dnd-discussion

[fiery perch]

Can you give me sources or stat blocks to look into

[lavish flame]

the Monster Manual will give you the Aboleth and Beholder. Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse will get you Star Spawns

Star Spawn are an enemy group, but the only ones I'd consider for "breaking physics" reasons are would be a Star Spawn Seer or a Star Spawn Larva Mage. The Grue and Hulk aren't so magically inclined

[hot marlin]

Be nice to Aboleths though. They are precious beautiful little thing that tried to save the material plane from the gods and fought bravely.

They are very friendly too. Like whales. Psionic whales. I am not currently under the thrall of any psionic aboleth, btw. They are not slavers, just friends to all.

In fact, how could they be slavers? They do not have the ability to mentally enslave people, as proven by the fact that I am not currently being mentally enslaved and fighting desperately inside for the sake of my free will.

Seriously though, one of my favourite trope is the person fights against mental command and says the things they're supposed to say but with emphasis thing.

[urban bolt]

Is it true the roleplay pillar in D&D leaves alot to be desired in the framework teh system rules provides?

[hot marlin]

Like in Pathfinder Kingmaker when that witch says: "Listen. My sisters are not trying to kill you. We can absolutely be trusted. The place we are sending you to is not a trap. Do you understand?"

[naive cedar]

weird way to spell tressyms

[spark ferry]

Hey guys, what is going on here

[naive cedar]

nothing much

[hot marlin]

People keep saying that but, like, how should the system support the roleplaying pillar?

[naive cedar]

there havent even been any alignment debates recently

[spark ferry]

I just joined this server, I'm not familiar with the goings on

[urban bolt]

I'm not too sure i suppose- how do you think? I just wanted to pick some brains :)

[naive cedar]

in all seriousness this server is p active and theres a lot of good dnd discussion here, so welcome!

[spark ferry]

Cool! 😄

[lavish flame]

There is no roleplaying pillar. The pillars of play are Social Interaction, Combat, and Exploration. All of which are done while you roleplay

[naive cedar]

yeah idk why people act like exploration and combat isnt a part of roleplay

[prime basin]

Alignments don't make sense as morality is a concept determined by what species finds such and such good and which one doesn't. We are essentially defining a good character based on the human concept of what is morally acceptable and what isn't.

[urban bolt]

Well, i mean the social pillar then.

[hot marlin]

Thank you. I feed on those debates

[urban bolt]

It is, i was just using the wrong term.

[naive cedar]

noooooooooo (but also i lowkey agree)

[prime basin]

Someone must make the ultimate sacrifice

[prisma kraken]

Is there anyway to play dnd Through here i'm new

[stark maple]

youknow what they should add pumpfaking to dnd

[hot marlin]

So, first off: There is no such thing as a "human concept of what is morally acceptable and what isn't". "Human" is not a culture.

There is no relationship between species and sense of morality, as proven by the simple fact that humans can disagree on ethics

[spark ferry]

Hey guys, if you were joining a new campaign, what would be a class you wouldn't want to play

[naive cedar]

alright fine ill bite. There is no singular "human" culture: however, there are certain taboos that are consistantly present in most, if not all human cultures.

[lavish flame]

I do think the Interaction pillar is less than ideal. Its mostly "Creatures have Dispositions: Friendly, Neutral, and Hostile. When you Influence a creature, you might shift their disposition. Their disposition also affects any Influence-ing roll you make."

To be entirely honest though, in the "kick down doors and kill stuff" game, these are fine enough rules.

[naive cedar]

id be willing to play any class depending on the character idea i have, but my least favourite is babarian esp if everyone is expecting me to act like a stereotypical one

[spark ferry]

I personally would not want to be a fighter, it just feels boring, I don't find fighters very fun

[spark ferry]

Fr

[naive cedar]

straightforward fighters are boring. gish fighters, on the other hand

[spark ferry]

Can't argue there

[prime basin]

Humans can disagree on ethics, but most humans swing towards one way making things socially acceptable. Thats like saying this one guy thinks that cannibalizing his neighbors is funny but the rest of his 40000 neighbors don't so there truly is no such thing as what is socially acceptable

[lavish flame]

I'd kill for a dedicated Gish class in 5e

[naive cedar]

cannibalism is agood example of an almost universal taboo

[hot marlin]

No, it's like saying that some people believe in light corporal punishment for children, others do not. It's like saying that some people believe eating meat is unethical, others do not.

[spark ferry]

I recently made a teifling sorcerer I'm thinking of multiclassing into barbarian, but I'm not sure

[naive cedar]

eh. i think in dnd gish works better as a subclass or a multiclass

[hot marlin]

Moreover, the guy who believes cannibalizing his neighbors is funny is right. It is funny, to him. And nobody can disagree with that.

[lavish flame]

I think it works terribly in both of these scenarios

[hot marlin]

It is also unethical, but it's also funny

[prime basin]

Also when i said Human i wasn't referring to the culture I was referring to the species not the culture.

[main maple]

I’m gonna ask my friend’s character if they can be my character’s valentine on Valentine’s Day

[naive cedar]

also paladin and ranger are both kind of gish classes

[hot marlin]

Yes. But that is the problem. You are treating the species as though it was a culture. Species does not decide morality. Cultures and individuals do.

[spark ferry]

My dm hates my characters, he killed my rouge, in a really pathetic way and now he makes my warlock look like an idiot every goddamn session

[stoic haven]

I don't think that's what Incubus is saying. Different species aren't hardwired to be a certain way (they are not forced to be a certain way) and they can deviate, thats kind of how most adventurers are

[craggy summit]

That's probably something you should talk to your dm about

[hot marlin]

That is what I am saying. There is no such thing as a human concept of what is morally acceptable and what isn't. There is such a thing as a, say, high society english concept of what is morally acceptable and what isn't.

I am saying that species is irrelevant.

[harsh hollow]

Species as a moral monolith are easier to write for sure but are an iffy concept.

[main maple]

Maybe they hate you

[spark ferry]

It's both

[stoic haven]

Is it just towards your characters? Does he show anything towards you as a person? And 3. Does he know he is doing this?

[main maple]

It’s gonna be okay

[naive cedar]

i mean, there are certain things that are almost universally considered taboo. the issue with alignment is when you go beyond the typical "murder is bad" baseline morality.

[spark ferry]

Like I said both

[lavish flame]

Yeah, the Humans who live in Waterdeep generally agree that slavery is bad to do. The Humans who live in Thay might not care so much.

[stoic haven]

Agreed, kinda why I'm iffy on playing a campaign with a DM who is really strict on how my character can think based on his species and forcing him(my would be character) to determine what class they are

[naive cedar]

thats a huge red flag imo

[stoic haven]

Then I would suggest finding a new table, but first talk to them

[prime basin]

I can agree with the fact that no species will ever come to a complete agreement on what is and isn't acceptable unless your facing a hivemind of some sorts. But to say that morality can't be decided by the species is stupid because the majority of the species puts out what is socially acceptable. The species cannot decide morality for everyone but they can define what the majority of them consider to be socially acceptable.

[hot marlin]

OK see there is a huge problem with "murder is bad". Because the very definition of murder is "a killing considered bad". Everybody agrees that a murder is bad, because "bad" is included in the word murder. The question is not whether murder is bad, it's whether or not a given killing is or isn't a murder

[prime basin]

Species isn't irrelevant because i looked at it as a group of people.

[stoic haven]

Thats a culture, not a species, it is a subsect

[hot marlin]

It's like saying "a delicious meal tastes good", yes, that is the definition of delicious

[stoic haven]

You are tying species to culture, but culture can envelope multiple species and species can envelope multiple cultures, so species ≠ culture

[hot marlin]

The problem is that a species isn't a group of people. A species is a lot of groups of lots of people

[naive cedar]

Yeah that's what i mean by going beyond baseline morality. Everyone agrees that, for example, killing your neighbour purely because you feel like it is "bad". The complexity comes in when trying to determine more grey area cases

[prime basin]

Right but the majority of that species is in fact of that culture meaning that the majority of the species has made a decision on what they define as correct. You cannot apply it to everyone but the species has very clearly been influenced in a way of thinking such and such is unacceptable and so and so isn't

[hot marlin]

Indeed. Let's take an example: Someone insults me. I tell him "Apologize or die". He refuses, I kill him. Is it bad? In most modern cultures, yes. A thousand years ago, in specific regions? Absolutely not

[stoic haven]

Like a certain city or culture derived from a kingdom might have multiple species (say Humans, elfs, dwarves, and half elves), but then there are Dwarven clans both inside and outside of the kingdom that have differing cultures, and same for humans and everything else

[prime basin]

A species can develop a broad baseline of what is and isn't acceptable. Most but not every human thinks murder isn't cool. So you if you were an alien and came into contact with a human one should place their bets on the human saying murder isn't cool.

[stoic haven]

Thats a sense of a culture, and I am going to try to stick away from religions or politics with any examples I make

[prime basin]

A thousand years ago most humans still consider murder to be bad and you can go back thousands of more years for the same thing. Im not saying morality can't change but when i say "species morality" im simply referring to what is the most socially acceptable by most people.

[hot marlin]

No, see, every human thinks murder isn't cool. They just disagree on what constitutes a murder. Because the definition of murder is "an illegitimate killing". In the same way, every human agrees that a delicious meal tastes good.

[naive cedar]

Yeah exactly. In every culture that I can think of, if you walked into your neighbour's house and killed him purely because you felt like it, that would be bad. In Ancient Greece, that would be bad. In The Odyssey, Odysseus kills all of Penelope's suitors because, to put it simply, they disrespected his house. In modern culture, that is an overreaction at best. In Ancient Greece (where the poem was written: I believe Odyseus was Mycenaean?), that was acceptable. That's just one example off the top of my head

[hot marlin]

Not only acceptable! It was what was expected and proper

[stoic haven]

More prevalent ones, and even then, there were so many exceptions in which murder was deemed "ok"

[prime basin]

But see this isn't true. Some cannibals think that murder is cool because they can eat another individual and gain from murder. It doesn't mean that they do it to everyone, simply that they do it to others.

[hot marlin]

To have let them walk away without punishing them, that would have been immoral

[humble gorge]

Can someone know if dnd has canonical elf's curses?

[prime basin]

What do you mean by this?

[hot marlin]

Again, you misunderstand what I am saying. To the cannibal, this is not murder. This is a legitimate killing.

[naive cedar]

Yeah, it's treated within the narrative as his ultimate triumph. Furthermore, by modern standards, the issue is that the suitors were disrespecting Penelope's desire to not get married again and denying her autonomy. By Ancient Greek standards, the primary issue is disrespecting Odysseus because they weren't respecting his authority

[hot marlin]

If the cannibal were to use the word "murder", it would be in its definition of "illegitimate killing", it would be for the purpose of communication

[stoic haven]

This is actually better than my argument, because different cultures make different constitutes for what is considered murder or sin

[naive cedar]

Although tbh cannibalism is one of the most universal taboos going. Very, very few people have an even neutral view of cannibalism

[hot marlin]

Indeed. A delicious meal tastes good. But what constitutes tasting good varies depending on tastes. It is the same for murder.

[prime basin]

So a cannibal could eat their own mother and other cannibals around them would see that as fine I suppose

[hot marlin]

Other cannibals? Depends. Maybe.

[stoic haven]

Um, also trying to kill his son, do things to his wife, and desacrating his halls

[hot marlin]

To add: They tried to have his son killed, beat his servants, dirtied up his house.

[naive cedar]

Wait I dont remember the son thing lol my bad

[hot marlin]

It's in the Telemachy, most people skip that part

[prime basin]

Why should that be dependent on that though? Their mothers are humans just like the others they encounter and so she would be liable to be eaten just like others. The only thing that prevents them from eating her is their emotions towards her

[hot marlin]

Depends on the cannibal, depends on what cannibalism means to them. For some, it could be an act of love. For others, a humiliation.

[naive cedar]

Oh that makes sense. I only read the odyssey and part of the illiad

[lyric viper]

How have we gotten onto cannabalism again? What aspect of D&D are we framing it with today?

[naive cedar]

Its the alignment debate

[valid geyser]

cultural values

[prime basin]

We went from alignments stupid to cannibalism

[naive cedar]

Wait, people were talking about cannibalism earlier?

[naive cedar]

The son thing isnt in the odyssey. You're right about the trashing everything part though, I should've mentioned that

[prime basin]

People secretly just want to eat one another

or openly if your up to the challenge

[naive cedar]

I just ate supper so im good, thanks

[tropic plank]

It’s likely the draw to the abyss, where we want to discover the unknown so we no longer fear it

[hot marlin]

Years ago, I DMed a game where the PCs visited an island where the natives were rumoured to be cannibals. A player made a character from this island and asked me "So are they actually cannibals?" I said "Depends. Some of the tribes practice ritual cannibalism for funeral, where the loved ones will eat a bit of the flesh of the deceased to symbolize that they live on in their loved ones.", to which the player answered "Okay, acceptable." I said "Sometimes when two tribes come into conflict it is solved in a duel of champions. The winner is expected to take a bite out of the heart of the loser, which is considered a way of honouring the loser's bravery." to which the player answered "That's also okay I think"

I added that those traditions were not part of every tribe and that no tribe was known to hunt other people to eat them

[lyric viper]

I don't feel like the alignment framework is the best way of trying to view cannibalism.

Ignoring alignment, in D&D things to consider are 'Are you viewing cannabalism as only the consumption of the same species?' (A halfling eating a human would not be cannabalism) or 'The consumption of a sentient species is cannabalsm' (A halfling eating a human, dragon or other halfling is cannabalism).

Then further- Why and how. Do they kill them intentionally to eat, viewing them as food only? Do they eat the dead in specific contexts?

[hot marlin]

So is cannibalism universally taboo? I don't know. What that fictional island I put in that campaign did was not unacceptable to me, and it was considered acceptable to the players too

[fickle heart]

I feel like this would be better suited for a sort of blog post, but I feel like there's a few things that need to immediately identified as part of the fantasy culture discussion:

• Humans are the sole dominant species on Earth, such that we have no actual competition for resources, aside from ourselves.
• In a world where differing species have natural inclinations towards specific terrains or features of the world, it's entirely possible (if not likely) that this human-centric dominance might be challenged in various areas, such that human society is less geographically spread out.
• This possible lack of geographical distance could also apply to other species, such that every species is more geographically constrained to areas they can outcompete other species vying for dominance.
• Due to these geographical constraints, a lot of the primary pressures that could be exerted on fantasy cultures are likely to be based on the relationships with neighbors.
• It's entirely possible that in a fantasy world where connectedness dictates survival against competing species, societies comprised almost entirely of members of a species have extremely dominant cultures, such that one could make a fair conclusion that there is a "[species] culture", despite very minor exceptions existing.

That's not necessarily approaching the topic from a "moral" perspective, but more from a worldbuilding perspective.

[prime basin]

So if you were one of these cannibals and you saw a random person eating your mother would you be mad?

[naive cedar]

There are very, very few cultures that have every practiced cannibalism, and the very few that have, from what I can glean, did it as a ritualistic thing.

[hot marlin]

Nope. It's part of the funeral process. I would be shocked if that person refused to eat my mother after she passed

[lyric viper]

In this context, it would be like some random crashing your mother's funeral.

It's not so much the 'eating' so much as the 'You have no right to participate in this ritual'

[hot marlin]

On the condition, of course, that this person is part of the funeral.

[prime basin]

Okay so lets say that the individual eating your mother is eating her corpse out of disrespect? Would you still be mad, he is disrespecting her but you should be glad she is being eaten because you see it as a sign of respect.

[hot marlin]

The violation would not be cannibalism, it would be violation of the ritual.

[lyric viper]

Context greatly matters. But this is getting a bit away from D&D.

[hot marlin]

Because again, if I am from that culture, I see cannibalism as okay. A way of honouring the dead.

[hot marlin]

A violation of the ritual then? It would be considered improper, yes.

[tropic plank]

In dnd, it’d probably be more for your class than alignment

Is the cannibalism purely for food purposes? That’s taboo for anyone except Druids

Is it for a ritual or tradition? Likely not taboo unless you’re a paladin or cleric, maybe a monk

[fickle heart]

I do think that it's "easy" to argue that a single dominant species with no (other) competitors has differing cultures, because that species has now taken the place of its own competitors.

[lyric viper]

As several folk have pointed out now, you really need to identify what aspect of cannibalism is the issue, and how it would actually play into your game.

[prime basin]

Well the ritual is what you practice not everyone does. Therefore you would be violating their ritual because you've interrupted them eating the corpse that they won

[hot marlin]

I don't understand this sentence.

Who is "you" in this context? And "them"?

[lyric viper]

I'm not sure this has much of a point either now.

[hot marlin]

Anyways, my point at the start was: Morality is cultural, not dependent on species. And species and culture are not interchangeable concepts

[lyric viper]

What is the goal of this conversation?

[naive cedar]

The real reason the alignment system sucks is because everyone has a different definition of the various terms and people just argue over who is what alignment

[hot marlin]

Well it started with Skulltaker's point that "alignment places a human lens on morality", I said that there is no such thing as a human-lens, because morality is not dependant on species but on culture and individuals.

[fickle heart]

I think it might have blurred by, but I'm curious of your thoughts on this, #dnd-discussion message, because I thought you might appreciate it.

[tropic plank]

I don’t think there is one, it’s mostly semantics atp

[prime basin]

You would violate their ritual of disrespect on eating your mothers corpse if you intervened to keep them from eating her. But if you didn't intervene you would be showing respect towards their disrespect of eating your mother.

[lyric viper]

So we have arrived at a cultural clash?

Is there a purpose to this thought experiment?

[hot marlin]

Give me a minute, but I agree with just about everything. I'll have some more thoughts on the subject later

[fickle heart]

One of the things I see a lot of fantasy do is presuppose that humans are dominant as opposed to concluding that humans are dominant based on factors of the world.

[tropic plank]

I think there’d be more of turn to city by city ‘tribes’ than a species ‘tribe’
It’s not that humans distrust elves, it’s that Waterdeep citizens distrust Neverwinter

[valid geyser]

whats your point???

[prime basin]

Human lens is what we see because we are humans. You can see text in their on lawful good as it states it is the endeavor to do the right thing as expected by society. But if you looked at it through another species lens they might consider murder to be good and would play a lawful good paladin that is completely different in concept to yours

[valid geyser]

are you saying "respect is a two way street"?

[stoic haven]

I think it is to exercise how a world with multiple sentient and intellectually inclined creatures could or would deviate from each other, even within themselves based on cultures

[hot marlin]

Well, then, someone argued that cannibalism was "universally bad", to which I argued that it was not. And then we started talking about the cultural aspect of what is moral or immoral.

[tropic plank]

They’re arguing for the sake of it

[hot marlin]

The goal posts have moved a bit, I think

[lyric viper]

That would be cultural, not species.

[prime basin]

I know i didn't word it great at the beginning

[fickle heart]

But remember, if Neverwinter and Waterdeep don't trust each other and refuse to help each other, any unified attacks by something such as dwarves or elves are liable to wipe them off the map.

[lyric viper]

Perhaps we should move on?

[fickle heart]

I do think the sauce has been lost for now, yeah.

[hot marlin]

Again. Nobody can consider murder good. Because the definition of murder is "illegitimate killing". Murder is by definition bad, in the same way that something delicious by definition tastes good.

The question is never whether or not murder is bad. The question is whether or not a given killing is a murder

[prime basin]

When I say human lens, I mean "what most humans think is morally sociably acceptable even though not everyone thinks like this"

[tropic plank]

Dwarves and elves would also live in their own city bubbles

When you have a ‘city tribe’ mentality, forming a nation of multiple towns and cities becomes incredibly difficult, and would require a superpower like Netheril to unite them

[valid geyser]

i think for stuff on a larger scale, we can't fully say morality is cultural, because then we wouldnt be able to criticise atrocities, nor could we critique our own cultural values, nor would progress even be a concept but for things that are just about respecting things that are different that don't bring harm to others yeah

[hot marlin]

I have no idea what "most humans" think is morally or socially acceptable. I have not met most humans. The vast majority died long before my birth

[valid geyser]

but also this topic is fresh on my mind from my ethics class last week

[fickle heart]

Well, they might live in their own city bubbles, but they very much might not. If we don't presuppose they do live in their own city bubbles, the entire dynamic changes and you might now get a truly dominant species.

[prime basin]

Bhaalists for example think that murder is good though? Is he not the god of murder and the people who murder in his name think that what they are doing is good?

[tropic plank]

Humanity as a disjointed species while other races are more unified, owing to their longer lived lives meaning they’ve already hegemonised while humans are in the early stages?

That’s a very interesting concept

[hot marlin]

To state it again: "Murder is bad" is a tautology. "Killing" is a descriptive term, "murder" is a normative one that already carries a value judgment.

[naive cedar]

Bhaalists are a fictional creation.

[fickle heart]

I'm actually not saying humanity is itself disjointed. I was more saying that humanity is disjointed in reality likely because we have no competition.

[hot marlin]

Except it's not murder to them. They may call it murder, but they're giving the word "murder" a different definition. Their killings are not murders to them because they carry a legitimacy.

[fickle heart]

Humanity has taken the place of its own competition, because it has no one to compete with but itself.

[hot marlin]

If it is legitimate, it is not a murder.

And in their case, the legitimacy of their killings is drawn from divine mandate, support and approval

[prime basin]

Bhaalists are a fictional creation that could exist. If someone knew what they were doing was unlawful but found it good for themselves, then murder to them would be cool.

[worldly flare]

Morality fight?

[prime basin]

Alignment that quickly railed into morality

[tropic plank]

We’re not unified because so long as two ‘things’ exist, people will be against each other because someone prefers A and someone B

The only solution to this would be the horrific stripping of all unique things in the world, a grossly unethical and also impossible prospect

[worldly flare]

I mean alignment fights and morality fights are kinda the same thing right?

[prime basin]

Murder is considered illegitimate because it is unlawful, but not every people think that unlawful murder isn't good for them.

[fickle heart]

Competition will almost inherently always exist, but when you are forced to compete with those who you have no commonalities with vs those you share many commonalities with, it's almost universally "safer" to compete with those you share commonalities with against those you don't share commonalities with.

[hot marlin]

Not quite. Alignment fights are unique to D&D. All alignment fights are morality fights, not all morality fights are alignment fights

[prime basin]

Alignment isn't really morality its more so what the majority of people consider to be good or evil via its descriptions

[worldly flare]

True, true.

[hot marlin]

You are doing a false equivalence between "lawful" and "legitimate".

[worldly flare]

Anyway right now I’m reading over some tech to make sure it actually works.

[tropic plank]

Your problem is that you’re thinking of an object rationality, when there is not and likely never will be a perfectly rational person

[hot marlin]

A murder is unlawful because it is illegitimate.But it is a murder because it is illegitimate, not because it is unlawful

[lyric viper]

Alignment used to be a cosmic force, a literal 'alignment' to the energies of the universe, the side on which you'd fall on the forces of Order (civilisation, humanity, science) or Chaos (wilderness, fey, magic) and then later also Good and Evil.

[hot marlin]

"Used to be" in the sense of how it was framed in previous edition, not as though in-universe the laws of the world actually changed

[prime basin]

I'm just gonna be the one to say this isn't going anywhere so we can agree to disagree and stop here

[hot marlin]

Just to be clear.

[tropic plank]

I’d just like to say Incubus and U’zhul sound like a Lawful good character and a lawful evil character debating

[fickle heart]

I'm thinking of it "rationally" by virtue of survival; essentially using reverse justification. Unless we actively place a hypothetical world in a state where it's at a tipping point from current fractures in social dynamics, there is likely some sort of stability that shows rationality specifically used to survive.

[hot marlin]

I'm the lawful good, right? Right?

[naive cedar]

At this point I’m not even participating because my brain hurts

[deft herald]

I’m making a Pokemon inspired campaign that will be heavily homebrew do you guys have any tips for my world building, this will be my first time being dm

[prime basin]

Tiamat debating Bahamut

[naive cedar]

Arent Incubi devils in DND?

[lyric viper]

A fighter was LG, but not in the same way a Paladin was LG, who in turn was not LG in the same way a celestial was. Less 'morality' more ... alignment.

And even into later editions, but just confused over time. 5e stepping away from alignment being hard coded into PCs doesn't remove alignment from the cosmos.

[tropic plank]

Is Tiamat not chaotic evil?

[hot marlin]

First off: No they aren't.
Second: I am not that kind of Incubus

[prime basin]

Tiamat is lawful evil I believe

[deft herald]

The campaign will take place in unova

[naive cedar]

Sounds like something an incubus would say 🤔

[tropic plank]

Huh
You’d assume she’d be chaotic, not beholding to a code of conduct

[prime basin]

She is apparently both at the same time

[fickle heart]

I gotta dip for now, but this is probably one of the most constructive discussions on this subject I've had here.

[hot marlin]

Actually: lawful evil in some books, chaotic evil in others.

[worldly flare]

What does that even mean?

[tropic plank]

Well now that’s jus greedy

[loud tendon]

Might want to ask in #dm-world-building

[prime basin]

She is a chromatic dragon/s

[hot marlin]

She's a goddess with five heads. She's allowed to be a bit more complex than most people

[lyric viper]

She's got multiple heads

[hot marlin]

And each of those five heads has a brain much larger than your entire body

[lyric viper]

Like having all the shoulder demons/angels.

[naive cedar]

Oh, oops, Incubi are demons

[prime basin]

are whales secretley smarter than us?

[lyric viper]

Concubi were demons up to 3.5, devils in 4e, fiends in 5e.

[naive cedar]

Yes

[prime basin]

"I cast wish and wish I was a whale"

Whales are canonically wizards in dnd

[hot marlin]

Well yes. Have you ever seen whales invent Dubstep? Did whales make the movie Prometheus?

No. Therefore, they are smarter than us.

[naive cedar]

Did whales create Nickelback?

[hot marlin]

They did not!

[prime basin]

Yes

[prime basin]

Slander

[tropic plank]

Why use wish when you could cast shape change and become a whale without potentially loosing wish forever

[hot marlin]

Use wish to duplicate shapechange.

[tropic plank]

Slight non sequitur but how many spell slots do you think you could use a single Wish to gain before the spell failed
Assuming you had a perfectly middle of the road DM

[hearty marten]

Huh

[hot marlin]

You mean like... "I wish to gain the benefits of a long rest?"

[tropic plank]

No, like “I wish to permanently gain a level _ Spell Slot”

[hot marlin]

Oh, zero. Absolutely zero.

[tropic plank]

It is theoretically possible

[hot marlin]

The spell fails, now choke on that 33% chance

Of course, theoretically it is possible. But I struggle to think of any DM accepting a wish like that.

[lavish flame]

How would a PC know about the game mechanic Spell Slots

[tropic plank]

‘I wish to expand my magical capacity’? Idk how you’d word it but asking that question is like asking ‘why do my characters know the chance of being hit?’

[hearty marten]

One of my players asked something and I want some help (I don't know how to answer)
They were wondering what would happen if they used animate dead or some other form of necromancy on creature armor (like a hide or wyrm carcass based platemail) while it was being worn. This is now keeping me awake. Yes I know this fits better in #dm-discussion but I would really like some help.

[tropic plank]

If a player thought of that on their own I’d probably give them maybe an extra level 3 spell slot
Or have it tied to rolling a d10, where 10 is the spell failing

[loud tendon]

You can ask for things outside the scope of the spell, but thinking as a DM, i wouldn't allow that specific wish

[hot marlin]

With a wish like that, I would give a sorcerer or similar caster one more spell known, maybe. For wizards, I would have a new spell appear in their spellbook

[tropic plank]

It would probably destroy the armour and summon a skeleton or zombie

[hearty marten]

I agree.

[hearty marten]

Okay, that's what I suspected but they wanted to know so that if they unlock something like true resurrection or wish they can bring it back to life to defeat the NPC or use animate dead to try to kill them with armour.

My players are... weirdly creative

[tropic plank]

True resurrection heals all wounds so it would not be armour when resurrected, with wish it probably depends on the wording
If you said ‘I want to return that dragon to life’ it would resurrect a full dragon
‘I want to return that armour to life’ would remain armour

[hearty marten]

That's fair

Thanks

[tropic plank]

Should anyone use wish, I’d have them say the outcome they want out of character and then the wish itself in character
“I’d like to cast wish to resurrect the armour” ooc, and something like
“I Wish to resurrect this armour” in character

[hearty marten]

Ah, alrighty then thank you so much!

[tropic plank]

Mostly so I can turn the wording against them 😈

[hearty marten]

I like the way you think.

[worldly flare]

God which monster has the most immunities? Does anyone here know?

[hot marlin]

Just... Just use wish to mimic resurrection.

[tropic plank]

Yes, however I was considering it as resurrection and wish both being used separately
While the player may decide to mimic resurrection, they may also choose to use wish directly

[thorn quarry]

What’s a monster that is kinda like a sea serpent that could put a fight up against a kraken

[hot marlin]

Krakens are kind of the apex predators of the oceans in D&D, you won't find many things capable of putting up a fight. And none that look like sea serpents.

Your only chance is ancient dragon turtles.

[livid brook]

are there any magic items in the Artificers "replicate magic item" that arent listed in the character creator part

[prime basin]

In fizban's you have a creature called a sea serpent that comes in a young and ancient form

its essentially just a draconic sea creature

[thorn quarry]

Thanks

[prime basin]

I will say this creature would not beat a kraken

but it is a fight that could be cool

[thorn quarry]

Alr

[thorn quarry]

A leviathan couldn’t put up a fight?

[hot marlin]

It could, but it's not really like a sea serpent, it's an elemental.

[thorn quarry]

Ahh

[hot marlin]

But yeah, if leviathans are an option, they're actually the best option

I thought you were thinking like... Creatures of flesh, excluding elementals

[thorn quarry]

An elemental would be fine

I just was wondering if it would put up a fight against a kraken

[blissful ibex]

A bunch of of aboleths that got pissed because it keeps hunting them down or soemthing

[thorn quarry]

I think we’re just gonna scale up a leviathan

[fiery perch]

True polymorph is safer

[dreamy crag]

when nobody hav the same timezone as you so u lwk just cry

[fiery perch]

Westmarch PBP

Simple solution to a common problem

[dreamy crag]

no idea where to find those

[fiery perch]

Can I DM you?

to sympathise with your situation ofc...

ping when replying

[dreamy crag]

ok

[stuck shuttle]

At least on this server, #looking-for-community has occasional postings for Westmarches

[worn lagoon]

history changes so that you /were/ a whale yesterday. nothing much changes today.

[blissful ibex]

could also try AL

[stuck shuttle]

Otherwise I wouldn't worry about not matching a timezone exactly, as long as you can meet at the equivalent time.

Like for example if I'm available 6-9 pm EST I could also make 3-6 pm PST, 1-4 pm BST, etc games

[prime pewter]

Guys what kinda thing would kill one hag in a coven but leave the rest

(This is for backstory reasons, the dead hag is green, and the other two are sea and annis)

[stiff rock]

Unless there's some lore about them being immortal if their coven members are alive or something, luring them out and killing them on their own?

[prime pewter]

Yea that makes sense

Maybe a witch hunter?

[stiff rock]

A ranger could work

"Someone was paid to kill this hag, not knowing that the hag had friends. While he DID kill the hag, he didn't survive long after the rest of the coven found out"

[young haven]

I have a home brewed that I am working on, and would like your approval for my ideas.
A mind flyer has a cult, and has control of 3 green hags. It has the cult send people into a cave. The has use dust amps to make the party sleep and using a binding spell to attach shadows to the party that deplete there strength over time. Only long rest or potions can bring them back to hole, but it starts over again after. Also, some sort of demon follows/ hits the village ahead of them, making sever damage, and villagers start to take notice that the part is always just behind these events. They have to find a way to break the spell that keeps the shadows with them and cross into the abyss plans to kill the one who started it all. To do these things, they must first hunt down the hags.

[prime pewter]

I just put that she died

The character is a Hexblood and I choose number three on the Hexblood Origins Table
"A coven of hags lost one of its members. You were created to replace the lost hag."

[hot marlin]

First question: How does the mind flayer "control" the hags?

[fallow parrot]

Is Baldurs Gate 3 a good way to make a character sheet for a beginner?

[hot marlin]

No, not at all. Baldur's Gate 3 uses different rules.

[worn lagoon]

definitely not lol

it's good to gain familiarity with overall dnd, but it still leaves a few things to learn how it works differently in the tabletop

[fallow parrot]

any key differences?

[young haven]

With promise of forbidden knowledge, its more like buying their support for his current needs

[hot marlin]

Good, so, second thing: The shadows thing doesn't work too well, why not simply have one of the hags be a night hag and therefore creep in while they sleep to do the night hag thing?

[undone rain]

Speaking of hags

Are hexblood in any way related to em

[young haven]

Thanks for the idea, I will have to look at them closer

[livid brook]

how do i modify my dark vision on dndbeyond

[young haven]

I was going to have the shadows hide in there pockets or under there rings attached to a mark left on them, and have them only cone out when they sleep, but have been limited to only do a specific damage by the hags

[livid brook]

my species gives 60 feet of dark vision and gloomstalker says if i already have 60 feet it doubles but it still says 60 ft

[crimson gulch]

You just read the feature out when it becomes relevant

[livid brook]

nvm found it

[fast latch]

Hi guys

I’m bored and this place is always active because of how freaking massive it is

So what’s a good topic uhhhh

Best Nat 20 you’ve seen someone else roll?

Mine was a Nat 20 + 3 = 23 on a DC 20 Animal Handling check

[harsh hollow]

BG3 is streamlined for RPG use, there are some close mechanics in there but it's not quite the same. (You can't just short rest whenever you feel like it for example, and there won't always be some guy you can pay to revive the dead.)

[fallow parrot]

im trying to make my first official dnd character and kinda just stuck on what patron I want on my warlock

[harsh hollow]

If you're starting out it might be best to start with Fiend. Simple but effective.

[stuck shuttle]

All of them are good choices except undying imo

[fallow parrot]

Ah i was considering htat one lol

[worn lagoon]

genielock is goat

[fallow parrot]

thought it would be fun to roleplay a zombie

[harsh hollow]

Warlock is an interesting place to start given the extra RP that usually comes with it, I'd heard most people start with fighter. x3

[worn lagoon]

I started with a sorcerer

[feral fulcrum]

I'd reccomend Undead.

Undead is what they made after they realized they did a TERRIBLE job on Undying.

[worn lagoon]

well, wizcerer, my first level was sorcerer and the next three were wizard and the campaign ended at lv4

[feral fulcrum]

Both in flavor and mechanics.

[harsh hollow]

I wish they'd given it a name that wasn't so close to Undying though.

[feral fulcrum]

Not exactly swimming with options for Patrons that are Undead/Deathless.

[fallow parrot]

Do you roll for ability scores or choose it?

[feral fulcrum]

There are multiple ways it can be done, ask your DM what they're doing.

[stuck shuttle]

Do Point Buy or Standard Array to start out, especially if you don’t have a DM

[harsh hollow]

They still could have come up with something. The Spirit. The Wraith. Anything but practically the same word.

[stuck shuttle]

Rolling is almost always done under DM supervision to prevent cheating

[feral fulcrum]

You do realize that's overly specific for a Patron right? You could have anything from Liches, to Mummies, to Vampires, and any of the super duper zombies.

[fallow parrot]

My fav HEMA youtubers are making a dnd campaign and they mentioned something like that

[harsh hollow]

The Returned, maybe? I don't know, it just feels like the people in charge of the Creativity Game could have been a tad more creative.

[feral fulcrum]

I think Undead was fine.

[harsh hollow]

You're free to think that, I personally just think having Undead next to Undying just feels a little uncreative.

At that point retire Undying.

I know they don't really do that but still. x3

[prime pewter]

Ngl I wish they would've named it something like "The Darklord" because it makes more sense for the darklord book but thats just me

[uncut zenith]

Well not all darklords of Ravenloft are Undead

Many are, but plenty aren’t

[stark maple]

guys i have a question can an artificer make powered armor?

[uncut zenith]

That’s basically the Armorer subclass’s whole thing

[prime pewter]

I wish they never flavored it as undead in the first place, which at some point I think they were thinking of?

[stark maple]

im asking about the common magic item from Quests from the Infinite Staircase

[hoary totem]

If it's an official subclass, you can probably come up with a patron. It doesn't need to be an example from a book

[lusty tendon]

ok so im wanting to finally play a level 1 - probably 18 or 20 game with my friends except they are all very much newbs at dnd should i be worried that my plot might be a little too much for the campaign for beginner players

[warped lintel]

Hello! Could someone aid me in dnd help? I’m new !

I meant dnd new comers *

[lusty tendon]

speak away

[warped lintel]

I posted it on dnd help as to not over flow this with questions

[stark maple]

love how in unearthed arcana Armorers thing used to be called power armor

[vale sage]

You cannot as an artificer make the powered armor specifically from that adventure

[lavish flame]

that depends on ur plot, but if you break the 1-20 into smaller chunks, then its definitely easier to prepare and plan for

I'm currently running a 1-20. The first 6 levels are just the adventure Dragon of Icespire Peak. After that, I've broken the game's story into the Tiers of play. 6-10 will have its own little plot, 11-16 will have its own story, 17-20 will have its own story. They'll get tied to each other along the way, but its not 1-20 of the same story.

[lusty tendon]

i mean ive been playing for 8 years so i got this figured out by now, (hopefully) its just im concerned as if this might be a little too much for them to handle (and yes im keeping the early stages simpler so they can get a feel for the game before it picks up)

yeah i have mine in segments of 3s

[stark maple]

i think its a little silly that an arti can make a anti matter rifle +1 but not a suit of special armor

[lusty tendon]

they can

[vale sage]

They can make a suit of special armour, just not that special armour from that specific book.

[stark maple]

why not

anti matter rifle is also from that book as well

[lavish flame]

note that an artificer being able to make futuristic weapons is very atypical, as normally artificers don't know about futuristic weapons.

[lusty tendon]

different books different flavors,

[stark maple]

powered armor isnt futuristic

[crimson gulch]

What can be crafted is up to the dm not the player

[vale sage]

Because the rules do not allow it, If you want it ask your DM but you ask if an artificer can do, it as the rules stand they cannot.

[lusty tendon]

armor or a body suit with its own energy shield

[stark maple]

can you point me to the rule where it says i cant 👁️

[lavish flame]

that adventure book features a Straight Up UFO with Straight Up Androids and Robots. Its fair to assume that there's some weirdness happening

[vale sage]

That version specifically is technologically advanced, IIRC it even says so in the description.

[marble lion]

Artificers can only make items listed in official material and only as allowed by the DM of each game

[lavish flame]

Alien Technology
When adventurers find a piece of technology that isn’t from their world or time period, they can deduce what it is with a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check, with the DC depending on the complexity of the item: DC 10 for a relatively simple item like a calculator or a lighter, or DC 20 for a complex item such as a computer, a chainsaw, or a hovercraft. You may require a separate Intelligence (Investigation) check to determine whether a character can activate or operate the technology; a character who has observed the item in use or has operated a similar item either has Advantage on the check or succeeds on the check automatically (your choice).
I actually use this rule a lot

[marble lion]

And there are more restrictions

[reef tundra]

Wait, the DM can just say no? This… fixes a lot of things for me

[marble lion]

Im shocked you dont know that

[reef tundra]

-# The artificer scourge will be fixed… finally

[vale sage]

The artificer subclass tells you what you can and cant do, in the magic items plans, that a artificer can make that armour is not on there.

[stark maple]

im talking about 2014

[reef tundra]

They say “know your enemy” but it turns out I really don’t

[reef tundra]

Same thing there, they give you a list of what items you can make

[lavish flame]

I like including laser pistols and energy cell ammo in my games. I like the idea that a D&D world is a planet in a galaxy, so alien items end up in my games.

[stark maple]

they dont tho

[marble lion]

They do

[crimson gulch]

Page 19 of the dmg 2024 and 221

[stark maple]

i thought arti's only get infusions

[fossil hollow]

you might wanna read them again

[vale sage]

Yep, and replicate magic item is one of them with a list of items

[reef tundra]

One of the artificer infusion is replicate magic item

[lavish flame]

Infusion: Replicate Magic Item has a list of options

[hoary totem]

Minmaxed!!

[stark maple]

dang there goes my fallout build

[marble lion]

Infusing is literally making a magic item though

[lavish flame]

just play an Armorer Artificer, they get both skinny Fallout 3/NV power armor and chunky Fallout 1/2/4 power armor

[stark maple]

i prefer 3 and 4 armor

[marble lion]

Armorer doesnt get power armour

[stark maple]

its used to be called power armor

[drifting reef]

Who wants to do a dnd campaign I’m trying to learn how to dm

[crimson gulch]

The paladin in my one game got power armor ans regretted it because he died to crits when he had previously had adamantine armor

[stark maple]

now its called arcane armor cause copy right

[lavish flame]

2024 Armorers get a big hulking suit they can wear. Thats Fallout Power Armor to me

[marble lion]

Ok but its not at all like a t60 or whatever

[marble lion]

Ah 24 i see

Thats very cool

[lavish flame]

they also basically get the Fallout Stealth Suit if they want (2024 Armorer gets 3 armor styles)

[stark maple]

Beginning at 3rd level, your metallurgical pursuits have led to you making armor a conduit for your artificer magic. As an action, you can turn a suit of heavy armor you are wearing into power armor, provided you have smith’s tools in hand. You gain the following benefits while wearing the power armor:

before it came into Tasha's

Source: Unearthed Arcana 69 - Subclasses, Part 3

[true raft]

Is it normal to get asked to pay for your character art? Before even starting the campaign?

[fossil hollow]

thats a scam

[true raft]

I’m kinda new and don’t wanna just get scammed

Yeahhhhh thought so

[quasi quiver]

any1 hosting 1 shots?

[worn lagoon]

just hit my players with GIANT walls of text

teehee

[green parrot]

What are some of the books I should buy if I want to dm and be a player

I would like the best 3

[quasi quiver]

let us get into this topic

[blissful ibex]

Check #looking-for-players or try AL

?al

[cosmic roost]

What is the Adventurers League?

The D&D Adventurers League is an ongoing official campaign for Dungeons & Dragons. It uses the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons rules, and features the Forgotten Realms setting. You can play D&D Adventurers League games literally anywhere. Players use the fifth edition rules to create a character and bring that character to games anywhere D&D Adventurers League play is happening.
[Find out more](#al-rules-compendium message)

Are you interested in the Adventurers League?
We have several channels to discuss Adventurers League play:

• #al-admin-questions — Ask the AL Admins questions
• #1309594376275759104 — Find the latest AL documentation here
• #adventurers-league — Chat about AL games, events, how to get started, AL characters, or other general AL chatter.
• #1050206875079155742 — Adventurers League rules discussion and questions. General D&D rules discussion belongs in #dnd-rules
• #al-dm-discussion — [SPOILER WARNING] A place for AL Dungeon Masters of all levels of experience to discuss their games, share tips, or share constructive feedback.
• #al-dungeoncraft — [SPOILER WARNING] A place for fledgling or experienced AL authors to discuss the Dungeoncraft program, ask questions, offer tips, or share constructive feedback.

[quasi quiver]

what is al?

[green parrot]

Yes let's

Adventures league

[quasi quiver]

for dm its the players handbook, monster manual and the dungeons master guide

Players handbook once again

tashas cauldron of everything

xanathars guide to everything

in my opion ofc

[blissful ibex]

#dnd-discussion message
I called the information bot for you and everything q_q

[quasi quiver]

ik but like what do i even do with these channels is there a server to join?

never used this al before

new to this discord dnd stuff

[blissful ibex]

yes
here's more info https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1676-what-is-adventurers-league
it's basically an offical, global West Marches where you can bring the same character anywhere that plays AL content; it's a bunch of oneshots with stories that have characters from the main adventure books and gives more detail into the setting and chracters while also being like episodic adventures; they also have ways to conver the hardcovers themselves into AL modules

[lavish flame]

Yes, it is normal to be asked to pay for character art.

However, given the context you're asking this in, if the payment is required to even join the campaign, thats a new kind of scam. There used to be a post you could link that explained the scam in more detail, but its a scam.

[blissful ibex]

can find groups in https://discord.com/channels/516367331358801950/1050209410460426281
or if you google it, there's a fairly active discord that runs it
many LGSs run them as well

[noble pine]

What would I add to my character sheet if I want to add a monarch background with my soldier background

[gritty vessel]

ok ive done a dumb when making one of characters (unintentionally made smth rly strong i think) I'm just wondering if it is that strong, when the build gets going have an ac of 22 potential 23, and can do 8d6+4d8+12+ reduce enemy ac by 1, all at lvl 6 and 1 round of combat. is this actually strong

[gritty vessel]

I would say talk to dm abt having 2 backgrounds added? but by the rules I'm not sure

[lavish flame]

You only get the one Background. Decide for yourself which speaks better about your character's prehistory. Were they more a King (Noble) or were they more a Soldier?

If they were a diplomat and a politician, then probably choose Noble. If they mostly did imperial conquest, then probably choose Soldier

[noble pine]

Can you have 2 if a dm allowed it

[gritty vessel]

id waiger yes? just bc its a game but thats how I view things

[stark maple]

its so much fun as a dm to cast spell but when a wizard says counter spell they cant because its a Psionics spell casting

[lavish flame]

If your DM allows it, then who am I to stop you? DnDBeyond and other character sheets won't support the second Background, but you can just add the stuff outside of character creation.

[blissful ibex]

GOOlock is realy nice

[gritty vessel]

agree with this, love online sheets but they r awful for stuff like that

[blissful ibex]

or just, using spells from more than 60 ft. away

[noble pine]

Trying to figure out what to add to it though

[lavish flame]

If you play with the 2024 update, then all you need to add is a second Origin Feat depending on the background

[stark maple]

yeah but its so much more aura to you know cast an uncounterspellable spell

[lavish flame]

If you play with 2014 rules, you just add a new bespoke ability to ur character sheet. On DnDBeyond, the easiest way to do that is by making a homebrew Feat and adding it to ur character.

[hot marlin]

You can have anything the DM allows, but that doesn't mean any DM will allow it

[gritty vessel]

id figure most would tho

[hot marlin]

Allow two backgrounds? No.

It would give the character a significant mechanical advantage.

[stark maple]

allow two background feats no allow two backgrounds in general maybe

[gritty vessel]

idk im not great at balance when I dm it just figure if it can be justified why not and thats fair

[stark maple]

like what if i was a hermit that is also a criminal

[hot marlin]

Maybe in an extremely high powered campaign? But regardless, if one player is given the right to have two backgrounds, it must be true of all players

[gritty vessel]

fair or something must be done to give other characters an edge in something

[stark maple]

just give them more feats i dont see the issue?

[hot marlin]

I could imagine a campaign just deciding to break the power cap, removing attunement limits or giving as many attunement slots as your PB, two backgrounds and gestalt for everyone. I suppose it could be fun

[gritty vessel]

ok incubus, seems like u actually know rules so ima ask, does this seem balanced?

[lavish flame]

In an especially high-powered game, I'd consider 2 Backgrounds.

Having 2 Backgrounds feels like 1 step away from being a Gestalt game. 2 classes = Gestalt Major, 2 Backgrounds = Gestalt Minor

Now we await Mixolydian Gestalt

[gritty vessel]

its using valda's spire of secrets so idk if that effects anything

[wise mica]

Power scaling: "I sleep." Tactics matter: "Real?"

[stark maple]

one of the dms i play with added this as a rule
Additional Feats

You start with 1 Feat and gain more at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 20.

[lavish flame]

Feats at 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, and 20 is kinda crazy icl

[stark maple]

its only "feats" not ASI

[lavish flame]

Not to mention that just bulldozes one of the Fighter's unique traits

[gritty vessel]

r they in addition to asi?

[wise mica]

I let my players deal arbitrarily high damage with appropriate optimization of homebrew mechanics and content once. Wouldn't recommend it. 100,000 damage sounds cool until you realize it's just number go up.

[stark maple]

yea

[gritty vessel]

that does seem a bit broken but I don't know much for balance

but go crazy lol its a game

[stark maple]

its not really when you see how many feats are really in the game

most feats are decent on a good day

only broken feats are sharp shooter lucky maybe mobile: 2014 for a little more context

[lavish flame]

I guess the big power jump would just be at 3 and 4, where you grab the 1 or 2 Feats you care about. After that, you can just grab Feats cuz you can

[stark maple]

you can even switch your feats out on a level up

[prime pewter]

My dm: [description of a dining room] and the chandelier has some strange marking-
Me, a divination wizard with both identify and comprehend languages: on chandelier. Now. Casting levitate

[wise mica]

You can prob have a feat every level and play to 20th without going mad. I feel like there just aren't enough cool feats though. Id have to write a bunch of my own if I was gonna run extra feats tbh.

[lavish flame]

I can't imagine keeping track of every Feat's effects

[lavish flame]

If there's a chandelier, then you must swing from it or make it drop. Thems the rules

[prime pewter]

Real

[wise mica]

Charger + GWM + etc (weapon, movement, utility, survival...) makes martial scaling stronger. Could maybe justify taking bow/ranged martial combat feats alongside primary melee stuff too with 1 feat every level

[lavish flame]

we're on our way to reinventing 3e

[wise mica]

Great idea. I'll call it 3.25!

[stark maple]

real

[hot marlin]

Seems like it, but I don't see the costs of such a build, nor do I see how consistently that build can do that

[wise mica]

That's solid for martial melee.

Critical hits aren't real though

[gritty vessel]

the only cost is a wildshape for the ac, and a 1st lvl spell to give acid vulnerability

[gritty vessel]

its a druid, warmage multi class

[prime pewter]

Okay divination wizard is both fun AND flavorful

[stark maple]

i am not aware of any spells that can give vulerability to acid

[wise mica]

Damage type vulnerability is pretty strong. I feel like the setup time of a full action/round weakens your output too much unless you plan on needing 3 turns of attacks to drop the target, or you have multiple players using the same tactics [coordination always wins; team > solo]

[gritty vessel]

circle of entropy druid has the elemental cartography abilty, aka spend a lvl 1 spell slot or higher, it causes a 10ft radius explosion of dmg that requires a dex save vs spell save, on fail they take 1d6 per lvl of spell slot and become vulnerable to whatever element u picked, on save they take half dmg

[stuck shuttle]

Ah that's why, it's homebrew

[stark maple]

thats really strong

[hearty marten]

@stark maple Just to let you know, you're being marked as a likely spammer

[severe rampart]

they know

strangely enough, it doesn't appear on mobile devices

[gritty vessel]

the war mage is from Valda's spire of secrets and circle of entropy is official

[hearty marten]

Huh

[stuck shuttle]

Both Valda's and Grim Hollow are unofficial content

[gritty vessel]

the elemental catastrophe takes 1 action and wild shape takes a bonus

[stuck shuttle]

They're from 3rd party publishers

[gritty vessel]

ohhh I forgot its grim hollow

just knew it was on dnd beyond

[stark maple]

which book is it from?

[lavish flame]

Grim Hollow: Player's Guide on DDB

[stuck shuttle]

Also War Magic is from Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Which is official

[gritty vessel]

its the warmage class from Valda's its like a weird warlock

[stark maple]

wow that is crazy

[stuck shuttle]

Ah I see

[stark maple]

for a level 3 ability

[gritty vessel]

the war mage is probably why its like that bc it gives a way to turn normal attacks into elemental ones plus some other features

[wise mica]

True. I feel like you might get better results just going for the throat though idk, haven't looked at entropy druid. I may be totally wrong lmao. Save vs suck isn't bad, I'm just super aggro (Barb/druid/pally intensifies)

[gritty vessel]

the character is lvl 6 but its a lvl3 lvl3 split

[severe rampart]

We're complete opposites, Bard/Rogue/Sorc

[stark maple]

Each creature in the Sphere must make a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, a creature takes 1d6 damage of the chosen type per level of the spell slot expended, and then has Vulnerability to that damage type for 1 minute. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage only. The target repeats the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the Vulnerability on a success.

[gritty vessel]

fair but bc I also have access to full druid spell list at lvl 3, plus a bunch of features from both classes

[wise mica]

How's multiclassing for moon druid anyway? I'm not huge on wild shape in 5e, but I've always wanted to run the WS kitty-cat who pounces people for smite damage, sneak attack dice, etc, with resists from bear totem.

[gritty vessel]

yeah

[stark maple]

2024 and 2014 its pretty good

[gritty vessel]

unforchinetly unless u r high lvl u can't cast spells while wildshaped, and barbarian stops spellcasting

[gritty vessel]

eh 2024 less so tho, don't get the full extra healthbar

[lavish flame]

No you should absolutely not multiclass on a Moon Druid

[stark maple]

true

[limber trail]

moon druid directly scales with their level

[wise mica]

Wotc didn't like my smite battle master barbadin.

[stark maple]

dude i loved the old bearberain

having 200 hp as a druid is wild

[lavish flame]

You'll delay spell slot progression on a full caster, you'll have worse wild shapes due to splitting ur level, and you'll miss out on very potent high level Druid abilities. I wouldn't recommend multiclassing on Druid at all tbh.

[prime pewter]

Guess who has disadvantage on wis saving throws for the foreseeable future!!

[gritty vessel]

loll

[limber trail]

how

[prime pewter]

Why did I drink the tea...

[lavish flame]

this guys in Castler Amber

[limber trail]

sucks for that guy

[stark maple]

you only needed to invest 3 levels into barbarian in 2014 to profit

[wise mica]

Casting? What am I, a bloodrager? (Laughs in bear totem resists)

[gritty vessel]

also with the build I posted even without the vulnerability on 2 hits it is 4d6+2d8+6 dmg some or all acid

[stark maple]

plus in 2014 you can add rage bonus aka +2 to damage to animal damage

[hearty marten]

BECAUSE TEA IS DELICIOUS

[gritty vessel]

• reduce ac by 1 rn, + if I miss by 3 or less they still take a d8+3

[stuck kestrel]

Hiya everyone 👋

[lavish flame]

3 levels in barbarian is absolutely not worth losing out on Archdruid and Beast Spells

[prime pewter]

Not when it gives disadvantage on wis saving throws

[hearty marten]

-# I just like tea

[gritty vessel]

mmm leaf water

[stark maple]

i prefer mogging the enemy as a elemental as i take half damage

[junior walrus]

Hi hi sorry I was just curious, for people who commission artists to create characters for them, where do you find them???

[lavish flame]

Twitter mostly

[hearty marten]

I have one that has coffe beans in it and tastes like a vanilla cappuccino

[stark maple]

i do wonder why did dnd beyond make most of the giant animals for exmaple giant owl celestials?

[wise mica]

Hear me out (quaffs tankard) : Barbarian 3 (Totem: Bear) Fighter 3 (Battle Master) Paladin 6 (Conquest) Druid 5-8 (Moon) Ranger 0-3 (Gloom Stalker)

[gritty vessel]

lol I shouldn't be commenting I hate like everything like that bc eating disorder lmao

[severe rampart]

for me, tiktok, twitter, advertisements, etc. (Oh and facebook)

[wise mica]

The short rest king

[hot reef]

D&D 2024 designers felt like it

[stark maple]

i mean its cool dont get me wrong

[severe rampart]

Wait, what is "Silenced" and what does it mean?

[stark maple]

it usually means you cant speak

[severe rampart]

no I mean the role that lady has

[limber trail]

oh no not another silenced conversation

[lavish flame]

They have a sidebar about it in the Monster Manual

Fantastic Animals
The following stat blocks in this appendix represent fantastical versions of real-world animals:
Blood Hawk: Excessively aggressive hawklike avians known for stealing gems
Flying Snake: Winged, venomous snakes often trained to serve as messengers
Giant Eagle: Mighty eagles that aid heroes
Giant Elk: Mystical guardians of the forest
Giant Fire Beetle: Glowing, cave-dwelling beetles
Giant Owl: Avian sages and soothsayers
Giant Vulture: Vicious vultures that serve villains

Giant Vultures are Fiends or something iirc

[stark maple]

i see i see

[severe rampart]

not the silenced spell, like the role in this server

[limber trail]

oh right i see

[lavish flame]

they've been muted

[stark maple]

i was killed

[lavish flame]

a person with the Silenced role has been muted by a mod

[wise mica]

People actually read the monster manual for the stats?

[severe rampart]

ah got it

[stark maple]

i sometimes do in my one shot

[lavish flame]

nah we just look at the pretty pictures while taking shots of glue

[stark maple]

its pretty much your character is in a universal colosseum where you get to fight monsters from all over the mutiverse

the goal is to retire your character hit level 20 as a champ or die trying

[lavish flame]

this is a one shot?

[stark maple]

yeah

its only fighting with very little story behind it

[lavish flame]

you get people to level 20 in one session?

[stark maple]

depends on what they fight since i use exp

[junior walrus]

thx for the advice :)

[stark maple]

most times i just start it at level 15 tho

[lavish flame]

wdym "depends"?

you either get enough experience to hit level 20 in one session or you don't

[stark maple]

level 15 character need 190k exp to level up

so i make them fight an Ancient Red Dragon

[rough basalt]

They made giant animals come from a celestial animal realm or something

[stark maple]

thats cool

[merry tapir]

Hey I've got a question, I'm looking to start getting into running paid D&D through Startplaying and I wanted to ask the wide world of discord and d&d users what kinds of games you guys prefer? Campaigns or one-shots? RP-heavy or combat focused? Crunchy rules or freedom abound? Homebrew or official content? I'd love to prep something people actually want to play.

[meager fractal]

what is this "1 message hidden from likely spammer." stuff

[stark maple]

tried dming to many people here

[meager fractal]

RIP

[lavish flame]

I prefer Campaigns, I like games that lean more on RP, I like to play by the rules, I don't like most homebrew content I've seen.

[stark maple]

i like homebrew that doesnt stray to far from the og source

[rough basalt]

I like my homebrew

[crimson gulch]

I have a lot of sucess running paid games that are Raw and combat heavy as heros face the darkness. I have ran many modules and custom campaigns as a pro dm

[stark maple]

for example of the the thri kreens ive made is spider like so they have spider climb

[rough basalt]

I wanna run another game so bad

[limber trail]

Did I see in VC yesterday or something that you spun a wheel and landed on running CoS with shadowrun?

[crimson gulch]

do it

[rough basalt]

Shadowdark but yeah

Idk if I want to do that tho.

I mainly do those to try and challenge myself or motivate me.

[crimson gulch]

nah dont do curse of strahd in shaowdark, do I6 Ravenloft

[rough basalt]

Yeah would be easier but the Shadowdark community has done the conversion and have heard very positive things.

Tho I'll probably pick up I6 Ravenloft off DMsguild at some point.

What I'm being drawn to is running another game in my homebrew

But it'd be in a different country and I'd need to make some maps for it

[merry tapir]

Awesome, thank you! Do you see people preferring longer or shorter campaigns?

[crimson gulch]

theres a lot of folks that prefer either

[rough basalt]

It's best to run a game you'll enjoy running then getting people who'll play that I think that might still apply for paid games.

Cause you can often tell when a DMs heart ain't in the game and it can affect the game quality.

[severe rampart]

I concur

You can really feel when a DM has passion for their campaign

[languid pulsar]

is there any alternative for character sheets than dnd beyond? becuase i love dnd beyond's layout, its easy for me and ive always used it but my character is a unicorn and dnd beyond doesnt have it as a species :C

[winged canopy]

What's the best class to play

[severe rampart]

there is no objective "best" class (It's bard, it's bard by a long way)

[wise mica]

Paladin, my brother.

[severe rampart]

Nah, definitely a bard

[keen kestrel]

everyone knows it's really sorcerer

[severe rampart]

Your spell list? you mean our spell list.

[limber trail]

you can of course use a printed character sheet, or create a homebrew species and use that (Of course, only with DM permission)

[languid pulsar]

oooh thank you! you are a life saver

[solar briar]

fighter is the best class of course

[feral fulcrum]

Looks at Wizard

[empty thicket]

kinda, it might be the best martial inside of a spectrum

[blissful ibex]

Druid, obviously

[severe rampart]

Once again, just a bard upscale

[empty thicket]

like wizard is good in his own spectrum of casters

[winged canopy]

Yee

[blissful ibex]

but really, just play whatever looks fun or that you think you'll have fun playing

[severe rampart]

You have to maintain an agenda in DnD /j

[glass granite]

Monk!

[stark maple]

i have a question for the hybird players 2014/2024 can i use both mobile and speedy or just one

[blissful ibex]

2024 shadow monk does look fun tbh

[severe rampart]

Ask your DM

[stark maple]

i mean in general

[glass granite]

Usually I say no

[severe rampart]

Probably yeah? if they allow you to

[stark maple]

makes sense

[empty thicket]

na, its how i think and see the things
Martials//Hybrids//Casters
4 of each, each corner mean something

[blissful ibex]

in general, usually not
one is an updatyed version of the other

[glass granite]

They’re practically the same feat yeah

[stark maple]

true

[severe rampart]

Anyone else play Rogue then whiffed a stealth check so you had to run away from your opponent while spamming crossbow shots?

[blissful ibex]

I just go by recency; if' it's been reprinted, use the newest version, otherwise feel free to use the old ones unless you need the old one for somethign specific, then talk it over withyour DM

[severe rampart]

I like the luck feat, I really do, I just wished it wasn't so... nerfed

[stark maple]

still preying they rework spores druid

[blissful ibex]

generally accepted if you run it like that

[blissful ibex]

it desperately needs one, along with wildfire and Shephard

[glass granite]

I want a spore Druid with hextra (or extra) attack

[blissful ibex]

we need a non moon druid martial subclass q_q

[stark maple]

indeed

[glass granite]

I also want Kensei monk with weapon masteries

[blissful ibex]

Knesei monk but good

[stark maple]

i know it goes against it but i wanna use heavy weapons with kensei monk

mainly cause i like reflavoring my maul as a metal pipe

[blissful ibex]

that or give them a third extra attack for the level 11 feat c:

or both, both is good too

[stark maple]

kinda crazy that mordenkaian monsters kinda prediced magical damage getting removed

[empty thicket]

wish there was a feat for extra attacks tho, without being dual wielding

[stark maple]

they would be good only if it stacked with built in extra attack

[blissful ibex]

I like the change, it was kinda confusing before c:

[feral fulcrum]

There does neat to be some rather substantial investment, to avoid being blatently overpowered nonsense.

[stark maple]

true

[empty thicket]

Some classes that use marks//apply effects would use it really well
Magic weapons, ranger with HM, etc. etc.

[stark maple]

most creatures instead jdoing "magic BPS" they just changed it to force

[blissful ibex]

5 attack fighter

7 with nick + dw

[half igloo]

So…. 100% serious question. I just killed a blood wave elemental. Before I killed it I stuffed it into my flask and have a mini one. What shall I do with it to piss off my dm?

[blissful ibex]

welcome back 3.5e

[stark maple]

i feel like if you let it out it wouldnt be to happy with you

[feral fulcrum]

First of all, why do you want to piss off your DM? Second of all, as that's homebrew, up to said DM :V

[half igloo]

What if I tame it? Or like feed it and make a bigger enclosure each time

[stark maple]

how would you.. tame an elemental..?

[blissful ibex]

Start a business selling infinite blood to vampires

[stark maple]

its not a beast its an elemental

[half igloo]

THATS INGENIOUS

[blissful ibex]

Subscription based blood service

[feral fulcrum]

That'd require you to find a market of Vampires. THey're not exactly running whole cities or kingdoms, generally.

[half igloo]

You are mistaken.. as the place I got it from was a Catholic Church of vampires

[feral fulcrum]

I did specify General. Large groups of Vampires are not the norm.

[stark maple]

clearly in this world they are i guess

[half igloo]

Although too bad most are dead since we had to kill the pope in order to release some people and also turn the church into one of our party mates religion

[stark maple]

granted creatures elementals dont produce an infinite amount of what they are

[half igloo]

What if I feed it?

[feral fulcrum]

Ask thine DM

[stark maple]

im not sure but do you... know what an elemental is

they dont need to eat sleep drink or even breathe

[feral fulcrum]

As it's a creation of their making, and thus what we, random iternet people, have no say or idea on what happens when you feed it.

[half igloo]

Hmmm

[stark maple]

that is true

[feral fulcrum]

But Elementals can get bigger from having access to their, well, element.

[stark maple]

but since in an elemental made of blood

unless you "feed" it more blood i doubt its gonna do much

[half igloo]

According to the dm the last time I said jokingly that I might just feed it a bunch and release it in (insert specific place much hated) he said “please don’t lol”

[stark maple]

thats cause it might kill YOU

[half igloo]

LOL

[stark maple]

again you trapped it

[blissful ibex]

you just feed it the blood of your enemies and then extract the highter quality, quintisential blood element blood to sell for massive profit c:

[half igloo]

it’s currently very angry at me so I’d have to hold off

[stark maple]

you trapped it in a bottle no duh its angry with you

[half igloo]

True, though my character isn’t evil so ig I’d have to do something else

[blissful ibex]

That's not evil, that's just pragmatic

[half igloo]

It growled at me once so I closed the lid and shook my flask

[stark maple]

is it just "made of blood" or does it have to be a specific blood

[blissful ibex]

it gets to eat lots of tasty blood that is getting spilt anyways and you get to sell extra blood for gold

[half igloo]

Nope, specified taht it’s origin was a river of blood of many different victims

[stark maple]

victums doesnt help at all

so is humannoid blood fiend blood what

[half igloo]

Anybody

Humans, fiends, monsters

[stark maple]

i doubt cesistal blood and fiend blood would get along very well

[half igloo]

I wish there were celestials in this world, it would make my life easier if somebody killed more fiends

[cobalt owl]

Lmao for some reason "Tiamat the dark lady" comes up as "messages hidden from likely spammer"

[blissful ibex]

just need a mix of demon and devil blood and then you've got the blood war at home

[half igloo]

I should go in a side question to make sure any elemental my dm throws at me is bottled

[stark maple]

i suppose so but you will rarely find a place with demons and devils

[half igloo]

Those are some high level threats(mostly)

[feral fulcrum]

Eh, there's plenty of low level fiends.

[stark maple]

an Aarakocra Skirmisher is also a elelmental but i dont think you can bottle them

[half igloo]

Fiends are plentiful in this world so it’s fine

[half igloo]

Why not?

[stark maple]

cause its a bird that doesnt lose mass?

[blissful ibex]

I mean a secret vampire church where they're sacrificing everything and everyone to make a giant blood elemental sounds like a good place to find both if they're being summoned to be bloodlet or something

[feral fulcrum]

Because they're more Physical then Elemental. They're bird people. People with bodies generally don't fit into bottles, intact.

[half igloo]

Very sad

I’ll just have to take very special care of my blood elemental

And shake the bottle frequently to show it who’s boss

[blissful ibex]

I play a plasmoid and she'd likely be midly peeved at being put in a bottle but otherwise fine

[stark maple]

can you at least talk to it

[blissful ibex]

hence the 'generally'

[half igloo]

It understands me but It can’t talk to me

[half igloo]

Good to know most woman don’t like being put in jars

[feral fulcrum]

Infact most Elementals (Except for Water Elementals) Trend to being more Physical then pure elements. Elementals of flame tend to be thinks Like Fire Newts, Azer's, Salamders, and Magmin.

[half igloo]

Aw that’s so sad

[blissful ibex]

jars and bottles are different things

[stark maple]

dont most elemntals mainly cause its more closely related to water elemetlas speak Aquan

[feral fulcrum]

Jars are just fat bottles.

[half igloo]

The debate has started

[blissful ibex]

bottles have finesse

jars are two handed

[half igloo]

Is putting my pet blood elemental inside of a flask a good idea? Or should I put it into a jar for more visibility

[blissful ibex]

cans are futuristic tech

[feral fulcrum]

Only your DM could tell you.

[blissful ibex]

barrel
just so you can call it a blood barrel

[feral fulcrum]

It's up to them to decide the risks of any action you take.

[half igloo]

Why else would I ask you if I didn’t already know his answer lol

[knotty pasture]

Flask, and somehow have a Vampire take a generous sip out of it

[half igloo]

Would it kill them lol?

[blissful ibex]

a keg could also work

[half igloo]

BRILLIANT

[safe thistle]

are there any assassin tools, im aware of caltrops and rope, but any other items that i can be aware of, magic items included

[blissful ibex]

mirror, grappling hook, crowbar, signal whisle, bell + string,

[half igloo]

String is my favorite

[safe thistle]

oh wait, is this for 2024 only?

[feral fulcrum]

Plenty. but I wouldn't call caltrops an assassins tools.

[blissful ibex]

you;ve gotta say you mean 14 c:
though even if you do I forget half the time

[blissful ibex]

anyway steel mirror, grappling hook, crowbar, singal whistle, fishing kit and bell (you use the line to make a tripwire)

[safe thistle]

eh, they help in some cases, though not enough tbh, afterall, its only a 5 ft sq. not really big tbh. i just trying to find ways to be more effective

[blissful ibex]

dear WotC, bring back chalk in 2024 dnd,

also maybe soap

and the mess kits

flavor items are cool and good actually and we'd like more of them

[feral fulcrum]

Chalk is still very much a thing.

[lavish flame]

Chalk as an item is gone, its usage just got folded into the Ink Pen item

[analog phoenix]

anybody know any good rapier magic weapons

probably up to something rare

[flat glade]

How do i make a thing in the find a dm again? Im a bit confused

[analog phoenix]

obviously there's + weapons but that'd be boring

[wise mica]

+1

[analog phoenix]

lmao just as i typed my other one

[humble cairn]

This maybe? https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/9229175-vicious-weapon

[wise mica]

Ask ur gm about our lord and savior Flaming (1d6 fire damage on hit) or its regionally equivalent variants Shocking, Freezing, etc

Alternatively, politely ask for an "... In this essay I will explain the five hundred mechanics associated with this weapon, which has a name that translates to a poem written in elvish and has ten paragraphs of flavor text attached to the ten page document containing it's ruleset." - get told no, and argue down from there until you get a flame tongue which is also a rapier.

[green gale]

Are there roleplay text servers , 'play by posts' for DND?

[severe rampart]

#looking-for-players has quite a few

[analog phoenix]

truly the dnd experience of all time

[severe rampart]

Do it

[analog phoenix]

well thanks for suggestions guys

[flat glade]

Hello chat, hows it going

[analog phoenix]

It’s going pretty alright

[flat glade]

Thats good to hear

How long have yall been playing dnd for?

[severe rampart]

3 years not counting the on/off time

I've just recently got back to it December of last year

[analog phoenix]

4 years for me also not counting on/off

[flat glade]

I havent really played dnd too much, but ive been consuming alot of media surrounding it

Its one of my favorite TTRPG to exist

A few years worth but like 2-3 sessions lol

[worn lagoon]

august

[severe rampart]

Of 1979

[worn lagoon]

I am NOT THAT OLD

[severe rampart]

(that's my DM)

[severe rampart]

Oh sorry, BC or AD?

Anyway, how's everyone doing this fine afternoon?

[flat glade]

Im good

[worn lagoon]

roll stats with disadvantage.

[severe rampart]

Hah! I used point buy in Phandelver

[flat glade]

I feel like point allocation is alot safer and better then dice rolling

For stats

[severe rampart]

I love the thrill of dice rolling

[worn lagoon]

that makes stats feel too samey every time i play dnd

16-14 in the important stats whatever in the rest

[severe rampart]

Also chances are, if you roll terrible, you get to ask your DM for a reroll

[flat glade]

8 in INT all the time for me lol

[analog phoenix]

Fellas I was playing dark souls 2 and I feel inspired

[wise mica]

I played my first DND game in the primordial void preceding the emergence of physical law, and my first critical failure caused the big bang.

[analog phoenix]

My first game was in a weird my hero campaign

I don’t really remember what happened to be honest or how the homebrew worked

[flat glade]

Mine was like a totally fleshed out campaign with a world map and city map too

[hoary totem]

laughs in wizard the fantasy of being really smart just appeals to me much more than being superhumanly strong

[flat glade]

Im mad stupid irl so im totally fine having int as a dump stat lol

[worn lagoon]

i just roll so i can roll well and allocate 14 to int without hurting my stat spread

[rocky glacier]

;fly

[flat glade]

Strength, consitution and charisma for me

[hoary totem]

I'm always hesitant to dump int

[twin stag]

My first D&D game was back in 1980 - yes, I AM that old.

[analog phoenix]

Funny enough I just bought a headband of int for my character

[limber trail]

I find weird homebrew anime-based campaigns very funny

[flat glade]

I would learn lots from your wisdom

[worn lagoon]

I have a final fantasy 6-themed homebrew pile lying around somewhere

[analog phoenix]

It was I think I remember that one of the players tried to burn a hooker

[worn lagoon]

But it escalated into its own ttrpg system

[analog phoenix]

I don’t know why but that’s pretty much what I mostly remember

[analog phoenix]

Oh grand wizard tell us your tales

[inland basalt]

Aye lads unrelated but anyone have any success in running low to no combat campaigns? I’m Interested in designing a farming and animal husbandry themed addition to 5e or perhaps 3.5e.

[flat glade]

I have a conflict of intrest, I like killing and violence, but im also usually a paladin so i cant exaxtly be evil lol

[analog phoenix]

I’ve always wanted to try 3.5 but I don’t know any groups

[limber trail]

Can for sure be run. I'd be open about this with players. Maybe you could look into other systems too? But not sure what would hit what you're looking for

[analog phoenix]

But the things you violently murdered were obviously evil so of course it’s justified :) trust

[flat glade]

Oath if vengance for the win lmao

[limber trail]

evil paladins do exist

[twin stag]

In 5th edition Paladins most certainly can be non-good.

[flat glade]

I forgot about oathbreakers ngl

What would an evil paladin be like? Im really curious now

[analog phoenix]

Not even that your oath doesn’t necessarily mean you have to “good”

[limber trail]

An Oath of Conquest paladin can for sure be evil in nature

[harsh hollow]

Yes, you could absolutely make an evil promise. Paladins get their power from an oath.

[flat glade]

I usually associate the oath being to a god so I assume you'd have to be good, but id love to hear about evil paladins

[inland basalt]

Indeed there are better formats but I have some friends who are rather familiar with and attached to DnD. So I was curious on others experiences with running that sort of thing.

[limber trail]

I could see evil glory, crown, ancients, watchers, or vengeance paladins all working too

[harsh hollow]

It'd be easy for Oath of the Crown to be evil too depending on how the king is.

[limber trail]

not all gods are good either

[flat glade]

Also true

[limber trail]

it's harder to pull off without dipping into oathbreaking but devotion & redemption paladins are in theory possible

[harsh hollow]

I think Clerics are more towards gods but I think in 5e even they don't have to directly get power from them either.

[hot marlin]

In fact, non-good gods outnumber good gods by a fair amount

[analog phoenix]

BLOOD FOR BHAAL

[flat glade]

I've always wanted to be a paladin that would protect and be good to those who are good, but also without mercy to the rest

[limber trail]

not bhaal but Ketheric Thorm from BG3 is an evil paladin of myrkul

[prime basin]

Shoutout to my fellow Bhaal bretheren. The only one of the dead three who can actually do anything

[flat glade]

I also heard somewhere that paladins dont even have to swear an oath to gods now in 5e?

[knotty pasture]

Mostly cuz media kept focusing on Bhaal being a murder hobo

[harsh hollow]

There's a popular image of Lawful Stupid ™ paladins who are so unbending that their attempts to be the most stereotypical idea of good hurts the people around them and ignores nuance.

[prime basin]

They never really did

[limber trail]

neither clerics nor paladins need to be tied to a god specifically

paladins draw power from their oath and clerics draw power from their domain

[royal jungle]

hey er im new to dnd(very) but whats the difference between 2017 and 2024 rules

[knotty pasture]

You mean 2014

[limber trail]

those might have associated deities, but don't necessarily have to

[royal jungle]

mb..

[flat glade]

I wanna be somewhat of a murder hobo paladin, but not to the extent that it ruins it for the DM or other players, I just purely like violence lol

[analog phoenix]

To be fair bane literally has to do nothing and win

[harsh hollow]

2014 and 2024 are different versions of 5e but it'd be difficult to go into the differences in a simple conversation.

[limber trail]

I would talk with the table in session 0 about murderhobos because a lot of tables blanketly don't allow them

[dusky nebula]

my pvp campaign is finally only 6 players away from being full

[royal jungle]

are the differences major or should i learn both of them

[flat glade]

Fair, I'm totally fine with not killing EVERYONE, but like a small handful every now and again

[analog phoenix]

Ok I play a spellcaster with all the stupid annoying spells

[limber trail]

I would limit that to the enemies you fight in combat

[knotty pasture]

This is the official dnd server almost everyone is pro 2024 here

[harsh hollow]

It's complicated, most content that releases now is 2024 but understanding 2014 as base would probably be a good idea.

[analog phoenix]

Also shield

[dusky nebula]

The classes are 3 homebrew ones that give no features past level 1

[limber trail]

I would only learn whatever one you're playing. If you join a game and the DM uses 2024 rules, learn those rules. If it's 2014 rules, learn those rules.

[flat glade]

Alright, what if i wanted to do like a dark urge type thing? Or should i just stick to only killing combat encounters?

[dusky nebula]

the spellcasting class just gives you the ability to use any scroll

[royal jungle]

ok ok ty

now to find a game that welcomes newcomers... 😔

[harsh hollow]

Dark Urge isn't normal, you'd need to clear something like that with the DM well ahead of time.

[limber trail]

that is to be discussed with your DM at length but generally yeah usually you should do that

[knotty pasture]

Stick to killing combat encounters, Durge screams main character energy which doesn't roll in most tables

[flat glade]

I think i wanna just stick to killing combat encounters now tbh cause i dont wanna step on any toes

[limber trail]

the dark urge is not a normal DnD PC. If someone tried to play that at my tables, it'd come with a lot of conversations and the distinct chance of not being allowed

[harsh hollow]

I didn't realize that there'd be like, people who are drawn in by BG3 but basically need to unlearn it. x3

[scarlet trench]

Ngl DnD seems soo interesting but there's soo much that I don't even know how to learn to play it.

[knotty pasture]

Well you don't have to literally unlearn it, a lot of stuff still carries over

But it is true that a lot of stuff is automated and simplified in bg3 for one

And that Durge/origin characters are ultimately too main character'd, no one has that many perks and focus on actual tables

[harsh hollow]

Sitting someone down and telling them you can't save scum real DnD
😔

[flat glade]

On a different topic for me, I personally prefer the paladin and monk classes, i tried fighter but it seems a tad bland, but ive always wanted to try multiclassing into some magics

[twin stag]

Nobody knows everything when they first start.

[prime basin]

load the save man

[knotty pasture]

They all support some level of multiclassing into casters, especially Paladin

[flat glade]

I do suppose BG3 isnt the best referance since its LIKE dnd but not entierly

[analog phoenix]

I think the only time I was ever a “main character” kind of thing was a strixhaven one were I was a chosen of mystra it was too bad she chose someone who was too busy dealing with student loans

[flat glade]

Unfortunate

[prime basin]

Monk in 2024 is cool, but monk in 2014 was just so horrific

[harsh hollow]

Being the main character isn't always something you choose or want, but the DM doing it for you can still cause problems.

[scarlet trench]

True that

[limber trail]

it's also not fair to the other players for one person to be the main character

[analog phoenix]

It was fun to roleplay every time we finished a quest I’d find another bill from the school it was funny to me at least

[flat glade]

I like the hand to hand martial arts combat, but i also like two handed weapon fighting and magic, both very cool imo

[glass granite]

Monks are my fav class

[flat glade]

Yea id really wanna avoid that since making friends and having fun would be my top priority for all my games

[analog phoenix]

I personally use the bone wizard rework whenever I played monk but 2024 is pretty good as well

[prime basin]

I think in DND there is often a more main character player and thats usually because they are the party leader. It doesn't mean that the entire plot revolves around them individually or that they get the most playtime its usually because they take this leader position and others might slink back into being more quiet.

[knotty pasture]

Feel free to make a white Dragonborn Bhaalist Sorcerer though

Name him Dirge or something

[flat glade]

I love playing the white dragonborn lmao, i dont touch human anymore

[naive cedar]

make a black Dragonborn who just wants to spread love

[prime basin]

Ironically i made a changeling bhaalist before Orin came out

[knotty pasture]

Niro the Blue

[naive cedar]

The Light Urge

[knotty pasture]

Clearly a Light Cleric

[analog phoenix]

I made “half dragon” kobald sorcerer who’s whole deal was wanting to be a dragon it was fun to play

[naive cedar]

Pave my path with buddies. Build my castle with friends.

[twin stag]

In early versions of D&D Monks were very hard to play or even keep alive, even more so than Wizards were. Even the 2014 Monks are playable if you aren't set on being a DPR powerhouse.

[analog phoenix]

Well 4 stunning strikes at once does help

[knotty pasture]

Tbh the best 2014 Monk ended up being Shadow Monk

Which is just a walking PWT bot

[flat glade]

Hope you dont mind me asking since you played for so long, but what would you recommend a player like me do if I had to make a second character but made a very similar character to my previous one? Would it be better if i picked a different race and class?

[analog phoenix]

I thought mercy monk was considered the strongest

[knotty pasture]

No don't trust rpgbot

[latent mica]

Anyone know if dnd beyond has added proper companion functionality yet?

[knotty pasture]

Mercy is at the middle iirc

[flat glade]

Whats being a bard like?

[hushed mason]

I would go for variety, personally.

[harsh hollow]

Considering they aren't porting over Tamer due to the lack of it when they release the rest of Heliana's, probably not.

[knotty pasture]

Top 5 Monk subclasses are Shadow > Kensei > Open Hand > Mercy > Long Death

[flat glade]

I can understand why you would think that, i do unfortunatly not like change very much, but id be open to trying every now and again

[analog phoenix]

It’s fun I like being a support guy and with the subclasses I use it’s always nice to have more skill proficiency’s

[hushed mason]

It's good to stretch yourself. ALthough, I also do not like change, which is why I still play 3.5.

[harsh hollow]

I wish they'd rewrite Kensei monk and give it some love.

[worn lagoon]

Chronomancy is the strongest magic

[flat glade]

I recently started a 2 paladin 10 bard school of swords in BG3 it seems pretty cool

[analog phoenix]

There’s a rework done by a YouTuber called bone wizard if you are interested in that

[worn lagoon]

Bardadin doesn't translate super well here

[twin stag]

I had a lot of fun with my Kobold Drunken Master monk.

[harsh hollow]

Valda's has some spells that basically actually let you save scum with Chronomancy but good luck getting a DM that will let you do that.

[flat glade]

How so?

[flat glade]

Thats what brennan lee muligan said

[worn lagoon]

nobody who isn't meleelocked really wants to be close to anything, honestly

[analog phoenix]

We love Brennan in this household

[harsh hollow]

Future You is such a neat warlock subclass but it's spells are a little busted and it's one of those subclasses that needs it's spells. Like Graviturgy Wizard.

[prime basin]

"That bird is my paramour"

[flat glade]

Brennan, Matt mercer and uhh the group thats got torbek and giddion and chuckles

[flat glade]

Im a little confused, could you explain?

[harsh hollow]

What's the opinion on Adventure Zone? I don't hear much about it anymore, did they die out?

[analog phoenix]

Legends of Avantris

[flat glade]

Yea, I love all of them

[latent mica]

Mk, I’m failing to understand how people play subclasses like swarm keeper or beast master on dnd beyond :/, do you still need to homebrew your companion for each level. Last I remembered you can’t even add creatures for your character on the mobile version.

[analog phoenix]

XP to level 3 is also good

[worn lagoon]

unlike bg3 where you just devastate every enemy before they get a turn, you are better off becoming unreachable and as far away as possible

[harsh hollow]

Wildfire Druid isn't great either but yeah, you just have to keep track of it yourself.

[analog phoenix]

Also puffin forest too bad he just kinda stopped posting

[flat glade]

What would you recommend if i wanted to do melee and magic with an even use of both but still a preference to melee?

[harsh hollow]

Swarmkeeper you wouldn't need it though, your swarm is just an aspect of how your skills work. It's not a companion.

[glass granite]

Sounds like a bladesinger

[flat glade]

Correct me if im wrong but dont you need to buy digital books for different classes and whatnot for DND beyond like oath of vengance?

[worn lagoon]

just melee, you are not gonna be in any even low op table anytime soon so you can probably afford risking your neck

[harsh hollow]

Correct.

[flat glade]

I think i understand

[analog phoenix]

Yeah but to be honest I just edit a pdf of the character sheet and manually add whatever I want

[worn lagoon]

just get your hands on half plate and pay the war caster tax to be able to cast while holding a shield and weapon

[flat glade]

Yea cause i kinda dont wanna buy stuff from dnd beyond after they said they only care about your money awhile back

[analog phoenix]

I mean most businesses only care about your money

[flat glade]

That sounds really fun

[flat glade]

Thats fair but they were toxic about it so im kinda iffy about the service

[hoary totem]

chronurgy wizard fan agrees

[worn lagoon]

its like, the way to have ac

15 base +2 dex +2 shield sits at a comfortable 19 ac. 24 on demand with shield

[harsh hollow]

I think the swarm is a companion in BG3 maybe? But that's not how it works in the actual game. You also can't choose what damage type it does, there's just one mechanical way it works.

[royal jungle]

OH 2014 and 2024 difference is only classes?

[flat glade]

I can take plate mail as a paladin, then i would use the one hand sword and shield, then take defense as one of my feats as well