>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
>Previous Thread
>>46283940
When should the party first go to Castle Ravenloft?
>previous thread link vs discord link
there is only one correct answer
>>46301028
> Never played DnD before
> Always surfed /tg/ because I've wanted to for a while
> Find out college friends (I'm graduating this year, inb4 underage) are starting up a game a while back
> They're doing Lost Mines of Phandelver
> Alright, that's fine
> Generic characters, basically whatever comes with the book
> That's okay
> Hear from GM they have no idea what they're doing, really, pulling shit out of their asses all the time
> That's kind of expected, I suppose
> Help GM set up Roll20 shit today
> Tells me two players are never there
> One plays like he's in skyrim
> Skyrimfag's girlfriend does whatever he tells her to do
> GM plans to play cringey undertale fight themes during combat
> Party is only level three, and is going to be fighting a dragon soon
JUST
>>46301028
Level 1. Strahd won't just murder them, he wants to fuck with them! Why not introduce them to the castle, then have the first huge part be simply trying to get back out?
>>46301053
>discord link
Do you mean:
>/5eg/ Discord server
https://discord.gg/0rRMo7j6WJoQmZ1b
I'm the creator of the other /5eg/ thread, do you folks want me to delete it?
>>46301120
might as well, not a big deal either way since this one is picking up the posts it seems like
>>46301115
furries abound
>>46301179
To the anon who asked where I got the AD&D monster ability scores Imade them up
>>46301358
That ghoul lord was straight up scary
>>46301091
>>Party is only level three, and is going to be fighting a dragon soon
That's part 3 of the adventure, where it foreshadows the dragon cult, and they encounter a young green dragon. DM isn't just throwing "lol dragon" at them. It's a set up encounter
how do you guys find dnd groups?
all my friends are dudebros
>>46301358
i agree with >>46301403
im going to use the ghoul lord in my game thanks anon.
Oh man, /tg/. One of my good friends is picking up for me as the foreverGMbecause my wife just had our third child, and... he's a good player, but i am going to have to drill him about mechanical balance.
One of the females in our party is a lolsorandumb tiefling wild sorc (yes, it's her first D&D experience after years on freeform RP boards, how could you tell?), and she convinced my friend the DM that she should roll a 20% chance to hit the wild mage effects table
EVERY
SINGLE
TIME
she casts a spell.
So far she has wound up with a fireball centered on herself TWICE. We are level 4.Miraculously, those two fireballs have killed like seven foes and no PCs
>>46301448
I found my first IRL group from a flier in my FLGS
your friendly FLGS might also do Adventurer's League stuff
>>46301498
>>46301403
Check out their monster compendium for lore
But basically they are intelligent ghouls which retained a portion of their personality, But they are greedy bastards who want to gorge on flesh and wine
>>46301443
Ah, alright. The fighter, Skyrimfag, is a straight-up murderhobo, so I thought he was making up the encounter because it was going to happen anyway. Thanks m8.
>>46301448
Meetup and other online group-forming sites, local gaming store message board, starting your own group and teaching non-gaming friends how to play, roll20...
>>46301527
Sounds like your friend and the lolrandumb sorceress are having fun. Have you considered the possibility that you are That Guy in this situation? Some people like silly games.
>>46301448
>live in small town australia
>only game I've found irl is run by a that guy DM who doesn't know the rules for shit
>online games are not suitable for this time zone 99% of the time
End my life please.
>>46301633
DM then
>>46301633
Don't worry, the kangaroos and giant spiders will do that soon enough
>>46301633
How far out from your states capital city?
It makes me sad that, by the time I get to play Curse of Strahd, everyone here will probably have moved on to the next thing.
>>46301603
I'm not the ThatGuy, because our CE tiefling Feylock is the ThatGuy; I just don't want the party to TPK to one of the PCs and miss the rest of the adventure.
She's a nice girl and all. She's just gonna get us all killed.
>>46301650
For who?
>>46301659
3 and a half hours.
>>46301660
our group got literally halfway through ToD and now I'm DMing CoS.
>>46301531
>>46301579
actually do have a game store close by, but whenever I go in there (it's also an electronics store) all I see is people playing magic
guess I can ask next time I'm in there. Just don't really want my first dnd session to be with complete strangers who are also potentially (probably) complete spergs
getting my friends into it isn't an option because "dnd is gay dude". would never play online since I dunno, that kinda defeats the point doesn't it?
>>46301448
For me, it was pretty much pure chance.
I was introduced to DnD by a former friend. We played some but the group never finished a campaign. This was before 5e was made so we were playing 3.5 in all of its overly complicated glory. Move forward to a year ago when I went to my first anime convention in many years with some of my closest friends. Haven't played any type of DnD in a long time. I was wondering about just enjoying all that they had set up when I stumbled into an entire section of the conversion set up just for tabletop RPGs. I end up joining a pathfinder table just as they were starting up. It was a fun generic adventure and afterwards all the party members were able to turn in a chip we got for playing in to try and earn a prize. I managed to win a pathfinder core rulebook. I played at one to two adventures each day after finding that table and eventually was directed to the pathfinder society in my area. They used a website called warhorn to organize all of their games, but they only played on days I worked. So I browsed the warhorn website every night at work to find a game I could join and eventually found the group I play with now setting up a LMoP game. I joined them and been loving the group ever since.
So, players who complete Death House have the deed to Old Bonegrinder. After they defeat the Coven, do you think they should be allowed to set it up as a base of operations? Or nah?
>>46301689
Trying to find a whole group of people at random can be a crapshoot i suggest you ind just one person who has played before and seems well adjusted wherever you can work, school, FLGS. They likely know other people they've gamed with or maybe they are running a game now. Don't be afraid to invite any other friends who seem open to the prospect of it but have never tried in my experience they are often easier to deal with than some random guy who has played a ton but might be an asshole or had years of games that have malformed him.
>>46301743
It's definitely within reason. I would allow it for sure.
What sort of discovery should a Hermit in CoS have made?
I posted earlier today asking about what would be the best place for a person (that started reading the 5e player's handbook today) to look for a game? I already posted in the Gamefinder general.
Also, I know this was answered in the last thread, but I want to get as many opinions as possible: best class to play a fire knight/spellsword focused on fire? Somebody said Cleric with light domain and it was...not entirely what I was expecting. I was thinking more of a guy who uses his greatsword as the main weapon and uses fire to augment his capabilities.
>>46301777
>i suggest you ind just one person who has played before and seems well adjusted wherever you can work, school, FLGS.
>Don't be afraid to invite any other friends who seem open to the prospect of it
Problem is I don't have either of those. I don't personally know anyone who has ever played D&D, atleast not to my knowledge, and all my friends only care about partying (we're all in college)
>>46301926
If I ever find a group myself I'm gonna run a eldritch knight with fire bolt/fire ball and shit. that's kinda what you want
>>46301926
You might be able to convince your DM to change a paladins divine smite to fire damage.
>>46301902
People have skeletons inside them.
>>46301224
where did this meme come from
So my Wizard now has two bags of holding, both of which are glyph'd to cast dispel magic, then double cast polymorph into a newt, into a bigby's hand that grapples them if someone attempts to steal from one of them.
Are there any silly shenanigans one can perform with two bags of holding?
>>46301557
if you fight the dragon, with how awful your party sounds, you will wipe.
>>46302074
So stand back and laugh!
>>46301968
http://ephe.github.io/grimoire/spells/searing-smite
:V
>>46302054
Make a giant representation of some god and fill them with something appropriate to that God and hang them as his testicles. At some point during a ceremony they open and spill forth the offering from the gods very loins.
>>46301958
Shit, we want to play similar characters and we have the same dilemma: we don't know/have who to play with.
what is the thing you enjoy and you hate most of 5e?
>>46302148
The simplicity of the rules. Sometimes making a simple ruling feels like home brew shenanigans because they left it so wide open to interpretation. Most of the time I'm just happy I'm not dming 3.X anymore.
>>46302126
we're obviously made for each other anon, kept apart only by cruel fate
>>46302148
well for someone who has never played dnd 5E seems pretty straightforward and easy
>>46302095
Divine Smite. The class feature.
My group is halfway thru Hoard of the Dragon Queen, but they want to play CoS, should I finish at least Hoard or sould I fog them away to Barovia? (the original plan was to play thru all Tyranny of dragons.)
>>46302148
Enjoy: It just werks
Hate the most: Class/character customization is fucking AWFUL.
>>46302242
Dragon queen is awful. Just get them out.
>>46302148
>>46302175
Seconded. So much less shit to keep track of than in 3.x. Keeping track of a ton of different kinds of bonuses from a ton of different circumstances and causes was a pain in the cock.yeah I completely skipped over 4th edition, sue me
>>46302196
Kek, and we both have never played 5E. Surely we need to at least give each other contact details.my skype for rpg's is EuJesty
>>46302254
just like that? abandon that thread completely?
>>46302242
wat level
>>46302304
I'm not going to say DQ is the worst adventure i've ran or played, but it's trying pretty damn hard to get in that list.
>>46302315
4th level
>>46302328
I did noticed that it gets boring really fast
>>46302148
What I enjoy the most is it's simplicity to both learn and play. Everything is effectively streamlined so there is less worry about mechanics and in turn more time to focus on the actual game.
I guess what I dislike the most is it's lack of class options. Overall it's very good that they stepped away from releasing new player content books every couple of months and instead they focus on releasing only the better content and take their time playtesting it, but despite how long 5e has been out we have only had 2 new class ideas proposed in the UA and neither are fully playtested yet. I like that the current classes out are as versatile as they are but I hope that the next player content book has at least one new class in it along with a couple of new archetypes and a few new races.
>>46302401
My group had fun with it. Whats something that you don't like about it
>>46302551
chapter 4 takes forever and the fact that is pretty much a linear story kind of takes any emotion from it... at least for my group did...
If a Ranger comes to CoS with an animal companion Wolf, do you think I should have it get under the control of Strahd?
>>46302572
You can skim past it if traveling isn't really your thing. But it can be fun if you use events and places along the road
>>46301527
Congrats on the babby, at least
>>46302580
Hell yeah, especially if the player is attached to it.
>>46302212
But you don't need to refluff it because there's already a fire smite. There's also the 3rd level Elemental Weapon spell for Paladins that can do fire damage.
>>46302580
>Fucking over BM rangers EVEN MOOOORE.
Get tested, you might be literally Hitler.
>>46302686
Well thats what happened to animal companions in AD&D
>>46302659
When they go looking for a replacement/original companion I'll have Strahd send a Dire Wolf and have it pretend to be a friend
>>46302580
It should be torn between its loyalty to the Ranger and Strahd, and just run offsecretly trailing party at a distancewatching over the party to make sure its friend is safeand to keep tabs on them
>>46302705
> I'll have Strahd send a Dire Wolf and have it pretend to be a friend.
I love you.
>>46302742
It will rip out the rangers throat at an opportune time
>>46302705
>>46302659
>>46302580
jesus, beastmaster ranger already fucking sucks you cunts.
>>46302705
it should be a wolfa zombie wolf
>>46302770
Well, I'll wait until I know what my party composition is and then design changes for each of them.
For example, a necromancer finds his undead difficult to control. Lets say he has to make a DC 15 Int save for them after every long rest - on a failure he loses control over them
>>46302770
One of my first times dming In 3.5 I killed a players animal companion for no reason. Normally I stay away from any perceived lnjustice on the part of the dm but something about animal companions gets me going.
>>46302148
I dislike combat taking so long but i mean it could be longer, its hard to say what i like of it ,i have about 20-30 sessions in, i could say i like that it is an easy game to learn and homebrew, it is a good way to start playing more "complicated" roleplaying games, but know my emotion for 5e is fading away because i have played OSR and feels so good playing it
>want to play an explorer/naturalist sort of character in a future game
>don't know what class to make him
Ranger is the obvious choice, but then I'd be well-versed in exploring rather than an up-and-coming novice. I can't have a snappy familiar companion, either.
>>46302889
background
>>46302889
Just make a dex/archer fighter and get perception/survival. Variant human for the extra skill and use backgrounds to get non class skill proficiencies.
Boom, you get to be an explorer/scout type who does shirk a little skill utility for better combat use.
>>46302551
Not him, but... Obscene balance issues, an opening scenario that every person, adventurer or not, would nope the fuck past, and a forced unwinnable battle in what's likely the first or second session that the game assumes you lose and carries on under the assumption (so that even if you win it doesn't affect the story at all).
>>46302928
Feel free to change that
>>46302945
????
>>46302889
UA scout fighter nigga. Tons of fun.
>>46302889
Outlander background
>>46302889
The outlander background would be perfect for your character. Depending on what combat style you see your character would determine the class, but I would suggest going rogue with expertise in survival and stealth. That way you can explore the wilderness and such without disturbing the natural life and you can avoid rogue groups of bandits and thugs.
>>46302945
Thanks, all this time I was waiting on your permission. The question was what he didn't like about the official HotDQ, not what he didn't like about a vetted and rewritten version.
>>46302961
This is exactly what you want. It has the natural explorer feature from ranger which is really what you wanted from the class.
>>46303001
After reading all the comments I think I am just going to fog them away to barovia and well, I'll deal with everything later if they come out alive of that.
>>46303042
have the fog come in during a battle with the cult.
have the cultists show later getting annihilated by Barovia monsters
>>46303075
This is a very good idea. Make sure its beasts/monsters they haven't seen before.
>>46303025
>>46302961
>>46302927
I'll check these out, thanks.
>>46303075
>>46303121
that sounds really good! I think I can actually pull the rug from under their feet with something like that... Thanks!
Scan of Rage of Demons DM screen pls
>>46303220
oh and the return to ravenloft one too
My PCs are coming close to opening a gate to a plane full of zombies and flesh golems controlled by a hivemind that wants to invade their plane.
I've dropped several hints in ledgers and journals but they think it's the ramblings of mad men.
Worst part is if they fail to contain it, it'll cause a plot that's basically copying zombie mode from cod.
>>46303220
The adventure specific DM screens are garbage, they don't have anything useful on them.
Curious about other DM's thoughts on an idea I had for my upcoming CoS campaign.
My party's savvy enough that I expect they'll start looking for a blacksmith capable of silvering their weapons. I'm planning on adding a gruff but honest to the village of Barovia, who has an adorably precocious 9 year old daughter. He'd initially refuse to help the players because he doesn't want to earn Strahd's ire, but they can convince him with enough gold or by doing a short sidequest for him involving retrieving his late wife's locket from the Vistani who stole it.
Strahd hears about this from the spies he has following the party, and next time they leave town he swoops in and kidnaps the daughter, using her as leverage to force the blacksmith to offer the party cursed weapons.
If I wanted to go full edgedark, I'd then have Strahd turn the daughter anyway and send her to kill the blacksmith. He'd probably tip the party off too so they'd be forced to either put down the vampiredaughter in front of the blacksmith or let him die.
Too much? It's all predicated on them looking for a blacksmith and trying to win him over, but I'm 90% sure that's the first thing the party will do once they realize how many ghosts and werewolves are around.
>>46303422
Hand it over
>>46301633
If you're rural southeast queensland i might be of some assistance
>>46301448
Living in London you think they'll be loads of games with space, or even new games to start with from level 1
But nope
>>46303786
ye, where?
>>46303800
Obviously there aren't any games in London, Sharia law forbids D&D.
>>46303832
Not if you go to the Polish or Chinese parts
:^)
>>46303403
My suggestion is roll with it. Still try to give them warnings, possibly make an angel or other celestial guardian the keeper of the gate or something, but don't stop them from doing it. It could lead to a very interesting campaign.
If you feel you absolutely have to stop them though, look into the CR 20 Angel and have him be the keeper of the gate. He can easily stop the party without risk of killing them outright.
>>46303454
Do it. The setting basically gives you an all clear on grimdark stuff as long as it's logical. Plus, putting down a baby vamp might add to your players hatred of Strahd.
>>46303897
The only thing keeping the gates is an island full of ruins and constructs.
I was also thinking of rolling with it but I know my party will sooner or later will do something stupid with this somehow.
>>46301527
Lol, this is happening in the campaign I'm playing in as well. The girl is my friend and she's playing a dark elf wild sorceress. Our DM decided that at level 4 or something he would give all the players a custom bonus feat based on our playstyles, interests, etc. He decided that because she likes the wild magic table that she would roll an extra D20 for every time she cast a spell and on a 20, she rolls on the wild magic table.
She's fireballed herself twice, the second time causing us to get in serious trouble with a town guard but DM let her reroll using her inspiration.
It's just too much; there's a reason that wild magic table rolls are as frequent as they are.
>>46304047
Have one powerful (and intelligent!) construct in place of an angel who can explain the true nature of the portal. Don't hold back your players, but don't let them open the portal without being told what it is.
When i see stuff like Wizard X/Fighter 3, or Sorc 2/Ranger X I'm guessing it's your class first (so 2 levels of Sorc first) then the class after?
So if i wanted to roll a Crit Barbarian, i should go for 17 levels of Barb THEN go into 3 levels of Fighter?
>>46302045
The fact that furries are all over that fucking place.
Reminder that there are four suits of full plate on the second floor of Death House. They fit any and all PCs, do not wither or show serious detrimental rust or age, are actually usable and not simply art, and have no negative effects.
>>46304675
>>46304675
Whoa really? Fuck man, I'll keep on eye out.
>>46304675
>They fit any and all PCs, do not wither or show serious detrimental rust or age, are actually usable and not simply art, and have no negative effects.
You're going to have to have (or be) a pretty willfully ignorant GM to interpret it that way. Nonmagical ornamental armor isn't designed to fit anyone, much less 'any and all PCs'. And basically any object you remove from the Death House is supposed to age and degrade noticeably as soon as it passes the threshold.
You're right that it's not immediately harmful to wear, though. I'd probably allow them to take it to a blacksmith to be fitted to them, which would take a while and several hundred gold.
>>46304675
That's just blatantly untrue.
>>46304724
>ornamental armor
Except it is not ornamental. It is armor, plain and simple.
Further, only things that are described as ageing and degrading have that effect. The armor is not among those items found to degrade.
>>46304675
Did your dm not let your use the armor and that's why you spam this shit? It's seriously fucking weird.
>>46304675
Have a (You), anon. I know that's the only reason you're here.
>>46304675
Every fucking /5eg/ has some autistic fucker, probably the same one, moaning about the stupid armor in Death House. No one fucking cares.
>>46304675
Fine anon you've pushed me too far this time. I'm going to dm the death house and anyone who puts one of those suits of armor on will be swallowed into an endless void where fucksticks like you grovel in the darkness.
>>46304675
>>46304770
Every time, you post this stupid shit.
>Will only fit 5% of human males, otherwise not able to don without paying 40% of armor cost for refitting
>Suits are centuries old and rusted and worn from improper storage, causing it to be useless
>crumbles to aforementioned state after exiting the mantion
>their ornanmental because 6 full suits of pate cost as much as the house their stored in.
take your pick. Stop reading the DM's module and being so buttblasted he didn't let you have the plate. He did the right thing.
>>46304687
Why do you keep posting this in every thread. No one cares.
>>46304770
Oh I get it, you're one of those "If the rules aren't spelled out exactly, I'll interpret them in the most bass-ackwards way to get an advantage" type players, huh?
You're right, they're never explicitly described as ornamental. It's just a logical leap from the fact that they're being used as decorations in the main hall of a mansion owned by a lord with no combat experience or interest in warfare.
You know what else isn't specified? That they're full plate, or even that they're metal. For all we know they could be bikini armor made of cardboard!
>>46304675
Really, so the fuck what?
If your game is broken by a couple of suits of full plate then you should just quit playing RPGs entirely.
>>46304844
The horror
>tiny sphere of annihilation in each
So I have a Trident of Songcraft; It's a +1 to hit, +1 to damage weapon and I want to sell it to fund the repair of an Eion stone I have.
How much do +1 weapons go for? My GM is only putting up offers of like 500 gp, is that about right?
>>46304940
Oops, forgot to mention, the item might be like homebrew or something, the trident sings opera music when it is used in battle? At the very least it's a +1 weapon, so yeah.
>>46304940
depends on his setting and how common magical weapons are. I'd probably give you a smaller offer unless you'd be willing to commit downtime to finding a wealthy enough buyer.
What events trigger an invitation to Strahd's castle besides freeing the soul of Tatyana?
>>46304675
Then I'll just animate the suits of plate and have them attack the party if they try to wear them.
Or turn into a swarm of rats after they equip them.
>>46304940
Depends on the setting.
If it's typical 5E rules, 500gp is right on the nose for what an uncommon magical item is worth.
>>46304980
>>46304955
Thanks guys. I was thrown off because my DM's DM-friend who joined us for a few sessions found out about the weapon and offhandedly mentioned that I could easily get 10,000gp for it. Keep in mind I'm a new player so that sounded believable enough to me.
ok... good music suggestions for setting mood and atmosphere in COS.
>>46305039
Soulsborne soundtracks are going to be your best friend, at least for combat.
I'm also using some Diablo and Witcher 3 stuff for both combat and the quieter moments.
Still looking for good bgm for the Vistani camps, though.
>>46305039
Castlevania
Any Medieval/Vampire stuff - Like Van Helsing/Dracula Untold etc
>>46305039
>playing music
For what purpose?
>>46305020
no, no you couldn't have. I doubt he was serious, and if he was, he was more than wrong. at least in the standard D&D format.
>>46305076
Background music can add a lot to a tabletop game if used appropriately and in a non-distracting way.
>>46305099
Yeah, he must have been severely mistaken for some reason or perhaps confusing tabletop games.
>>46305105
>a non-distracting way.
Such as completely muted.
>>46305176
If you seriously find background music that distracting, there are other games out there that might be more your style. For example, maybe try dangling keys in front of your faces. That's sure to keep you entertained for hours.
>>46305176
All music is distracting and there's no way it could enhance a game based on imagination.
I'm playing a human GOO tomelock named Abdul Alhazred with a hermit background in an upcoming campaign and I am stoked as all Hell.
What character concepts are you excited to play?
>>46303810
Not him but fraser coast?
>>46304675
Most other things taken from the house that originate from the house, crumble to dust or age rapidly into uselessness.
>>46305192
Or maybe music is just distracting to that anon.
People have different preferences, you mook.
>>46305535
affirmative
What happens when you deal magical damage to a vampire mist at 0 hp.
Skip the whole staking business?
>>46305872
Same thing as normal.
>>46305893
Creatures generally don't take further damage at 0 hit points, neither stay conscious, so what is normal?
Does great weapon fighting work with a spear, when the spear is held two handed?
>>46305954
GWF yes, GWM no.
>>46305954
Yes.
The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property.
Spears have versatile.
Advice for statting up human NPCs as enemies: what would you say the CR of a level X character is? X/3?
>>46306022
Have to do it the long way and compare CR tables for attack and defense together.
>>46306022
what kind of npc do you want
remember to NOT just make a pc
>>46306065
Illusion/Charm based caster. He's a human spy working for the fey.
I'm a paladin. STR 19 CON 17 CHA 18. Is getting the stats to 20 worth it or it's good enough to start taking feats?
>>46306093
Have you tried giving a Mage expertise in Persuasion/Deception/Insight and changing his spell list?
>>46306120
I'd finish the Str and Con so you get an extra +1 on those.
>>46305499
Off topic but now I'm imagining a prescient GOO lock named Muad'dib that worship Shai-hulud to gain glimpses of the future.
>>46306128
I guess, thought it might be fun? different? to make him cast like a warlock.
>>46306171
Ok? So give him pact magic. What is wrong with you?
My DM is letting us get a free feat
What should I take? I'm a sword and board fighter without any other feats
I was thinking of Ritual Caster because the character has a decent cha and being able to cast rituals would give me way more out of combat utility
>>46306171
Just make a fucking feylock
You literally described a feylock
>>46306248
Ritual Caster is pretty great if only for the fact that you can slowly acquire new rituals by copying them in to your book.
Hard to go wrong with Lucky, though.
So now that Strahd has been released. What do you see Wizards working on next. or do you think this year will be the year of ravenloft? Personally I hoping for some official Eberron stuff finally. That or Kara Tur. the weeb in me is strong.
>>46306314
My wish list is:
Eberron
Spelljammer
That's all. I'll be happy as long as I get one of em. Don't even matter if it's the last thing for 5th.
>haven't played in a long while
>a couple friends wanna try so start a group
>situation was kinda brought up as one or two short games to try gameplay and move on to a real one afterwards if everyone likes it
>make a boring ranger character quickly because I thought it was just for a game or two
>about 6 or 7 games in now and not even remotely close to being done
>playing this character bores me to tears
>want to make a better one but don't want to fuck DM's things up
Fuark
>>46306313
I guess I probably shouldn't get Ritual Caster because the party is 3/4 casters
Lucky seems like a wonderful feat, the DM only throws 1-2 encounter on us once per day and preventing a natural 1 would be nice
I was thinking of possibly getting Resilience for Wisdom because I have shit for wisdom or shield master so I can knock over people people and stab them better
>>46306388
At least you can choose the hunter archetype and actually be combat viable.
>new to the game
>chose beastmaster because lolsure
>level 6 ranger now
>only thing getting me by is my 1 level in rogue giving me a +10 to stealth (expertise) and Pass Without Trace for another +10
But yeah, in combat I'm practically useless. I can pull 2*(d8+8) per turn and that's a +1 weapon.
>>46306505
Yeah but chucking arrows for hours on end does get old really goddamn fast.
>>46306514
Can't the same be said about any class and their respective weapon?
Also the hunter can choose melee skills.
>>46306541
>Can't the same be said about any class and their respective weapon?
I thought of making a monk or something so there could be different possibilities in various combat contexts.
>Also the hunter can choose melee skills.
Not reliable at all with my current stats and skillset.
>>46303810
Long shot you're still here but toowoomba way
>>46306022
Take an existing NPC from the Monster Manual, tweak it to match what you want to do. Much easier.
>>46301028
I've heard that the Undying is the weakest patron for Warlocks. It's also agreed that the Blade pact is the weakest pact. How would you change both of them to make them stronger and more fun to use?
>>46306388
Is it the class or the character thats boring you? if its the class, talk to the DM about changing your class from ranger to fighter. If its the character itself, talk to your DM about having something happen to your character so that either the character is switched out all together or at least your character goes through a life altering event that changes their personality and behavior. Either way, talking to your DM will probably be the best thing to do it situations like this.
>>46306635
nowhere near me.
>>46306697
Give Blade Pact a fighting style option or some actual armor proficiency or both.
Blade pact can mostly be solved by multiclassing Fighter 1.
>>46306724
Ah bugger, too bad, my groups in need of a player for two different campaigns. Best of luck finding someone
>>46306697
They are both actually fine, but if you MUST change something...
Undying:
Lv 1: gain vampiric touch 1/LR
Lv 6: Spare the dying hp regain recharged on short rest, saving throw as normal
Lv 10: can be revived by spells that raise the dead
Lv 14: Fine as is
Blade:
Change at will mage armor invocation to armor proficiency or at will armor of agathys
>>46306427
Shield Master and Resilient are both pretty good as well as Sentinel (but only if your DM likes to move monsters around in mid-combat)
>>46306722
>Is it the class or the character thats boring you?
Kind of both.
I feel like talking to my DM really would be the best way to go, but I'm scared that he might feel obligated to change the campaign for me and I hate to be a bother. Thanks breh
I'm gonna DM my first play of DnD with 3 friends who are also first timers. Already have a story, a few npcs and a map for myself. I have the DM handbook, monster manual, set of dice, and the rulebook from the DnD site. Planning on reading everything. Do I need something else or something I should keep in mind for our first adventure?
>>46306979
Just remember that no plans are permanent, improvisation is the absolute key to DMing, and you're only playing wrong if you're not having fun.
If you want grid based combat you may want to get some paper for that, or just a whiteboard. Or say fuck it and play without a grid.
>>46306979
Shit will go south, make sure you have contingencies in place for when your players inevitably fuck something up
I've gotten into the habit of giving town guards levels of fighter or paladin depending on the town/their rank
>>46306979
Keep plenty of paper and pencils on hand to track initiative, HP, player character names, and other things. Also, make plans for at least 2 alternate paths your PCs may end up taking. The party may end up going the path you lay before them, but they may not. If they go another route, you should be prepared for it. Outside of that, you should be solid. Eventually, if you want to that is, you could look into grid maps and start doing big/important fights on grid maps and buy miniatures. I like miniatures and maps a lot personally but I also understand and like doing theater of mind combat, especially for smaller fights with less significance and threat of death.
>>46306979
>>46307037
This is also a good idea, but only if you either:
A.) Have a NE or CE PC.
B.) Have a party of people who tend to resort to murder-hoboing a lot.I learned this lesson all too harshly with my first group, which had both of the above situations going on. So many times they resorted to needless violence and murder just because they didn't want to do obey the law.
>>46306979
Get yourself note cards, and a big ass notebook.
Note cards are for the HP values of the enemies, or any time you get a cool idea. Or to keep track of initiative. Or for fucking anything really.
The notebook is to keep track of every location, every NPC, all of that shit. If the player mentions a sibling, or their hometown, or anything like that, jot it down somewhere so you can use it later.
Both of these "tools" are things I'd never DM without. They make all this bullshit so much easier to track and remember.
>>46307016
>Improvisation
check
But what is grid based combat? Is that like stats and fail/succes rolls based on rules or improvisation? If so, what should I use as a first timer?
>>46307037
What do you mean contingies for when things go south? Like have an NPC revive them if they fuck up or have one person have a revival spell?
>>46307074
What do miniatures and gid maps add?
>>46307126
What is a NE CE PC? And murder hoboing?
Also my story is set in a city of Zanaris (Which they can not leave to make things easier for the first time) And they have to defeat a Crime Lord their way. Maybe they befriend criminals and work their way up or fight their way to him, perhaps they will brine their way to th crime lords where abouts. So there are multiple paths. Any ideas to make it more fun/engaging?
Is the /5eg/ megatrove hosted elsewhere as well? Mega isn't being friendly with me today.
The /tg/ sheet would be fun to see too if a generous anon could help me out.
>>46307311
>NE
Neutral Evil
>CE
Chaotic Evil
>murderhobo
Fuck RP i just kill everyone
>>46307204
Very good idea! I will definitely use a notebook.
Not any of these guys but thought I would help.
>>46307311
>But what is grid based combat? Is that like stats and fail/succes rolls based on rules or improvisation? If so, what should I use as a first timer?
Grid based combat would be the same as verbally describing it. Everything in D&D has a measure of distance. So if you use a graph, each square would be five feet (since a medium sized creature occupies five feet.) Miniatures and grid maps add a bit of interaction and tactical strategy to the game. I play on Roll20 a lot and find it to be very fun, and makes keeping track of multiple factors easier for players. It also allows you as a DM to provide much more visual ques for events.
>What do you mean contingies for when things go south? Like have an NPC revive them if they fuck up or have one person have a revival spell?
You should NOT have a safety net constantly. Retard decisions have reprocutions. More so you should be ready with some other encounters if your PC's start ignoring your plot, or start doing shit to really screw around like breaking laws, ect. Be ready for the worst and hope for the best.
>What is a NE CE PC? And murder hoboing?
NE and CE is the standard abbreviation for Neutral Evil and Chaotic Evil alignments respectively. PC stands for player character. Murder Hoboing is when the characters kill with zero to no motivation. They see it and kill it and live without consequence, usually because their GM lets them.
>>46307311
Gonna assume that the other anon meant "plans for when the players do something out of left field" when he said contingencies. For example, you can do all the planning you want for a thieves lair that the player's might explore, but the players could always decide to go hit up the local tavern or explore somewhere completely different, so basically it's good to just have a bunch of nebulous "contingency" locations/encounters/NPCs just in case.
Grid based combat is just any combat played on a grid where individual squares are used to represent a 5 foot area, and players can normally move up to 6 squares per turn (assuming the standard 30 ft speed). You use miniatures (or tokens, coins, cheerios, etc) to represent players and monsters on the grid. This is a more tactical version of D&D combat that a lot of people find engaging.
The other way to do combat is to just describe things to your players and then they describe their action to you with accompanying rolls, and grids and miniatures are left out altogether. This is a less gamey but more cinematic way to handle combat.
Which you play with is up to you and your group, and there's no reason you can't use both depending on the mood of either the situation or yourself as the DM.
CE and NE are both moral alignment abbreviations for Chaotic Evil and Neutral Evil respectively. Murder-Hoboing is the term for the somewhat common player practice of going from place to place, committing senseless murder and then repeating the cycle. If everyone in a party wants to do it then it can be fun, but most of the time it can be very immersion breaking or at least boring after the novelty wears off.
>>46307394
>>46307453
>>46307341
Thanks for the help! But I Also have a question About rolls. If someone wants to let's say pickpocket someone. Do I have to improvise the fail and success numbers of the rolls and write it down for later use or is there a way to calculate those odds?
>>46307558
You could calculate it based on their passive perception I suppose, but desu you can improvise most target values as 10, 15 or 20 for Easy, Medium, and Hard when it comes to ability checks like that.
>>46307558
You can do pickpocketing as the thief's sleight of hand roll vs the victim's passive perception
>>46307558
There is a table with the difficulty of an action and the required roll, pic related
You determine how easy or hard it should be for them to do something like that considering things like the target's alertness and the environment.
For instance, I would consider pickpocketing a random civilian in a crowd at night an easy check, and pickpocketing a lone guard in broad daylight would be difficult
>>46307658
Forgot pic
How do I tell my DM to stop babying the group? Only played one session with them and I'm the new dude in their group, so it's probably a sensitive issue if the others are used to steamrolling everything.
As an example, in the session I played we were 5 players at level 3-4 and only two people got hit for 5~ dmg each across all encounters (disregarding the BBEG encounter at the end, which was won by clever planning and slight-medium DM fiat).
The encounters were mostly a handful of CR 1/4 monsters and a single encounter with one single CR 2.
>>46307680
>Only played one session with them
Well for a start I would avoid trying to tell a group to play your way after only playing a single session with them. Would wait at least 2 more sessions to see if that is actually going to be the norm before bringing it up.
>>46306314
>do you think this year will be the year of ravenloft?
No, but with this at the start I could see it being the Year of Not Forgotten Realms. Still, I don't doubt that the next campaign will go back to the Realms anyway.
>>46307732
I'm hoping Year of Greyhawk
Help, how do I create a decent hook for a quest that isn't "go to this place and kill/steal things"?
So I see CoS on Amazon for $32. I'm guessing that doesn't come with the tarot cards, does it?
If not, where can I get them seperate?
(Trying to avoid printing them all myself if possible, $10 is easier to lose than all that toner and time for shitty remakes)
CoS scan when?
>>46307930
It's in the Mega already.
>>46307922
http://www.flamesofwar.com/gf9online_store.aspx?CategoryID=13327
They don't come out til next month. Also I think it's more like $20 when shipping is included.
You can use regular playing cards instead if you don't mind it.
>>46307911
What's the context? What are their backstories?
Homebrew DM looking for some input again. I've designed this encounter as the big bad for the current chapter my party of 6 level 2 players is going through. Anything you folks believe I should nerf/buff about it? I followed Angry GM's boss guidelines.
>>46306314
Well sinceMordenkainen randomly appears in CoS, maybe Greyhawk?
Personally though I would love a Dark Sun campaign
>>46301091
Tell BB I said kek
>>46308030
Heated body should probably 1d6 damage. Also it should say creature not player, unless you hate your players touching your miniatures.
>>46307781
Whyyyyyy
Everything good or unique about Greyhawk has long since been gutted for use in other settings.
>>46308030
Unless they're fighting in a really cramped place, those AoE attacks hit for piddly squat. Keep in mind any resistances the PCs might have (Dragonborn/Tiefling, Absorb Elements etc.) and make sure at least one of them can hit the cold vulnerability (Chromatic Orb is a good contender).
>>46307911
"go to this place and prevent the killing that's already going on"? incentivise the party to act as mediators and peacekeepers, rather than instigators and murderhobos. have them speak with both sides about their demands, do some investigation as to the origins of the conflict, figure out a solution or compromise. discourage them from simply banding with one side to slaughter the other, or from assassinating the leaders of one side, by having the quest be something like two noble houses in conflict with the party being sent to keep the king's peace.
>>46307911
NPC is an important political figure of some sort. This NPC gets assassinated. Now the party has to find and apprehend the assassin, but they're told that they have to bring him in alive so he can get the proper punishment.
You can throw in tons of investigation as they look for clues, maybe an encounter with some thugs that work for the assassin (and if they get one alive, maybe even get some info out of him, too).
There ya go, that's just off the top of my headsince I ran that same scenario not too long ago. It was my player's favorite session so far
guys, mapping question
how do you manage combat maps, grids, towns and stuff?
>>46307911
Someone goes to the place and steals their things.
>>46308176
>combat maps, grids
[canned laughter]
>towns and stuff
About as inaccurate and barebones as the maps they'd make or obtain IC.
>>46307311
I don't mean in a "newfags get out" way, but you should probably check out 1d4chan, this board's wiki. You can pick up most of the tabletop community's lingo there.
Also, >Zanaris
is favored soul the most efficient way to Gish?
what sort of spells should i consider getting? going to be playing in a low level ravenloft adventurer's league game
>>46308259
>adventurer's league
You poor miserable shit.
>>46308309
yup. i have to go to the FLGS bc i'm too delusional to GM games for friends
>>46308259
Adventurers League doesn't allow UA material, so no Favored Soul.
Your best bet is Bladesinger, Eldritch Knight, or Valor Bard. Also Paladin.
>>46308259
>AL
>Ravenloft
>Gishing
PALADIN
A
L
A
D
I
N
>>46308259
I can't speak to what higher-level spells you'll need, but as far as cantrips go, prestidigitation and fire bolt are must-haves. Fire bolt ensures you stay relevant in combat even after you burn through your spells, and prestidigitation gives you nearly carte blanche to do minor magical hijinks. Assuming you have a competent DM, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
>>46308389
duh. human so i can get the eldritch blast/hex cantrip, that's pretty good
>>46308355
>bladesinger
huh?
>>46308418
adventurer's league means no fun allowed.
>>46305202
Music has really led to creating a perfect ambience for my games. Try tabletopaudio.com (org? net? i forget.)
Just don't blast fucking pop music or unfitting heavy metal and you'll be fine.
>>46308248
Thanks! Will do.
Also
>ZanarisI thought I was being super creative before I found out why my subconscious came up with that name
>>46308454
>bladesinger
SCAG
>>46308418
I'd say Minor Illusion is just as good or better than prestidigitation.
>Deal less damage than the melee martials of the group and be ok with it
>Cast less spells and with less efficiency than the casters of the group and be ok with it
>GM calls you munchkin/minmaxer/powergamer
I don't get it, I'm not outclassing anyone, I'm just the secondary martial/caster, why everybody is mad about it?
I've come to the conclusion that it's literally hard to find a group that's 100% within the margin of normality, comradery, and wihout a DM drunk in authority, if not impossible.
What is it that I must do to find a group in which I aren't bullshitted even following the house rules and the PHB
>>46308600
>I'd say Minor Illusion is just as good or better than prestidigitation.
So you don't like being clean, having all your food and drink taste good, or having warm, dry boots?
>>46308691
>What is it that I must do to find a group in which I aren't bullshitted even following the house rules and the PHB
Try being less of a jerk.
>>46302886
Combat is a lot better if you reduce all enemies' HP by about 20%, give them +2 to hit, increase save DCs by 2, and add about 2 points to their damage per level. They aren't going to start one-shotting the party, but the players will have to take them out quickly.
It's nowhere near as bad as 4e, but combat in 5e is just a little bit too grindy for my tastes.
>>46308691
If all your groups are shitty, then you may be the common factor in each of them.
>>46308728
Am I a jerk when I don't do stuff that ruins others fun? Or from my perspective, at least. I've never got in arguments with players; only dm's
>>46308806
Let the GM do their job, if they suck theres nothing you can do about it except try to make the experience better for everyone, or leave. You can't win an argument with a GM.
What does /5eg/ think about NOT allowing players to exchange an ability increase for a feat? Basically only allowing feats for variant humans.
>>46308679
It could be the way you talk to your GM. Are you dickering with him on rulings and trying to eke every little benefit out of your abilities? Are you constantly trying to convince him that you 'could totally do that as a bonus action' or that your spells ought to be able to do something not specifically outlined in the book?
You don't necessarily have to be *good* at munchkining to be a munchkin. Just trying to bend the rules in your favor constantly.
>>46308831
Ah, i do question some of the DM moves, but never making a fuss over it; usually dealing with it based on what explanation the DM gives me.
However even with this im told that i shouldnt know about stuff on the PHB since im a new player ( not anymore at least, id say), and that im out because im studying the phb on my own account. Right.
>>46308865
Variant humans are already the strongest race option; doing that will only serve to cement it by giving them great options that are completely unavailable to every other race.
So, no, I would not ever advise anyone do that.
>>46308865
It's dumb. Really, really dumb. I have no idea why you would ever do that.
>>46308865
I pitched my current game as No Feats, because I wanted a more old-school feel. My players eventually talked me into letting them take feats. I'm not convinced that the feats they took are strictly better than the ability increase, but they wanted it, so I let them have it.
I think feats add a tiny amount of flavor and a whole lot of tiresome conversation about 'optimal' this and that and 'I'm definitely taking XYZ when I hit 12th level'. I find discussions of 'builds' completely and utterly boring, but my players love it, so I just tune out, nod and smile and let them ramble on about it—as long as it's not taking up game time.
>>46308925
I would never do that, either, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the DM doesn't allow it; he seems to be really strict about not using any "optional" rules (flanking is a no-go, somewhat breaking my character concept from the start).
>>46308865
Well if I was going to do that I would also ban variant human, no feats makes more sense than only humans getting them.
>>46308962
Variant human is an optional rule as well.
Not sure what the hell character concept could be based on flanking, as most people don't actually allow that rule anyway.
>>46308985
BM Ranger, companion would be justifying its existence before lv5 by moving into flanking positions to grant advantage to the melee ranger.
Although after giving it some thought I agree with no flanking, not because it overpowers my own character, but because it would unbalance many other characters (Rogues anyone?).
And this is where we all point and laugh at the BM ranger
>>46308889
>Not allowed to know the PHB as a player
>The players handbook
Leave.
>>46308889
We only have your side of it to go on, so of course you'll paint it in the most innocent light possible. Defending yourself to a bunch of strangers doesn't really help the situation. Even if all of 4chan takes your side, it still won't make your game table like you better.
I'd advise you to stop arguing with the DM about rules. If you want to change their behavior, you won't do it by disrupting the game and challenging them in front of everyone. If you make your DM have to debase themselves publicly in order to take your point of view, they're more likely to double down and be defensive. Talk to the DM away from the table, maybe over email. Don't paint it as "hey you're wrong", but more like "I'm not sure I understand how this works, could you explain?"
>>46309016
Why do you think im looking for group now
>>46308962
I'm DMing right now and I allow feats and variant human, but I absolutely don't use flanking.
Getting advantage is just too damn good of a bonus. I played in the first 5e campaign and every encounter amounted to "get to the other side of the enemy, then fuck him hard because you'll probably never miss now." It was stupid and made encounters entirely too easy.
>>46305559
But not everything. The things that do, mention it. The armor does not state that.
>>46309047
I usually do that when i have my doubts on sonething, and I admit the DM has been a great help to understand the game, but that dick move he did on me was totally uncalled for.
>>46308985
variant human is what humans were in all the previous editions. what class can even use +1 in every stat? human without the feat is pretty much always suboptimal
>>46309054
What's good for the goose is good for the gander. The enemies can flank as well as the players can. Try to use groups more than solo enemies.
