at once.
>>46349030
Isn't that basically an intellect devourer? Minus the last part.
>>46349030
You can't deny that we
Are gifted just for being humans yes we are
Absolute
Predators
>>46348714
An invisible wraith-ogre with magic immunity and flying speed.
>>46349333
>Are you serious? Because wizards are students and masters of the arcane, sorcerers are regular people to whom magical shit just happens
that doesn't imply anything about their actual ability. you could just as easily spin it the other way around.
>>46348943
The ship stats in the DMG are an okay start, but there are some serious problems regarding speed, no guidance to account for Size, and a general absence of combat rules.
My group uses a modified version of the starship rules from Rogue Trader for naval battles. I'll try to get a pdf together in the next couple of threads.
>>46349359
I didn't say it was well designed, just trying to explain why.
>>46349420
Not about their ability to do magical shit but yes their ability to create and mold it to their purposes
A wizard can be someone who was born a sorcerer but decided "hey, this shit has potential" and Decided that having the knowledge and skill to cast simulacrum is much more useful than the potency to barf out a twinned empowered explosive cloud
A sorcerer can deadlift a truck, a wizard learns how to drive
I'm running a game inspired by 90s JRPGs (mainly Final Fantasy 4 and Phantasy Star 4) soon and I'm trying to come up with ways to bring the party together. I was thinking of going the old "everyone trains under the same mentor" route. Tell me if this sounds suitably JRPGish:
>each of the four major kingdoms has a crystal
>it's a rite of adulthood to go on pilgrimage to your country's crystal and pray to it
>rarely, a crystal will mark an individual
>the religion built up around the crystal sees the crystal-marked as destined to accomplish great things, and they often become leaders or heroes
>each party member was marked by their country's crystal, and were sent to learn from a great sage
And that's where the game starts.
>>46349560
That sounds like a setup to intense inter-party conflict.
"What, the Emerald Empire attacked my homeland, the Sapphire Conglomerate? Well fuck you [Emerald Empire PC], I'm gonna slap your shit."
>>46349560
I very much recommend you don't do this.
>>46349560
What's your struggle? Dead master? Crystal stolen by an appropriately ganondorf-y and/or androgynous totally-not-gay fallen angel type character?
Both?
>>46349508
that makes sense. i'm just saying it could also make sense the other way around. you could just as easily say that since wizards are learning magic "the hard way" they have developed fewer spells (since creating each spell requires a fuckton of research, experimentation, dedicated time and effort and more than a little luck). but since wizards are hyper-specialized, like modern physicists, they tend to be very powerful in their little area of expertise.
meanwhile, sorcerers are just a freeflowing fountain of magic they can shape anyway they want, pretty much only limited by their imagination, giving them a huge variety of effects. while the wizard has to study for years to create a particular spell, the sorcerer just "does it". but since they lack the focus and expertise of wizards they aren't as powerful, like a leaky hose that shoots out water in all directions without much pressure.
since it's magic you can justify any approach you like. not that i dislike the current approach.
>>46349593
Sounds like a roleplaying opportunity to me. I'd place any wars at least a couple generations in the past though, to prevent outright hostility. I like the idea of two people from formerly opposing countries learning to get along for a common goal.
>>46349600
Why not? I've told my players the game is gonna be JRPG as fuck and they said they're totally on board with it.
>>46349614
Was considering dead master but that might be too predictable. Stolen crystals is gonna be the main plot point, with a Zemus-type evil influence in the background as the main villain, trying to gather those crystals.
>>46349614
It's cheesy 90 JRPG inspired so clearly the ganon burned their hometowns and killed their family, then killed their master as they returned back to finish training to get revenge, stole the crystals off screen while they found all this out and started an evil empire with their power.
Bonus points for him being a simple puppet of the true big bad who you never even hint at until about 5 minutes before they fight the ganon. Who was actually brainwashed good all along and the sekrit champion of the sekrit 5th crystal.
If you're going to go cheesy cliche you may as well go all out.
>>46349669
This is pure gold, anon
I Think we're onto something here
>>46349623
Oh, absolutely, pic related
It's just in the context of the classes as they are presented to us, but I can totally envision a setting where it works as you say
In fact I think that's how things work in Dark Sun, which is why you have sorcerer-kings instead of wizard-kings
>>46349623
>pretty much only limited by their imagination
And, you know, also their force of will.
Frankly I'd love a mechanic where sorcerers of all stripes were subject to some sort of mishap in exchange for an overchannel-type effect.
How should I deal with a blind monk character? Automatic failure for anything to do with sight but give advantage to other wisdom and maybe dex saves?
I'm going to be helping my group with character creation next week, none of them have done it before.
Is there anything I should show them now / bring with me then to ease the process?
Aside from the PHB, obviously.
>>46349669
There are actually three worlds with four crystals each for a total of twelve, which means the secret crystal is the 13th one.
>>46349669
Following on from this, regularly give them NPC helpers as a 5th party member, write them well, give them families and make them absolutely beloved by the players. all that jazz.
Then kill them in the most heart wrenching fashion you can think of.
The stuffy but noble paladin follower? Holds off a never ending tide of undead monsters single handed while the party, dying in the process.Have them show up later as a death knight for maximum fuck you
The cheery optimistic ranger who's brought the party through a dark spot when everything seems lost? Returns home to find his wife assassinated by the big bads lackys. Asks to be left alone for a while, the party checks in on him later and finds he's hung himself unable to live without her.
>>46349817
>>46349825
If the plot isn't so convoluted and symbolic that people are still having shocking epiphanies a decade later, you're not done adding to it yet.
>>46349289
But only in one direction per turn
>>46349825
>while the party
While the party escapes even.
>>46348306
5e dragons don't automatically have spellcasting. By default they don't have it.
>>46349810
make a diagram for spell casters to show them how it works
do some slots in pen then colour then give them a pencil to color them in when they've used that slot, it's way easier than trying to explain it with only words
>>46348881
This idea is
>pure gold
:D
>>46349623
The general idea is a Wizard understands magic. He can weave it to get complex effects. A Sorcerer can wave a hand and slam a ball of fire into someone through pure will without really understanding how.
Really it comes back to the vancian idea of casting (Literally forgetting your spells, whereas a Sorcerer didn't remember them to begin with) which I never really liked as an idea but it makes for a nice mechanical system.
Since my players decided to turn a game of Dragonlance into "Restore Lord Soth's Castle and Play at Building a County," I need to ask - what are some good army-scale rules?
I looked at the ones for PF and Dragonlance SAGA, and they all suck.
What do YOU use?
>>46349844
Don't forget to stat yourself so The DM is the secret final boss
>>46349804
You could houserule that whenever a sorcery point is spent on an attack spell, if the player rolls a 1 on the attack they have to roll in the wild magic table, or this one (for extra lulz)
To make up for it, wild magic sorcs would roll on it any time they roll a 1 on a spell, use their advantage feature or spend a sorc point
>players acquire a cursed gold coin that causes any gold that spends one hour within 25' of it to turn into gilded brass
>decide to sneak it into the lair of a red dragon that slighted them on a deal
>now a large portion of that dragons hoard is gilded brass
What should come of this? I cant quite think of how to respond this situation.
>>46350000
INTENSE
ANGER
>>46349943
They released an Unearthed Arcana for mass combat rules, but they're a little fishy. Frankly, I just improvise the large-scale stuff and only use rules for the fights the PCs are personally involved in. The best mass combat rules I've seen are L5R's tables for what happens to a PC who's in a battle.
>>46349910
>>46350000
Nice quads
Dragon should go full Smaug on the nearest town/village, then actively quest to acquire more gold to replace brassed gold and/or relocate to new dwellings.
I'm plotting a fighter character for my next campaign and I'm looking for ways to take full advantage of the champion's improved critical feature.
I've thought of a few, but I'm looking for advice and more ideas.
1. Take the Tavern Brawler feat and use a shield. Improvise weapon attack with shield to trigger bonus grapple check. Assuming it succeeds my main weapons attacks have advantage. This gets, at level 20, 2-3 attacks with advantage.
2. Two weapon fighting. I've heard it doesn't scale well with damage at higher levels, but its a solid way to get 5 attacks, at level 20. No advantage, but still a lot of attack rolls.
3. Pole arm master. Like two weapon fighting.
>>46349905
That's not really relevant for character creation, is it?
There should be a new Unearthed Arcana on Monday... what do you think we'll get it? It's not *supposed* to be another DMs Guild featurette bullshit but who knows.
>>46350015
Well, the idea is they're rebuilding Dargaard Keep, which was meant to be a bulwark against the barbarians of Estwilde. Due to shenanigans, there's a large group of black-dragon-blooded barbarians and sorcerers, roughly 5000 strong. So the idea is that they'll eventually attack the keep. I need some idea to gauge how well they're doing.
I was thinking of homebrewing my own system, but ehhhhh. I'd rather have something tested.
>>46350027
Take tavern brawler, 1 level of rogue
Enjoy double proficiency on them grapples
Or 4 levels of bard for enhance ability, double prof grapples and cutting words
As an Oathbreaker Paladin, would multi-classing into 3 levels of fighter for Battlemaster be useful? We're level 6 right now, and I'd say going to 9 first to get level 3 spells would be a good prior idea, but overall would the the Battlemasters ability be useful? Riposte definitely seems like it would be a boon.
>>46350053
Hate to break it to you anon, but...
>>46350097
If you go 3, might as well go 4 for the ASI.
>>46349806
Blind how?
As in blinded by a condition or blind from background info?
If not by a condition the automatic failure on all sight related checks but advantage on hearing, smell and reflex/Dex checks.
>>46349806
Just have him permanently suffer from the Blinded condition. No advantages, it's a terrible disability you wouldn't wish on anybody.
>>46350094
That's neat. I'll add it to my list of ideas. Thanks.
>>46349806
Just permanently blinded. Unless you magic a way for him to have limited blind sense, it's meant to be a deformity, not something you just slap on your character to make him cooler.
>>46349806
Making a character? Or is this an NPC?
Just make them blind but give them Blindsense? I think that's what the feat is called.
>>46350114
Huh didn't even notice that, thanks.
>>46348082
>multiclassing
>on monks
>>46350165
I agree with this
Disabilities are disabilities. It's sad but it's the truth. Making them seem like they have upsides is the kind of dangerous thinking that gives you shit like the capital D Deaf "culture" where parents have their children surgically deafened because they want them to participate of their "differently abled" life
I'm all for empowering disabled people but not when it encourages abuse
Fuck, sorry for the blog, I just found out recently a good friend of mine was surgically deafened at childhood
>>46350249
I do encourage (if this is a player character we're talking about) doing some writing and creating a quest of some sort that would help the blind man function in adventuring life. Like, a quest of enlightenment that culminates with the party finding a heavy cloth that, when worn over the eyes, allows the Monk to expend Ki to temporarily ignore Blindness (or give him 10feet Blindsense).
>>46350285
You know what would really be funny? If the quest just culminated in finding a scroll of Lesser Restoration that would cure his blindness.
In a world where you're just one second-level spell away from curing blindness or deafness, those conditions would only persist in the poorest and most remote areas. An adventurer would just pay for a cure or have the party cleric do it.
>>46350249
>Disabilities are disabilities. It's sad but it's the truth. Making them seem like they have upsides is the kind of dangerous thinking that gives you shit like the capital D Deaf "culture" where parents have their children surgically deafened because they want them to participate of their "differently abled" life
that's true enough in real life, but this is a fantasy RPG, and the concept of disability being a hidden advantage is well established in fiction. it's especially fitting for the monk. deaf culture and all that craziness doesn't come from people playing tabletop RPGs.
i can understand both approaches, but personally i would allow a blind character to have some kind of advantage in exchange for some disadvantages, to represent their senses being heightened by a life depending on touch/smell/hearing rather than sight.
>>46350393
>>46350285
After calming down some I agree, this is d&d, where there are fucking wizards
Anywho, it wouldn't be much trouble to give the character something like 20-30 feet of blindsense, that way he could still fight and function, better than most within that range even, but unable to pass perception on anything that goes on beyond that that requires sight
>>46348142
Sounds like you've got a golden opportunity to rp the Ginyu Force anon
Reposting from an earlier thread, because everyone was busy arguing about dirt.
I'm working on a somewhat derivative setting that I hope to run with my usual 5e group.
It's based loosely on the Dwarf Fortress community's take on goblin baby snatchers. Specifically, that the snatchers are actually doing humanitarian work, because infant mortality is ludicrously high in dwarvern societies (see also: Dwarvern Daycare).
In this setting, greenskins have managed to suppress their murderous instincts through an as-of-yet undetermined means. They run a variety of sizable trade centers in the mountains, populated by a mix of races, common and otherwise, which have been brought up to see themselves as part of the greenskin collective.
Major changes include changing the default alignment of orcs, goblins and goblinoids to neutral, creating a playable "mongrel" race (mechanically human, has two different races as parents), and features the playable races as antagonist factions.
Thoughts? Suggestions and criticisms would be appreciated.
>>46350249
>was surgically deafened at childhood
what kind of shit-ass doctor would fucking do this
Imagine going through your life knowing you deprived some person of one of their primary senses, when they didn't even have a choice in the matter, because their dipshit parents asked you to.
>>46350249
Is that really a thing? How the fuck do they convince a doctor to do that? And why on Earth wouldn't said doctor call CPS when someone comes in asking to have their kid deafened?
>>46350705
Actually how. What self respecting hospital would allow this? Isn't that drop kicking the hippocratic oath into the trash?
>>46350862
>>46350834
Most certainly illegal in most civilized places.
>>46350705
>>46350862
Back in the days of glorious soviet medicine, infection of middle ear was treated by piercing your eardrum and pumping the inside with disinfectant. Sometimes it didn't heal right afterwards and would result in (partial) loss of hearing. But that was justified, it was only used when the infection was life threatening and it was the best we had at the time.
But doing intentional damage for "cultural" reasons is messed up.
>>46350249
>was surgically deafened at childhood
Bullshit.
Elf Ranger in party rolled an 18 for ability score. At level 2:
>+2 from archery style
>+2 from proficiency
>+5 from dex mod
+9 to attack rolls when using a bow at level 2. This ranger is going to carry us for a few levels.
>>46350834
Humans can circlejerk ourselves into all sorts of retarded beliefs.
>>46351051
People can do fucked up things for cultural reasons. Like chinese foot binding.
>>46344544
Only treasure i've been rolling for is on random encounters.
>>46346587
Thaumaturgy and Suggestion make for fun times.
Any tips for a rookie DM that's struggling with roleplaying NPCs?
The party will be talking to someone and I'll just not know what to say in response to something that the party does/says.
>>46351603
When you've got an important NPC, write out a short list of their traits/bonds/ideals/flaws. Nothing big, just 2 each max. Also have a list of what knowledge they know that is pertinent to how they might interact with the party. Having a list of NPCs they have relationships with can also help.
From there, wing it with that list of traits and information as a base.
>>46351603
write down stuff like that before hand
general information that even the smallest character knows. gossip, landmarks, maybe a few important names etc
>>46351603
For the least amount of effort, I like the "profession, what does this guy want, and what does he fear" and bullshit and improvise the rest from there.
Do you use a DM screen?
What/which?
>>46351751
Nope. Feel like it gets in the way, and feels like it cuts me off from the rest of the players. I also always roll in the open and don't fudge rolls, simply because I've always felt that was unfair. If it means my boss gets fucked early, so be it; that's life, sometimes.
>>46349669
>the ganon burned their hometowns and killed their family, then killed their master as they returned back to finish training to get revenge, stole the crystals off screen while they found all this out and started an evil empire with their power
That's approximately 300% evil right there.
>>46351751
I use a legal pad as scratch paper for tracking initiative and jotting down notes, plus a graph paper composition book where I keep maps, NPC stats, random encounter tables, and my "I loot the body" table.
>>46351818
A screen isn't just for fudging rolls; it's for hiding notes and minis, as well as for making rolls that the players don't realize are superfluous. If the players are hiding but nobody is looking for them, you want to roll some fake Perception checks to keep them nervous. If you make that roll out in the open and you get a natural 20, they'll realize you were faking.
>>46351751
No. I DM online exclusively at the moment. I use Roll20 for VTT and character sheets and I use OneNote for all my prep notes.
Hey, quick noobish DM question.
Whenever I've made encounters for my group, they seem to wipe the floor with them. They might take some damage, usually one one or two take damage, but it seems that the fights are too easy.
Case in point; last night's session, the group (all level 3) fought a Lizardfolk King (CR 4), and a hand-made rogue (couldn't figure out a good CR for her, she had low health but superior damage to pretty much everything else I've thrown at them, in one hit almost killed our wizard and did more damage than the King's crit trident hit, just added 350 exp to the fight, as she was going to run mid-fight, plotpoint). Outside of the first shot the rogue did, and one attack and an attack of opportunity the Lizard King made (which crit), they didn't seem to be that challenging at all. Granted, our ranged fighter critted him in the beginning for 25 damage, taking a 3rd of his health away, but it felt like all the other battles; too easy.
Is there any way I can make a better fight without trying to purposefully kill them?
What would a successful history check tell the PC's about Barovia?
I figure some pre-strahd lore?
Ran Death House last week as first session of CoS campaign, got to the attic. Two players were absent and will be there this session. How do I get them to the attic? They are new to D&D so I don't want to make them sit and watch for their first session.
>>46351965
Nothing?
Why would PCs know the history of a different realm?
>>46351751
I used to back when I had a real life group. It was some cardboard screen that came with a 4e set.
>>46351818
I would roll outside the screen when it was a really tense moment. But mostly it was for my notes, including notes players were passing me, and empty rolls.
I would've used it for contested insight/persuasion stuff too but I've always been on the fence of that style of play.
>>46351956
>Is there any way I can make a better fight without trying to purposefully kill them?
That's what your supposed to do.
>>46351965
That's really all anyone could know about it.
>>46351987
Barovia wasn't always a different realm though.
>>46351965
Stories about mysterious travelers (the Vistani) who are said to lure people into the mists never to be seen again, on maybe a 15 or 20, while making the connection that Barovia is the place people that get lost in those mists go to. Outside of that, likely very little.
>>46351987
>>46351965
Barovia was part of a Prime material plane before the Dark Powers sucked it all up into Ravenloft. I don't know which setting it was in, but fuck it, you could just say it was in your setting. They'd know that it was a whole county that disappeared one day.
Does anyone have a cracked version of Fantasy Grounds or RealmWorks and it's content?
Interested in using them, but they (Fantasy Grounds especially) are a bit pricey.
>>46351999
>Barovia wasn't always a different realm though
I'm like 85% sure it was. It moved from a different realm to a new, also different dread realm. I don't think it was ever part of the realms.
>>46351999
>>46351987
Yeah at one point it existed on the material plane.
I figure any knowledge of it would be like the knowledge we have nowadays of King Arthur. People probably wouldn't even count it as fact. However, If theres anything useful the PC's could learn from taking History, I'd like to know for when that comes up.
>>46352030
I don't think I've seen anybody have anything FG that isn't like 8 yrs old on a torrent site.
Which does suck.
>>46352033
CoS lore is separate from previous iterations, even the novels. I believe the backstory it gives on Barovia states that it only became an isolated demiplane after Strahd's turning.
>>46351998
I don't want to make them fight something that they obviously can't overcome (unless it's part of a plot point), but I don't want each fight to be a cake walk either. I want something that balances between difficult and deadly.
I don't view the role of the DM as to be the executioner of the group. I'm supposed to put obstacles in their path and see if they can overcome them.
>>46351956
I usually put in something nasty that the enemies can pull out not normally included in their sheet. A consumable maybe or a unique ability with a nasty side effect. Early on things like paralysis can really shake up a party. Or just something that hits hard.
It may not be to everyone's taste but I always try to build my encounters slightly more lethal than normal, it's easy to dial down something on the fly, but harder to mix it up if the combat is too easy and boring; You can always pull your punches. For fights that are already supposed to be hard, making them even harder usually forces players to think outside the box, and if they can't adjust, well then the boss actually didn't have all those flasks of acid, the extra assassin actually wasn't hiding in the rafters, or that unique, powerful ability the creature had winds them for a turn while they recover etc.
>>46346111
>>46346248
Motherfuckers be salty in 5e today
>>46352133
>implying that isn't the standard
>>46352103
For example, in your previous example imagine the Rogue had another lackey. A big brutish fighter with the equivalent of Great Weapon Mastery. Something like that could really put the pain on a low level party.
But he's just a merc. Maybe the party can bribe him or persuade, or intimidate him into leaving. If the party gets unlucky on rolls or just can't deal with that kind of extra aggression he checks the sky and tells the Rogue her contract is up and they get into an argument about renegotiating prices. Or he was only paid to defend the lizard king and won't pursue or kill. Perhaps the greataxe he is using was in poor condition because he's outfitted with scavenged lizardfolk gear and that really scary slap he just gave the cleric made it snap in half.
