Thread 96266049

Nine of Pentacles edition

>"New" Arcane Subclasses UA: https://media.dndbeyond.com/compendium-images/ua/arcane-subclasses/zepvK7DBkeSt6dqv/UA2025-ArcaneSubclasses.pdf

>2024 PHB Scan (No more fingers edition)
https://files.catbox.moe/g8oo9h.pdf

>Cropped and rotated, but more artifacty
MjAyNCBQSEIsIE5vIFRodW1icywgT0NSZWQsIEFub24ncyBCb29rbWFya3MgdHJhbnNmZXJyZWQgb3Zlci4gCgpodHRwczovL2Vhc3l1cGxvYWQuaW8vd2Fvcm9h

>2024 DMG
https://files.catbox.moe/fd04pq.pdf

>2024 Monster Manual
https://files.catbox.moe/atd38s.pdf (D&D beyond version)
https://pomf2.lain.la/f/1en5qwum.pdf (scan, use at your own risk)

>2024 Official free rules
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules
>2014 Official Free Rules
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/basic-rules-2014

>2024 UA
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/ua

>2014 Errata
https://dnd.wizards.com/dndstudioblog/sage-advice-book-updates

>5etools (2024)
http://5e.tools
>5etools (2014)
https://2014.5e.tools/

>Trove
The Trove Vault (seed, please!): mega(dot)nz/folder/uktzzTAI#KfV-EWdhd15FhHNn5HndHg

>Resources:
https://pastebin.com/X1TFNxck

Previous thread
>>96216994

>TQ
Does it benefit PCs to start as nobles from their backstory? Should they become nobles as the game continues?

reposting from last thread.

>level 15 LIFE cleric
what are my chances at fighting a martial who is immune to level 6 and below spells and effects? whats my best strategy available?

I'm thinking, target his wisdom save (+1.) with a high upcast of spirit guardians + dodge. or his kind of subpar con (also 1, so a total of +6.) with Harm? but that's expensive.

The gnomes are here.

>>96266123
>Holy aura
>Shield spell
>Try a save or die with planeshifting him to the plane of fire or water etc
All I got for you

>>96266185
>planeshift is now willing creatures
I never play past level 10 ignore me

>some dudebros want to try dnd since they saw some of my stuff/me talking about it
>they’ve never played before
>they’re only talking about banging hookers and big busty barbarian women
Turning them down isn’t an option. What do I do?
Pic unrelated, found a cat on base

>TQ pt. 1
More often than not, yes.

In my opinion though, it makes sense for a Noble character to have Noble obligations and responsibilities that go beyond the scope and purview of the campaign. It makes for good ammunition to get the players involved in one of their party member's sidequests and there's lot of excuses to be used to hand out cool items and loot people might like.
>TQ pt. 2
This is something that could be legitimately earned by the players as the result of their triumphs, but by definition it would no longer be a background in that sense.
>>96266222
Branch? I played quite a bit of Barracks DnD a couple years back.

>>96266222
>the crop bug is still a thing
fml

>>96266200
I remember when I planeshifted the enemy to Hell by successfully managing to use Divine Intervention.
It was hype as fuck. I've yelled "Go to Hell", opened the portal behind him and sucked him in. Then we've jumped after him into the portal and beat the shit out of him in Hell. There was no actual reason to planeshift him, but it was cool.

>>96266230
>Branch?
USCG.
Issue I have is that I’m pretty sure these guys just want me to narrate them banging whores and not engage with the setting

>>96266236
Don't be a pussy and DM a swords and sandals game about saving priestesses from evil sorcerers and then banging them.

>>96266244
The priestesses or the sorcerers, I'm not sure if the coast guard is as gay as the marines

>>96266049 (OP)
>TQ
Titles and land are a classic way to reward the party. Especially if they're already rich enough to buy buildings and powerful enough that upgrading their gear threatens to break the game, it provides both a metric of progression and avenues of influence should the party realize they can use them. Whether or not they become proper nobility afterwards depends on how well they navigate or manipulate the politics of the land.
In my campaign, the king knighted the party in order to impose a sense of allegiance and loyalty. Give them some land in a podunk town, then say they must to keep the peace in the realm and be on guard to be deployed for the nation's interests (read: kill monsters and evil people and go on the quests we give you).

>>96266235
Sometimes doing something cool is more important.

In 5e planeshift has the line
>You can use this spell to banish an unwilling creature to another plane. Choose a creature within your reach and make a melee spell attack against it. On a hit, the creature must make a Charisma saving throw. If the creature fails this save, it is transported to a random location on the plane of existence you specify. A creature so transported must find its own way back to your current plane of existence.

But they removed it in 5.5e boooo wotc booooo

>>96266231
It's not a bug, anon. Whenever you edit a photo through your phone, that photo isn't actually being changed, it's merely displayed differently. These directions are stored in the metadata of the image, which this website deletes whenever you decide to phonepost. I personally avoid this by uploading to my PC first.
>>96266236
>>96266244
>>96266250
Hard to say what the right course of action is. Handhold them individually through CharGen and see how they behave without their boyfriend present to hype them up. You can also reject them. Are they officers or something? Tell them you have to clean the dolphins or something (I have no idea how CG skates)

>>96266123
>what are my chances at fighting a martial who is immune to level 6 and below spells and effects?
Nearly 0%. That specific effect is almost exclusive to a rakshasa, a demon.
>whats my best strategy available?
not enough information given, what kind of martial is he? what weapon do they use? are they a player character? NPC?

>>96266236
In fairness, one of our group's favorite NPCs started out as some tavern-wench that the Fighter brought home for a one-night stand, then the rest of of the party actually interacted with her. Though for a starting group with that motive take the Castle Crashers route like >>96266244
suggested and send them after bad guys that have kidnapped the bad babes, then have some of the bad babes be tradwife material like "I shall ask my father for whatever you wish. A night alone? I would love to be courted by a strong ge- You brute! We must be wed first!"

>Oath of Glory paladin
>Getting martial abilities out of Ryoko's homebrew
>Polehammer rules allows one to vault 3x jump distance using a vault technique
I found kino

>>96266772
*polearm
I'm making a polehammer

>>96266772
You still using that old shitty art? Can't afford a new commission?

>>96266847
I have 4 in the works of Crius alone.

Do you prefer your fiends to have red nipples or black nipples?

>>96267054
Red nipples. Black nipples are the exclusive domain of eight-tiddy goth werewolf gfs.

>>96266049 (OP)
Yes, absolutely. Nobility means you're not just some dipshit sellsword, you're a man of quality, and thus have a standing invitation to meet with all the important people in town. And any successful adventurer absolutely should become a landed noble, even if it's only a barony.

How I track initiative manually on pen and paper? I feel retarded trying to figure this out

>>96267096
>Bottlecap
>List of names and values
>Move the bottlecap down with turns passed
It's not rocket surgery, bruv.

>>96267121
Yeah but I'm overwhelmed. I have my people roll initiative and then I just freeze up and my body blue screens irl

>writing down initiative
>re-ordering initiatives
>adding and tracking hp values
>remembering npc dialogue (not verbatim, just the gist of what they need to say)
>remembering npc capabilities
>remembering player capabilities
>NPC positioning
>player positioning
>battlefield layout and cover
>keeping track of both in-game and external time

>>96267096
You must be retarded, literally just write down their names and whatever they're fighting, in order.

>>96267242
how do i avoid having to duplicate my efforts when collecting initiatives? it takes so fucking long to write down
>identity
>ac
>resistances
>hp
twice over in the correct order like I have been doing. we had 9 combatants once and it nearly took 14 minutes for me to actually start the fight

>>96267337
>identity
Should take like 10 seconds to write those down.
>ac
>resistances
>hp
Why aren't these written down beforehand for the NPCs during your planning? If it's players, just ask them during the combat.

>>96267162
>adding and tracking hp values
make sure your players track their stats and do the number maintenance themselves

>remembering player capabilities
your players should remember their abilities, if the specifics are blurry quick check in the book should be fast enough

>NPC positioning
>player positioning
>battlefield layout and cover
play with figurines or some tokens, ideally on a grid, there are grid mats you can draw on

>>96267369
>why aren't these written down beforehand
w-what? where the FUCK are you putting your monster data blocks that its not separate from tracking initative ??

>>96267377
>w-what? where the FUCK are you putting your monster data blocks that its not separate from tracking initative ??
wat

There are friendly oozes with no acidic properties who nourish themselves with berries and water where my fighter's hometown is at. Citizens often use them as onaholes though the oozes don't seem to mind since they get a protein source once in a while.

>>96267375
>hp values
No these are only my monster numbers
>player capabilities
Not the specific rules for a given spell or feature, but things like knowing that the warlock can misty step or the fighter has a potion of invisibility. this goes for every bullet point, i dont need to remember descriptions, but i do need to know what things do
>battlespace
Vheck, check, and check. That doesn't mean I don't stop thinking about them just because they're not in front of me. That all goes into part of my decisionmaking process. It's just like the rulebooks: spells aren't any simpler just because I can look them up
>>96267402
Are you running combat digitally? I'm 100% P&P. Phones go in the box at the door. How do you track mob abilities and features? +attack and damage dies? I don't understand the setup you have. In my head you have a giant whiteboard in front of you and there's fifteen printouts of stat blocks and copies of your players character sheet that you magnetize in initiative order

>>96267445
>giant whiteboard in front of you and there's fifteen printouts of stat blocks and copies of your players character sheet that you magnetize in initiative order
that's why there's the DM screen, so you can hide all that shit behind a small little wall and allow you to keep whats important in front of your face

>>96267445
>>96267471
oh i guess i could just make a deck of stat block cards that i can shuffle into the proper order. wtf why didnt i think of that before

Would it be reasonable to say my air genasi barbarian who's 7' tall weighs only 70lbs?

>>96267543
Not physiologically possible. The minimum weight for someone to be "healthy" but also 7 feet tall is about 175 lbs, and that's like, 8 str 8 constitution type shit

>>96267598
Mostly being cheeky and having his magical heritage as justification for being so light.

My halfling barb will kick your shins (with advantage) and there's nothing you can do about it

>>96267598
That's for humans. Who knows how it works for magic air people with genie blood?

>>96267598
And for people made of air?

>>96267844
>>96267963
arent they just planetouched by genies ?

>>96267968
And genies are air elementals.

>>96267162
>>writing down initiative
https://kastark.co.uk/rpgs/encounter-tracker

You can track this on your phone, and you can set up initiative in advance for multiple combats your players might have in a day to make it easier on yourself.
>>re-ordering initiatives
see above
>>adding and tracking hp values
see above
>>remembering npc dialogue (not verbatim, just the gist of what they need to say)
you should have notes written down, don't worry about needing to read them
>>remembering npc capabilities
same as above
>>remembering player capabilities
you need to remember their class but thats really it, you needn't memorize every single thing they are capable of and prepare counter play for them. Eventually you'll learn though.
>>NPC positioning
learn as you play and remember that NPCs are not omniscient and don't have a hive mind. So try to make sure that they don't act as one person playing all the characters, but like each person acting on their own.
>>player positioning
draw a map and use tokens. buy cheap MGT cards adn a circle punch to make your own tokens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V236bemO4jc
>>battlefield layout and cover
Make shit up
>>keeping track of both in-game and external time
see above.

>>96267377
A different sheet of paper

I don't want to make a DMPC, but I do want to make an NPC that's central to the plot who will follow along with the party in some cases, since he knows info the party doesn't, such as how to get into certain areas and disable/enable magic traps, etc, etc.

If/when they get into combat with him tagging along, how should I have him act so as to not be a central combatant, or take away the spotlight from the players? There will be at least one dungeon they need to bring him along to.

>>96268121
Basic archer or cantrip turret?

>>96268121
Will it have PC stats? Keep it a level or two behind the party and have it hide / ready actions for defense instead of being an active combat participant

>>96268121
You have a few options. One classic is the reanimated skull--a literal talking head who can't fight. You can also go for cowardice or pacifism.

>>96268153
I'd rather keep it with an NPC stat block, rather than give it a PC stat sheet.

>>96268153
>>96268155
Part of me is thinking to center the quest he's involved in around instances where he can't attack. Maybe while he's trying to decipher a codex/unlock a seal, the party gets ambushed and they defend while he works at his task.

There will be a possibility that later in the campaign, this NPC may be a villain the party goes against, so I don't really want him to have the stink of DM pet with plot armor. I really want most of the outcome to result from how the party makes decisions and what paths they take.

A merchant porter. He pays the players a small fee to escort him around and offers to sell the players adventurers gear like torches, rope, potions, ball bearings, arrows, healing potion, etc. anything they might have been able to pick up in town that they forgot.

So the players get a basic income, and you get to keep an NPC at their side.

>>96265823
>Could be worse
Man, I've never been in a worse pickle than this. I was still seething when I wrote that post and I've calmed down since.
>Druid
I'll pass these on to him right now. Those are good options we did NOT think of and we were not able to discuss.
>Rogue
I'm sorta worried here. Even with the cunning action thing he's not quite speedy enough to really take advantage of his climbing capability I don't think. He'll end up being more relatively surrounded than we are
>Fighter (and myself)
Yep. Best I can do is Fog Cloud or something and try to hide in it maybe?
>Environment
Christ, I didn't think of that, honestly. Maybe I won't hide after all
>Do you know anything about the lieutenant's capabilities?
Nothing at all, other than that she's wearing either Plate or Half-Plate and is either a cleric or paladin herself or has one nearby, and that she's a human. She is an absolutely sick fuck though.

Has been personally kidnapping, torturing, imprisoning, then maiming the children of the enemy baronies even after they get ransomed unless the victims pay extra. One of the bastard daughters of the Lady we serve had her tongue and womb removed, but was kept alive with healing magic, all because her father was a commoner. Another awful one (this was actually the campaign hook) was about this peasant orphanage for kids whose parents were killed in the land dispute we're resolving. Apparently this woman (Baroness Marvyne) has history with this place. Anyway, after sacking the village, she made all of the children of the orphanage rape and then kill the staff & faculty with their bare hands at crossbow point. Anytime they didn't do it, she had her court wizard use some kind of magic to make one of the kids kill another. Eventually they gave in. Personally I can't wait to see this bitch swing, and every one of us feels the same, especially our Assassin whose backstory literally exists because of her.

>>96267418
Sir this is a Wendy’s

I made a mistake and ended up with two of my players having adamantine armor with pretty good enchantments.
I don't mind the fighter wearing that - he's supposed to tank, and he marches boldly into danger, where he usually takes enough punishment to make that armor a real necessity.

But the cleric just hangs back slinging cantrips, healing, and hiding behind Sanctuary from time to time. And on the off chance I get to attack him, I cannot even crit him.

What to do?

>>96267377
I print out all the monster stat blocks I'll use in a session and spread them in front of me. The only thing I track is monster HP and I write a list of all combat participants in initiative order. I count up damage for monsters instead of counting down HP, requires less writing.

>>96267445
Why would I need to see my player character sheets?

>>96269856
>I can’t get the 5% chance for a shitty damage boost
>9.75% with advantage
Whatever will you do if you can’t scream natty 20 at the top of your lungs?

>>96269908
Crits deal maximum damage in addition to a normal roll at my table. Plus a card from a deck with extra effects, like victim being frightened, falling prone, and other fun stuff.

What are your thoughts on the Illrigger homebrew class?

The DM requires that our characters are good aligned.
I played the prototype of this campaign with this DM 3 years ago, so I know that we are forced to join a positive cult at the start and over the course of the campaign we learn that the cult is actually bad, and the big bads are the highest ranking members of that cult.
So it will be very easy to flavour the Illrigger's features as being blessings of the cult.

My main concern is that the class is either annoyingly complicated or unbalanced.

>>96269923
Then you shouldn't have given them adamantine armor? Fuck me you're a retard. Throw some rust monsters at them I guess, they'll probably be annoyed.

>>96269856
throw spells at him or throw backline divers.

>>96269861
This is the way.

>>96268284
Ngl, sounds like some magical realm shit, but also sounds like you’re all invested in the campaign so I guess it must be landing.

Do you have dimension door? If so, yoink the fighter up to the archers above the lieutenant and let the fighter beat the shit out of them. You should have some cover from the ones behind you. Druid can wildshape like the other guy said - can’t have a fly speed at level 7 but maybe a climb speed if he’s got a wolf spider or something? Rogue can keep climbing up, and suddenly your party has the high ground (or at least equal cover).

>>96270021
The fuck is an illrigger? A black guy with a cold?

>>96270930
Mcdm 3rd party class which is like an evil paladin or something

>>96268121
Always remember the Help action. Just having a dude who carries stuff and hides during combat could be useful, just give him some kind of ranged attack and a dagger.

It's easy to over-do it with that kind of stuff and you don't want the PCs relying on that NPC for more than intended.

As far as how to make him act: Quiet, kinda cowardly, friendly, and wants to be useful. He's a thief without an adventuring party, basically.

>>96270972
What a stupid fucking name. Blackguard was right there.

>>96268121
Make him a coward with no real sense of agency by himself. Also outright state this to players
>Johnny NPC here is a coward who would rather run from any and every problem but he's here to help you and if you force him to, he will involve himself but only out of self preservation.

>>96271015
>Cool it with the waycism!

Has anyone tried using spell points instead of spell slots? I'd like to try it on my next sorcerer character, but I'm concerned it might be too powerful.

For those unfamiliar with it:
https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell-points

>>96268121
Give him some heal spells, and the party will do whatever they xan to keep him safe.

>>96266049 (OP)
anyone else super excited for the new starter set? it's going to be awesome busting that out for a new group to usher them into D&D

>>96271249
In my experience it's not nearly as fun. You start spamming small spells and all that and don't get a ton in return.

>>96270913
>magical realm shit
kek. If it is a fetish thing, then my DM is an absolute god at keeping it under lock and key. Importantly, he NEVER went into detail about any of that stuff, only stating it happened from the POV of the officials who hired us.

Though I have my suspicions as to why my DM decided to go that route: our Fighter and our Rogue, in the last campaign we wrapped up early last year, were the lawful good Ancients Paladin and Nature Cleric dynamic duo. They were VERY adamant during our session 0 all the way back in the coof times of 2020 that they wouldn't kill ANYBODY they couldn't capture, as their mutual faith in redemption was their core driving philosophy or whatever. I think my DM was a little worried about their ability to be flexible with roleplay, so he decided to make a cartoonishly evil villain with absolutely zero redeemable qualities whatsoever. There were more than a dozen instances where this absurdly merciful behavior got us in a lot of trouble in-game. Our current DM in the active campaign, was the party's GOO Warlock in the previous campaign, and was (in-character) completely fed-up with being chastised repeatedly for killing some low-life bandit or mercenary captain. The Druid player that had to leave our Wednesday morning session is the previous DM for that campaign and has been roleplaying a very by-the-book Druid character with the stereotypical "striving to protect both man and nature from each other" but "fails at both" dilemma that tends to happen.
>Dimension door
Nope. I'm admittedly a bit of a fireball gremlin and tend to over-value all the flashy damaging spells. Invisibility is essentially the only utility pick I have without double-checking my spell list.
>Repositioning
Very hard to say, honestly. I'm also a bit worried about the water itself, after thinking on it yesterday. We have absolutely no idea what's in there and none of us bothered to examine the environment in any way.

>>96271954
They will find a way to turn what should be an easy slam dunk into a pathetic failure. It is their way.

To start with they split their user base between 5e and 5.5e. They’re different enough to be somewhat incompatible or at least inconvenient.

>>96272486
That’s like saying Tasha’s is incompatible with Xans and Xans is incompatible with 2014 release

>>96271954
>>96272486
What is the new starter set?
>t. Retard who is in the middle of his first campaign

>>96272647
5.5 has legitimate incompatibility issues, which 5e's expansions did not have.

For instance, Plasmoids have racial features that simply do not have a function as written.
And Shepherd Druid no longer functions as intended.

>>96268284
>child rape
>but it's the children doing the raping
well that's an unusual twist.
Definitely a sadist, and specifically in a degenerate sexualized sense. The edge is palpable.

But if the goal is to just make the party hate her guts, it's working pretty well. It would maybe be a little over the top even for running a demon prince. But you clearly hate the bitch.


>>96269856
Adamantine does not help with saves, which are one of the main thing you target people hiding at the back with anyways.
Also, crits are never a major source of damage, they're just a localized spike.

>>96272840
It's a modernized update of an old adventure, "TSR B2: Keep on the Borderlands."

Other than that it's just a normal starter set. 4 pregen characters (I think they went slightly more modular this time, you have cards to mix and match, also for the DM to hand out), some dice, some cardboard tokens to use, basically everything you need to play the game all in one box if everyone is a total newb and has no TTRPG gear prior.

>>96272892
>>96272730
fuck, clicked the wrong quickreply.

>>96272892
>adventure
Oh.

>>96272840
Which feature of plasmoid doesn’t work ?

>>96272840
>5.5 has legitimate incompatibility issues, which 5e's expansions did not have
2024 does not have any relevant compatibility problems with 2014.

>>96270930
Alternate name for "Blackguard", because "Blackguard" is a doubleplusungood word now.

>>96273351
>black guard bad
>illnigger good

how would you build her?

blaggerd > ill rigger

>>96273856
Aasimar for sure. Maybe a ranger?

Is there somewhere where one can look up average damage numbers of the classes and subclasses per level?

>>96274104
im not sure if you care for treantmonks content but he's generally ok at doing that kind of analysis and he's put out a series of videos on each class focusing on like a generic then an optimized version of it for both 2014 and 2024.

there's been a bunch of people who've tried to tackle that problem but it'll always have some biases based on playstyle and choices made during their analysis.

>>96274160
Treantmonk sucks. He spouts off whiteroom garbage that never survives play.

>>96274160
well i'm conpletely new. So I have no clue what to expect during fights

>>96274225
i concur. anon just asked for it and im not sure if anyone else has wasted their time doing that right now.

if someone really cared, they would track their party's damage and get a more accurate estimate for their group

>>96273961
Blade Pact Warlock?

>>96274236
Here's the ultra rough estimation for you:

From 1-4, average DPR is ~10
From 5-10 average DPR is 20-25
From 11-16 average DPR is ~30-40
From 17-20 average DPR is ~40-60

>>96274236
>well i'm conpletely new. So I have no clue what to expect during fights
expect the unexpected. keep an npc ally on hand that could pop in to save the day and enemy reinforcements that could do the opposite on hand, so that you can balance fights on the go

>>96274276
I just don't think that she would have a patron in real context. I'd say something focused on range combat, but not magic for sure. Maybe a caster like a divine ranged cleric or paladin?

>>96271249
I feel like spell points should be adopted more universally. Then again, I have rationalized that magical beast wouldn't possess wizard spells and have spell like abilities that resemble spells but fueled with spell points with the Sorcerer following suit.

Working on a first session; concerned that the big fight I have might be too difficult for the party. Could use some more experienced thoughts on it.

Am I throwing to much at them? First session, first dungeon. NOT the first encounter; this would be the boss for the first half of the dungeon they're sent to clear. They can long rest after.

Total CR - 13?

8 Kobolds (CR 1/8)
4 Kobold Spearmen (CR 1/4)
1 Kobold Spellclerk (CR 1)
1 Kobold Guardian (CR 2)
1 Kobold Trapsmith (CR 2)
2 Kobold Javelin Throwers (CR 1/2)
1 Kobold Chieften (CR 4)

The party has 2 Barbarians AC 16 and 17;
Paladin AC 16;
Sorceress AC 11;
and Ranger AC 12

It might be better if I split the 8 and 4 Kobolds and Spearmen off, and then have all the more elite enemies in the room together.

After that I plan on having them long rest in the dungeon, then solve a puzzle to open up the second half of the dungeon and focus on undead in session 2.

For the second half I plan on having the last boss fight be maybe 4 Ghouls and a Ghast; but then if and after they kill the Ghast have it mutate and turn into a Shadowghast with full HP.

>>96274906
whats their level?

>>96272892
>It's a modernized update of an old adventure, "TSR B2: Keep on the Borderlands."
It's set many years after the original campaign. Meaning it's just going to be WoTC garbage with a Keep on the Borderlands set of paint. And look at this fucking artwork! Holy shit it will be so fucking shit!

>>96274906
Put it in here and test it https://battlesim-zeta.vercel.app/ this works a lot better than the shitty CR guide.

>>96274924
Oh, I somehow forgot to mention. 5 Level 2's.

I was gonna have them jump to Level 3 when they finished the dungeon. This is probably kinda strong, but I want that to be part of the hook.

The local adventurers guild uses this as a testing ground. The first area they let fill with bandits, goblins, or in this case Kobolds and would be adventurers clear out whatever has taken refuge in the first half. The abandoned dead bodies serve to funnel negative life energy into the crypt below which respawns the undead underground and behind the locked / puzzle door.

The undead being stronger has to do with someone intentionally hiding bodies in a secret compartment to force stronger / rare undead to spawn. So a Ghast would probably be somewhat strong; the Shadowghast is because of the aforementioned manipulation.

As far as traps I could only think of a few things, for example a bunch of rotten eggs held in a net suspended in a hall / corridor. Ties up the players and gives them disadvantage on a few rolls for stealth and other things most likely.

Another trap that wouldn't have been set by the Kobolds was a "bear trap". This one is set by the guild itself. Basically there is a room with a bear trap in the middle. If you activate it or close it, a gate drops down from where they came from, and a brown bear spawns in for the party to fight.

Again not sure how hard to set things up for 5 Level 2's; I figure if they use good tactics they could probably survive all of this.

>>96275000
if that's a singular encounter, that's sitting at around 2800 exp which puts it at like triple their expected EXP for a hard encounter (200 per character at lv 2 for a total of 1000) per the DMG rules (Page 114 - 2024 dmg)

>>96275035
2,800 is the total XP, which means that if they were fighting all of this one-by-one it would still be too hard. Adjusted XP is 4x times that, or 11,200. I guess 2024 doesn't have adjusted XP in the rules anymore, but I still recommend using it.

>>96274225
Uhhh but GOD wizard bro.... You can win fights without even doing damage

>>96275204
Unironically yes. You do it through buffing, debuffing, and battlefield control. I've seen it myself. For example we were fighting a stone golem and I got haste cast on me as the fighter with the only magic weapon. I slapped the crap out of that golem with the extra attack.

Just because you're a brainlet who can't play wizard properly doesn't mean he's wrong.

>>96275217
Yes, which is why I posted that, the fuck are you replying to me for like I'm arguing with you?

>>96275263
You sounded like you were being sarcastic. Just me being an autist again.

>>96275204
>>96275217
>>96275263
>>96275271
>Treantfags are literal autists and retards arguing amongst themselves

Can't make this shit up

>>96272091
I was more concerned with the opposite problem: people spamming too many higher-level spells.

>>96274588
I definitely think it fits the theme of the sorcerer. It also brings back a mechanic from previous editions, which is the sorcerer having more castings in exchange for fewer spells known. Plus they get metamagic. So they don't have as many spells as a wizard, but they're masters of the spells they do have; they can use them more often and they can modify them. I like that idea. I'm just worried about it possibly being overpowered

>>96275155
If you think that's too much I can split it. So have a room with the 8 Kobolds and Spearmen; then another room deeper in where the chief and his stronger kobolds have their camp.

I can give them a surprise round on the first 12 Kobolds since the players will need to break a false wall to get in deeper which the Kobolds set up. Though it doesn't seem to make enough of a difference.


>>96274938
I ran the full fight, and the players would probably die if I threw everything at once and used good tactics against them. If I split them up like I mention above they'll win, and should cut the XP // multipliers down a lot so they don't get 2+ levels from one encounter.

If I'm looking at this right it should split the fights up into 1 CR 4 encounters (12 horde); and CR 8 fight.

I'm planning on running a rough split of XP and Milestone. They can only spend XP when they get back to a safe town, thinking of having long downtime for those level ups. So once they finish these first two sessions and kill all of these monsters they should have enough XP to get to Level 3, and I'll give them a month of downtime in which they can get their subclasses etc.

Milestone coming in from Adventurer's guild rank for an in world and visible mark of their accomplishments via rarer plated dog tags // name plates.

>>96274906
what about something that isnt combat so the players can actually have fun?

>>96274906
what's the environment? are there any traps, elevation, hazards, obstacles? what is the objective of the combat? surviving x rounds, activating a mechanism, eliminating a specific target?

please don't tell me your first session is 3h of whiteroom drudgery

>>96275564
You don't find combat fun? You should go play WoD or Nobilis instead. WoD has a general that would be more your style.

>>96275576
>playing 5e for the combat

>>96275578
>look at me im being a contrarian
5e does combat well enough, maybe your table just has a bunch of dimwits at it

>>96275576
kek imagine thinking you are hardcore because you only care about combat like a true og grognard... but then you play 5e

>>96275578
You play it for the detailed skill resolution mechanics do you?

>>96275603
>Posting in the general about how much you hate 5e
Fuck off back to your own general, cunt.

>>96275571
If I didn't specify before; they're going through here to access a crypt inside of a cave that is used by the local adventurer's guild as an entrance assessment. The assessment is broken into two parts; the first is more variable test where the area outside of the crypt itself is often full of either bandits, goblins, or in this case Kobolds. Every time a group heads out, they generally clear the area, and by the time someone else is sent to take the entrance someone or something else has taken up the otherwise abandoned space as a form of refuge.

The guild has been taking advantage of this for quite some time, and each time the parties come in and kill whatever is there, it helps to spawn new undead in the crypt below.

Most of the traps are, well if not harmless they're certainly simpler. The egg trap is from the Kobolds used to help them smell trespassers and give disadvantage due to the rotten egg smell so strong on their clothes and in their hair.

The snare trap is another Kobold trap but mainly meant to trap animals for their weekly meat needs. Things like rabbits, boars; anything that could be actually caught in a snare really.

The bear trap is something made by the guild, and spawns a brown bear as punishment for messing with something they shouldn't and not being careful. It can be disarmed but there isn't a rogue in the party.

False room I think can have a fake idol that the party can bring back if they don't notice the false wall which would fail the test.

Their objective is mainly to get to the crypt entrance at the back of this cave and then from there find a relic that is at the deepest layer. So they technically don't have to kill any of the Kobold's they just need to get that relic. The assessment is both and in game and out of game way for me to test how the party handles various situations so I can adjust balance moving forward with the campaign(s).

So I don't think this is white room drudgery; but I'm open to being told I'm wrong.

OSRfags getting uppity again

Can Amulet of the Devout increase the DC of non cleric spells? The item says yes, but the multiclass ruling in the PHB says "A spell casting focus can be used only for the spells from the class with that focus"
Amulet of the devout says "While you wear the holy symbol, you gain a bonus to spell attack rolls and the saving throw DCs of your spells.".
So the question is: does wearing and benefiting from the item while NOT using it as a spell casting focus count as "using" the item?

>>96275672
They all come here regularly, osrfags or whoever it is. We have to call them out as the cunts they are every time. Or else they'll constantly shit up the general again.

>A few years back I posted about this cannibal faun we picked up back when we were lvl 4 scrubs. Now we're lvl 15 retards
>https://desuarchive.org/tg/thread/86974768/#86974936
>Creepy faun NPC becomes the party's favorite murderhobo
>Townie you don't like? Point the fae at them and watch them disappear
>Unbelievably useful for doing all of the sketchy shit we don't want to do (kidnapping children, intimidating guards, pissing in the king's mashed potatoes, etc.)
>Small downside is the fact it eats people but since it likes us we're generally safe
>Finally, FINALLY one of us fucking dies (drowning while leaving a sinking ship while trying to carry a heavy chest in the middle of stormy seas at night)
>Faun is inconsolably upset by this development, saying he was "his favorite" (we're all his favorite)
>Unable to resurrect him because we aren't able to retrieve the body until more than an in-game month has passed
>Bury the soggy, rotten, disgusting corpse
>Faun digs up the body in the night, drags the corpse back into the hotel, eats only the head and picks it completely clean, makes a necklace out of the skull, sticks coals in the eye sockets, and paints the head in a crude pastiche of dead party member
>They do this so "they'll always be able to keep adventuring with them."
>Then says when we die, it's going to do the same to us so the "fun will never end."
>Insert creepy laugh here

Fellas
Why are the fae so fucked?

>>96276154
>pissing in the king's mashed potatoes
Be honest, did that really happen? That would be amazing

>>96276185
We did an assignment for him and he promised us land in return. He promptly gave us a shitty hill that nobody wanted by a landfill with a derelict tower we had to pay to rebuild
At the next meeting we have with him we're still pissed so when he's giving us another job our Ranger tells the Faun to sneak into the kitchen
DM has it roll a Persuasion check to trick the cook into letting him use his "special fae sauce" on the potatoes. Then proceeds to do as expected. Then rolls a 20 for the intimidation to keep quiet or it'll "nibble his balls off like a rabbit."
And then the king ate fae piss

>>96276200
Guess he gets what he deserves then. How do you contact the faun, is he like a DMPC, does he find you, does he lurk in the forest and you go find him?

>>96276275
We bumped into him around level 4 when we were going through the woods and he set up a toll booth with a cost of "one headbutt"
We obliged and all took 1d4 damage
Then he decided to just kinda follow us
He periodically wanders off and returns, so he either is right behind us or is within the general vicinity. DM runs him like a Bard/Monk dual class

would scrying the old identity of someone that was essentially victim of true polymorph return any results? im mostly just wondering how other people would handle it since its sort of a weird interaction

>>96276593
Sure, they are still that original form underneath the spell after all, so there's no reason you couldn't scry them.

>>96276654
My players scryed the real name of an NPC who was lying about her identity. The reveal was pretty fun.

Thoughts on this monster and its mechanics? Sorry if my handwriting is hard to read. I'll type it up into a complete stat block when I get home.

I am planning on granting my players minor noble title, allowing them to acquire a castle (when they get money) and raise militia - basically so they can have small personal army to aid in the ongoing war. However, I don't really want them to use that militia in their regular adventures. How to limit their access to the militia without it seeming like I don't really want them to use that militia in their regular adventures?
"You can only use militia with king's permission" doesn't really feel cool

>>96277238
What level are they/will they be when they acquire the castle and start raising a militia?

Let them gather some CR1/8 Guards, take them down a dungeon, then let those guards get crisped by the first Fireball or Breath Weapon the Party faces. And when they return home, have the families of the dead guards asking what became of their loved ones and will they get a funeral or at least a memorial? That'll teach them to leave the Hirelings back at base.

Random bandits sacking the undefended village (because the guards are off adventuring) may be over-egging that pudding, but it's an option.

>>96277262
They are level 7, and they'll be able to start raising militia right away, provided they pay for their lodgings

>>96277283
Fireball/Breath Weapon/AoE away, then.
Even if they leave the militia at home at first, just having those attacks around might give them pause for thought.

Perhaps the Party should also bear in mind that running a castle will also require non-combatant staff and someone ought to stay behind to protect them (ie the militia).

Also, if the militia will be required for an upcoming/ongoing war, suggest letting them stay behind to train (and increase their abilities from CR1/8 to something better).

>>96277262
I found this whenever I had mooks with me in any game. They’re pretty useless and are more of a liability than they’re worth.

Is this true? Because holy shit this is hilarious.

Also how are Dragonborn stocks? Does my favorite race still have zero lore outside of "uhhhhhh dey have clans and shit"?

>>96277408
>Actually believing /pol/tards

I have no idea how to price complex items. Can you help me?

>Portal Needler
Hand Crossbow +2
The frame of this crossbow is outfitted with deviced and structures of rune-covered brass, designed to channel arcane energy.
As a bonus action on your turn you activate a magical rune near the trigger and fire a bolt at a solid surface (no attack roll required, unless targeting a surface 1 inch or less across). Doing so opens two 1-inch wide portals - an exit portal on the target point, and an entrance portal at the muzzle of the crossbow - which persist for 3 rounds.
During that time, all shots are fired from the crossbow are fired from the position of the exit portal. The portals are cloudy and do not provide sight - you must rely on your own sight when performing attacks through the portal.
Using this ability expends 1 charge. The crossbow has 3 charges and regains all charges used at midnight.

>>96277619
Halberd of the Swiftwatch
Halberd +2, Rare (can be attuned to)

This halberd has multiple martial enchantments woven into it.
While holding this halberd, you have one extra reaction, but can only use it for attacks of opportunity or a Brace maneuver.
In addition, while attuned to the halberd, you have a superioty die (d8), and you know the Brace maneuver. You regain the superiority die whenver you finish a short or long rest.

>>96277627
Hagnen's Stormspike
Hand Crossbow +1
Crafted by a famed dwarfish weaponsmith Hagnen Odestone, the Stormspike seems like a twinstrike crossbow, with two sets of limbs and two strings, but closer inspection reveals that there is no slot to load a bolt into the lower section.
The entire weapon thrums with storm's fury, and as it is drawn and fired, begins to crackle with electricity.
You normally use this crossbow's upper section to perform ranged attacks. When you hit a creature with a shot from the upper section, it additionally takes 1d6 thunder damage and the crossbow gains 1d4 charges, up to a maximum of 8.
When performing attacks, you can choose to spend 8 charges to shoot from the lower section instead of the upper one.
This shot does not suffer disadvantage from firing at long range, has a further +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls, and does not require ammunition or loading. A successful shot from the lower section deals 1d10 lightning damage, increased by your Dexterity modifier and weapon enhancement as normal, and 1d6 bonus thunder damage.

>>96277408
Nah, that just looks like /v/ being its normal gay self. Also, be more specific - are you talking about the dragonborn of Bahamut, who are adventurers transformed into draconic soldiers by a divine ritual, or are you talking about the dragonborn of Abeir, who were created by the mirror-world's megadragons to be their servitors after they slaughtered the primordials? Or are you talking about the descendants of one of the two great empires of PoLand?

want to build a funny radiant blaster what are the best spells?

>>96278415
Ask your DM if EB can do radiant instead. Otherwise it's just picking radiant damage spells.

>>96277619
>>96277627
>>96277636

No offense, but these items don't actually do anything.
Their biggest benefit is simply being magic to bypass resistance, and adding +1 or 2. The actual effects you're attaching on them are either pointless (you can't reload the portal crossbow, nor does shooting through the portal even actually do anything) or redundant (the stormspike in either mode does the same amount of damage???).
If you want to make interesting magic items, you need to give them things that don't inhibit action economy, and would instead benefit the players' action economy. The halberd is the most interesting one, as it actually gives players a new ability to consider on their turns.
Mathematically, think about how much damage an attack action (and any necessary bonus actions, such as loading) contributes, and you want to do better than that.

For prices, the general pricing the books give are frankly ridiculous. What I do is figure out how much gold the players actually have, and try to figure out how much of their gold percentage-wise would be fair for whatever item is for sale. This can only really be figured out with experience and time, but it's a lot more reasonable than attaching a flat 5000 on something when the players only have a couple thousand altogether. If something costs over half their gold, is it a fair trade for them? Do you feel like they've got enough to earn whatever is in that shop?
I know it's a complicated and pretty lame answer, but it's sadly one of those things you can only truly get a feel for the more you play. You end up figuring out reward/cost economic ratios by playtime.

I price really exceptional items to be just enough that if 2-3 characters pool their gold they can buy it. They never do, and instead buy the average stuff they can afford individually.
When they come back with enough individual gold to buy it, the OP item is gone, but there's another one that's more expensive.
One day they will learn I'm sure.

What would you consider the essential components of a dedicated game room? We just bought a house with a finished basement and it feels like it’s time.

>>96278609
>Bigass table
>Display case for minis
>Bookshelf/Bookshelves
>Fridge for drinks

>>96278609
Second what the other anon said, but also a sand table for making environments

This is more of a weird player issue than a DnD issue but might as well
So I have a group of players that employs really good tactics. It became like a battle where we test each other wits.
All except one. This one player refuses to think. Not the "I stand in front of the monster and stab", but more "I don't know how my items work". Even when the group is doing something so plainly obvious like all four players harpooning a dragon to lower its flight, the one player refuses to. Everyone stopped him when he wanted to activate a smoke trap because the monster is actively charging at them, instead of idling in the smoke trap to maximize the turns said monster is confused in the smoke instead of the one turn because he is still moving.
It has gotten to the point where I'm on the verge of refusing to stop him so he can go ahead and waste his items. Everyone would talk how their plans would work so its easy to get approval or not from me. But that person never communicates until the other people ask because they get lost in his sauce.
What do?

>>96278609
I'm going to go into left field here, but what about lighting and surround sound? Different incenses?

Ain't gotta be a production set, or expensive; just something to help set moods.

Dunno. I rely on that kinda stuff and props because I have a shit voice. Helps "draw them in" when I D/GM. I'd imagine someone who doesn't sound like a Downy toad could really get some mileage out of those kind of tools.

>>96266049 (OP)
Really wish Eldritch Knight didn't suck cuz I want to be a muscular spellblade.

>>96279668
>Really wish Eldritch Knight didn't suck
How does EK suck exactly? The only gripe I have is that they don’t have a 4 3 3 2 1 spell slot layout. I’m making an Illusion/Enchantment EK right now and really wanted Dominate Person and Phantasmal Killer alongside Greater Invisibility for my late stage build.

>>96279780
It doesn't really encourage your spells other than for shield. I don't mean I want to be as a good caster as a full caster btw.

>>96279793
Wdym it doesn’t “encourage”? Like other spells don’t synergize with martial-oriented gishes besides Shield?

how the fuck do i run a court session with my players? the human male john fighter was a town guard before to the campaign and was accused of treason by the lord because he allegedly let thieves that robbed his keep escape through the gate he was assigned to

>>96280790
THE PEOPLE DEMAND TRIAL BY SWORD

>>96280790
Do it like a Phoenix Wright case and have a witness testimony written down and then have the players pick out the part that's inconsistent or that they have direct evidence against. Maybe they get some time before the trial to investigate for evidence they can use. They can use insight to get DM hints and persuasion when talking to the judge & jury.

>>96278684
Having a dropped play surface table is also a nice upgrade over a standard table. If nothing else because you can put the cover on and pause the game state if you need to, or have a meal then resume play on it.

>>96279542
That's being pretty extra, but sounds like a fun setup.

>>96278415
Sacred Flame
Starry Wisp
Guiding Bolt
Dawn
Flame Strike
Sunbeam
Crown of Stars
Sunburst
True Strike if you ever want to do melee

Human Divine Soul sorcerer would be best. Take Magic Initiate (Druid) as your origin feat to get Starry Wisp. All the other spells are available to Divine Souls by default. You could also take Shillelagh from the druid list and combine it with True Strike for extra melee damage if that interests you.

there, I fixed multiclassing

>>96281961
retard

Why does anyone in-universe even want to become a Cleric unless they're already severely deluded? Can't the god take away all the divine power on a whim and turn a level 15 Cleric into a commoner in armor overnight?

>>96281961
that's probably one the worst solutions of all time

>>96281961
>anon tries to be a game designer
Don't quit your day job, kid

>>96281979
>>96282000

do you have an actual non-retarded criticizm, or is it jus bad because you don't like it

>>96282012
>non-retarded criticizm
Have you tried not being a retard?

>>96282022
so you just don't like it. got it

>>96282012
>its a feat
>Second class is poorly designed and confusing - what is 'core traits'?
>Spellcasting / Pact magic is worse than taking magic initiate
>Channel Divinity rule portion is pointless
>Repeatable is pointless as it only happens once every 4 levels

>>96282032
ok retard

>>96282038
>what are core traits
see pic related

>Spellcasting / Pact magic is worse than taking magic initiate
you seem to have missed the part where you also gain the class's class features

>Channel Divinity rule portion is pointless
it's admittedly unlikely, but it's possible and it's grandfathered it from the existing multiclassing rules.

honestly, this is good feedback. there's no real need to keep it

>Repeatable is pointless as it only happens once every 4 levels
remember that this replaces a feat level with a class level while maintaining your progression in an existing class

>>96281980
Clerics of good deities can generally trust that their god won't take their powers away for no reason, and clerics of evil deities believe they'll continue to be rewarded as long as they serve their god well.

>>96281980
I use the 4e divine power concept. When a character has a divine power source it is something that was a gift from the god. One that can’t be taken back.

I usually have my deities as very distant and detached. They have dominion of thousands of worlds so why would they give a shit about some random nobody. Even a nobody with some divine spells.

>>96282288
There are many things worth copying from 4e, but my fellow son of man, that is NOT one of them.

>>96282302
>There are many things worth copying from 4e
doubt

>>96282302
Well that’s just your opinion.

>>96282309
What about the bloodied condition? That’s a pretty common house rule. So commonly used they added it to 5.5e

>>96282353
>bloodied
i guess? i think they're doing something with that w/ the scion of the three subclass for the rogue

>>96275670
Update on this; we had our first session. Gave the intro / overview of the world setting etc, let the party meet up and head out into the woods to try and find the previously attached cave system.

While on their way they got lost and attacked by wolves and a dire wolf. I was planning on having them fight them anyway as a fairly easy combat tutorial in my mind; the Ranger failed their rolls so was able to play it as him getting the party lost which wound up being perfect. Took the whole session and almost lost one of our Barbarians

The fight was 3 Wolves (CR 1/4); then after a round a Dire Wolf (CR 1) and 3 more Wolves showed up from the other side of the creek they needed to cross. The one who almost died was our Warforged Barbarian who has an AC of 18. Just got unlucky with high to hits and equally high damage rolls

Entirely saved by the other Barbarian we have who is a dwarf who rocked max damage and did about 10 damage a round; and the first hit against the Dire wolf landed a max crit of 34 damage.

The battle simulator the other anon linked seemed to think we would have come out of that otherwise unscathed, and I guess outside of those poor rolls the Warforged we probably would have been fine? I'm thinking the fights might still be kind of tough and I should back the difficulty down a bit. Could again use advice.

We have another character that I forget if I highlighted who is an Aarokocra Paladin that was falsely accused in their religious order, kicked out, wings broken, and blinded. Being a Paladin has a lot to do with their God helping them in surviving. That said how should I handle their being blind? For now I had them roll a DC 10 perception to see if they could find the enemy before their move action. When the Barbarian went down I let them roll religion and gave them a chance to see via the god's assistance. That was the same round the other Barbarian crit the DW so I turned it off.

Is this a good way to juggle his disability?

>>96282353
Okay sure man you go right ahead and run games where Sickofucko god of killing for no reason and kicking puppies and Stickupass god of no fun allowed ever are out here giving divine powers away with no strings attached, I'll do my own thing.

>>96282309
>5 minute short rest
>bloodied abilities
>minions
>actual advice on encounter design
I don't like the sum of 4e's parts, but some of those part are pretty nice.

>>96282427
>>5 minute short rest
just take the hour my dude, its that that big of a deal to use an hour to rest even in a dungeon.

>bloodied abilities
there are bloodied actions in 5e? (notwithstanding the UA for scion)

>minions
dogshit design

>actual advice on encounter design
mhmm (the same people who contributed to making 4e contributed to 5e so the advice is very similar but the difference is in the mechanics because 5e and 4e have different mechanical roots)

>>96282427
>giving divine powers away with no strings attached
Interesting interpretation of what I said. They give them to people who are trusted for one reason or another. Maybe because they’re a member of the clergy, or maybe they did something to attract that divine attention. But what I don’t do is have paladins fall. If they “fall” the church might excommunicate them and send people to stop them but their divine powers aren’t taken away.

>>96282445
>just take the hour my dude, its that that big of a deal to use an hour to rest even in a dungeon.
Another retarded nogames take

>>96282512
>Another retarded nogames take
fuck off dipshit. if you actually played you would know that an hour for a short rest is literally a non-issue.

>>96282512
Retard

>>96282531
>>96282541
It’s always been too long a break in my experience. Not just a short break to catch your breath and treat wounds but an extremely long lunch hour. It’s fucking stupid and always feels strained. Sit down nogames you don’t know what you’re talking about.

>>96282585
5 minutes isn’t even enough time to take off and put back on your armor to tend to wounds.

TQ: If they have noble background chosen they already are nobles.

>>96282659
TQ: What do you mean by "become" nobles?

>>96266222
>>96266230
>>96266236
>>96266244
>>96266392
>>96266661
Coming back to this, I originally was going to set up the campaign as Greyhawk with Iuz as the villain, but I feel like I could do something else. Any suggestions for an overall setting and villain that I’d be 100% sure the dudebros would want to pummel into the ground?

Why did they completely demolish Tasha’s Mind Whip in 2024

>>96283581
Like with all 5.5e decisions to try and screw over roll20 so WoTC could make their own vtt.

>>96283624
>mfw I currently play 5.5e on a non-wotc owned vTt and it works fine

>>96282661
Reminder that every noble family had some kind of origin where they ascended in status. And at least in England commoners who proved themselves could be ascended to nobility through knighthoods.

>>96282659
>>96282661
Nice crest. A real one, or made-up for the character?

>>96283581
Tasha's is still the same though, the UA hasn't gone through yet.

>>96274930
>look at this fucking artwork!
What about it?

>>96275682
If you're not using it for anything other than wearing for the bonus, then by definition you are not "using" the item.

RAW, I think you can benefit from the bonuses of the amulet without using it as a focus for the spells you are casting. It just says you have to wear it for the bonus, but you can't use it for spells of non-paladin and non-cleric classes. Those two rulings can coexist.

You're still going to need a cleric or paladin level to attune to it.

>>96285080
It has a woman in it

>>96286200
>gay guy preferences

the party discovered a "body snatcher" so to speak in town, how do i make the hunt more exciting than just a simple tracking mission? the source of the doppelgangers is nearby, but they dont know that yet. ive never run a scenario like this so any tips would be appreciated

are there any standard pre-made encounters to just test the combat strength of a party or homebrew/UA classes?

>>96286469
There's the Gauntlet (https://youtu.be/JRN7lx0RP4g), but really, a party's strength depends on so many different factors that it's hard to measure on any sort of objective scale, especially since it depends on how capable your players are. I played in a game with a guy who was constantly begging the DM for all kinds of absurdly overpowered bullshit to be true to his concept, but he was such a terrible player that his character contributed very little to most combats.

>>96274930
That's just an ugly dude with tits.

>>96286664
>gay guy posting again

>>96286664
Turn your monitor on

>>96286704
yea, you're a homosexual. what about it?

>>96286520
You misunderstand
I want to run a combat test and was wondering if anyone had already made a series of standard monster manual encounters for parties of different levels

>>96286874
Not really. Hell, "for parties of different levels" is a fairly weak qualification because of how useless 5e's ranking systems are, be it CR or Item Rarity. Some low-tier items are game-changers, some high-tier ones are paperweights, some low-CR monsters shred parties, and some high-CR monsters are basically XP piñatas.

>>96286915
yeah, I know all that, which is why I was hoping someone had done the work to figure out a decently balanced gauntlet for each tier

oh well, guess I'll just throw together whatever fits the CR on the fly

>>96286927
the gauntlet community (discord) has a bunch of adventures (3 @ lv6, 1@ lv10, 2 @lv 14, and 1@lv 18).

>>96286296
for any mystery the trick is to always have more clues than then actually uncover, and reveal the clues wherever they look for them, not where you thought to place them. if if you put a clue in the kitchen and they inspect the living room, the clue is actually in the living room

then have a red herring immediate suspect that they assume is the guy very quickly, and then it's not him (but he still has some minor non criminal shameful secret). and just like your clue, if they immediately suspect the real culprit, he becomes the red herring, and instead the second or last person they suspect is the actual culprit

these are how you make these actually enjoyable for players

buffed this a little.

Yes, it's intended to nerf multiclassing. that's the point

buffed it. It's still intended to be a nerf to multiclassing

>>96287602
why do you need to nerf multiclassing?

>>96287532
thanks a lot anon, thats some good advice. im feeling better about it already

>>96287683
it's way too easy for full casters and warlocks to abuse it with a one level dip, allowing them to gain both armor and a suite of powerful low-level spells with minimal interruption to their spellcasting progression.

>>96287758
just homebrew that casting arcane spells / warlock spells as too complex to do w/ armor worn

>>96278538
>the stormspike in either mode does the same amount of damage???).
Close, the top one does 1d6+DEX piercing plus 1d6 thunder, while the bottom one does 1d10+DEX lightning plus 1d6 thunder.

>>96283486
How about Forgotten Realms as the setting and an archdevil as the villain? Everyone likes killing devils. I'd recommend Belial, Mephistopheles, or Asmodeus, simply because those are more well-known devil names. If they recognize the name, they'll immediately get the idea that this is an evil fucker and they'll feel motivated right away. No need to explain their history or anything, the players will get it just from the name. Immediate hype to go fight the bastard.

>>96287758
Tell your players that's cringe and not to do that.
Or say that spellcasting requires armour proficiency from the class whose Spellcasting/Pact Magic feature you're using.

>>96278502
>EB can do radiant instead
That would be a pretty cool option for celestial warlocks.

>cast One with Shadows using twinned spell to affect another creature
Is it RAW?

>>96288736
I'd say no. It explicitly says you can cast it on yourself, not that you can cast it in general.

I wanted to make Thousand-Teeth from Danger at Dunwater into a proper Dark Souls style boss fight, so I the only (not) sensible thing and overloaded it with features by mixing the sheet with a Murgrik from Tome of Beasts 2 (toned down for challenge rating) and making it into a half-black dragon. Stat block in the picture.

Considering my party of level 3 player characters (2014 rules) will be prepared for the battle (including potions of acid resistance for all of them, obtained by genociding totally-not-bullywug for their macguffin glands), how fucked are they?

Assuming they survive, I even made a tail cut weapon for one of the player characters (who's a monk/druid). I'll post it in a later comment.

>>96290362
Thousand-Teeth's Spinal Staff

Tail cut weapon (requires attunement)

Player-side description:

> This magic quarterstaff is made out of the spine of Thousand Teeth, the Mutated Dragon-Spawn. Once a normal crocodile, if a bit large, Thousand Teeth gorged itself on dragon blood, spilled into the Dunwater River from an unknown source, until it started mutating.

> This quarterstaff is imbued with a mystical power, to be released when held with both hands.

The rest is to be obtained via experimentation

DM side description:

> This quarterstaff adds its weapon damage die one more time instead of adding the user's Strength/Dexterity to the damage roll.

> Moreover, whenever the wielder takes fire or acid damage while holding the quarterstaff, damage taken is reduced by an amount equal to their proficiency bonus.

> Finally, the wielder can decide to replace one of their normal attacks with a two-handed slam, which attacks every single other creature within 10 feet, dealing one additional weapon damage die in addition to the previously mentioned one, for a total of three. However, this risks eventually breaking the weapon. Every time they use the special attack, the wielder rolls an ammunition die, starting at 1d8. Every time they roll a 1 or 2, the dice gets one size smaller (1d8 -> 1d6 -> 1d4). Once the wielder rolls a 1 or a 2 on a 1d4, the spinal quarterstaff finally shatters, its magic gone forever.

>>96287758
Then why not change the rules for multiclassing instead of making ait a feat?

>When multiclassing, you do not gain any weapon or armor training, or other proficiencies

also, it should say ability score, not just abilities.
also also, there isn't anything stopping you from taking this with a 12 in an ability score and hitting 13 with the feat's increase, since having a 13 in the second class isn't a prerequisite

>>96287803
>as too complex to do w/ armor worn
That's lame and gay.

DMs who take things out of the game/ban them from use are exceptionally lazy.

Players who assume every piece of printed content is required to be in their game are exceptionally dumb.

>>96290705
sure, but if the point was to nerf spellcasting for classes that dont natively have armor profs then thats how you do it. making complicated feat chains for multiclassing is far too much effort and doesnt really do the thing it tries to resolve

>>96290748
>>96290832
Lazy DMs and dumb players should make out for the entertainment of everyone else.

>>96290936
Preferably while standing in a busy intersection.

>>96290871
>the point was to nerf spellcasting for classes that dont natively have armor profs
That sounds more like spellcasting itself is the problem.

>>96290983
i dont have an issue, anon was making a complicated feat to nerf multiclassing because he didnt like wizards wearing armor w/ a single dip.

>>96290832
>Players who assume every piece of printed content
Everything in the PHB can stay as is, you can just edit classes if you want, but it’s better to add things than to just outright bar them from your game. A player wants to multiclass as normal, let them. Adapt to it, unless you’re one of those weird DMs who hates players winning or bring competent for some reason. Multiclassing doesn’t make characters into literal unkillable gods. Get a hold of yourself.

>>96290983
the problem is more just spells in general and a lack of any alternatives to power that player can rely on.

>>96291079
my game, my rules
they are clearly stated when you apply
you don't like them, you don't have to apply
If I think something is stupid and should never have been printed I'm not allowing it in my game, no amount of your seething and crying will change my mind

>>96285080
Is not aesthetically pleasing if that person is representing a woman.

>Players Handbook
>DM Guide
>Bestiary
>Adventure (Icewind Dale)
Anything else I need to learn D&D and figure out some sort of structured adventure while I have fun with my friends?

>>96291439
Players have been getting increasingly entitled. I’m not sure why given so few would ever even try to DM. Being a player and a DM are very different experiences with different skills.

Personally I have no issue with multiclassing. Delaying your spell progression etc is a fair trade off. However, I usually keep my games low to mid levels and have a level cap of 10-12. I like to start new campaigns every so often to keep things fresh and usually reset to level 3 or level 1 if I’m feeling adventurous.

I’ve seen some crazy multiclass builds and my players enjoy it. I want the game to be fun so it doesn’t bother me. 5.5e is better for multiclassing balance because people don’t get their subclasses until level 3 for all classes.

>>96291715
I recommend the lazy DM’s guide to all new DMs. While I don’t follow his formula myself the ideas it presents are great for any game. For example only working on player facing prep, focusing on high reward prep work like maps, handouts etc. And my new favorite, basing npcs off fictional characters secretly.

>>96291439
>apply
Damn, what's it like not having friends?

>>96291780
I have a game with friends but because its with friends we only meet when we can schedule which is like once a month at best
For serious playing I run campaigns with internet strangers because there I can do 1/week
You would know this is the standard scheduling experience if you weren't nogames

>>96275682
I rule that it has to be from cleric or paladin spell list and use the appropriate ability score on top of that, i.e. no DC increase for INT-based hold person cast by a wizard with dip in cleric, but it would be increased if it was WIS-based.

Rime of the Frost Maiden or BG: Descent into Averuss for a first time party? Or is it all aesthetics?

>>96292534
Descent into Avernus is poorly written and requires homebrew to flow smoothly.

Rime is probably just better. Also, provides an opportunity to use some of the upcoming FR adventures from the new books, if it plays out in a certain way.

>>96292559
What upcoming adventures? I'll pick up Rime then. I wanted Rime, but something about BG made me think it might be more accessible or interesting or newbie friendly or something.

>>96292568
In the new books, there are supposed to be adventures set in old Netheril, which a RotFR party has the chance to go back to.

>>96275672
You slop-eating fags are the reason D&D is getting into the gutter,

>>96292702
hows your 5e sessions going? you enjoying the 2024 revision? i think they're pretty pretty pretty good.

>>96292351
>serious playing I run campaigns with internet strangers
lmao

I'm putting so much effort into my new world, but I'm just struggling with the thought of actually playing a game. Everyone I find online is woke-y or cringe. I'm not the most normal dude, but I just want to find a group that is mostly my age and mature to even a modicum degree.

Should I just toss it all and play vidya? Not even joking, do y'all find fulfilment in modern D&D?

>>96293347
have you considered asking your like minded individuals you call 'friends' if they want to play?

>>96293398
Yeah, they're not too interested, especially when it comes to a weekly commitment. Don't get me wrong, they're great dudes and gals and I'd be happy to play with them, but they mostly just play vidya. Kind of why I almost want to join them, but then years and one of my favorite hobbies will just *poof*.

>>96293425
You can take a break from the hobby. I did for a long time. It won't mean your hobby has gone *poof* just that perhaps you're a bit burnt out on it. Playing with randos online will 90% of the time be a shit experience. If you're using discord this is especially true. We all know the kind of "people" who infest discord.

>>96283965
Fictional one of House Taverley(My character’s house)

>>96293660
Maybe waiting until my friends are interested in the hobby naturally would be the smart move. I just got out of a trash online game, not only did I pay for all the services, we lost players from infighting pretty regularly too. I am having a lot of fun just building my world.

>>96293347
all my players i found online are my age (40 ish) married women that are mostly normal (children married etc). I avoid the woke zoomers who want to play weird sex shit and the retarded whiteroom/opti autists like people ITT. Just have an application form where you ask for age and occupation, and do interviews. I usually get 20 candidates and filter down to 1-2

>>96293779
>You need to do an interview process to play D&D now
Absolutely dystopian. Maybe I’m just salty because the one time I tried to join an online game in 3.5 I got filtered for trying to use a ToB class.

I just play with friends. That being said a lot of my friends are insufferable cunts I have on my Do Not DM For list.

How would you represent the idea of a redemption paladin electing to make things difficult for himself when fighting other humans. Not against killing, but dislikes that it's done without a blink of an eye, but is too much of a lazy shit to be repentant all the time so he handicaps himself?
But in a way that won't make my party think I'm a fucking cunt in game

>>96294552
>Aura of the Flagellant
>Whenever a humanoid enemy within 5ft takes fatal damage, you may use your reaction to take half of that damage, in exchange for making the damage nonfatal

>>96294552
I think it might work better if you just have him say a prayer for dead enemies after a battle. It sounds like what you're trying to set up here is that he still kills people, he just does it slower, because he thinks killing quickly and thoughtlessly is disrespectful. But on the other hand, that also prolongs their suffering. I could just as easily see him being determined to make death as quick and painless as possible, as an act of mercy. Then he insists on a brief pause after the battle while he prays that their souls find forgiveness and peace. I think that would get the point across without the other players viewing you as a burden. Unless you think that would qualify as being repentant all the time.

how would you build a character for throwing?
assuming you need at least a fighter dip for throwing fighting style?

playing at level 10 with my group, so my idea is rouge 7/fighter 3

>>96292351
>this is the standard scheduling experience
lol speak for yourself

>>96294902
magic items? (bracer of flying daggers) w/ thief isn't too bad.

>>96294902
5.5e barb rage works with thrown weapons now so it can be an alternative to thrown weapon fighting style

>>96294902
I recently played a 20th level one-shot where I made a Vengeance Paladin 8 / Champion Fighter 12 that used shield and throwing daggers and it went great, but I think it would work better to just go straight champion. That being said I would start with duelist over thrown weapon fighting since it does the same thing except more consistently, and save thrown weapon fighting for level 7.

Is there a recommended ruleset for independent spell research? All I see in the official rules is "yeah it's possible, figure it out yourself".

>>96295309
Like rules for how your parties wizard can homebrew spells? B/X has some basic rules for magic research on page X51

2014/2024 DMG has rules for custom spell creation so your players don’t make fireballx1000

I'm just waiting here for an updated version to swords bard

Perhaps it needed a nerf, defensive flourish was too good, but I'm upset that we haven't gotten our bard with fighting styles back yet

Other I would love to see back is drakewarden. Overall it is insane how fucking slow they are at releasing new stuff through UA

>>96295309
>yeah it's possible, figure it out yourself
That’s pretty WoTC’s approach to everything. Throw their hands in the air and leave it up to the DM.

The back of the DMG has some guidelines in the Dungeon Master's Workshop for creating spells, though it mostly deals with how much damage/healing a spell of each level should deal. It's kinda bare bones, doesn't give insight into how powerful various buffs and debuffs are, as well as the power of utility spells. In general, I'd suggest if you were going to make a spell with a specific effect, if it gives a buff or debuff look for a spell that does something in the same vein and see what level it is and what else it can do, as well as how many targets. If the spell has some sort of utility, see if there is a comparable spell of a certain level, or if there isn't then think about what level the character who use the spell should be to get the benefit and how often they should be able to use it.

This more deals with the DM creating the spells, if you are wondering what efforts would need to go into for a player character crafting a spell, that is going to be up to the DM. In general, it shouldn't be an easy task, as creating spells are something that take time and effort. There's not any official rules for making spells unfortunately, but I think the rules for crafting a magic item would be a good starting point. Assign the spell a level based on the desired effects, have the character be required to be of a sufficient level to cast it, probably require proficiency in Arcana but this could differ based on the class. If they are trying to modify an existing spell to change the damage type, similar to Burning Hands verus Frost Fingers, then it would probably be not as difficult as creating something brand new.

>>96295309
>Is there a recommended ruleset for independent spell research? All I see in the official rules is "yeah it's possible, figure it out yourself".
no what you're asking but I give my wizard player scrolls from kobold press homebrew (deep magic) that i make be "ancient magic" etc and drop at lore-appropriate locations and creatures
basically everything vanilla he can level up / learn etc, but homebrew spells i pick and choose, he really likes that whenever there's new magic for him, it's not one he could have obtained "normally". I think this halfway of expanded the spell list with a bit of control works well to keep the game balanced while giving a bit of freedom from the boring always the same vanilla spells being picked

>>96293347
As someone who has spent the past decade developing and fleshing out a world, the worst thing you can do to yourself is getting in deep before you have an established group that you trust. Your players WILL expect to be able to shape the world through their actions, whether merely mortal politics (before level ten) or larger-scale issues (after level ten). That can be immensely satisfying if it’s a group you trust, as you’ll get to see your creation grow and develop with their input…but, if you don’t trust the players, you’ll start putting in roadblocks to keep them from sullying your creation. That ends up frustrating for everyone.

What worked best for me was running short campaigns in cobbled-together worlds not intended to be reused after the campaign. That lets you explore different concepts and ideas for a setting, gives you the chance to see how players will interact with them, and affords you opportunities to vet players and either boot the ones that don’t click or establish a rapport with the ones that do. After you’ve got a solid group of three, you can start on a more serious, longterm project.

For longterm projects, it’s also worth noting that involving the players in the worldbuilding process itself can get them more invested in the setting and help make it more engaging to people beyond yourself. One thing I did was plot out the number of races (ten), establish the niches and broad concepts behind them, then hire an artist and give each player one of the races to visually design. We’d work with the artist to design the race, I’d write up a 10+ encyclopedia entry on the race based on the final design and my conversations with the player, and then they’d be statted and available for play. This not only means that everyone has a race that appeals to them, but can also result in the presence of elements that wouldn’t have occurred to you to include—which other players might also find appealing.

Any real reason to use the new mm? I've got the 2014 mm and mtof. I've just been using monsters out of those and just freshening them up a bit (removing the exception for magical melee damage particularly).
Is there anything in the new book worth considering?

>>96296547
It’s got new monsters and revised monsters to account for the fact that they were pretty weak in some cases

So it's the start of a new Quest line and the Party are making their way across town to where they are due to meet the Quest Giver.

I have a couple of small encounters prepared that are not related to the main quest, but reflect events happening elsewhere in town that the party might take up as sidequests.

Should I get straight to the action and begin with their meet up with the quest giver, put in just one encounter as a slight diversion for flavour, or run both encounters as they take place in roughly the same location?

I'm thinking that running just one might be best, as it sets some of the tone for conditions in the town and won't delay introducing the Quest Giver too much, but I'd like to get a second opinion.

>>96296880
do not plan a strict sequence ahead, just prepare a list of scenes/encounters and drop them when it feels right in the flow of the session

when things are shitty and sad you drop something uplifting and funny
when the party is full of success and carefree you drop something sad and ominous
when they are bored something exciting happens
when they are super engaged you step back and let them drive the game
etc

>>96296880

>>96296910 has good advice.

Information the party needs, you can always loop back around to whenever things slow down. Hell, maybe a message carrier literally runs them down at a shop while they're haggling with news to go "X". Think in terms of bullet points you need to get to in a story, THEN get super wordy and well-written with descriptions and dialogue or whatever. Might help speed your prep time, too.

>>96296547
They feel more consistently challenging. Like 2024 in general I prefer plenty of design changes while the existence of existing material makes it especially easy to recognise and change stuff I don't.

>>96296547
the only good thing about new MM are all the flavor tables. They are genuinely good.

I hate the auto-riders. Yes monsters should do something besides have hit points, but the answer isnt that every single wolf attack hit makes you automatically prone whether you're a frail wizard or a stout barbarian

>>96296547
>Any real reason to use the new mm?
In 5e tools I look at the 2014 and 2024 versions and pick what I like. Usually the new versions are better, they’ve had 10 years to sort their shit out.

>>96298382
>Usually the new versions are better,
Save for beasts and similar stuff. Removing keen sense from animals was such bullshit.

>>96299679
Cat got Darkvision so i'll take it.

>>96298382
>the new versions are better

The summoning spells got reworked into just being a bunch of spirits floating around you, that's exceptionally lame and evidence that DMs shouldn't always be catered to

>>96297768
>hate the auto-riders
There aren't as many as people who complain about them tend to make it seem, and it's easy to just not use them or add a save or a condition like "if you beat the AC by 5 or more" or "if they have a strength score of less than 13" or something.
The wolf is a clear misstep, I agree.

>>96299679
Do you understand what the word usually means? I use a lot of different sources. For example I found the LoTR wolf was the best one. I use 5etools a lot for premade monsters, but also monster manual expanded, tome of beasts, and homebrew a lot of my own too.

I like half elves because they come from sex

>>96301280
>Half elves
That's very problematic anon. They don't have half castes anymore. Don't you know that's rAcIsT

>>96301280
>Flare with bow & arrows
STOP

>>96301238
I didn't correct him, I added to the conversation, showing some example that were worse. Not everything has to be a confrontation.

>>96301280
>bow
>not rifle

pfft.

>>96301304
>I didn't correct him, I added to the conversation, showing some example that were worse. Not everything has to be a confrontation.
Fair enough. Let's try to get a chat going then.

I find a lot of the changes to be a sidegrade. For example the basilisk now has it's ability as a recharge instead of constantly active. From a DM perspective this is much easier than constant petrifying checks. People closing their eyes etc. But I wonder if something has been lost if a basilisk's stare isn't constantly turning people to stone.

>>96301295
>They don't have half castes anymore
they do, you just use the stats of one parent

>Don't you know that's rAcIsT
half-elves have always been seen as something of an unnecessary addition, mostly just so people could be aragorn, that set a bad precedent with needing all future half-X to have their own stat-block that exhibits mixed trait blending

I've been running a Spelljammer game recently, and have been throwing various different enemies at my players to see which ones they're most interested in, or which ones they're the most afraid to fight. So far, they've told me the encounters that have stuck with them the most have been against space clowns. I want to use them more in my game.

What are some fun encounter ideas for these fiendish clowns?

>>96301470
I find these kinds of monsters (basilisk, banshee, etc) are best used as plot devices more than for the actual mechanics of them. Give party a quest from merchant "a basilisk is loose in my warehouse". Ie the threat is contained, and they have infinite time to figure out how to get in there and get rid of it without turning to stone. Far more entertaining than SURPRISE, BASILISK!

>>96290748
Nah, those are DMs that have worlds worth playing in. Just because some wotc shitter left some brown stains on a few pages of a book is nothing to a good DM, who simply purges that content, allowing the rest of the book to be redeemed.

Players that think the game consists of "all content pooped out by Hasbro" are entitled halfwits. You build your character for a table, not some stupid hypothetical unplanned unbalanced non-thought-out kitchen-sink bullshit.

>>96302412
holy buzzwords batman

>>96302423
Lurk moar

What you call buzzwords are an easy way to express complex concepts. It is the lexicon of /tg/.

>>96302428
>defending buzzwords
just throw em out willy-nilly, why dont you?

I didn't think I could be less interested in checking out Critical Role until I heard that they're apparently having Brennan Lee Mulligan as the DM for their next campaign.

There is nothing more infuriating than an idiot who thinks he knows how the world works, even moreso when he's known for placing himself in the role of teacher.

>>96302474
I find watching other people play D&D a bit like watching paint dry. It’s just so incredibly dull, I want to play the game myself. But some people like watching others play games so to each their own.

This general is always so dead. Anyone got a story from your last session? How are your campaigns going?

>>96302858
I'll start with mine I guess. Last session they escorted some prisoners they saved back to town. Celebrated in the slums. Spoke to the captain of the guard who threatened/asked them for help. Then promptly left without helping him to go hunt a basilisk.

>>96302858
Just started DMing a new one, first time trying 5.5.
So far we've gone through 6 sessions and the party is the best one I've ever had.
Only 3 players but they are all have a perfectly balanced dynamic, I've got a main rp'er who's been keeping excellent notes, someone who likes being an instigator and has been keeping the story moving, as well as a semi-powergamer that has more experience than the 2 others and gives great spell and rules knowledge to the party.

>>96303046
I ran my game for 3 until recently. The 4th was on a trip overseas. 2 isn't enough but 3 can be just fine. Anything over 4 is a bit much. I ran a game with 6 players once and there just wasn't enough of me to go around.

>>96301915
>Carnival ship
>House of mirrors
>Laughing plague
>Clown ship, looks like just a few clowns but they just keep coming

>>96301898
I've always just thought the other races couldn't interbreed.

New thread

>>96303218
>>96303218
>>96303218

>>96302474
Who asked?

>>96302434
There's nothing william nor nilliam about it. New terms enter common parlance for a reason.

>>96302434
You understood everything I wrote, and you couldn't argue with any of it which is why you called it "buzzwords" instead of providing an argument.