dnd-discussion

[fossil mulch]

Ummm hi new here looking for a new dnd group

[sterile pier]

Hi

[gentle pollen]

try the #find-a-game channels

[fossil mulch]

Thank u I didn't see find a game

[haughty nimbus]

i like the names, the issue is they feel very binary.

[sturdy tusk]

Hmm

Wdym Binary?

[sleek cloud]

Clover blackthorne

[neat marsh]

Morrow Vale

[haughty nimbus]

ah, sorry, the character themselves is nonbinary

[haughty nimbus]

I do really like this one

[sturdy tusk]

Hear me out
Azure Blight

Seren is a Name that might work?

[sleek cloud]

Seren getti

lol

[haughty nimbus]

seren Ghetti

I'm definatly getting a lot of ideas, thank's y;all

[sturdy tusk]

Np ^^

[haughty nimbus]

The character's homonculos is a chicken who they have lovingly named Inkin Bleach

[sturdy tusk]

Cool^^
My Friend's Familiar is a Duck named How How
He uses Enlarge on it, so its our Transportation a lot of the times

[haughty nimbus]

thats amazing

[sturdy tusk]

Its genuinely a Good Idea, and because of that we dont have to risk Encounters in the Forest unless we Purposely Go there

[haughty nimbus]

the dm let us all start with a magic item of a certain quality and i'm chosing the broom of flight because haha funny witch

[sturdy tusk]

Damn

If we could I would have made my Tarot Deck into a Deck of Many Things

[haughty nimbus]

i was gonna take that, but i don't like consumable magic items

although, i have to decide between guidance and mending

[sturdy tusk]

Guidance

[haughty nimbus]

yeah i figured i should

Cause for whatever reason, artificers only get two cantrips for a while

I have firebolt as my other one becasue y'know. damage incase

[sturdy tusk]

Works well

[haughty nimbus]

alright, thoughts on the name Hecate Harbringer?

The last name is a bit odd. but i don;t have any other ideas

[sturdy tusk]

Hecate

Thats an Interesting Name

[haughty nimbus]

Named after the Greek god

[sturdy tusk]

Perhaps As Mori Suggested
Vale as a Last Name

Or Blacthorne

[haughty nimbus]

Vale does sound pretty sick

[sturdy tusk]

Figured

[sturdy tusk]

Hecate Vale

[haughty nimbus]

I also like the pronunciation, Heck-cah-tee veil. it rolls off the tongue very well

[severe rampart]

I shouldn't be asked to rate names, my last characters' names are Don John N. Duragon and Jonathan U. Mann

[severe rampart]

Oh, I thought it was Heck-kate

[sturdy tusk]

Damn
For me its Victor Von Whittmann, and Dremington Detrodr

[haughty nimbus]

i looked it up, Its pronounced Heck-cah-tee

[sturdy tusk]

I thought it was He-Kah-Tee

[haughty nimbus]

realistically, its pronounced heh-kuh-tee

I just am bad with pronunciation into letters

[cinder spruce]

is anyone free to discussing a new idea i had for the start of a dnd compain?

[little stream]

Hau-ke-tuah

I'm sorry I had to

[cinder spruce]

like homemade rules kind of idea

[severe rampart]

#homebrew or #dm-world-building ?

[sturdy tusk]

Jason Voorhes is Rapidly Aprroaching your Position

Wait What Class would he be?

In DND
Reborn Race, but which Class?

[haughty nimbus]

barbarian? fighter/

[sturdy tusk]

One Correct Answer
Oath of Vengeance

[haughty nimbus]

yeah

[frosty sequoia]

Instructions on how to play a Rogue, er, sorry, Paladin, er, sorry, Harry Calahan

Because if you can't do the same things everyone else does, why bother?

Only thing missing is a required dog to tell you what god wants you to do.

[cedar kindle]

I have sleight of hand and perception on my proficiency as an artificer, should I change them into arcana and something else?

[tame kelp]

I love scribe wizard

It can instantly cast Phantom Steed

[rough basalt]

Perceptions a skill thats always good to have

[silk hare]

depends on what you want to do

[cedar kindle]

but I have 7 other teammates that rolls perception w me

[rough basalt]

As for sleight of hand, eh, usually only if you have thieves tools prof for unlocking doors

[silk hare]

arcana prof is nice bc u can craft scrolls

[cedar kindle]

I don't really know what I want to do too but in our game I need arcana for infusing and stuff

[silk hare]

still depending on style/ type of campaign its always good to have your own perception, especially if your dm would want your party to communicate IF they find sth and dont want you to metagame

[cedar kindle]

so should I just give up sleight of hand for arcana?

[silk hare]

such as: finding traps in a dungeon

your party members might notice/ might have noticed

but if u dont when you are about to step on the trap, that doesnt help you all that much

[frosty sequoia]

Unless you want to run a 3-card Monty grift...

[silk hare]

sleight of hand is usually not used all that much unless u have high dex to bein with/ are playing a rogue in most campaigns from my experience

especially bc unless explicitly obvious, also requires player action to to make certain decisions

such as "hey I would like to try and steal XYZ", "I want to disarm...", "I want to try and open"...

[frosty sequoia]

If your background contained a fascination with 'magic,' before you discovered real magic, and you were doing card tricks and the like.
So, a progression, if you will.

[rough basalt]

Yeah and if you have a rogue may as well treat the skill like it doesnt exist

[cedar kindle]

I don't really steal nor have I gotten the opportunity (however I am very greedy w gold) and I've only ever used it once

we have a ranger

so I give up sleight of hand yeahh?

[silk hare]

again, depends on what you want out of the character

[cedar kindle]

I don't know I just want an arcana but it seems perception is the better out of the two I have rn 😔

sorry guys I'm rlly indecisive

we have a ranger w +5 on dex anyways so like

[harsh kernel]

Having the ability to more or less ignore non magical locks is generally useful even if you are not “thieving” for slight of hand

[cedar kindle]

oh man I'm so confused idk what to give up LOL

can I just let the ranger do the opening non magical locks

if I had proficiency w arcana it'd be +8 then perception at +4 and sleight of hand at +5

[harsh kernel]

So Arcana is a “I know how magic works” check and general magic insight

[cedar kindle]

or +7 on perception and +8 on arcana

[harsh kernel]

Again it’s how you want to flavor it for your character

[cedar kindle]

😞

my character needs arcana more and he's neither dextrous nor strong despite being a half orc

[frosty sequoia]

DM says Roll d6

[harsh kernel]

Let’s the fates decide. Yes

[cedar kindle]

hmm

yk what hell yeah, thanks!

[frosty sequoia]

NP. It's right there in the first couple pages from my 1978 copy of the DM's Guide.

I think Perception would be a good choice, if you can't bring yourself to throw the die, especially if you wish to be an artificer who creates things-Perception can show you you're on the wrong path when creating something.

[harsh kernel]

Speaking on DM looking to run a 5e2024 rule game for the first time and trying to figure out if anything is drastically changed for that end. The master guide is clean I like it but not sure what if anything has changed

[frosty sequoia]

No clue. I'm using my '78 version of everything.

No spread sheets, no min/maxing

no GD talking elephants.

[harsh kernel]

Fair we have been playing 3rd for a fun break for a bit

Also my daughter is now old enough I feel to play a real dnd game so looking to play modern so she knows what the current rules are

[frosty sequoia]

Pre-cantrip world. Aggggghhhhh...

[harsh kernel]

Level 0 spells lol

[frosty sequoia]

argh

[silk hare]

some stuff, as well as some classes like warlocks

but I think youll be able to run the game just fine with 5e knowledge, and when 2024 rulings become relevant then deal with them at that point

[harsh kernel]

Ok doke. Out of curiosity what changed with WL?

[silk hare]

as far as Im aware, a lot of the changes are e.g. semantics, or only important for deep in matter ruling questions/qol

such as "known" and prepared spells for all classes

[silk hare]

ah, well the pact magic, lvl 3 feature in 2014 is now an invocation

[harsh kernel]

Warlock sorry

[frosty sequoia]

Another thing I don't have in my world. You know what you know, all the time, no relearning

[silk hare]

all good, Im just a bit slow today lol

[frosty sequoia]

You practiced casting every spell your teachers knew while being instructed. Memorized.

you develope the ability to use higher-power spells by working up to them

[silk hare]

so theoretically you could have a warlock with pact of the chain, pact of the blade and pact of the tome all at once

[frosty sequoia]

in the meantime, you can attempt to case any spell you were taught.

[silk hare]

• they get to change it every level if they want to, bc they can just swap the invocation yk

[harsh kernel]

That sounds interesting. Especially if you flavor it with a jellious deity who treats it like a break up

[silk hare]

but imo a lot of the changes (other than e.g. actual "new" mechanics like circle casting, which I personally havent touched with a 10ft pole so I couldnt tell you more)

are either "semantics" nice QOL changes/ balancing for classes or enemies, or just rewritten stuff/erratas on stuff that wasnt entirely clear/ needed better wording

[harsh kernel]

Yes that was my first impression as well but wanted to make sure

[silk hare]

I mean deity stays the same, you can just use different aspects and respec

also makes a lot more sense, bc I personally already used it in that manner (nothing sucks more than picking the lvl 3 invoc to later realise it sucks/ it would ahve sucked early on but later it becomes viable and not being able to respec it yk)

just makes the character unfun imo over, what is (in my opinion) just semantics

[harsh kernel]

That is fair. Don’t need to ruin the fun because you are learning a new class to play

[silk hare]

also ranger got some good changes in 2024, feels more powerful/worthwile imo

[silk hare]

exactly

I always give the option to use those 2 classes from 2024 even though I usually only run 2014 game(s)

simply bc its good QOL life changes that I also personally like a lot

[harsh kernel]

I do like the new approach to character building over all

[silk hare]

True ywah thats another big one

[wild forge]

Is there a place on the server for someone look for one shots?

[harsh kernel]

It’s clean. And if someone dies makes it rather streamlined to roll up a new character

[silk hare]

#find-a-game

[harsh kernel]

That is why I was asking if anything big changed for the DM side of the screen

[shy stirrup]

You could of course require backup characters, but failing that if streamlining the process of making up a new sheet is the goal, then folks ought to reconsider their 300-page backstories, just sayin'

Because one reason, among others, why character death was more acceptable in the past was that older systems made it pretty easy to whip up a sheet in short order, 5e, even without the 3000-page backstory, aint' quite as easy

[harsh kernel]

I’ve played for over a decade and I have yet to see someone show up to a game with a lv >3 character with a extend backstory lol

[crimson gulch]

I have seen it a few times

[fluid orchid]

Is there an update for hexblade 2024 even a UA? Also any new eldritch invocations?

[crimson gulch]

It's not hard now either, I have charicters die and have their replacement ready in 10 minuts

[shy stirrup]

True, don't want to oversell it, 5e cha creation can be fairly fast, if you know what you want

[harsh kernel]

That is my experience as well rolling new character is fairly simple even with out the backstory

[still plover]

Seems to be: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/ua/horror-subclasses

Focuses on upgrading hex, I believe.

[placid sand]

Has anyone played the LoTR campaign? How did you like it? 👀

[fluid orchid]

Are there any new eldritch invocations? I think i saw somewhere Knight of Agathys and stuff

[fresh laurel]

have you guys ever played a detective campaign?

holy dead chat

[paper portal]

bro its been ONE minute

[fresh laurel]

whaat

no bro

like the chat was dead for 20 minutes

[severe spire]

Does anybody know of any dnd alternatives I could play? I’ve burnt myself out on BG3, and I find it hard to join a campaign because of my rotating work schedule but I have had a hankering to play dnd for like the past year and now I’m just itching for anything lol

[livid brook]

mods

[lyric viper]

For video games: Solasta, older D&D games like Neverwinter Nights, Planescape Torment, similar games to BG3 like Dragon Age or Divinity Original Sin.

[lavish flame]

Two TTRPGs that are similar in theme to D&D released just last year. Draw Steel! and Daggerheart. Draw Steel is a little more combat focused, Daggerheart is a little more narrative focused.

[severe spire]

I should amend my statement, in that I moreso miss the part of dnd where it’s people, whether in a call or in person, creating characters with a dm that creates a story or uses the books. I guess my main grievance with the games is I find them to be extremely linear

[severe spire]

Dagger heart sounds more my jam, is it on steam?

[lavish flame]

no its a tabletop roleplaying game, its like a book you buy and play with friends

[severe spire]

I’ll have to check it out, at this point I’ve resulted to using AI and even that has its limits, man I have to see if there’s a one shots tab here or something, ANYTHING lolol

[humble cairn]

Ew, don't use AI. If your schedule doesn't match with people's times, try PBP.

[severe spire]

PBP?

[humble cairn]

AI is just going to make you worse at actually roleplaying.

[severe spire]

Yeah I didn’t want to use it, but I feel like an addict who needed to scratch the proverbial itch lol, I used it maybe twice and found it rather boring

[humble cairn]

Play By Post, it's a style of roleplaying that uses posting text to play, so people post to a forum or play by email because you don't all have to be synchronous.

[barren pagoda]

Do people create new spells? Like is that a thing? For example, a warlock who wants to have their own fey flavoured spells to replace the existing ones. So instead of Toll the Dead with necrotic damage, they do the same mechanics and spell but for psionic damage?

[humble cairn]

The DNDBeyond website has forums and people play by post there: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/play-by-post

[severe spire]

Depends on the DM, in my previous experiences. Although I do believe a certain wizard class lets you mess with spell damage types, as well as sorcerer

[lavish flame]

playing-by-post. Using a forum/fiscord chat and typing your dialogue while maintaining a character sheet and playing with other people. Its often a slower style, as people play whenever they have time, but it can lead to some MUCH better rp than live action improv for the average person.

[barren pagoda]

“Mock the damned and the beaten”

[barren pagoda]

So it’s not a common thing?

[humble cairn]

Reflavoring your spells is encouraged, but that usually means keeping all the mechanics the same.

[humble cairn]

Describing spells differently is very very common. I described my Eldritch Blast as flung daggers made of moonlight, same mechanics, though.

[severe spire]

Of the 5 groups I’ve been in over the years, it varies. Some people love the hombrew and freedom to create and others play linear, that’s the only reason I say it depends on the DM, also the group

[barren pagoda]

So damage type isn’t changed?

[severe spire]

Wait are you just describing it deferintky or making like a new spell out of an existing one

Differently

[shy stirrup]

Flavour is free, and spell reflavours ought to garner no objections.

Yes, you can make your own spells. But just because you can, doesn't necessarily mean you should, but it is worth nothing virtually every spell in the game was originally somebody's homebrew 🤷‍♂️

[severe spire]

Thank you, I’m gonna check it out now!

[humble cairn]

I say more often not, but it's a fairly tiny homebrew step since damage type doesn't matter that much.

[severe rampart]

I mean, I flavor my poison spray as my Yuan Ti biting a person and injecting his venom into them

[lavish flame]

In the fiction, yes they do. This is where we get stuff like Bigby's Hand and Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion and Jallarzi's Storm of Radiance. There is not really mechanics for this available for your character, homebrewing is typically the DM's territory.

I figure many DMs would be okay with you pitching a new spell after you've progressed a good amount.

[severe rampart]

If you say it has 30 ft of range, I'll just say he has a really long neck.

[humble cairn]

You can do so much with just changing flavor that I, personally, think it's too muc hassle to homebrew the mechanics.

[barren pagoda]

Not every spell tbh, but I was thinking about instead of Toll the Dead which deals increasing damage if the target is already weak, but instead I wanna flavour it with Vicious Mockery. Where you laugh at someone who has already taken damage to deal psionic damage (EMOTIONAL DAMAGE)

[humble cairn]

Just describe it that way and leave the damage type alone.

[lavish flame]

Necrotic is already one of the more abstract damage types, the emotional damage can just manifest Necrotic-ly

[humble cairn]

I've described the Shield spell as supernaturally enhanced parrying.

[barren pagoda]

Fair. I just thought it’d be more logical to deal it with psionic damage instead of necrotic damage, especially if the person isn’t related to undeads magic

Like an Archfey warlock

[grizzled lance]

I might be the sol bad guy

[grizzled lance]

Necrotic is just described as destroying the body and maybe even the soul

[winged bobcat]

Unpopular opinion: necromancy is not the most evil school of magic. Enchantment is.

[fossil hollow]

thats what ive been saying

[lavish flame]

this is a fairly popular opinion

[fossil hollow]

cant a wizard raise a family in peace?

[silk hare]

you mean cant a wizard raise the pieces of a family, right?

who cares if the arms legs and torso are still connected and "1" xD

[fossil hollow]

:)

[grizzled lance]

I’ve never heard that opinion be unpopular

[torpid hound]

Fun fact: The Devil from Cuphead acts like an actual D&D devil, while the Ink Demon from Bendy acts like a D&D demon

[fossil hollow]

its almost like theyre called what theyre closest to

[torpid hound]

D&D is one of the few media that distinguishes devils and demons

Pretty sure

[ornate rapids]

and has the neutral inbetween, yugoloths

[lavish flame]

and the other neutral inbetween, Demodands!

[fossil hollow]

demodands are neat, shame theyre stuck in carceri

[uncut zenith]

Yugoloths my beloved

[winged bobcat]

And yet? Games and systems and tables regularly treat it that way it seems. And it's kinda weird because the idea is that necromancy has the potential to trap a soul and that's why it's evil, but enchantment does that with a cantrip right out the gate. The entire school is just built on the concept. Friends, Charm Person, Dominate, Enthral...and it's weird because lore wise necromancers have to hide but the local enchanter whether wizard or bard is just walking around

[novel moth]

I almost think D&D is one of the few games that have a concept of devils

[grizzled lance]

I don’t even think that’s remotely right but pop off

[winged bobcat]

I mean, ok, let me ask you this: how often does punishing a player using the enchantment school happen in a game versus punishing one summoning a skeleton?

[barren badger]

I don’t think it’s necessarily that the school of necromancy is evil, but spells that specifically raise the dead are taboo.

[grizzled lance]

Neither usually

[novel moth]

I think it depends on how often it is noticeable.

[barren badger]

How often are you all summoning skeletons around townsfolk or NPCs?

[uncut zenith]

That’s not as unpopular of an opinion as you think it is

[winged bobcat]

How often does a person cast a spell of the enchantment school in public? I mean, you'll see the paladin player be annoying when he sees the skeleton get summoned but when do you see anyone speak up about Charm Person? I'm just saying it's a little weird.

Especially because more DND horror stories I've seen involve some creep trying to spell the barmaid

[barren badger]

I think enchantment spells are more likely to be used in social encounters

[uncut zenith]

Necromancy related to undeath is generally considered evil, but you have to keep in mind a lot of resurrection spells are also necromancy. Enchantment, on the other hand, is almost universally bad due to the fact that it removes another person/creature’s agency.

[winged bobcat]

That doesn't make it more ethical lol

[grizzled lance]

What the nothic said

[barren badger]

Oh this was just in reference to the “how often do people get mad about certain spells”

I think it’s better to consider certain spells evil rather than entire schools of magic.

[fossil hollow]

iirc, bless, heroism are one of the few enchantment spells that dont charm or take over someone

[lavish flame]

Enchantment magic is referenced in Waterdeep's Code Legal, so I figure its got some punishments associated with it

[grizzled lance]

Bless is enchantment?

[fossil hollow]

yeap

[grizzled lance]

Didn’t know that

[fossil hollow]

not much people realize it is

[barren badger]

Catnap!

[grizzled lance]

Kinda functions more like its own spell tbh

[fossil hollow]

oh, good catch

[fossil hollow]

it makes sense, since youre enchanting someone's ability to do better in certain things

[winged bobcat]

Weirdly enough this actually presents a good ethical stance for Bards via Countercharm. Usually bards are portrayed as the playboys but imagine wholesome Chad Bard being like 'i will automatically counter spell any enchantment spell'

[barren badger]

I think there’s a cantrip that lets you share your own thoughts too

[fossil hollow]

i dont think ive seen a playboy bard in over 2 years

[grizzled lance]

Same here

It’s a over done thing

[winged bobcat]

Yeah but the stereotype does exist. But Which weirdly makes it that bards are more ethical by nature than paladins in a way, except without the annoying hero complex

[lavish flame]

Encode Thoughts iirc

[fossil hollow]

at most, it was me making a meme backup character of a warforge bard who was a playboy. cuz gender is a social construct

[winged bobcat]

Goddamn it that was good

[grizzled lance]

I hate that

[winged bobcat]

Nah that was funny

[torpid hound]

I once had an idea for a Bard with literal horns (Minotaur or something) who's a celibate

[grizzled lance]

“Gender may be a social construct but I am an animated one”

[fossil hollow]

even gave them the stereotypical purple coat and hat

[fossil hollow]

what?

[torpid hound]

Word that I can't say here

[grizzled lance]

Virgin?

[winged bobcat]

But yeah, it's kinda funny. Paladins have a tendency to be annoying while the stereotype is that they're ethical. Meanwhile bards have a tendency to be ethical with a stereotype of being annoying

[empty siren]

Hello

[torpid hound]

Horn + a letter

[grizzled lance]

Ohhhh

[fossil hollow]

as a paladin main, i do not claim the lawful stupids or the ones going through a crisis of faith

[winged bobcat]

I wonder why paladins attract edgelords so much anyways?

[fossil hollow]

vengeance, conquest, oathbreaker

[empty siren]

How is dnd played anyway, ik some fantasy and magic stuff but what else

[fossil hollow]

ive never seen a non edgy paladin who was not one of those three subclasses

[grizzled lance]

I don’t know I just got here

[winged bobcat]

Yeah but there's equally edgy stuff elsewhere too? Shadow sorcery, most of warlock, some fighters...I think it's because playing a paladin implies you're confirmed as 'right' by the game world

[shy stirrup]

The edgelord chicken and egg problem.

What came first, the edgelord, or the edgelord-friendly class/builds?

[fossil hollow]

theres just something about being a self righteous and driven person who can smite down upon foes

[fossil hollow]

check out #dnd-newcomers

[winged bobcat]

Oathbreaker played wholesome: broke paladin oath trying to do the right thing, doesn't dwell on it doesn't make it anyone's problem, just says 'yeah, I did it, I accept it, and it's fine. Let's go get drinks'

[grizzled lance]

That’s the issue

Oath breakers are meant to be evil

[fossil hollow]

im a hard believer of OB being locked to evil

[barren badger]

Can any class be an edgelord?

[grizzled lance]

Your actively denying your oath to walk down a path of evil

[fossil hollow]

you dont get it from merely breaking a wee little rule that you can atone from.

you get it when you reject your light

[winged bobcat]

Yes. But it's much harder to not be an edgelord for some

[shy stirrup]

Good question.

[limber trail]

I do also believe that but mainly because people just don't understand what an oathbreaker paladin is

[limber trail]

I don't agree, I think it takes minimal effort to not be an edgelord

[grizzled lance]

Legit any class in 5e can be an edge lord

[fossil hollow]

more like they ignore the text around describing what they are

[grizzled lance]

Some harder then others

[barren badger]

An oathbreaker is a paladin who breaks their sacred oaths to pursue some dark ambition or serve an evil power.

Yeah it specifically says evil

[winged bobcat]

I'd argue it's that they don't care. They have a fantasy of being the misunderstood loner that 'does what he has to do' or some shit

[barren badger]

It’s not breaking an oath, it’s breaking an oath to do evil.

[limber trail]

now that's very fair and that's where I'd point them to one of the oaths that supports that fantasy

[winged bobcat]

Flavor text is a suggestion not a hard rule

[fossil hollow]

mfw conquest and vengeance exists for that reason

[grizzled lance]

Requiment: 3 levels in Paladin evil aliment

[fossil hollow]

its a hard rule in the dmg that ob must be evil

[grizzled lance]

Wdym

We are not escaping the can’t read allegations

[winged bobcat]

And flavor is free. There's also a hard rule that says anything can be flavored however so long as mechanical attributes stay the same

[grizzled lance]

Omfg

[fossil hollow]

when youre changing the prerequisites of the subclass, that aint flavor

[winged bobcat]

Looks as Bladesinger

[fossil hollow]

at least that one got reprinted without it

twice

[grizzled lance]

Blade singer doesn’t have any of those anymore

[turbid vessel]

Oathbreaker as a subclass, sure, it's pretty evil. But I think the act of "oathbreaking" can come with any morality and story. Not everyone who breaks their oath becomes an oathbreaker, after all

[fossil hollow]

also, we dont talk about scag unless its for oath of the crown

[winged bobcat]

And no one really cared before the reprint. I'm just saying that if you're locking a story telling system by the story that the dev wrote I think it misses the point

[fossil hollow]

exactly!

[barren badger]

Idk if it is a prereq

You can use the rules in the Player’s Handbook to create NPCs with classes and levels, the same way you create player characters. The class options below let you create two specific villainous archetypes: the evil high priest and the evil knight or antipaladin.

The Death Domain is an additional domain choice for evil clerics, and the Oathbreaker offers an alternative path for paladins who fall from grace. A player can choose one of these options with your approval.

[fossil hollow]

just because your conquest paladin doesnt do conquest stuff anymore dosnt mean theyre ob

[fossil hollow]

read a bit more

[limber trail]

"A paladin must be evil and at least 3rd level to become an Oathbreaker. The paladin replaces the features specific to his or her Sacred Oath with Oathbreaker features." is a direct quote, read further on

[barren badger]

Ooos!

[winged bobcat]

And personally I will continue to treat these things as suggestions and don't believe people should be hard constrained to limit their characters stories

[fossil hollow]

my issue is that willy nilly allowing OB is harming the severity of becoming one in the first place

[barren badger]

Give me the “I didn’t read the text” hat please….

[limber trail]

it comes for us all

[shy stirrup]

That it does

[grizzled lance]

Yeah being an oath breaker isn’t a good thing

[fossil hollow]

there is a difference in a change of focus and abandoning your sacred vow for something truly evil

[winged bobcat]

That's a coherent case. I think it requires more interrogation by the DM than other subclasses sure

[grizzled lance]

If someone were to tell me they were an other breaking I would’ve decently worried

[limber trail]

A paladin breaking their oath isn't the same as becoming an Oathbreaker Paladin

[shy stirrup]

Meanwhile BG3 is like,
Paladin misclicks on apple, stealing it
"Ye have broken yer Oath, Paladin..."

[fossil hollow]

i hate how bg3 does it

[barren badger]

You don’t magically get death powers

[grizzled lance]

Same here

[limber trail]

one of the things I most dislike about BG3

[winged bobcat]

It's like...if someone wants to play a warlock with a demonic patron. You have to discuss that with the player more than if you had a warlock with a fey patron

[barren badger]

Same.

[fossil hollow]

but i understand its due to technical limitations

[ornate topaz]

What would be a cool first feat to take st lvl 4 for pugilist? Im rocking the bloodhound bruiser subclass and have the criminal origin

[grizzled lance]

BG3 has tarnished the reputation of oath breaker in 5e

[fossil hollow]

eh, fey get up to more bullshit than demons do imo

[winged bobcat]

Tavern Brawler. Ruffian. Any unarmed feat?

[winged bobcat]

Fair but the point remains

[fossil hollow]

remember, these are the ones that are based off the boogeymen of the medieval europe

[grizzled lance]

Why tavern brawler?

[ornate topaz]

I looked into tavern brawler and it other thab the +1 str or con it doesnt do anything else

[grizzled lance]

There’s no any good feats for unarmed combat tbh

[fossil hollow]

fiends at least have the option of being a one and done deal

[ornate topaz]

So just slap tough on it and call it a dah then?

[fossil hollow]

you know archfey are coming back

[grizzled lance]

Pretty much

[limber trail]

Grappler has been a decent time

[grizzled lance]

Yeah but grappler isn’t stuck to unarmed combat through

[fossil hollow]

its part of unarmed strikes, at least in 2024

[grizzled lance]

You can grapple someone and stick them with a spear if you wanted

Free advantage and all that

[winged bobcat]

I mean I had it on my wizard.

[grizzled lance]

If you want my recommendation just take something that gives you hex so you can add a d6 to your damage

Or if your using marks mark of finding is a decent one

[winged bobcat]

Yeah there's like a new feat that directly gives hex right?

[limber trail]

Fey Touched does

[winged bobcat]

No not fey touched the other one

[fossil hollow]

or at least, fey touch can give ya hex

[limber trail]

it doesn't improve your best stats, is something worth considering. It only works with mental stats

[winged bobcat]

From the new book

[fossil hollow]

cant remember anything from faerun that gives hex

oh wait, is it lorwyn?

[winged bobcat]

Shadowmoor hexer

[severe rampart]

Players facing a TPK

[grizzled lance]

Kill

[limber trail]

skill issue shouldve locked in

[fossil hollow]

oh, ofc its from lorwyn

[winged bobcat]

Vampire touched also works

[fossil hollow]

finish them

[grizzled lance]

Lorwyn is so unknown bro 😭

[winged bobcat]

What's wrong with lorwyn?

[fossil hollow]

i hate the supplement they put out, it dosnt do the place justice

[winged bobcat]

Dude I haven't played DND in over a year and I know? What are you talking about?

[grizzled lance]

Well it wasn’t really an entire supplement it was more or less a small thing people got for ordering something

[fossil hollow]

i would have prefered an actual setting book like theros than what we got

[grizzled lance]

I forgot exactly what it was

[fossil hollow]

it was a preorder bonus for the forgotten realms books

[grizzled lance]

Yeah

[limber trail]

lorwyn is not very good and does not see a lot of play

I've never seen anyone use it or content from it

[winged bobcat]

More options is more options is what I say

[fossil hollow]

now, if we were talking in an mtg context, lorwyn is pretty good

the supplement is shit tho

[grizzled lance]

One of the dms I was playing “2024 content only”

[barren badger]

Better or worse than book of hunger?

[grizzled lance]

So I picked out a fairy from lorwyn and he was wondering

[fossil hollow]

worse

[grizzled lance]

Book of hungers is alright

[winged bobcat]

I don't like talking about that book lol

[fossil hollow]

it takes the cake for me solely because lorwyn has rimekin

[grizzled lance]

What’s wrong with the RIMMMkin

[fossil hollow]

what. a freaking. shit species. i was so hyped about a new species, especially its also new in mtg lore

[fossil hollow]

their most notable features are cold resistance and you can turn flameblade into cold damage

once. per. day.

[grizzled lance]

Is that it?

[fossil hollow]

yes

theyre otherwise just a cold fire genasi

[grizzled lance]

Hm it’s serviceable I guess

[barren badger]

Playing a Boggart. Use the Goblin species (see Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse) when creating a boggart player character.

I HATE this.

playing this species? just use this species!

[stoic haven]

Talked to my friend's younger brother who is a DM, and one of his new players is a Druid/Barbarian

[fossil hollow]

at least in ddb it gives you the lorwyn version

[stoic haven]

I'm asking why, why did he allow multiclassing for new people

[barren badger]

wow this is a really bad species

[fossil hollow]

ikr

and theyre a new addition in loreywn lore too! flamekin who have lost their passion in exchange for cold, hard pragmaticism!

[livid brook]

whats the new species that can cast spells psychically

[fossil hollow]

huh?

[grizzled lance]

None

We don’t have any psy creatures in
5.5e yet

[fossil hollow]

what do you mean by physically

oh, my dyslexia is hitting hard

[grizzled lance]

Wait physically?

[livid brook]

psychically*

[winged bobcat]

I still can't believe they gave Astarion his own book

[grizzled lance]

Huh..

[fossil hollow]

githyanki and githerazai

[barren badger]

tbf it was digital only

i think

[winged bobcat]

I mean, it's still kinda messed up giving the racist narcissistic abuser a book.

[grizzled lance]

BG3 lore goes hard

[barren badger]

im always happy to get more vampire statblocks

[winged bobcat]

Yeah but half the player base is just like 'but he's hot!' and that's enough for them I guess. I can't say I'm surprised the corpos are marketing what works, but it's still kinda messed up to me

[grizzled lance]

Vampires suck in 5e over all through

[peak pecan]

That’s kind of their thing

[winged bobcat]

Werewolf players be like:

[grizzled lance]

When you get the werewolf disease your not in control anymore

[rough basalt]

I think 5e does them as well as they can for what dnd is

[winged bobcat]

Depends on lore. Some more says the same about vampirism

[rough basalt]

A lot of tropes and powers one could apply to vampires are stuff that aren't good for a product trying to get everyone on the market.

[grizzled lance]

In 5e it was a few stat buffs and immunity to non slivered BPS

[novel moth]

Sounds like a cool new monster

[grizzled lance]

In 5.5e it’s whenever you drop to 0 hit points you just turn into a were wolf with 25 hp

[barren badger]

https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/973-embracing-your-wild-side-playing-as-a-lycanthrope

these is this article. You could maybe use this?

[fossil hollow]

im still mad they didnt keep the regen from the ravenloft books

[barren badger]

yeah, i truly do hate it

[winged bobcat]

So what's everyone's opinion on the circle magic mechanic anyways? Since it's been over a year since I played, I have no idea how tables handle it

[lavish flame]

I imagine Ravenloft might have some stuff for playing a Werewolf

[barren badger]

i think most dont allow it

[fossil hollow]

better as a dm tool who can spam mages and caster monsters

[limber trail]

ive never seen it in actual gameplay

[winged bobcat]

Aww...but it seems fun. Friendship but make it a mechanic

[barren badger]

i dont think i'd allow my players to use it unless they did something to "unlock" it

[lavish flame]

My players have never used it once

[fossil hollow]

i was tempted to use it in a fight with og manshoon and 4 manshoon simulacrums

[barren badger]

it's far too powerful for players imo

[lavish flame]

Its been allowed, I've made reference to it, they just don't use it

[limber trail]

the one time i miss a session

[fossil hollow]

ikr

you wont believe what will happen next time you come back

[winged bobcat]

I don't know, I mean sure you can double the size of a fireball but that requires three actions from the economy. That balances out to me

[limber trail]

oh god

[fossil hollow]

yeah, it takes more resources and action economy to edit one spell

[limber trail]

i remember just being like "hey i wonder how the group is going let me check the disco- oh"

[lavish flame]

This is the big thing. You neuter you party's effectiveness to make 1 spell bigger. I don't think its really that good in most cases

[fossil hollow]

rip our turtle

[limber trail]

rip the turtle

[severe rampart]

That's one death...

[fossil hollow]

i saw it used once to extend the duration of detect magic i think

[winged bobcat]

Then why ban it? If it's not busted and it provides more options I don't see the harm then

[fossil hollow]

yaaaaay!

blood for the DM!

[winged bobcat]

Because at that point it comes off like 'i don't like new thing I don't understand' more than a balance problem

[limber trail]

three/four/five/whatever to go....

[severe rampart]

Critical hit from Bugbear*

[barren badger]

its not just incombat, its out of combat.

Prolonged greater invisibility feels like a nightmare. (1 minute --> 1 hour)

[severe rampart]

I've rolled four natural 20s on enemy attacks

[limber trail]

good

[barren badger]

idk, i dont think many of the spells were balanced around circle casting and my players are very creative

[grizzled lance]

Black flash black flash black flash black flash

That enemy might be Yuji

[winged bobcat]

I mean, that makes sense though. You have a party contributing.

[limber trail]

Faster, purple echo! Kill! Kill!

[fossil hollow]

lmaoooo

[grizzled lance]

lol

[severe rampart]

that's two deaths.

[fossil hollow]

yaaay!

[limber trail]

YES!!!

[fossil hollow]

more bloood!!!

[rough basalt]

Now for number 3

[grizzled lance]

And 4

[limber trail]

The chat is circle casting TPK today

[fossil hollow]

can we get a 3rd, going once

[grizzled lance]

We’re all watching from the stands hoping for a TPK

[woven flint]

🗿 yes.

[limber trail]

Did I see fishboy druid incoming?

[woven flint]

i dunno

[barren badger]

I dont think the additional cost is reallllly that much. An action isnt that much to ask of players.

[livid brook]

nvm found it. its called the psion

[woven flint]

Brother doesn't even care Artanza is gone even though he's the one who lead us into an ambush? Smh...

[limber trail]

well

Ofc I care I'm just curious whats coming next!!!

[barren badger]

I dont think i would flat out ban it at my table, but i would like circle casting to be something my players unlock or learn, rather than just "its always an option"

[woven flint]

Might be the Dragonborn Bard

Might be something else entirely

[barren badger]

like, i dont think my sorcerer, warlock, cleric, and bard just inherently know how to cast a spell together

[novel moth]

I banned circle casting before it even came out

[shy stirrup]

Ritual (aka Circle) casting is an strong theme, but yea, players ought not to be Power Rangers, ought to be some legwork before they collective tear a hole in the fabric of the Planes

[livid brook]

tf is circle casting

[novel moth]

I also banned twilight 2.0 before it comes out

[still plover]

I have two warlocks who are related and the chance of them being able to collaborate on a spell is... slim.

[novel moth]

And shepherd Druid

[paper cedar]

I read Heroes of Faerun, but I didn't quite understand how it works

[barren badger]

Has it even been announced yet...?

[livid brook]

may i ask why

[novel moth]

A way a group of spell casters can make spells more powerful

[barren badger]

We dont even know what these classes would look like

[woven flint]

Me questioning why people would ban circle casting as it just emcourages casters to spend spellslots and therefore goes through more resources

[livid brook]

9th level fireball circle casting?

[barren badger]

I think only the primary spellcaster expends a spellslot

[severe rampart]

4 deaths in three sessions 🫠

[novel moth]

No. But they did make shepherd Druid I think it is. That uses a similar concept

[plucky nebula]

guidance my beloved

[limber trail]

TPK?? TPK??

[woven flint]

No, all of them do

[severe rampart]

Not a TPK

[limber trail]

Dang :(

[novel moth]

I think it depends on the effect/spell. but I could be wrong.

[severe rampart]

Two deaths from session 1, two deaths from session 3 (Session right now)

[barren badger]

are you sure?

After you initiate the spell, each secondary caster takes the Magic action to contribute to the spell. A secondary caster can take this action only while within 30 feet of you and before the start of your next turn.```

[severe rampart]

Wizard and Bard died and then Cleric and Monk

[barren badger]

Some Circle spells require secondary casters to expend one or more spell slots to participate in the spell's casting.

Ah, so its a small number of spells i guess

but for non-frhof spells, it does not

[woven flint]

You don't have to be rude lol

But they also take a magic action and therefore spend their main action during their turn.

It's still doing SOMETHING

[barren badger]

I apologize, i did not mean to come across as rude.

And yes, in combat it expends resources. But out of combat, it does not really require any additonal resources

[novel moth]

Most of the spells you are going to circle cast probably wouldn’t be done during combat or close enough to matter.

[woven flint]

True, I suppose

[novel moth]

Like you can precast delayed fireball.

[barren badger]

Want to cast a spell a mile away? Great, just get 5 other people who can cast a spell.

[novel moth]

Yeah.

That’s primarily why I banned it.

[woven flint]

OH, actually, I WAS correct.
Certain actions with Circle Casting requires secondary casters to expend a spell slot as mentioned in those actions.

[winged bobcat]

Then that's just being incoherent. Banning something before you know details or mechanics isn't wise. It's just being fearful dressed up as stubbornness

[barren badger]

Oh very true!

[novel moth]

It was in unearthed arcana

[woven flint]

Expand, Prolong and Supplant

[barren badger]

Expand, Prolong, supplant, all require it

[winged bobcat]

And yet banning the official version before seeing the final test case doesn't make any more sense.

[barren badger]

I dont think it has to be a spell slot of the same level, which might matter? But probably not

[woven flint]

I like how Supplant uses Revivify as an example 😭

We all jumping in to revive homie

[novel moth]

Based in the phb they clearly don’t balance things before printing them

[barren badger]

I dont think the mechanic is necessarily broken, but I worry that my players might find ways to like... break the world in ways that were not intended.

If my players show interest in circle casting a specific spell, i might have them practice casting the spell or seek out experts in circle casting to circle cast a spell.

I think it would be more interesting that way too.

[novel moth]

So it was safe to assume the issues with circle casting would still be present once it was printed. And they were

[barren badger]

Also once again @woven flint, I do apologize. I'll try to check my tone a bit more in the future.

[woven flint]

Circle casting is only really useful the more casters there are

(In my opinion)

[novel moth]

Every class. Can have spell slots though

[twilit sail]

what abt barbarian

[woven flint]

And Monk?

[barren badger]

i think they need the spellcasting feature.

[woven flint]

This ^^

[barren badger]

Casting a Circle spell requires that one or more other spellcasters, called secondary casters, lend their magic to the spell. A secondary caster must have either the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature to participate in a Circle spell.

[twilit sail]

every class needs the spellcasting feature....

we should give barbarians the ability to cast fireball

trust

[barren badger]

Which is actually every member of my party, loll. My fighter is an eldritch knight

[novel moth]

Barbarian seems like there was a subclass floating around with spells.

[barren badger]

Wild magic maybe

[twilit sail]

that would make sense

[novel moth]

I can’t remember if it was unearthed arcana or a third party company though

[woven flint]

Also, not everyone wants to play an Arcane Trickster or Eldritch Knight JUST for circle casting.

Its also Rougher for third casters because they're using their action for the turn

Most normal casters have decent bonus action spells, but its taking a lot from Arcane Tricksters and Eldritch Knights.

[crimson gulch]

Circle casting is pretty weak in practice

[twilit sail]

my dm should let me have a m16 assautl rifle

[valid geyser]

circle casting doesn't have many broken use cases. At most its making a spell 1,000 feet long

[crimson gulch]

I use it more as dm than my players ever can

[novel moth]

I’d disagree.

It’s weak in some forms but can be brutal in other ways

[valid geyser]

in combat no one wants to waste the turns to use it

[barren badger]

yeah, i think in combat its probably not worth it.

I just get nervous about what could be done with utility spells out of of combat

[crimson gulch]

The all spellcaster party I have in one game never has the action economy to use it properly in battle, super easy to interrupt it

[barren badger]

How do you even target a spell from a mile away. Don't you generally need to see the target/target location?

maybe a familar can be used as a spotter

[crimson gulch]

You can see further than a mile on a clear day

[valid geyser]

usually yeah, which is why it's pretty niche

[winged bobcat]

That's a poor reason to ban a mechanic you said you hadn't even seen. That's my personal opinion.

[valid geyser]

yeah but you cant really spot out a specific person from a mile away unless you're like, on top of a big hill

[barren badger]

the DM could probably use this as a limit

[crimson gulch]

Correct, but for the big aoe spells its more of a "to whom it may concern"

Like spellfire storm

[west comet]

How do i make a post in #looking-for-players

[barren badger]

#find-a-game has instructions :]

[west comet]

Thank you

[novel moth]

If they actually fixed it when printed I would change my mind

[barren badger]

Each secondary caster contributing to the spell must expend a spell slot (no action required). If the spell fails, these spell slots aren't expended.

This does actually make prolong a lot worse. My dream of a level 1 party having bless for eight hours is off the table

Distributing bless among characters that dont have any concentration spells COULD be useful maybe

[barren badger]

do you allow hirelings? Could you get a bunch of hirelings with spell slots to help circle cast spells?

[novel moth]

You are better off using prolong on a delayed fireball

[crimson gulch]

They have a guide in one campaign in chult but other than that no players want to split exp further

[woven flint]

Or the main caster could drop concentration on bless and throw something else up 🤔

[winged bobcat]

That's a poor reason to ban a mechanic you said you hadn't even seen. That's my personal opinion.

[woven flint]

Mind you, with Magic initiate being a background feat, bless is avaliable to all 👁️ 👁️

[shy stirrup]

Class homogeneity has entered the chat

[woven flint]

(I'm aware you still have to expend a spell slot)

[barren badger]

The barbarian takes bless in MI, thinking they've beat the system.

They rage while concentrating on bless for the first time

[shy stirrup]

Oops

[woven flint]

I hate to be that guy
But Magic initiate isn't THAT class defining or changing

[shy stirrup]

Says the person at the top of the slipperly slope

[woven flint]

Wow! You get two cantrips and a first level spell
Guess you're a wizard now

[novel moth]

I would disagree. It can make classes a lot better

[crimson gulch]

Magic initiate has a minimum impact in my experience

[woven flint]

Or, excuse me, i meant
Magic initiate doesn't instantly
Turn every caster into one caster

[rough basalt]

It's nice but nice like any other origin feat

[shy stirrup]

Classes ought to be distinctive, even at the risk of unbalance, no? Yes?

[novel moth]

I would argue it isn’t being used correctly if it has a minimum impact

[barren badger]

i like it as a caster because i can get an additional prepared spell.

[crimson gulch]

I'm running 7 campaigns currently, splashing to get one more leveled spell and 2 catrips is a minimal impact over the corse of a game that runs to 14 or 20

[barren badger]

Sure, I'll take having cure wounds always prepared

[woven flint]

If you want to talk about a homogeneous class, look at Bards 10th level and up.
They're a Cleric, Wizard, Druid AND Bard.

[novel moth]

My counterpoint is that having Healing word on my dual wielding Ranger was incredibly impactful to the game

[barren badger]

I think Musician might be one of the more powerful origin feats. (for a single person)

[woven flint]

I'm an advocate for magic initiate too, but calling it a thing that makes all casters the same was incredibly silly

[crimson gulch]

Yeah that's a nice touch, I had a ranger take that with an enespelled item of healing word that they bought

Not to mention healing potions are a ba raw now

The dual weild rangers generally like using the ba for a 4th attack with nick and dual weild feat though

Magic initiate has a big impact in early levels but over the corse of a full campaign it droppes off as a party gains more power and resources

[barren badger]

Probably, but I think cure wounds miiight be better than healing word in 2024.

The ranged bonus action IS amazing, but the difference in healing between HW and CW is greater than it was in 2014.

If a ranger is going to spend a spell slot, it might be more worth it to use it on cure wounds.

I find myself using cure wounds more in 2024 than I used in 2014

[woven flint]

You folks wanna hear something funny?

[buoyant sparrow]

Yes

[crimson gulch]

The range of healing word for bringing up a downed hero is cluch, especially when I execute them so regularly

[severe rampart]

I have gained two more souls of players

[humble cairn]

Player characters, surely?

[shy stirrup]

Kill 100 PCs, WoTC will give you a plaque true fact

[woven flint]

We were fighting a Dullahan last night and my character grappled it, so, it had disadvantage on attack rolls against everyone but me..

The funny part is that it could never cut my head off because my completely armorless character is immune to crits, so it just swung into me most of the time (to try and down me)

[buoyant sparrow]

In what sense?

[severe rampart]

... surely

[crimson gulch]

Fake news, I don't have 3 plaques

[barren badger]

If you die in the game, you die in real life.

[buoyant sparrow]

As in you showed them the beauty of dnd and now they like it?

[shy stirrup]

It's in the mail

[severe rampart]

Well this is fun, my players no longer have any healers :D

[buoyant sparrow]

Oh in that sense

[barren badger]

How do you all handle a character death? When do they get to rejoin?

[shy stirrup]

Never?

[buoyant sparrow]

I almost killed a player on an easy encounter

[barren badger]

Sorry, let me rephrase. When does the player get to rejoin with a new character?

[shy stirrup]

Oh, did you mean the player, or the character? The character, never. The player, ASAP

[woven flint]

Oh, and I also did 60 damage to it with a singular critical hit punch :3

[buoyant sparrow]

Damn

[woven flint]

Haymaker + Lucky Crit + Advantage from my dog and it also giving me extra damags dice

It's the SECOND time in the campaign he's had a Haymaker crit lol

[buoyant sparrow]

Wow

[woven flint]

Both punches were ground shaking for certain

[blazing holly]

ASAP, depending on the situation, but everything that can be bent to make it happes sooner, will be

[buoyant sparrow]

I remember on session 1 there was a quick and easy encounter and when the last enemy was alive my players got a nat 1 (every single player)

[shy stirrup]

As soon as possible, if they have a back-up sheet, as soon as some narrative pretext can be invented (you usually plan this in advance)

Otherwise same as a new player to the campagin, you don't make them sit around for two hours before they appear, 30 min or less and they're in

[crimson gulch]

i killed a player last night and they just chilled out the rest of the game, commenting and haunting the party a bit

[novel moth]

So the problem is that if you are down you must be healed for all the damage you will take next round +1 or 1 hp.

So effectively healing word and cure wounds heal for the same amount. I.e. they each allow you to take another hit.

Cure wounds taking your action as a dual wielder is massively negative given it removes all your attacks where healing word removes only one. And if hunters mark is up that’s a lot of damage you lost when the other pc is probably going back down as soon as they are hit.

So with healing word you lose one attack. With cure wounds you lose four attacks

[craggy summit]

"don't go through that doooorrrrrr... 👻 check for traps you simpletonnnnn... 👻"

[barren badger]

You're probably right and tbh whenever I played ranger, I rarely healed.

I think cure wounds and healing word kind of play different roles in 2024. I think healing word is definitely the "someone went down, bring them back up NOW" spell, but cure wounds is more of a "someone is pretty low, lets get their health up so they dont get down.

Healing in 2024 does feel a bit different than 2014 and I honestly dont always prepare healing word on my life cleric anymore.

[craggy summit]

Cure wounds is more of a out of combat heal, while healing word is a in combat heal. Because

1: HW is ranged

2: HW is a bonus action

CW may have more healing, but HW has more utility and use cases, in my opinion

[humble cairn]

As a Ranger I have been the crucial healer at least once. Rangers are so versatile they can do many things and being able to emergency heal was very crutch.

[barren badger]

I have been casting CW through my familiar which helps a bit, loll

[humble cairn]

Getting Healing Word through Magic Initiate means I can cast both Healing Word and Cure Wounds in the same turn, which has come in handy.

[craggy summit]

That's a very good way to remove one of the downsides of CW 🙂‍↕️

[barren badger]

trickery cleric --> Invoke Duplicity can also get a ranged cure wounds too

[craggy summit]

Distant spell as a sorcerer/cleric or divine soul sorcerer is one way too!

[woven flint]

Is it me?
Or is Staff of the Woodlands just.. awesome?

You get a LOT of Druid staples without having to prepare them

The only downside is that there's only 6 charges...
But you can also like
Plant the staff into the ground and it just kinda functions as cover

Oh yeah, its also a +2 Quarterstaff

[barren badger]

I do like the spell selection. They're all spells that i like as a druid, but i dont know if i would spend a spell slot on them or have them prepared

LIke, Animal Friendship is super cool, but idk if i would prepare it

[craggy summit]

That and the moon sickle too! Both are very handy

[woven flint]

And, to be honest, casting wall of thorns is a bit iffy because it uses all the charges and has a chance to revert back to a normal staff of the roll of a 1 of the D20

But, lets be fair, it's such a good control spell that it's kinda worth it

[woven flint]

I'm a LITTLE less of a fan of that because you HAVE to be holding it to benefit from it

Means if you have other items, you have to juggle between them

[craggy summit]

That's very true yeah 😅 but if you can't get the staff, it's a nice substitute

Or if you wanna use it to heal out of combat

[woven flint]

I will say
Pretty damn good on a Stars Druid too

[craggy summit]

That with the healing star thingy? Has the potential to outheal a life cleric 😅

[humble cairn]

I took the sickle on my Stars Druid, reflavored it as one of those long fancy cigarette holders with a crescent moon motif.

[woven flint]

Just turbo heal a singular person lol
It's kinda fire

Mass cure wounds then focus heal whoever really needs it

[fossil hollow]

OH, thats COOL AS HELL

[craggy summit]

"Maximum overdrive" - plankton

[humble cairn]

Heh, you were the DM.

[fossil hollow]

I totally forgot/didnt hear about that detail

[humble cairn]

The Lady Lhong, she often cast spells by taking long drags on her fancy cigarette and blowing out magic smoke.

[woven flint]

I'm currently in between the choice of a few Druid subclasses

Stars, Sea and Preservation (allowed by the dm)

I like all of them equally 😔

[humble cairn]

That's how she cast Flame Wall.

[fossil hollow]

I feel bad for never continuing that oneshot...

[humble cairn]

That's okay 🙂

[woven flint]

I had a Wildfire Druid as my first ever Druid

It was more narratively for the Destruction and Rebirth motif

He was a drow, but was cursed and changed intoba different being

It destroyed the memories of his past life, but recreated him as something new and different

He ended up becoming a Druid God in that dms setting

[novel moth]

Biggest issue is cure wounds has to be cast at a really high level to prevent you from going down.

[woven flint]

Or just be a life cleric or stars druid

[fossil hollow]

healing in this system overall is just better to get someone up form 0 rather than top someone off

or to avoid PWK or other effects that happen when youre super low

[feral fulcrum]

The only hitpoint that matters is the last one

[fossil hollow]

unless its PWK. Your last 101 hit points do

[novel moth]

I was playing a game where the only other healer was a cleric and we had four players so often the cleric would heal me and I’d have to keep the cleric up to heal me.

Poor cleric spent 50% of his turns making sure I didn’t die

[feral fulcrum]

That reminds me, my Wizard is now sitting pretty at nearly 200 HP

[novel moth]

Because I was 75% of the parties damage output. The fighter couldn’t hit an unarmed commoner

[fossil hollow]

sweet

i remember having exactly 100 HP on my level 16 chronurgy wizard... it was a terrifying time for me

until we just TPK'd. Defeated Lolth's Avatar, then died to three-4 Grim Champions

[novel moth]

Yeah. It’s an unfortunate problem in D&D. Bouncing is better than keeping someone up. Except in the rare case that you can do so and keep a high damage output character to do all their attacks

[serene jolt]

Moon sickle is good? I didn't ever get why everyone gets these cool magic items and druid gets a 1d4 to healing. 🤣

[feral fulcrum]

The vast, vast majority of magic items are not class restricted, and most that are, are generally tied to class features that only said class have. Moon Sickle is proabbly just an old lore thing. Also it acts as a focus for spells, freeing up a hand. it also buffs your spell attacks and Spell Save dc

[winged bobcat]

how?

[woven flint]

It also still gives an item bonus to DC and spell attack rolls.

[feral fulcrum]

It does alot of things, in addition to being a +X weapon, that it's unique effect is kinda mid is, well, to be expected?

[feral fulcrum]

Fairly high HP rolls over the campaign, level 16, 20 in Con, +Tough Feat = Big HP

[potent sun]

20 con wizard quite unusual hey

[winged bobcat]

damn bro. Maybe i should do that. I had an idea for a tortle bladesinger wizard

[feral fulcrum]

Rolled stats moment. Let me up other things then INT pretty early on in my ASI's, in addition to having a high starting Con of 16.

[winged bobcat]

ah i see.

Well still, I feel like even if you're not lucky with rolled stats that you can make a pretty capable wizard with the right investment as a frontline fighter

[feral fulcrum]

She may have been a 2ft 1 inch tall Fairy for most of the campaign, but she was filled with DETIRMINATION, and spite, so, so much spite.

[winged bobcat]

DETERMINATION! THE GREATEST POWER KNOWN TO MANKIND!

[potent sun]

you probably had a lucky roll to start with !

[woven flint]

People always want to make crazy high AC builds, bit the problem with that is that there are so many situations where AC doesn't matter

You see, I like to do saving throw maxxing /half-joking

[serene jolt]

I prefer having a free spell slot as a warlock or a bardic inspiration as a bard then a +1d4 healing tbh. XD

[lean wigeon]

killing PCs when they reach 0 HP fixes this /hj

[feral fulcrum]

Even the (Discounting munchkinry) highest typical AC's fall off at later levels because everything just has like +12 to hit by default

And Saving throws become ever more common

[woven flint]

I think you're underestimating it a bit

For starters, its not a singular use per day thing like the extra bardic inspiration or the regained spell slot, so it has more potential to have a bigger impact over time.

[feral fulcrum]

What does Huge Jacked-man have to do this? 😛

[rain sluice]

First ever session 0 on Tuesday, and I may not have started my character sheet yet… oops

[feral fulcrum]

Well session 0's are the group setting expections and working together on things like that, generally, so...

Session 0's are the process of getting everyone on the same page, and on the way to Session 1 proper.

[woven flint]

Secondly, given the right druid subclass (Looks at stars for example) it's a pretty decent healing boon.
An extra D4 is a small dice, but but it also has a 25% chance to max out whereas bigger dice, having more numbers/side have less potential to roll max.

[feral fulcrum]

nibbles Enlarges d4 on every attack So good on Fighters.

[woven flint]

And lets not forget Divine Favor, an extra d4 on every attack for Paladins

[rain sluice]

Yeah, but I also may or may not have written about 4k characters of backstory cus I just kept adding details! The dm loved it, literally kept singing praises about it, but my priorities were so skewed in storytelling! I’ve still got time to get the sheet itself filled in though

[woven flint]

But, as mentioned, since the extra d4 healing isn't once per long rest like a majority of the class related attack/dc boosting items, it has more potential to have a bigger impact

As long as you have spellslots to heal, you can use it

[barren badger]

if they're coming up from zero, yes.

[woven flint]

The value of a d4 is often heavily underestimated

[rain sluice]

It only takes 1 point to go from still hanging on to lying on the floor dead

[shy stirrup]

If you have 4 hit points, 1d4 feels very threatening

[feral fulcrum]

As is often said, the only hitpoint that matters is the last one. (With the xception of Power Word Kill and the like.)

[woven flint]

There are situations where that extra little bit of healing keeps someone from being downed instantly again

[feral fulcrum]

Whether you have 2 billion hp, or 2 hp, you're still capable of all your actions. And so long as they can't kill you via Massive Damage (Ie all your Max Hp in one go post-dropping you), you can just...get back up the second a Cleric sneezes a healing word in your general direction

[humble cairn]

Multiple smaller dice in a roll raises the result floor and skews the bell curve towards the middle.

[rain sluice]

and not many dm’s will actively try make you red paste on a constant scale so it’s always a good backup to have

[undone rain]

And healing word not requiring touching a party member is always nice

[rain sluice]

Like just yell at your party to get up off the floor and they listen, it’s amazing

[feral fulcrum]

Especially if said party member has Hover, and has flopped over in the air...

Nobody wants to have to remember the Jumping rules in order to try and slap a heal on a guy stuck in the air.

[undone rain]

"High five!!" plus 7 hp

Its also a bonus action which is even better

[rain sluice]

Can I hit them with a stick and have it work, or at least drag them lower?

Or would that be risking the dm making me make strength checks and risking doing more damage

[undone rain]

Imagine smacking someone across the face and it just heals them

[rain sluice]

Isn’t that just old cartoons depictions of slapping someone out of a panic attack

[undone rain]

And the opposite is just touching someone and they die

[odd valley]

mmm tomato sauce

[slow jungle]

i'm a stars druid lvl 3, what are the best wild shapes or strat for damage

[glossy otter]

Question of random curiosity. Is it possible for someone to make more than one homunculus?

[gentle pollen]

RAW, no.

[feral fulcrum]

Better asked in #optimization I think

[humble cairn]

Guiding Bolt and Archer constellation, imo.

[rain sluice]

Homunculus army, or lazy and wanting them to do your chores

[rain sluice]

If I ever become a dm, I may have a character that runs an Italian (or whatever Italy would be in the forgotten realms) restaurant that’s super successful, but has 1 attack that turns characters and animals into sauce. Players can decide whether the food was worth it

Do you have morals, or do you want a good pizza to go

[glossy otter]

The first. But more just gremlins for a bbeg

[twilit sail]

Medieval italy was a series of splintered states

[lavish flame]

im not sure why they wouldnt be able to

[twilit sail]

The papal states

Austrian domination

In the early era it was dominated by the byzantines and germanic tribes

[rain sluice]

Huh… you learn something new every day!

[jolly crypt]

My hands yearn for dice to hold. My legs tremble in the absence of a table to roll upon. I need to play Dungeons and Dragons right nyeow it’s not funny guys…😭😭😭

[livid brook]

how many attacks can each class reasonably get? (assuming campaigns end around 13-14)

[lavish flame]

most only do 2. Monks can do 4 (or 5 in 5.5e) with both their Action and Bonus Action. Fighters can get 4 in 1 Action and can Action Surge for 8 in 1 turn.

You can squeeze some Light and Nick (5.5e) attacks in there too, I'm sure

[livid brook]

is there a subclass of fighter that sacrifices some actions for heavier hits

[woven flint]

No

Most fighter subs have a once per turn thing they can just use to add damage

[craggy summit]

The closest thing is battle master. They have a resource pool that they can use for extra effects and extra damage

[woven flint]

There's no point in the Fightong class to lose out on attacks to do more damage when they just.. would realistically do less damage without said attacks

[feral fulcrum]

Sacrificing actions for more damage isn't really a thing in 5E

[woven flint]

Not really true, the only thing that does that for battlemaster is commanders strike

[craggy summit]

There's sacrificing bonus actions with hunters mark, hex, smite etc etc

[woven flint]

But even then, you add a dice to your allies attack and functionally don't miss out on a damage opportunity

[craggy summit]

Well not in the sense of sacrificing actions but it's still sacrificing something yk?

[feral fulcrum]

Because you get One Action, one Bonus Action, one Reaction. And attacking is almost always an Action. So sure, you could sit there and do nothing for a turn, in the hope of maybe doing a little more next turn but...that's more of a Spellcaster thing then a Fighter Thing?

[thorn osprey]

Does throwing healing potions at someone heal them? (like in bg3)

[feral fulcrum]

And the vast majority of the community agrees that "Doing things on your turn = good. Not doing anything on your turn = Suck."

[arctic bobcat]

How come a shortsword does piercing damage and not slashing?

[feral fulcrum]

RAW, no. Drinking only.

[feral fulcrum]

Because game balance, and it's better for poking, then slashing.

[nimble wharf]

hey just asking does anyone own the eberron handbook?

online version

[arctic bobcat]

eh im making it slashing

Doesnt change too much imo

[thorn osprey]

Would it be a fun rule to make it that you have to "hit" your friend with the potion to actually heal them

[feral fulcrum]

If you're the DM, go nuts.

[arctic bobcat]

I say yes but the glass breaking adds 1d4 piercing

[blazing holly]

Try it out, if you don't like it, don't

[feral fulcrum]

That's something only you and your group can decide on, random people on the internet don't get to decide what you have fun with

[arctic bobcat]

I mean is there every really a point where the difference between slash, pierce or blunt dmg ever matter?

[blazing holly]

monster resistances

in some edition, armor performs different vs different damage

[feral fulcrum]

Yes, things do have resistances and vulnerabilities to these types of damages.

[arctic bobcat]

Yes but like any specific ones cuz ive yet to see any

[feral fulcrum]

There's a VERY tiny number, but it's not 0

[arctic bobcat]

Tbh could be fun to throw at my players

[feral fulcrum]

Think it's like less then five things in total because...Honestly 5E doesn't do Vulnerabilities at all, and most monsters in 2014 just has "Resistant to all nonmagical weapon damage, lol"

Their design philosphy really sucked

[lean wigeon]

walking should require an acrobatics check i think

[feral fulcrum]

Heavily reliant on HP and a copy-pasted laundry list of the same resistances or immunities

Poor poison, basically negated as a thing from the word Go

[shy stirrup]

Poison was Save or Die, originally

[craggy summit]

On a skinny rope it does!

[feral fulcrum]

They kind of brought that back with Selune's Viper, but I suspect it won't actually be that good in the long run

[icy ember]

Opinions on my bbeg introduction?

As the lights all at once burst to life with blue flame you hear the scraping of metal on stone and see who enters. A tall being made up of blue flame and long decayed flesh adorned with a suit of jagged dark metal armor topped with a jagged broken crown enters along with 8 cultists. He drags a longsword at his feet beckoning a haunting scraping sound as he calmly approaches. The guards in the room charge. Before the first two run into the being you see him wave his offhand and in an instant, space itself rips open into a rift the shape of a sword. It immediately rips the head off of one guard, and splits the other guard in two vertically, his entails hit the floor before the rest of his body does. Before the other guards can react with another wave of his hand and some muttering from his raspy voice, A swirling cloud of smoke shot through with white-hot embers appears swallowing up the guards. You can't see through the smoke but you can hear blood curling screams and smell the stench of burnt flesh as soon as the cloud appeared, it disappears, letting you see the scorched bones slam into the ground

[feral fulcrum]

It seems they didn't really change their stance on "Everything and it's uncle get free immunity to the Poisoned Condition for no particular raisin."

You'd thing all of D&D occured in a Poison Swamp

which how everything just...doesn't care about poison.

[buoyant sparrow]

Damn, it's so good

[icy ember]

Thank you, I've been building up to this guy for the first 5 sessions

[odd valley]

you’d think that hidetaka miyazaki was the one making the game huh

[buoyant sparrow]

That's some serious aura farming

[icy ember]

It gets more aura farmy, as I'm doing his introduction, cleric beast from the blood borne ost will be playing

[buoyant sparrow]

Damn

Oh i forgot about music, which onr would be the best for a pirate in an ancient desert temple

[craggy summit]

You could either go with a pirate-y sea shantie or traditional desert-y music. You could find them on YouTube

[peak pecan]

What do you mean by “beckoning a haunting scraping sound?” Beckoning is a gesture

[buoyant sparrow]

Ok i'll check them out

[sly crest]

idk if this is the place to ask, but
anyone here seen She Kills Monsters?

[gentle pilot]

For fathomless warlock. Is it worth it to use black tentacles over hunger of hadar?

[woven flint]

Evards Black Tentacles is a really good control spell

[keen hornet]

i told my players out of character "as you dm I am telling you to get non-magical torches for this"
they did not listen, and got clubbed a lot harder than they needed to

[shy stirrup]

"As a DM I am telling you, do not press the giant red button marked "Do Not Press"
"I press the button."

[icy ember]

Whoops I'm trying to find a fancier work for evoking a sound

[keen hornet]

watching the rogue get tackled into a pool of sewage by a zombie with bone claws and losing half his health I was like "I tried to tell you guys your magical lights and senses wouldn't work"

lmao

[blazing holly]

learning experience right there

[keen hornet]

one can only hope. they should have learned this by now though they're level 10 for gods sake lmao

[shy stirrup]

"DM, you didn't tell me the water is wet wth"

"Fail DM"

[cosmic dust]

What is one of the most funniest times when your players or when the DM fails something or something generally funny happens in the game

[novel moth]

If a monster has multi attack it’s probably not going to matter in terms of keeping you up. May absorb damage that someone else would have taken.

[jolly crypt]

Sorry Necroposting.

Rogue actually does this really well! You can Bonus Action attack with some features OR use it to steady aim, effectively charging up an attack.

[keen hornet]

in their defense they actually owned up to it and were like "maybe we should have listened"

[novel moth]

So dm says that I will succeed as long as I don’t roll a nat one.

I rolled a nat one and the entire table starts laughing.

[keen hornet]

I once did an anti-save on my paladin as an enemy tried to read his mind, he failed the int save, and technically it was a good outcome because the enemy was like "God you northmen are stupid, you have nothing for me"

[cosmic dust]

For me, it might just be when I was a player. I literally had to climb a wall. I just had to succeed on a 13 or higher. I kept on rolling a 12 on acrobatics not once but I think five times and each time I just splashed into the water because I was attempting to climb out of a cave so eventually as my paladin I just used Misty step. I was like forget falling now. but I have kind more funny than such as my fighter.(right now I’m the DM.) was attempting to fight a magical mirror that does not break not once but three times and they also lost to a pull door.

[novel moth]

Nice

[sinful dust]

hey guys, i have a little curiosity about something, i never tried any other ttrpg so i just thought about this question, is there any other game where the gap between martials and spellcasters isnt like demigods and ants?

like some system where they're even or very close in power level / versatility?

[novel moth]

I don’t think there is a gap in D&D.

[peak pecan]

Plenty of them; I believe the colloquialism is “Pathfinder solves this” but there isn’t meaningfully a caster-martial divide in 5e

[novel moth]

I would say shadowrun. Most magical effects can be achieved via implants

4th edition D&D

The caster divide in 5e only exists when DMs don’t run the recommended number of encounters per day.

[idle oar]

I mean even D&D can do that... just enforce the actual spellcasting rules and make sure there is more encounters in the day.

[sinful dust]

me and another player friend were trying to build some funny combos with our characters for the next campaign (planning synergies ahead of time, maybe a bit of powerplay)

and like, the stuff you can do with a sorcerer+wizard is just on a different level than let's say two fighters or whatever pure martial duo combo

this is very specific though, so i understand if people dont agree with me :c

[novel moth]

So yes. In any individual encounter a magical character has the potential to outpower a martial in one attack

But after 8 encounters the martial is still doing all their attacks and the Mage is stuck with Cantrips

[sinful dust]

hmm

8 encounters with no long rests tho how is that happening

[blazing holly]

Theory crafting can be fun, but playing the game is usually more complicated than that

[shy stirrup]

The DM is happening

[novel moth]

The game assumes 6-8 encounters per day

The reason people think there is a martial/caster divide is because DMs tend to run 1-2 encounters per day instead of 6-8

[sinful dust]

oh yeah thats it for me

[silk hare]

tbh I even found that during my last oneshot the martials were "better off" bc they just ran out of spellslots in the dungeon

[sinful dust]

we do in fact run 1 or 2 encounters per LR

[silk hare]

and I only put like 6 small scale encounters like 3 lvls under their CR

tbh Ive also started to make the "punishments" to puzzles take away some "resources" for that day

e.g. magic door that upon puzzle failure takes away 1 spell slot

[crimson gulch]

That's normal adventuring

[silk hare]

nothing major, just low lvl resources usually, but still impactful (ofc not overdone or anything)

[sinful dust]

so between hardcore encounters (like bossfights) and minor encounters what should be the balance in your opinion guys?

[silk hare]

wym by that exactly? like how many of each? the extent of them?

[idle oar]

And amazing what losing an arcane focus or component pouch can do to casters (use carefully or else it's downright cruel).

[sinful dust]

like if the party fights let's say a dracolich, how many other things before a long rest?

lvl 8 party (again for example)

[silk hare]

true, but I dont really want to do that bc then their entire roster becomes kinda useless (at least I wont do it YET xD)

[silk hare]

depends on the party, how many people, how many casters, how much do you want them to struggle in the fight?

[tiny grove]

How wizards genuinely feel losing their spellbooks

[silk hare]

will it be an all out fight against the dracolich? is there an alternative win-con? terrain stuff?

[blazing holly]

Taking the wizard's spellbook used to be an extremely powerful way to remind them why they needed the rest of the party, if they started getting delusions of grandeur

[sinful dust]

3 players, one melee two fullcasters and they all almost die in the fight

melee barely clutches the fight due to high hp

[tiny grove]

Like, in a fight previous to the draco?

[silk hare]

uhhhh so just to make sure, an adult dracolich?

or what variant, cos thats like CR 17 vs a party of 3 on lvl 8

[sinful dust]

yes, in his layer too

[tiny grove]

What level are they again 😭

[silk hare]

like they gonna get SMOKED

[sinful dust]

okay let's make it uhh, 13

[tiny grove]

level 13?

[silk hare]

still HELLA crazy

[sinful dust]

sorry for not making a good example lol

[silk hare]

especially IN ITS LAIR

[tiny grove]

No I think it's a fine boss for level 13 considering they have all their resources

[silk hare]

like my rule of thumb is at high lvls max 2-3 CR above, and even then its usually balanced around 4 people at LEAST

[blazing holly]

Just 3 of them though...

[silk hare]

tbh still might be hard for 3 people

[silk hare]

yeah exactly

[tiny grove]

Oh it's THREE people
That changes things

[silk hare]

yeah exactly, like if it was 5, sure

[tiny grove]

Well it also depends on what magic items they have

[frail wasp]

if youre pitting a CR 17 against a level 8 party, you're already off track of what the designers expected, just wing it

[barren badger]

Cr17 is 18,000 XP

XP budget for your party is:

Low difficulty
3000
Moderate difficulty
5100
High difficulty
6300

[silk hare]

might eb super deadly, give them some stuff to help them and its doable right

[silk hare]

yeah true, just wasnt fast enough with my next message lmao

[sinful dust]

so you're essentially saying that the rest of the adventuring day should be "scaled" depending on how deteriorating the hardest fight of the day was right?

[silk hare]

me who tortured my lvl 2 party with 11 bandits and a bandit captain

[silk hare]

kinda?

[shy stirrup]

Exactly

[frail wasp]

its pointless to bring up the adventuring day when the encounter math is butchered to that degree 😐

[tiny grove]

Like my party started with custom magic items (balanced by me ofc, it's supposed to be epic fantasy so I need them powerful for myself to be powerful) and at their current level 10 of 5 people they could probably take care of a CR 15 with moderate ease with the things they have

[barren badger]

the 2024 DMG doesnt actually discuss the adventuring day either, which is interesting

[sinful dust]

mine was just an attempt to make up a common scenario but i went off track by some levels apparently... my bad

[silk hare]

example from me: I put 1 potential fight. 3 puzzles (that potentially consume SOME resources) 1 small encoutner (4 bandits) and then the rest at once for 1 adventuring day (again this was lvl 2)

[tiny grove]

Relatable 🙏

[frail wasp]

its like worrying about how many regular healing potions to give to the party when the average PC has 800 hit points due to some homebrew

[silk hare]

worked out fine, resources depleted, fight was hard and not overly long

[blazing holly]

Yeah, part of the DMs job is to adjust things on the fly, if needs be

[silk hare]

all good lol

[tiny grove]

puuuzzleeeessss 🤤
when the party spends an hour and a half on a puzzle and actually likes it so you know you did something right

[novel moth]

That would be why your games feel like spell casters are more powerful except warlocks.

Warlocks need at least 3-4 short rests per day to be useful.

[silk hare]

yk the funny thing is I got into ciphers like 3 days ago

so they are going to SUFFER suffer

[shy stirrup]

This is harder that it may seem, well done

[silk hare]

(from my test sample of 4 people, 2 really liked the ciphers so far, 1 hated it and 1 was okay with it lmao)

[barren badger]

Just an FYI, for a party of 3 at level 8, the highest CR you should give them is 10 (at 5,900 XP)

Though i would recommend lower with a few goons to assist them

[tiny grove]

Bro chiiillllll
They genuinely gotta be genius 😭

[sinful dust]

yeah im a bit off track for balancing cuz usually the style that our players like is basically one REALLY strong thing with maybe minions and legendary actions + other gimmicks (at medium to high levels) and then the party kinda goes to sleep somewhere and rinse and repeat

never had or experienced campaigns with many small encounters

[silk hare]

sure, the caesar cipher is reaaaal complicated (the only reason it worked back in the day is bc 90% of people was illiterate lmao)

[silk hare]

tbh do that right

[tiny grove]

Oh that type
My mind went to language ciphering for some reason

[silk hare]

but then during the long rest have it be interrupted, followed by "lower lvl encounters" that are hard on their unrecovered resources

[barren badger]

ive found that parties DESTROY a single tough enemy. (at the appropriate challenge rating)

[novel moth]

Just to be clear in my own games I tend to run 1-2 encounters per day

[tiny grove]

so you give the enemy multiple actions, bonus actions and reactions 👀

[barren badger]

i tried to make single hard monster work, but action economy just doesnt work

[barren badger]

i honestly dont think its enough

[silk hare]

I meaaaaan, theres also that yeah

but what I REALLY want to try out (which they will hate hate HATE probably) are affinity ciphers

its essentially just a linear equation (y=kx+d) with variable x values if wanted/ needed and k and d are responsible for shifting the alphabet

combine that with e.g. a vigenere cipher and have a key phrase ontop and its just sooooo muchf un

[shy stirrup]

The compounding effect ensures that it often isnt

[silk hare]

ofc, how else lmao

[barren badger]

it's really easy to control and lock down a single creature too

[novel moth]

Yeah a single monster is almost never going to work. The problem with dragons is that if a party faces a dragon as the only fight, the dragon is screwed.

[silk hare]

yeah u need legendary actions, environment and maybe some minions

especially on higher lvls

[barren badger]

Minions are the answer here.

We love goons! Throw in some kobolds

[silk hare]

thats why all bosses need resistances/ immunities to certain conditions

[tiny grove]

If they're familiar with concepts like that sure, go ahead
I usually prefer going for simpler concepts, like the last puzzle they did was color-based
Except when I don't.

[silk hare]

indeed, or e.g. just "terrain" that can be "destroyed" with enough damage and does sth

[barren badger]

||slow has no resistance or immunity||

[silk hare]

yeah ik, they unfortunately arent, it would just be super fun to let the people in the math rock game do math yk

[barren badger]

I guess LegRe

[silk hare]

(ive received threats when suggesting this to a fellow dm I know)

[tiny grove]

I don't know
For the majority of boss fights we've had I've done single monster, and it's been just fine
Though I always homebrew them

[silk hare]

||oh no! teleports, anyway||

[barren badger]

EVERY creature gets counterspell

[tiny grove]

REALLLLL
I loved math but got into a non-math related major so I need dnd to push my juices at least a LITTLE bit

[silk hare]

see this is not a spell, its an inherent ability of the boss

[last dew]

Yahoooo I’m new heere

[silk hare]

heya

[tiny grove]

Hello Brei

[last dew]

:DDD

Looking forward to some dragons and dungeons

[silk hare]

yeah thats fair, but are u even playing dnd if you as the dm are not torturing your players with puzzles made for toddlers and then sprinkle in some really advanced ones

[tiny grove]

Welcome to dnd where we fight dungeons in dragons

wait I said that wrong

[silk hare]

no

its art, its perfect, leave it

[barren badger]

I really dislike slow tbh, i feel like it does SO MUCH.

No reactions, one action per turn, slowed movement, lowered AC, reduced chance to make dex saves, 25% chance for any spell with somatic components to fail during cast.

AND it can affect up to six creatures

[silk hare]

came off as intended, trust

[barren badger]

get in the dragon, shinji

[tiny grove]

Nahhhh bro
Fair spell trust

[silk hare]

oh holy, yeah Ive been sleeping on that spell like dayum

[tiny grove]

TO BE FAIR
A lot of creatures have high wisdom saves

[silk hare]

imma absue that :)))) thanks

[last dew]

Always wanted to get in a dragon

[tiny grove]

bro chiillll

[barren badger]

||espcially when 2 characters have silvery barbs on magic initiate||

[narrow moss]

so, slow is what I would use on enemy casters it seems

[silk hare]

||dont forget lucky||

[tiny grove]

Okay well it's your fault for not banning sb and lucky

[barren badger]

silvery barbs is fine tbh. I dont really ban anything at my table

and lucky is fine too?

but we dont need to have another SB discussion

[tiny grove]

Though I didn't even ban Silvery Barbs it just doesn't show up in dndbeyond so nobody has it. I would let them use it
And Lucky just because I overthink the implications of having that feat like
You are NOT lucky bro do you see the shit you go through 😭🙏

[silk hare]

agreed tbh

[novel moth]

Yeah if you make the monster you are probably fine. But a dragon is a wimp against four PCs.

Well I mean you either tpk the party with the breath weapon or the dragon gets tpked.

[silk hare]

I mean its the REASON they continue to keep on moving yk, so in that sense they are lucky lmao

[tiny grove]

TPK with breath weapon isn't even viable after level 6 or something

[silk hare]

thats why dragons have lairs by default

[tiny grove]

Yeah exactly see that's auraful, imagine needing a feat for that
ALL that matters is aura.

[silk hare]

not if u dont get some resources away xD

[novel moth]

It typically depends on what you roll and if your party saves.

[blazing holly]

and cults, don't forget cults

[silk hare]

yeah but then its not a solo encounter anymore

[peak pecan]

You should only run solo encounters if you want your monsters or your players to flee

[blazing holly]

true, forgot that was the condition

[frail wasp]

and then afterwards, the backup dragon

[silk hare]

mhhh again, depends on how u manage resources overall imo and party composition

[barren badger]

You've defeated Smaug, but now... prepare yoursels for Blaug!

[silk hare]

na u good :))

[silk hare]

and after that we pull a mario and bring back 2 dracoliches

[barren badger]

party tactics is probably a big part of it too.

Some parties just... are very good at what they do.