homebrew

[midnight elk]

I can always use my current OP homebrew weapons

[supple flower]

Op weapons and gear is also permitted

[midnight elk]

One attack is this:
Signature Attack – Soulfire Requiem
The Champion unleashes a great arc of cosmic soulflame, piercing through the veil of existence.
Range/Area: 90 ft cone

Damage: 10d10 force (DEX save for half)

Special: Enemies reduced to 0 HP in this wave leave behind a fragment of soul-energy that heals the Champion for half their max HP.
@supple flower Is this okay?

[glad veldt]

What would you guys want in terms of features when being a magic item?

[supple flower]

I should tell you I can deal over 4000 damage ina single turn

[midnight elk]

Oh

[supple flower]

Yea

You'll half to get creative

[midnight elk]

TBF you need to be attuned to "The Token Of The Veil" to use it

Which gives 30 ft passive truesight

[supple flower]

Nice

[midnight elk]

Additional Effects of the Token

Planar Anchor: While carried, the Token prevents forced teleportation or banishment of the wielder unless they consent.

Astral Sight: Grants truesight 30 ft even when not in Ethereal Ascension.

One with the Veil: Once per long rest, the wielder can cast plane shift (self only) without components.

Prerequisite Token

Name: Token of the Veil

Type: Wondrous Item, Legendary, Attunement required by the Scion of the Firstborn.

Appearance: A shard of moonstone etched with shifting constellations, always faintly cool to the touch. Under starlight it seems half-transparent, as though a window to another realm.

Acquisition: Only revealed to a Champion who has mastered the other three Ascended Forms and performed a rite beneath a sky where the mortal and astral planes overlap (DM determines place and time).
What would you make the ritual?

[supple flower]

Also my character is a glass cannon so I can deal a shit tone of damage but I'm relatively weak as i sit at 420 hp

[midnight elk]

Meanwhile me with a weapon that can deal 10d10 force in one attack

[supple flower]

@midnight elk lol make something incredibly obsird to fight me

[midnight elk]

Effect on Others:
Allies: Gain immunity to charm and fright while within 30 ft.

Enemies: Must succeed on a CHA save or be banished briefly into the ethereal plane (returns at the end of their next turn).

Flight: Spectral soul-wings grant a fly speed of 90 ft (hover) and allow phasing through solid objects.
Signature Attack – Soulfire Requiem
The Champion unleashes a great arc of cosmic soulflame, piercing through the veil of existence.
Range/Area: 90 ft cone

Damage: 10d10 force (DEX save for half)

Special: Enemies reduced to 0 HP in this wave leave behind a fragment of soul-energy that heals the Champion for half their max HP.

[midnight elk]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pOsUMDETy79hRUcGxNFhB2XQaR0TafnxxA1mdfWtwNI/edit?usp=sharing

@supple flower Is that good enough?

[supple flower]

I mean there great but youed need a character that could survive the amount of damage I can put out

[midnight elk]

Fair

I feel like the curses may have been overkill though.

[supple flower]

Oh let me see

[midnight elk]

Curses
Once attuned, these curses cannot be removed without powerful magic. A remove curse spell only suppresses them for 24 hours. A wish spell or divine intervention is required to break them permanently.
Dragonbane Malediction
This weapon cannot be wielded by any creature of draconic ancestry or good alignment (including dragons, dragonborn, and sorcerers with a draconic bloodline, at the DM’s discretion). Such creatures who attempt to attune to or wield Drakthar become afflicted with this curse:
Stage 1 – The Whispers (1 hour of wielding): The wielder begins to hear faint draconic whispers urging violence. They suffer disadvantage on Wisdom saving throws against becoming frightened or enraged.

Stage 2 – The Hunger (24 hours of wielding): The wielder develops an uncontrollable bloodlust. They must make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw at the start of each of their turns while in combat. On a failure, they must move toward and attack the nearest creature (ally or enemy).

Stage 3 – The Rampage (72 hours of wielding): The curse fully consumes them. The DM takes control of the character, who goes on a killing frenzy until slain. When they die, their body withers into ash and bone, leaving behind only the weapon.

Thirst of the Reaper
Drakthar hungers for blood. After each long rest, roll a d20. On a 1, the weapon demands blood. Until you kill a creature with it, you suffer disadvantage on Wisdom saving throws and can’t regain hit points by any means.

That's only the dark version curses.

[supple flower]

My character is a special grade cursed spirit so would that work against a curse spirit?

@midnight elk

[digital jetty]

To aligned with this more official content. You can combine the Appearance and Activation in to one set of prose. I would make this an artifact. Here is how I would do it.

The token ia a shard of moonstone etched with shifting constellations. Even in the hottest of places it is cool to the touch. This token marks the champion, while attuned you gain following benefits.
Ascension: You have access to the Ethereal Ascension.
Planar Anchor: You cannot be teleported against your will.
Astral Sight: You gain truesight 30 ft
One with the Veil: You can cast plane shift (self only) without components or a spell slot once per long rest,

The Token of the Veil is only visible to a Champion of the Three Ascended Forms.

What happens if this is taken from the champion. Can anyone attune to it?
Planeshift self isn't great for a team game.

[midnight elk]

Thank you for the advice. I have started inking it and I'm not fully sure about those other details in terms of attunement.

[midnight elk]

Depends on alignment and ancestry.

If the alignment is anything to do with good you die.
If you have any draconic ancestry you die.

@supple flower

But... there is a version that is the exact opposite

Curses
Aurethys cannot abide corruption. Once attuned, these curses cannot be removed without powerful magic. A remove curse spell only suppresses them for 24 hours. A wish spell or divine intervention is required to break them permanently.
The Dragon’s Bond
This weapon cannot be wielded by creatures without draconic ancestry or good alignment (at DM’s discretion). Such creatures who attempt to attune to or wield Aurethys are afflicted with its curse:
Stage 1 – Dissonance (1 hour of wielding): The wielder feels overwhelming discomfort, suffering disadvantage on Wisdom saving throws against despair or charm effects.

Stage 2 – The Burn (24 hours of wielding): The wielder’s body begins rejecting the bond. They take 2d6 radiant damage at the start of each of their turns in combat.

Stage 3 – The Severance (72 hours of wielding): Aurethys rejects them utterly. The wielder is incapacitated as radiant fire consumes them, reducing them to ash and leaving only the weapon behind.

Oath of the Guardian
Aurethys requires purpose. After each long rest, roll a d20. On a 1, the weapon demands protection. Until you defend a creature (ally, innocent, or ward) from harm, you suffer disadvantage on attack rolls and cannot gain the benefits of short rests.

Wait.

[dawn grotto]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1412549777526100069/1412551337622896882/Shawdow_Crawler___-_The_Homebrewery.pdf?ex=68ca80b2&is=68c92f32&hm=2f93c2ce416300728d345f9ef4874153c027b917d7dc68b59e0c96b4396127bd&

[midnight elk]

Oh my

[candid jasper]

Honestly, I can't make heads or tails of the new hit die calculations for the 2024 monsters. After multiple comparisons of the same CR 5 monsters of medium size, a lot of those extra d8s just seem like, "this bigger number will look scary".
I'll stick with the old HD math and give some of them an invisible 'toughness' trait if needed.

[midnight elk]

Even worse is monsters with 20 armor class, the players just start spamming cantrips.

That one guy every turn:
ELDRITCH BLAST

[candid jasper]

Yeah. Like, there's some pros obviously: new abbreviated designs; less text bloat; etc.
But there's a lot of in there were they just went, "let's break the system for the heck of it".

[midnight elk]

Exactly

Especially when the eldritch blast guy finds a way to buff his damage and range

[slender olive]

Yup, I also borrowed the healing remedy from Solasta: Crown of the Magister, it heals 1d8 Hp instead of Cure Wound's 1d8+smth which is slightly weaker but still works as the "next best alternative" to Cure Wounds bottled and sold!

This is a hombrew channel, ring some bells?

I also took some inspiration from Darkest Dungeon, I know someone made an advanced injuries handbook (there's many) but just to cite one, critical wounds like broken bones, or showing flesh - needs continuous treatment or the character suffers penalties, including exhaustion

[placid heart]

Love Darkest dungeon, theres some cool alternate healing concepts like the Occultist with really powerful heals but the chance to cause bleeding

[slender olive]

They also have a whole mechanic behind bleeding alone, so I reflavored that into necrotic damage

Works really well I'd say

[placid heart]

Yeah thats cool. a spell like that would fit well in the warlock spell list too

[slender olive]

I sell these remedies for 20 gp a bottle, when you start hoarding them, that's when stuff really starts to stack

[slender olive]

I am working on a warlock of the Dracula based around Hellsing Ultimate x Castlevania now, so it kinda has themes around Darkest Dungeon paired with D&D

[nimble marten]

Hi there - I am in the midst of my first campaign which is entirely homebrewed from a lore perspective. The thing I am struggling the most with is map making. I've used GPT and it's come up with some OK world map images and a couple of simple room/battle maps, but the City map and/or detailed and intricate battle maps / dungeons / etc., will be impossible.

I subscribed to Inkarnate to start doing that but I find myself overwhelmed and it not behaving like it intuitively would seem it should, so I usually give up quickly and move on to something else I need to prepare for an upcoming session.

Are there any pointers/tutorials/guide books for map making that will make this simple and fast/efficient for me to develop my own maps? I think it's the icing on the cake that ties everything I've built together, but I don't have a ton of free time to experiment/troubleshoot.

Any guidance/resources would be helpful. Thank you!!

[slender olive]

DMS Guild

Homebrewery

GM Binder

DMS Guild is the best choice

Affordable maps including FREE sets like Mike's Basic Maps

[nimble marten]

well my name is Mike so that may just work 😄

[slender olive]

Mike pleasure

[nimble marten]

thank you i will check it out. Is that just maps for purchase/free or there's some resources on how? teach a man to fish type thing

[slender olive]

EVERYTHING

It's like marketplace for homebrew!

Dungeon Master's Guild is the full form

They also host official 5e content!

It also has manuals, guidebooks, there's a book called "5e Rules Clarifications" which is the Sage Advice Compendium simplified for dummies like us

[slender olive]

There's also VTT integration content, meaning you get it on DMS Guild, and it connects to your Roll20/Foundry directly so none of that setup hassle

[slender olive]

If you're struggling with battlemaps, might I suggest starting with Owlbear Rodeo first? It's much more simplified than other VTTs

You can also try Shard VTT

[slender olive]

Also, I highly recommend Jocat's video on being a Dungeon Master - look up "A Crap Guide To D&D Dungeon Master"

Mathew Mercer also covers videos on how to write an efficient campaign!

[nimble marten]

I am using DND Beyond VTT Maps for simplicity for the players. But I want to develop specific maps

like the actual maps themselves

we're in an online campaign

[slender olive]

Yes, there's presets you can download and modify yourself

It's on the websites I have cited

[nimble marten]

ok, thanks i will search for them

[slender olive]

You can also download props art separately, then drag and drop them like you're building a lego city

[slender olive]

You can hmu me, I have some resources that may help further

Bleeding Strike

Evocation cantrip

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (melee spell attack)
Components: S, M (a sliver of razor-sharp bone)
Duration: 1 round

Make a melee spell attack against a creature within your reach. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 slashing damage. Until the start of your next turn, the first time the target moves 5 feet or more, or at the end of its next turn (whichever comes first), it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 1d8 necrotic damage. On a successful save, the spell ends.

At Higher Levels. The spell’s damage increases by 1d8 (for both slashing and necrotic damage) when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th level (4d8).

A creature only makes one saving throw against the necrotic effect per casting.

Hey so... do I increase the initial slashing damage or is this good enough?

I kinda wanted something like Toll The Dead with 2 different damage die

[void jewel]

Subclass thoughts:
Theme: wizard who is constantly paranoid/alert.

Abilities:
Level 3: use intelligence (investigation) instead of wisdom (perception) and add intelligence mod to initiative.
Level 3: if you fail a saving throw, you may use your reaction to add your intelligence modifier to it.

Level 6: when initiative is rolled, you may immediately move an amount equal to your speed before the first round begins, or equal to your mount's speed if you are mounted.

Level 10: when you roll initiative, a roll of 9 or lower on the die is treated as a 10.

Level 14: your allies now benefit from your level 6 and 10 features if they are within 30 feet of you when initiative is rolled.

[slender olive]

5e or OneD&D?

[void jewel]

5e 2024.

[slender olive]

Arcane Tradition: School of the Vigilant

Wizards who devote themselves to the School of the Vigilant are relentless in their pursuit of safety. To them, every flicker of shadow warrants analysis, every footfall signals danger, and no risk is too small to track. Their magic is as much a shield as a weapon, honed sharp by countless hours of study, sleepless nights, and a refusal to ever be caught unawares.

Paranoid Observation (3rd Level)

When you make a Perception check, use your Intelligence modifier with proficiency in Investigation, instead of your Wisdom modifier. You also add your Intelligence modifier to your initiative rolls.

Defensive Intel (3rd Level)

When you fail a saving throw, you can use your reaction to add your Intelligence modifier to the roll, potentially turning failure into success. You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all uses after a long rest.

Preemptive Maneuver (6th Level)

When initiative is rolled, you may immediately move up to your speed (or your mount’s speed, if mounted) before the first round of combat begins. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.

Unblinking Reflex (10th Level)

When you roll initiative, a roll of 9 or lower on the die is treated as a 10.

Sentinel’s Safeguard (14th Level)

When you roll initiative, any number of allies within 30 feet of you also benefit from your Preemptive Maneuver and Unblinking Reflex features.

Wizards of the Vigilant are haunted by visions of disaster. This ever-present edge of anxiety sharpens their senses to a razor’s edge, letting them turn dread into decisive action. Allies learn to heed these warnings, for the School of the Vigilant is rarely wrong.

I like this

[void jewel]

That's not a bad writeup, but I was more looking for balance opinions. That said, pretty good

[slender olive]

Will definitely consider pairing this with the Spy background

Typically wizards are unusable in a Noir-themed detective game

But now they are

[void jewel]

Lv 6 not provoking opportunity attacks is a good idea.

[slender olive]

It's mostly rules-compatible

[void jewel]

I intentionally don't limit the saving throw reaction due to the president set by war magic.

Precedent*

Autocorrect

[slender olive]

Saving throws are too critical to have it like a giveaway

Some crucial moments are determined based on saving throws alone

[void jewel]

Eh. I balance against the existing subs. I don't want this to feel "war magic but way worse"

[slender olive]

Nah, this doesn't

It feels like a wizard x rogue more like

[void jewel]

No I mean that ability specifically.

It is already worse than arcane deflection in the sense it doesn't add to AC, only saves.

Different in that it's int mod, not 4. May be better or worse at times.

[slender olive]

That's already some magic item territory, there are magic items that only contribute to save rolls

And you gotta pay immense amounts of gold for them

So this is an initiate ability?

HUGE

I set it to PB uses because at higher levels, you can have up to 6 uses

[void jewel]

My main issue is simply that if it is use limited in such a manner it pales in comparison to arcane deflection, another wizard sub ability at the same level.

Arcane deflection also adds 2 to AC and is unlimited.

[slender olive]

Thing is... deflection is strike-based, save rolls factor into not just attacks, but spells, effects, death saves are also saves

[slender olive]

Unstackable

[slender olive]

You can stack this save with a saving throw bonus

From a magic item perchance

[void jewel]

At 2nd level, you have learned to weave your magic to fortify yourself against harm. When you are hit by an attack or you fail a saving throw, you can use your reaction to gain a +2 bonus to your AC against that attack or a +4 bonus to that saving throw.

^^^this is war magic

[slender olive]

when you ARE HIT

strike-based

[void jewel]

It comes with a downside of no levelled spells the next turn, but that doesn't matter much since you usually concentrate.

[slender olive]

It already has happened AND THEN

[void jewel]

or you fail a saving throw

[slender olive]

After you fail, yours happens as an immediate reaction

[void jewel]

So does this.

[slender olive]

So before that Fireball hits you

[void jewel]

Huh? So does war magic?

"against that attack or a +4 bonus to that saving throw."

[slender olive]

You can increase your Intelligence score well beyond 20

That alone gives you more than +5 as a modifier

It's not that hard to reach level 20 anyways

[void jewel]

I'm fine setting it to a static 4 to compare yeah.

[slender olive]

A helm of Intellect, how much? I'm a wizard hahaha

[void jewel]

Might be more reasonable.

Also prevents things like you say with stacking int higher

These days you can craft that tome, given time.

So it could go higher. A static value may be better.

[slender olive]

Nah, I'd say don't keep it static, in fact let players have it interact with magic items that let's say... gives you a MISC bonus to your Int score

That adds more versatility

Wizards love being versatile

[void jewel]

Is there a rule against adding multiple of the same mod? There isn't, right?

Only multiple PBs

[slender olive]

There is, same names don't stack

Guidance doesn't stack with Guidance for a reason

[void jewel]

No I mean can you use this feature to add int to an int save

[slender olive]

Sure, because different names

[void jewel]

OK thought so

[slender olive]

I don't see why not, let's say you have a tome of Save-The-Dummies and that adds a +2 to your saves

[void jewel]

Not like a wizard was failing an int save anyways tbh.

So not an issue

[slender olive]

In fact, you gave the Resistance (legacy version) a USE now

[slender olive]

Nah, there's shit like Contagion

And Bestow Curse

That's when wizards get into a slight problem

Only slight

Consider investing into a Mind Sharpener

Also, we have HEX which imposes disadvantage on one ABILITY SCORE of the caster's choice, let's pick INT

[slender olive]

Fox's Cunning from Enhance Ability can tank this

[slender olive]

Consider using Metamagic points for casting Resistancee as a bonus action, and then using your wizard subclass's existing saving throw bonus as well

[midnight elk]

I can't decide between a circular/coinlike token or a crystalline/geometric token for the design.

Anyone have any ideas?

[slender olive]

Why not combine both?

[midnight elk]

Hmmm

[slender olive]

Have it like a circular SHARD

A ring that's made of a shard formed by magical means

Also gives it its rarity

Because shards do not typically form like that

[midnight elk]

Thanks! I now have a plan

[glad veldt]

I'm trying to figure out how to add a sentient magic item race to D&D

I've talked about it with others and the biggest problem is just how items act so vastly different from creatures.

So I've been trying to think of work arounds.

[midnight elk]

Does anyone have any rune ideas for "Veil Token"

[void jewel]

Narratively, sentience functionally turns something into a creature.

It can't be targeted with creature effects (which is like, every effect in the game) but if it is sentient and can interact with its environment, its just a creature essentially.

[slender olive]

Didn't you wanna make it an object?

[midnight elk]

Yes but I want the name to be on the object as a runic design

[glad veldt]

My biggest hangup is that by lvl 20 the magic item PC should be considered a legendary magic item, which makes it difficult to come up with how an item levels up.

In terms of power I mean.

[slender olive]

Sincee it's a veil, you can design it like a hood

Or an actual clothing veil, like a face cover

But as a rune symbol

And to use it, they swipe over the rune, as if removing the veil

[glad veldt]

My biggest question is this: How do I keep things simple yet still creatively free?

How can I have one race that allows someone to play a magic sword, magic cloak, magic armor, and other magic items?

[faint sonnet]

As a race, I would say it's nearly impossible (in 5e's values) unless you just wanna abstract everything.

I've been making it as a class and it's still super difficult.

[slender olive]

Use XP leveling to determine the value of an item, for a Warlock subclass let's think
Common = level 1
Uncommon = level 6
Rare = level 10
Very Rare = level 14
Legendary = level 20

[slender olive]

I make a ton of warlock subclasses nowadays, warlock is really good for stuff like this

[glad veldt]

These are my thoughts: When you choose this ra e you pick a subtype, Litteraly any non-magical item subtype, from there your unarmed strike becomes the same as the items (if applicable) your AC becomes the same (if applicable) and you gain the same traits and properties as the item.

From there you choose a magical effect (of equal value (thanks @slender olive))

[faint sonnet]

To give a bit of context, this is the wording I have for my class's feature:

Level 1: Reconfiguration

You have the ability to assume the form of a weapon. As a Bonus Action, you can shape-shift into any Melee weapon. You stay in that form until you use Reconfiguration again, have the Incapacitated condition, or die. You can also leave the form early as a Bonus Action. When you are no longer Reconfigured, you appear in the closest unoccupied space.

Rules While Shape-Shifted. While in a form, you retain your personality, memories, and ability to speak, and the following rules apply:

Empowered Operation. Attacks made with you have a bonus to the attack and damage rolls equal to half your Armipotent Class Affinity (round up), and you can be used as a Spellcasting Focus. When you are in a form that has the Thrown property, you can be treated as a Ranged weapon.

Game Statistics. Your game statistics stay the same, with the following exceptions:
- Your Speed is 0 and can’t increase.
- Your base Armor Class equals 10 plus your Dexterity and Intelligence modifiers.
- You have Resistance to all damage and take no damage from falling.
- You do not require sleep, food, water, or air, and have Immunity to Exhaustion.
- You have Immunity to effects that would alter your form unwillingly; this includes effects that would revert you to your true form.

Limited Spellcasting. If you cast a spell, the spell doesn’t require Somatic or Material components, except Material components that are consumed by the spell or that have a cost specified in the spell. When you cast a spell that has a cost specified in it, you must be touching the Material component while casting.

Objects. The limitations of your form prevents you from handling objects. In addition, you choose whether your equipment falls in your space, merges with your new form normally, or is integrated into it. Integrated equipment functions as normal, but the DM decides if it’s reasonable for the equipment to have integrated with you. Normal equipment doesn’t change size or shape to match the new form, and any equipment that the new form can’t integrate with must either fall to the ground or merge with the form. Equipment that merges with the form has no effect while you’re in that form.

[slender olive]

You might have to account for a LOT of subtypes, dude

Good luck, sir

Keep me updated btw - I'm interested in magic item based races, classes, and backgrounds @glad veldt

[glad veldt]

I think I have a good framework, I just need a good system for level up.

[faint sonnet]

You also have to keep in mind that most classes won't make sense as a magic item at all.

[slender olive]

I made a whole list of 177 races and classes I picked up from other/video games to use as a race/class in D&D

So I'm slowly working on 'em now, and this magic item based race plays a big factor

[glad veldt]

Can you give me an example? (I find the idea of a kid picking up a great axe and suddenly the axe is screaming and hacking apart the invaders of his village to be hilarious.)

[faint sonnet]

How does a magic item become a spellcaster and how does it move while shape-shifted at all?

[slender olive]

Remember Generator Rex from Cartoon Network? Also the game Prototype? Take some inspiration from them for better understanding

[faint sonnet]

Like, I had to establish lore for my class to make the concept even work.

[slender olive]

Polymorph

[faint sonnet]

True Polymorph just makes them an object but they aren't a sentient magic item in the classical sense.

[slender olive]

Add a Sentient Mind, who's stopping you?

[glad veldt]

Three rulings I have for this race:

1. The wielder of the item gets the class features that cannot be applied to the item applied to them by the item when the item would use the ability. (For example: Ring of Wildshape)
2. The items have a 30ft hovering speed and can be used normally without anyone using them (except in a dead magic zone)
3. The item counts as a creature.

[slender olive]

The 1st one is so confusing

Wording pls

[faint sonnet]

Sure, but still no spellcasting and no attacking, y'know?

[glad veldt]

Druid ring uses wild shape, wearer of the ring turns into what the druid wanted to.

[slender olive]

Get a homonculus shell, you're a high level spellcaster capable of putting yourself in a magic item, a cyborg is nothing to you

[glad veldt]

Animated sword, Flying scepter that shoots fireballs out of it.

[faint sonnet]

Sure, but then it doesn't make sense to be a species.

[slender olive]

Golems

[faint sonnet]

So it's a golem species.

[slender olive]

Construct to be precise

[glad veldt]

What?

[slender olive]

It's an item species

A tool species

[glad veldt]

Basically yeah.

What's the confusion?

[faint sonnet]

It's not confusion as much as narrative disconnect.

[slender olive]

Pokemon moment, can I say that? Will Nintendo come after me? 👀

[faint sonnet]

There's a reason I've been working on this class for years.

[glad veldt]

Fair, elaborate on narrative disconnect.

[slender olive]

Confusion is, how do you attune to another PC as a player yourself, since you're an object-class item

[glad veldt]

Same way you would a moonblade I'd imagine.

[faint sonnet]

A few questions I asked myself:

• How does this magic item come into being?
• How does this magic item get stronger?
• How does this magic item interface with normal mechanics?
• Why can't other magic items interface in the same way (even when more powerful)?
• What does the magic item actively do in the world?
• How does the player as the magic item have fun?
• How does the magic item avoid making a player the "main character"?
• How does the magic item stay relevant even if the party is made in a way that their "choice" doesn't help the party?
• What does the magic item actively do on its turn in combat or otherwise?

[slender olive]

Then would breaking attunement kill me?

Would I be destroyable as an item?

Can I be cursed too?

[slender olive]

Some people just wanna play as a pizza, man... it's not that deep - cleric of the Garlic Bread exists

[glad veldt]

No
Yes
Yes

[slender olive]

Death saving throw is just me avoiding Dispel Magic

[faint sonnet]

It doesn't always have to be that deep, no, but if someone is actively wanting to play as a magic item, there's probably a reason.

[glad veldt]

If cast at a high enough level it would be equivalent to power word kill

[slender olive]

I want to cuz it's cool and funny is reasonable enough to me imo

It's a game

[glad veldt]

I kinda just treat it like you would an animated sword from the monster manual.

It has HP and an AC, items logically do. The reasons you don't keep track if it is because it's tedious and unfun.

[faint sonnet]

Aye, so how would it feel if you went into it with expectations that weren't met?

"I'm gonna do this!"
"You...can't, you're an item."

[slender olive]

I would be disappointed but that's part of it - you don't always get what you want

That's life

But then we enter philosophical territory, not this channel's purpose

[faint sonnet]

Expectations that arise from design are still within homebrew's purview, generally.

[slender olive]

Unrealistic expectations are not justification for your worldbreaking design concepts

[faint sonnet]

Unrealistic expectations are justification to not allow worldbreaking design concepts, aye.

[slender olive]

So it makes sense to have that reasoning as to why I want to be an item, but not the whole bibliography and historical origins of magic items through the ages, from a scroll to a pendrive for spells

[faint sonnet]

Agreed, but what I'm referring to is understanding the background reasons why someone wants that, even if they themselves don't know.

That's basically game design.

[midnight elk]

@glad veldt What if instead of attuning to an item you attune to an NPC and gain control of said NPC?

[faint sonnet]

Generally, someone who would want to play a long campaign as a magic item is going to have particular desires that lead into their choice, as they are likely giving up significant other stuff to achieve those desires.

[slender olive]

Then you're the one being the extra, not the creator - it's your own curiosity sparking those questions, not that they're necessary to the game design
The creator of Hollow Knight made it cuz he thought it was cool, at first it was just some dude with an idea - there's a Reddit thread where he was criticized cuz he made "just another metroidvania" - now it's a top charting example of indie games

Just like that, an idea that stems from "I think it's really cool" is reason enough to have something done

[faint sonnet]

I'm not referring to the justification, because that was the same justification as why I started to work on a sentient item class. I'm referring to the execution.

[slender olive]

Depends on how serious you want it, not everyone wants a whole guidebook to play 1 class

[faint sonnet]

That's part of the issue with a sentient magic item, yeah.

[slender olive]

I wanna play as a frying pan for a oneshot, I am not reading through your 300-page manual on frying pans as races

[faint sonnet]

Hence, this.

If it's meant to be a comedy species, go nuts.

If it's meant to be appropriate for a "serious" campaign, you have to put a lot more thought into it.

That's where the garlic bread thing disqualifies itself.

[slender olive]

But we don't know that, you just assumed it is because you're working on it yourself

That's mighty presumptious

[midnight elk]

I have made it a geometric crystal crescent moon with a constellation in the curve and fracture lines etched on the surface.

[slender olive]

Oooh, what color?

[faint sonnet]

The fact that Matt wants to actually make subtypes of items gives a good impression that the goal is for it to function properly, especially with the request for clarification on narrative disconnect, as a nonserious species wouldn't need to worry about that at all.

[midnight elk]

Not colored yet, I'm inking the outline right now. I can't decide if the constellation and fracture lines should be 0.5 or 0.1 millimeters.

[slender olive]

Again, you don't know how serious this is or not, just because you work on the same field doesn't mean your peers are doing the exact same

[faint sonnet]

I don't know, yes, but I'm using context clues.

[slender olive]

Context clues say this is just a race concept, not the whole "story" like you're cooking

[slender olive]

Would you assign it a specific zodiac too so that people with certain star signs gain bonuses?

[faint sonnet]

I don't think you understand what I mean by narrative, in that case.

[midnight elk]

No it's just random lines and dots right now

[slender olive]

No, you're failing to make me understand your point, I'm afraid - I also wanna point out I'm a non-native speaker

[faint sonnet]

Put another way: A race concept IS inherently narrative, because the race needs a justification to exist within the world.

[slender olive]

Ah, did you draw it by hand first as an idea?

[midnight elk]

I hand draw all of my homebrew concepts

[slender olive]

Sometimes, no - if it's a humanoid world, it makes sense to have humans in them - naturally

[faint sonnet]

Aye, but having specific magic items be not only sentient but autonomously able to move is going to require some rewriting of how 5e works, whether it focuses on the species or ends up assigning other magic items as that species.

• Tieflings are descended from devils/fiends.
• Aasimar are descended from angels.
• Mind Flayers eat brains.
• Etc.

Stuff generally needs a way to have an effect on the world, otherwise there's nothing to interact with that thing about.

[midnight elk]

It's supposed to look like a spikier thinner version of the actual thing.

[slender olive]

There's a whole page dedicated to constructs on the SAC and other guideline manuals

Homonculus as I mentioned is part of it

They can act as spell vessels

The artificer's Steel Defender can act on its own if left with a Simulacrum

[faint sonnet]

Magic items aren't constructs, though.

[slender olive]

I'm saying they can be, you can have a giant robot as a magic item race

[faint sonnet]

Sure, so what about all the other magic items in the world? This species would need to be significantly weaker and not scale in rarity, or alternatively they become heavily sought out as weapons of destruction and are forcibly used as weapons against their will.

[slender olive]

A common magic item beats this statement - wanna know what it is? The VOX SEEKER

[faint sonnet]

An exception doesn't make the rule lol

[slender olive]

You said constructs generalizing all of them

[faint sonnet]

I also said "magic items", generalizing all of them.

Magic items (uncountable) aren't constructs (uncountable).

I'm not saying "there are no magic items that are constructs", I'm saying "magic items do not default to constructs, so deviating from that requires justification in the world."

Either way, the creator isn't really engaging, so I'm not too interested in explaining this to you. No offense intended.

[slender olive]

• Homonculus Servant (Infusion)
• Steel Defender (permanent item/statblock)
• Clockwork Servant (Kobold Press)

[midnight elk]

I can't decide between metallic or matte colours for the token. Any suggestions?

[slender olive]

I'm not gonna waste time making a whole list, do that yourself since it's your territory

[faint sonnet]

I never was asking for a list 🤷

[slender olive]

Me neither, you seem too speculative to take anyone else's POV into consideration at all

[slender olive]

Since it's a shard, might go for some lighter colors, violet perhaps since it's more aligned with themes of the night sky where you can see the stars?

[midnight elk]

Maybe I should make some popcorn. This debate is getting cinematic.

[faint sonnet]

I just disagree with your POV because I don't think you are trying to understand what I mean by species having implications. No harm no foul, though.

[slender olive]

It's 6am, I gotta write a lab report, my monitor decided today's the day to become a CRT so I'm writing shit BY HAND like a neanderthal

[midnight elk]

Great idea! I could mix matte and metallic and lean on silvers and purples

[midnight elk]

Lol it's 6pm here

[slender olive]

Hello from the other side of the world!

[midnight elk]

Hello from Canada

[remote lance]

Ring of Channeling
Ring, Rare
When you cast a spell targeting yourself, you may instead target it on a willing creature you can see within 80 ft.

[slender olive]

boosting a touch-ranged spell to 80

Yayyy

I'm gonna cast Disintegrate on myself now

Hell, even cast Inflict Wounds on myself

Why stop there, why not just cast all the world's melee spell attacks on me

Oh yes

Let's add Dominate Person

Then that "willing" creature will ASK FOR IT

[slender olive]

or Dominate Monster

or Nystul's Magic Aura to change them to a person and THEN Dominate Person

Might even try Magic Jar because I love experimenting on silly NPCs willing to test my Ring of Channeling

I cast Suggestion: can you just stand there and agree to whatever spell I cast on you?

[remote lance]

Not touch-ranged, a self spell

[scenic urchin]

it just says "a spell targeting yourself" which is more than just self spells

[slender olive]

Yeah, that

[remote lance]

Its meant to be a self spell

[scenic urchin]

"a spell with a range of self" would be more accurate verbage

[slender olive]

Yup

Everyone had this debate on Booming Blade for years

Cuz "self" range

[remote lance]

Ring of Vicariousity
Ring, Common
When you cast a spell with a range of self, you may instead cast it on a willing creature which is wearing another Ring of Vicariousity.

Updated ver

[scenic urchin]

i like the general effect, but i actually dont think it belongs on a magic item, because if the caster doesn't build for it, that significantly dampens its usefulness

[slender olive]

I would say.. make this a feat

Or an ability

It's a very a feature-ish effect

More than an item

That's imo

[remote lance]

Ok but rings are cool

[scenic urchin]

same

[remote lance]

Doesn’t this apply to most magic items?

[scenic urchin]

no

casters don't need to build for a ring of spell storing, basically any spell the caster picks will work with that

or a pearl of power

[slender olive]

Me personally? I wouldn't craft this magic item, it's rare meaning it's in the thousands of gold pieces territory

Bad investment

No, make it uncommon

And require attunement by a spellcaster

[remote lance]

Let me calc the price

[scenic urchin]

but if you get this ring, and your only self spell is shield ... you're a sad caster

[slender olive]

I'm gonna cast Silvery Barbs like an absolute champ

[scenic urchin]

silvery barbs isn't self

[slender olive]

Touche

[naive apex]

So this is where we share our dnd campaign stuff?

[slender olive]

This is where we share the shower thoughts stuff

The can my cheese make me fly? stuff

[naive apex]

Ah, okay

I haven't talked in the server before and wanted to gage and get opinions on a campaign idea that ive been thinking about

[stuck raptor]

that would be a convo for #dm-discussion . this channel is more for mechanical homebrew

[scenic urchin]

Extra Large Sandwich
Wondrous Item, Common
This sandwich is filled with a generous heap of over twenty flavorful ingredients. When eaten, the sandwich provides enough nourishment to sustain a creature for three days.

[stuck raptor]

yum

[remote lance]

Average subway order:

[livid latch]

I love this so much

And yes it's because I'm a duck

[midnight elk]

Meanwhile the food I create would just kill you

Peanut butter and Cheese Whiz sandwich.

Or that time i made nachos in the microwave and burned the cheese whiz.

The bowl broke before the cheese whiz came off

[faint sonnet]

Trying to figure out if I want to give at least 30 feet of range to every damage type's ranged cantrip, because I want to lead certain damage types to certain playstyles but I also don't want people to shy away from certain damage types due to range.

Though 30 may be too low, still, hmm.

The possibility lurking in my mind that I don't really wanna do (but may, idk) is to have it where there's a short range, medium range, and long range usage.

[faint sonnet]

Showered and I think I have my solution and it's from a place I was kinda overlooking for a long time: Type of magic.

[slender olive]

YOOO is this how Critical Fumble works?

Critical Fumble Rule

When a creature makes a melee or ranged weapon attack and rolls a natural 1, this rule may apply:

Melee Weapon Attacks

• If an ally is adjacent to both the attacker and the target, the ally makes a Dexterity saving throw (DC = 10 + attacker's melee weapon attack bonus).
• On a failed save, the ally takes half the damage the attack would have dealt, rolled normally and rounded down.

Ranged Weapon Attacks

• If an ally is adjacent to the target, the ally makes a Dexterity saving throw (DC = 10 + attacker's ranged weapon attack bonus).
• On a failed save, the ally takes half the damage the attack would have dealt, rolled normally and rounded down.

Additional Details

• Only weapon attacks are affected. Spells are not included.
• This effect occurs at most once per turn per attacker.

I forgot

[scenic urchin]

thats not a base rule, if that's what you're asking

[slender olive]

I'm asking how the homebrew rule works cuz I want to implement it in a game

I saw someone mention a critical fumble where rolling a nat1 makes you deal damage to allies instead of enemies

[hushed lodge]

Can I get some help? I want to make Grimlock the Dino-bot from transformers. Any suggestions or walk throughs?

[void jewel]

A critical fumble works by making me leave the table and find a better DM tbh.

[hushed lodge]

I wanted to run this character through a campaign

[void jewel]

Even the book specifically tells you not to crit fumble. Bad mechanic.

It's in the first few pages of the DMG

Also it messes up martials even more since casters don't really roll many dice.

[tepid basin]

Oh hello how I wish I had found you all before the end of my campaign lol

[midnight elk]

Reminds me of the guy who had a crit fail on unarmed strike. He slapped himself in the face for 10 damage.

[golden temple]

i think this might be it, i'm just gonna remove critical misses from my games, , , ,

[slender olive]

Execution matters, I won't make you fumble all the time, and also if you fumble, so do enemies

If it's something funny like... I know you can't hit that enemy but you try regardless, and then roll a nat1, now that's your own consequences

[golden temple]

i'm pretty far into the decision of just having the attack roll be a crit roll and it's an autohit otherwise,,

i don't know why you have to punish someone when their use of an action is already useless,,

[slender olive]

Yeah, good luck finding players, dude

Some of my best D&D moments came from nat1s

And the DM allowing me to describe how badly I fumbled instead of being a straight damage

[golden temple]

yyeah i have my players describe their own attacks i dunno,,

tthat;s how i did it when i started,,

[slender olive]

Like one time, a DM made me roll for coffee, a flat d20, no skills, for making coffee - I rolled a nat 1, and the coffee was so bad, you could see it bubbling dark, murky, ooze from 10 feet away - my character was stubborn so he drank it anyway and got a serious stomach ache and -1 penalty to CON rolls for 1 minute

[golden temple]

wwe're not talking abt those though,,

i'm talking specifically abt combat,,

[slender olive]

Because it's funny

You know attacking that creature is a bad idea

You do it anyway

Miss, and you miss so badly, it hits a friend

Friendly fire has been in games since the dawn of gaming

It's not PvP

Just because your implementation of it is bad, doesn't mean someone else would also do it horribly, I for one play and run a lot of lighthearted games, that's why my focus is more onto the experience of the players, than the RAW mechanics of the game

[golden temple]

tthat's certainly apt of you,,

[slender olive]

Thank you, I used to be a murderhobo

[golden temple]

i was too and my dm hated me but was forced to keep me because i was the only character who would keep his big bad relevant,,

[slender olive]

I came from being an edgelord sigma male lonewolf fighter with big ego because I beat a barlgura solo once at level 5, to some dude who makes shitty funny borderline unusable homebrew magic items

[golden temple]

anyway yeah i see what you mean, but i have trouble seeing it as something i can really use as a reason against making the switch,,

[slender olive]

I mean... it's an optional rule for a reason, I choose to do it sometimes, like I wouldn't make you fumble in a boss fight, that's just cringe

[golden temple]

i've been lead to other successful systems that use very similar mechanics to what i'm working on andd , , considering i try to challenge my players, too many times can entire turns just be made useless because of how 5e attack rolls work,,

ccrit misses don't exactly help in my games, much at all,,

as aforesaid i let my players describe their own attacks, i feel like that's the most freeing i can have things be, and more than once i've had a ton of buildup for a single attack just to be a crit miss,,

llike, yeah, one player might start giggling but it's not exactly fun for the player who crit missed on an attack they put effort into detailing,,

[slender olive]

Sometimes, detailing can also slow down the pace of others

Let's say someone has a very minor action, but take a whole paragraph to say it

Nah man, that's just spotlight hogging

[golden temple]

yyeah i'm not going to tell my players "okay so i need you to stop writing so well because i need to move on like immediately"'

[slender olive]

I have a fixed time, like take a minute to describe what happens, because any more than 2 minutes, and we're writing a book now

[golden temple]

wwe're not on such a time limit unless we're at like, the end of the session, where preferably i'd be just writing conclusions and the session ends naturally,,

[slender olive]

I have work too, I have my sessions around 11pm, because I accomodate with EST/PST players, and then go to sleep as soon as game's over, then go to work in the morning

Sessions usually take around 4 hours

Well within my sleep schedule

[golden temple]

wwe usually tend to get on early so we can have longg sessions that can last like a large portion of a day,,

[slender olive]

I can't be having you give me your entire backstory biodata in a single combat

Epic moments are an exception but not every action needs to be an unskippable cutscene

[golden temple]

tbf i never like said that was how it worked,,

rregardless, we clearly don't have the same groups, we celebrate each other for having a lot of detail, being descriptive, honing and displaying good writing skill,,

tthat's not how yours works,,

[slender olive]

Buildups being a letdown is very highly frequent in D&D, I'd say it's crucial even to fail and let your players fail

Knowing you can fail let's you assess what kind of risks you should or shouldn't take even better

I won't spoonfeed your character, no matter how good friends we are, no bias here as a GM - I'm the game, no game without me - so gotta make sure everyone gets their own turn in this turn-based game

[golden temple]

ccritical misses are just like, you using your attack action for the proper use of an attack action and you getting nothing for it though,,

[slender olive]

Yeah, and every single game uses crit fails and crit successes, black & white, hit or miss

[golden temple]

mmmh not every single game, , , ,

[slender olive]

Literally boolean values 1s and 0s are on and off

[slender olive]

Yes, I treat a game like an actual game, it's not a book club

[golden temple]

i don't think i appreciate you criticising not only my way of playing but my entire group's method of playing,,

[golden temple]

llike, we're not talking about a risky decision, it's just like, the basic attack,,

[slender olive]

My bad, I didn't know only you get to say how I run my games, I was talking about how me or I would implement the critical fumble in my game, you're the one who went all-in about how you run your game, it's not even about you

[slender olive]

see?

[golden temple]

yyeah but i wasn't even there for that part,,

[slender olive]

I literally said I wanted to do it, there was no question about how you ran your games

[golden temple]

i mean there was, when it came up,,

[slender olive]

Yes, even in real life - you try to punch someone, you miss - and then you can stagger, lose your balance, hit a wall

Actions will have consequences, no matter where you are

[slender olive]

In a public community like this where you present someone with your information, they WILL talk about it - that's kinda the whole point of having a "discussion" community - you can't avoid being criticized, your friends may know you better and compliment you but I don't - I'm a stranger, so I will only comment based on what I'm seeing right now

[golden temple]

i feel as though there are better methods of criticism than insulting 😭

[slender olive]

Insulting and ragebait works best

You immediately reply

Your attentionspan gets focused

You start building grounds for defense

What I said wasn't even insulting, because I gave you a reasoning for my commentary

I did not just use a derogatory term without presenting a point like "why" I said what I did

[golden temple]

nnot really it just comes off as rude and unprofessional and leads to you being ignored,,

[gloomy flower]

oh for crit fumbles I have the weapon be affected

for melee weapons it becomes broken (splintered, dulled, etc) and becomes -1 per fumble until fixed using 1 hour with smith's tools (1 hour per -1)

for ranged, either the string becomes broken (need to buy a new string during downtime) or the gun breaks (needs to be fixed with tinkers tools during a short rest)

for spells, the spell backfires on the caster

[slender olive]

Do you also use item durations?

[gloomy flower]

wdym by item durations?

[slender olive]

Kinda like Minecraft, weapon has its own HP, and wears down with time, kinda like the healing kit also

[gloomy flower]

oh nah that just seems like more menial busywork tbh

[slender olive]

Yeah... that's gritty realism rules

I thought critical fumble was from that as well

[gloomy flower]

ehhh imo crit fumble is moreso you mess up using the weapon so bad you break it

[slender olive]

Alright, I'll keep that but for simple weapons only

Cuz I don't want the tougher weapons to break so easily lol

Imagine a great axe breaking cuz you nat 1'd on a goblin

[gloomy flower]

my advice? keep it for everything

except magic weapons

a greataxe can break if you use it wrong

the Adze of Annam, though? different story

[peak inlet]

Level 14 Barbarian Subclass Feature: Nightmare

Others can see glimpses of their deepest fears within you.

You have advantage on attacks made against creatures who are Frightened of you.
You also have access to the following Brutal Strike.
Nightmare Blow. You force the creature to make a Wisdom save (DC of 8 plus your Strength modifier and Proficiency Bonus). On a fail, they are Frightened and gain a level of Exhaustion for 1 minute. They can repeat the save whenever you attack them. On a fail, they gain a stack of Exhaustion. On a success, they lose the Frightened condition. Whenever they lose the Frightened condition, all the stacks of Exhaustion gained in this way are also removed.

Once you use this Brutal Strike, you can’t do so again until you finish a Long Rest or by expending a use of your Rage.

is this too much?

[scenic urchin]

prob not

[slender olive]

Adze of Annam is crazyyy, you think too high of my players who still don't the know the difference between half and quarters cover after 3 years of playing this game

(spoiler alert: they don't care, they will charge at a hill giant regardless)

[slender olive]

Imagine flexing your muscle and some wee little imp gets scared

I love it

[slender olive]

The exhaustion stacking might get a bit too OP after like... 3 strikes

Then it goes to deadly territory

[peak inlet]

yeh, that’s what I’m worried about, but that also means they have to make that many saves

[slender olive]

Typically we don't really use exhaustion in combat that often so...

I do wanna keep it but like....

we gotta slow it down

[peak inlet]

every time you attack them, you risk them losing the effect, but the benefit is the stacking exhaustion

[slender olive]

That's the problem, you can always increase your Strength score

The DC goes higher and higher

[peak inlet]

yeh, it should probably be once per turn

[scenic urchin]

brutal strikes is already once per turn

[slender olive]

When you reach Indomitable, your Strength score exceeds max

[slender olive]

Exhaustion level 5 would just one-shot monsters bruh

@peak inlet would it be alright if the target's own Strength score decreases temporarily, like a reduction - like some spells reduce maximum hitpoints, this would reduce their Strength score, meaning capacity to lift, tow, use heavy weapons, etc.

[native grove]

https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDHomebrew/s/nuFuDgC2k2

this is a link to some genasi sub races i made.

Should the wood genasi get natural armor instead of their ability to talk to plants?

[slender olive]

instead of Exhaustion

Cuz they still get Dexterity as an alternative, I don't wanna make the player too powerful, so enemies still have some leverage against this ability

[peak inlet]

that’s usually a more problematic thing to affect than Exhaustion

if they have low Strength, it could instantly one shot them

vs. Exhaustion which will always be 6 to cause the one shot

[slender olive]

Exhaustion (2024) penalizes all the abilities, that -1 -2 -3 would go to all checks & saves, whereas for Strength, you still have magic items to account for your low Strength score, many people do DUMP stat

[slender olive]

Yeah... so enemy dies in 6 or 7 rounds regardless of CR

[scenic urchin]

you should maybe do a quick math check to see the odds of actually getting a creature to 6 exhaustion before worrying about that possibility...

[slender olive]

With stuff like Bestow Curse & Contagion?

[native grove]

Anyone?

[scenic urchin]

you're welcome to add as many additions as you want, as long as the math is true

[slender olive]

I don't really trust math when probability is involved, my A-Levels maths results went down cuz of shitty stats

[slender olive]

Unfortunately Reddit is region-blocked for me, I'd need to use a VPN which is a hassle

[peak inlet]

6 rounds of failing Wisdom Saves, not having a way to stop the Frighten, and not blocking anything from the Barbarian

and not CCing the Barbarian

I mean, if you throw in a Sickening Radiance + whatever the other spells that give Exhaustion exist that’s a bunch of spell slots as well and more saves, a Legendary creature can cancel the whole effect as well

I know it could be an issue, which is why I’m asking, but if you’re only counting this by itself and nothing else, I’m not sure if it’s immediately an issue

is the Wisdom save the issue

[slender olive]

Unless you're fighting it solo, spell slots aren't a problem for lower leveled spells at level 14 and above

[slender olive]

Frightened is okay, but Exhaustion is more of an aftermath effect, so gaining exhaustion while being actively frightened doesn't make sense because... well, adrenaline to get started plus when you're frightened, your fight & flight responses will kick in - so it just doesn't make sense to get even more tired

Mechanically it's okay but I'm not sure how I could justify this flavorwise

Plus, if something's afraid of me, chances are.. it'll try to run away from me more than trying to hit me, so I don't even think we'll reach the point of peak Exhaustion levels, so in that sense - yeah, it makes sense

[peak inlet]

you missed the 3rd response, freeze

which is what I’m going for

ok ngl, I think you might have misread the effect but I like your suggestion more

the way I currently have it is when you attack them, they get to redo the save for the exhaustion/repeal

what I think would work well, is having them redo the roll when they attack you as well

but without the risk of gaining exhaustion

so it turns into actually giving you the choice between fight, flight, or freeze

I will also remove the initial exhaustion stack

I feel like if you can hit 6 exhaustion stacks with this, they should be allowed to one shot the enemy they’re attacking

[slender olive]

Yeah, that works

Just reword your description

[peak inlet]

Nightmare Blow. You force the creature to make a Wisdom save (DC of 8 plus your Strength modifier and Proficiency Bonus). On a fail, they are Frightened for 1 minute. Once per turn when you attack them, they can repeat the save. On a fail, they gain a level of Exhaustion. On a success, they lose the Frightened condition. Alternatively, when the creature attacks you, they can redo the saving throw but do not gain a level of Exhaustion on a fail. When they lose the Frightened condition, all the stacks of Exhaustion gained in this way are also removed.

does this wording make more sense?

[slender olive]

When they start repeating the save, is it after they're frightened or before?

Like what happens if they succeed the fright save?

Nothing happens, right?

[peak inlet]

if they succeed the first save nothing happens

if they succeed at any point after that, the whole effect is reversed

both the Exhaustion and the Frightened

[slender olive]

Yep, that works

[sage hazel]

i made a homebrew species and i wanted to ask if someone could go over it with me to see if i should make any balance changes or anything

[true portal]

just post it here

[sage hazel]

its quite long with all the description i wrote i dont wanna like clog up the channel

[true portal]

thats what this channel is for

[sage hazel]

alr

ok one sec ill post it

Name: Half-Elf (Variant)
Between Land and Sea
Mer-Elves stand between land and sea, one half pulls them to the water, the other to the old forests, it is up to them where to choose to go. Having Elvish blood, this species shares in the boons of the Elvish connection to magic, nature, and the fey. While their merfolk blood, though it varies wildly depending on what kind of merfolk, gives them impressive resilience, agility and adaptability, rarely being slowed down or bothered by rivers, lakes, marches and swamps. This combines to make them naturally excellent druids and rangers.

Life as Outcasts
Mer-Elves struggle with societal prejudice and expulsion their entire life. Across most of the world, Merfolk, like orcs, goblins, centaurs and others, are considered beasts, something below civilized and sentient life, and many religions forbid them holding offices, titles, or any meaningful position in society, they are also forbidden from bedding Humans, Elves, and others. Because of this, the offspring of these unions are often considered abominations, their very existance being heretical, most of them do not reach adulthood as they are often killed when found as infants or children along with their parents, or hunted down into their adult years. As such their numbers are low, some estimating there only being a couple thousand across the world, further fueling their isolation as they will rarely know companionship by their own kind. As a result of all this, they are most often (if still very rarely) found in criminal organizations or rogue bands and the few societies that accept them (notably tiefling society).

Appearance and Physiology
Mer-Elves vary in appearance wildly, depending on the ethnicity of their Elvish parent and the species of their Merfolk one. They commonly exhibit various Aquatic and fishlike traits, like visible or hidden gills, fins, tails and scales and especially sharp or sharklike teeth. Their skin varies greatly, with common colorations being pink, various blue tones, and purple, often with different texture (Rougher) to normal skin. This Merfolk skin usually presents as distinct patches or lines across the body, or can cover the whole body save for the palms and the soles of the feet which are almost always Elvish skin. They appear to have a high likelihood for heterochromia and eye deformations in general despite this they usually have excellent eyesight and darkvision similar to elves. Their hair, if they have any, is also usually multicolored, has colour gradients, or strands of differently coloured hair.
Despite their exclusion by much of society, Mer-Elves are often noted as being quite attractive because of their Elven facial features and well defined muscular builds.
They are noted as often being unusually tall between 6 to 7ft but up to 9ft. They have thicker skin and are generally mildly more resistant to cuts and scrapes, though not enough to ward of any kind of serious attack. Their build is often quite muscular but lean. Their circulatory systems are adapted to working underwater aswell and they are able to both hold their breath for much longer (or even breathe underwater) and dive much deeper and quicker without risk of diving sickness. They also appear to be more resistant to the effects of hypothermia and hyperthermia.

Merfolk are very vulnerable to intense sun as they are low in melanin leading them to develop severe sunburns unusually quickly. They are known to have a low tolerance for alcohol and drugs in general, similar to their Elven relatives. They are vulnerable to starvation as their metabolism runs signicantly faster than humans, in part because of their larger size, but also because of their high muscle mass. They have a high appetite and prefer to eat and drink frequently and in large quantities. Because of these qualities they have been known to even beat dwarves in competitive eating challenges, altough never in drinking challenges. They keen hearing but a somewhat subpar sense of smell.

Your Mer-Elf character has traits that make them adept at surviving in a great many situations.
Sturdy body
Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Wisdom of Two realms
Add 1 to your wisdom score and gain 1 ability score increase.

Age
These Half-elves mature at the same rate humans do and reach adulthood around the age of 20. They live much longer than humans, however, often exceeding 400 years.

Size
Half-elves are somewhat larger humans, ranging from 6 to 7 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed
Your base walking speed is 35 feet.

Darkvision
Thanks to your elf blood, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. This also Applies underwater.

Fey Ancestry
You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed.

Skill Versatility
You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice.

Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, Aquan and one extra language of your choice.

Keen Senses
You gain Expertise in Perception, Nothing escapes your sight. You also gain proficiency in either nature or survival.

Discriminated
This species is considered beastial. Many Characters view this species' existence as an unnatural abomination and heresy. Most however can not immediately tell due to its visual similarity to other humanoids. If revealed by being unclothed, abnormal body parts being shown or by word of mouth to an intolerant character they may choose to forgo allying with this character, start discriminating against this character, expose this character to others, or otherwise express prejudice. -1 to Charisma Score.

i still have to update a few descriptions in the trait stuff

[true portal]

feature: discriminated😭

[sage hazel]

xd

[sage hazel]

do u not have anything to say besides that or

[true portal]

not really, aside from that lore needs to be able to be grasped by someone who wants to play it

[crisp horizon]

dose anyone have any suggestions for programs to make art for magic items

[proper lava]

Theoretically, say there is a spell that upon casting summons a semi-sentient tome which upon opening grants the holder a single audience with their creator, whoever or whatever that may be. The reader of the tome would be instantly teleported to wherever the closest thing to their species creator happens to be in that moment regardless of safety. After fulfilling its purpose, the tome goes dormant to recharge its magical energy after which the next reader of the tome will experience the same effect. This repeats indefinitely.

If this were a thing, what level spell would y'all suppose it to be? 9th? 10th? 11th? 12th?

[true portal]

spells dont go higher than 9

[proper lava]

Castable spells don't go higher than 9 in contemporary times, they go all the way up to 12 theoretically when considering the entire historical context of the D&D universe.

such as move mountain, karsus' avatar, mavin's earthfast, mavin's create volcano, etc

you may not be able to get a function out of something above 9, but you could certainly have fun in the Lore space

[somber lynx]

Question for you lovely homebrewers. I have a bard who's entire focus is healing and buff his party. I want to make a homebrew ring to help give a boost to his healing without breaking things. Im thinking uncommon for rarity. Any ideas?

[lean elk]

could yoink a life domain style thing of adding the spells level as extra healing

thats a very lowkey way to give a buff to heals anyway

[chilly jewel]

yea very simple and sweet

[regal silo]

My updated take on Shining Finger

Shining Finger
2nd-level evocation

• Casting Time: 1 action
• Range: Touch
• Components: V, S
• Duration: Instantaneous
• Classes: Sorcerer, Wizard (accessible via subclasses like Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster)

You channel surging energy into your hand, causing it to glow with radiant power as you strike or grasp a foe. Make a melee spell attack against a creature within your reach. On a hit, the target takes 3d8 radiant damage, and it must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be grappled by you until the end of your next turn (no action required to maintain; the grapple ends early if you use your hand for anything else or move more than 5 feet away from the target). While grappled this way, the target can't cast spells with somatic components.

If you hit a creature that is already grappled by you (from this spell or otherwise), you can forgo the saving throw and instead deal an extra 2d8 radiant damage as you crush it with intensified energy.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the initial damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 2nd. The extra damage on a grappled target increases by 1d8 per slot level above 2nd (starting from 4th level, as Eldritch Knights and Arcane Tricksters cap at 4th-level slots).

Flavor Note: The verbal component can include a dramatic incantation, such as "This hand of mine glows with an awesome power!" to evoke the source material, but it's optional for roleplay. This spell synergizes with Gish builds by combining martial grappling with magical damage, allowing follow-up attacks while controlling the battlefield.

[azure cloak]

A black marble wheel with a constant, yet slowly spinning axle. The wheel can only be obtained from "The Balanced Wheel Of Fortune" card when drawn from the deck "Manny's Twisted Tarot".

Items of Legendary or lower rarity can be placed on the side of the wheel to trade it for a different item in a similar condition. Once an item has been positioned against the wheel and the wheel has been spun, it produces a bright beam of light that shines up to 300 feet above itself before ascending into the beam. The item that appears within 10 feet of the wheel at the end of the exchange is a random item of the same quality, this item also appears with any charges it has being used up. Once this property has been used, it cannot be used again for the next 24 hours.

If you strike an object that is Large or smaller and is currently held by an ally with the axle or wheel, the object struck turns into half of the equivalent amount of currency.

Is this a good item? A bit underwhelming? Any creative or obvious go-to uses for it?

[rugged olive]

Anyone wanna help with a grappling subclass?

or HB grappling rules and features

[azure cloak]

You mean like a whole new Grappling system?

[rugged olive]

Somewhat, mainly for more usage and abilities specific to grappling

Like being able to do submissions, maneuver them around your body, and other things from MMA and wrestling

(real wrestling, not WWE)

[lean elk]

can honestly be achieved with a few maneuvers on an unarmed battle master with the feat

bait and switch comes to mind first

[rugged olive]

You can't maneuver them around your body without moving yourself, meaning RAW you are stuck in the same squares orientation when the grapple started

[rugged olive]

yea, but that's a willing ally

[lean elk]

how would this really work aside from just restraining a grappled creature ?

[rugged olive]

Which part? The submission? Yea, make an option to try to restrain them

2024 rules

[lean elk]

did they remove that from grappling?

in 2014 you could just make a 2nd check with the feat to lock you both down

thats as close to a submission as I can think of, plus unarmed fighting lets you do damage to a target you're grappling

[rugged olive]

Nope, it was terrible so they changed the feat

[lean elk]

if that is the case i'd just modify the feat to include an option to restrain rather than building a whole sub around it

just because that's putting all your value on being able to pin your target down and theres a lot of times you can't really do that feasibly

[regal silo]

What about coming up with new maneuvers? Something that lets you throw a large or smaller creature prone with a bit of damage like in Judo?

[lean elk]

i personally would rather be really good at doing it WITH the abilities to still be a good all around fighter/monk/etc

like grappling a prone creature keeps them prone until they pass the DC would be a fun approach to that as well without having to put all your chips into it

[broken violet]

One message removed from a suspended account.

[golden temple]

ssorry i don't use dndbeyond personally, couldn't help, , ,

imo this is probably not anything but i;d recommend just like, using something that doesn't restrict you 😭?

mmaybe ask in #ddb-support

[glad veldt]

I've been working on a Magic Item race for D&D, and my biggest problem is level ups.

I want magic items to increase in power qnd rarity as they level up, but I can't figure out how to write a good framework without removing creativity.

But I also want it to be balanced.

So this is my question: How can I write a good framework without removing creativity and preserve playability and balance?

I have three examples of items I'm basing it off of.

[coral delta]

Species that gain features tend to only gain features at levels 3 and/or 5.

[unique parrot]

The race? If so, any features that explicitly get stronger after level 5 will be better than the existing races. (Some features are tied to PB, that’s one of the few exceptions)
You can post what you have so far.

[glad veldt]

I don't have anything concrete, but I have concepts and rulings. Namely that buff spells that would work on creatures work on this race, any class feature that wouldn't make sense for an item to use can be applied to the wielder instead (think tiny child picks up a wrentch that is a lvl 20 artificer and suddenly begins making masterpieces rivaling seasoned veterans of the craft).

There are several (dozen) glaring issues but I'm working through them one at a time.

[unique parrot]

The race should have a creature type, whether that be construct or something else

I believe someone in here made similar homebrew

[unique parrot]

.

It’s a class

[coral delta]

Wait, are you intending that the player who is playing this species can't use their own features from their own class sometimes?

Simply because they picked this species?

[glad veldt]

I don't know how an axe would rage...

[coral delta]

If your species can't access basic class features, then it shouldn't be a species.

The point of a species is giving the player flavorful, minor benefits to their character.

A species is simple, it's basic, and it acts as a garnish to the real main dish of the character's toolkit: the class

[opal trail]

@faint sonnet

How's this for a final version?

Oni

Oni Spells (Level 3)

The magic of your patron ensures you always have certain spells ready; when you reach a Warlock level specified in the Oni Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.

Oni Spells

Warlock Level     Spells
3     Invisibility, Darkness, Armor of Agathys, Disguise Self, Shillelagh (for the clubs/greatclub kanabo theme)
5     Fear, Spirit Shroud
7     Ice Storm, Greater Invisibility
9     Steel Wind Strike/Destructive Wave, Cone of Cold

Oni Form (Level 3)

As a bonus action, or as part of casting Shillelagh on a viable weapon you are carrying, you can gain a form that grants attributes of an Oni onto you for ten minutes. While active, you gain the following benefits:

- While not wearing armor, your AC is equal to 13 + your Charisma modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.
- Once per turn, you deal an additional 1d6 Cold damage on hit with an attack. This increases to 1d8 at 7th level, 1d10 at 11th level and 1d12 at 15th level.
- Once per use of the Oni Form feature, while it is active, you can choose to use a bonus action to regain hit points equal to your Warlock level + your Charisma modifier. 

This feature can only be used once per short or long rest, unless you use a Pact Magic slot to use it again.
 
Shapeshifting Menace (Level 6)

You can cast Disguise Self with a bonus action instead, and without expending a spell slot a number of times equal to your Charisma Modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. In addition, while the Disguise Self spell is active on you, other creatures have disadvantage on checks made to discern that you are disguised, and the spell no longer fails to hold up to physical inspection.

If you hit a creature with an attack while the Disguise Self spell is active on you, it can be ended early (no action required), causing the creature that was hit to make a Wisdom saving throw vs your Warlock Spell Save DC, or have the Frightened condition until the start of your next turn. This can only be done with Disguise Self that has been cast by you, using a spell slot or a use of this feature. If the Oni Form feature is active when using this feature, the Wisdom Saving Throw is made at disadvantage.```

When you deal extra cold damage on hit with an attack due to the Oni Form feature, you add your Charisma modifier to the damage roll, and reducing its speed by 10. Additionally, if the creature has the Frightened condition, its speed is halved instead until the end of its next turn.

Freezing Aegis (Level 10)

When spell that deals cold damage is cast with a spell slot, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Warlock Level. This is added to the Armor of Agathys temporary hit points, if that is the spell cast. This feature can be used once per short or long rest. 

Form of the True Oni (level 14)

Your Oni Form feature is empowered, gaining these additional benefits while active:

- You regain hit points equal to your Proficiency Bonus at the start of your turns if you have at least 1 hit point.
- The base AC of your Oni Form increases to 15 + your Charisma modifier instead.
- You can cast Cone of Cold once without expending a spell slot, per use of the Oni Form feature, while it is active.```

Weird

Wont letme edit the other one to add some details lol, but made me repost the second part? strange discord stuff

[coral delta]

If you're thinking "it might be fun to play a sentient weapon", then that's space for the DM to roleplay conversations with the Player's sentient weapon.

The only other alternative I can think of is using the Sidekick system with something like an Animated Object

[tranquil dew]

Gargantuan aberration, neutral evil
AC 25 (crystalline hide) | HP 750 (50d20 + 500) | Speed 0 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover)
STR 22 (+6) DEX 10 (+0) CON 30 (+10) INT 26 (+8) WIS 18 (+4) CHA 24 (+7)
Saving Throws Int +16, Wis +12, Cha +15
Skills Arcana +16, Perception +12
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing from nonmagical weapons; cold; lightning
Damage Immunities force, psychic
Damage Vulnerability radiant
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified, unconscious
Senses truesight 300 ft., passive Perception 22
Languages Deep Speech, Infernal, telepathy 120 ft.
CR 24 (62,000 XP) 

ACTIONS
•    Bite: Melee (15 ft.), +14 hit, 25 (4d8 + 6) piercing + 22 (4d10) force damage.

CENTRAL EYE 
•    Annihilation Ray (Recharge 5–6). 120-foot cone. DC 22 Dexterity save. Fail: 66 (12d10) force damage + disintegration at 0 HP. Success: Half damage.

Each targets one creature within 120 ft. (DC 22 save unless noted): 
1.    Soulforge Ray (Con save). 55 necrotic + 55 radiant damage (heals undead/devils).
2.    Oath-Inverter Ray (Cha save). Reverses strongest oath or belief for 1 minute.
3.    Doomsday Contract Ray (Int save). Soul damned after death.
4.    Entropy Ray (Con save). Age 2d20 years + permanent stat loss (1d4 Str/Dex/Con) on fail.
5.    Gravity Singularity Ray (Str save). Creates 20-ft radius gravity well: restrained + 44 (8d10) bludgeoning/round.
6.    Madness Cascade Ray (Wis save). Inflicts indefinite madness.
7.    Platinum Tomb Ray (Dex save). Transmutes 30-ft cube to platinum. Imprisoned on fail (break DC 30).
8.    Blood Dune Ray (Dex save). Creates 40-ft blood sand pit: restrained + 55 (10d10) necrotic/round.
9.    Echo Legion Ray (Cha save). Summons 1d4+1 illusory beholders (1 HP, deal real damage if undisbelieved).
10.    Soundstealer Ray (Con save). 90-ft sphere of permanent silence. Deafens, negates verbal spells.
11.    Infernal Recruitment Ray (no save). Summons 1d4 chain devils for 1 hour.
12.    Memory Scour Ray (Int save). Erases 1 month of memories per failure.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS (5/round) 
•    Triple Ray. Xar'gol fires three eyestalk rays.
•    Pact Surge (Costs 2 Actions). All creatures who signed infernal contracts within 1 mile take 38 (7d10) psychic damage.
•    Reality Rewrite (Costs 3 Actions). Alters one nonmagical rule (e.g., "water flows upward") in a 120-foot radius for 1 round.
•    Devour Hope (Costs 4 Actions). One frightened creature within 120 ft. must make a DC 22 Charisma saving throw or die. Xar'gol regains 100 HP.

Lair: The Sundered Shore 
•    Twisted Geometry: Gravity shifts hourly (walking on waves or vertical cliffs).
•    Contract Storms: Lightning strikes etch infernal pacts onto surfaces.
•    Memory Tides: Ghosts of forgotten sailors relive their damned oaths.

1.    Breach Surge. All water within 1 mile rises as 100-ft tidal wave. DC 22 Dex save or take 55 (10d10) bludgeoning damage and swept 300 ft.
2.    Pact Vortex. Floating contracts orbit Xar'gol. Destroying one (AC 18, 20 HP) triggers its curse (e.g., aging 1d10 years).
3.    Echo Cannons. Petrified ships fire spectral cannonballs (60-ft line, DC 22 Dex save, 44 force damage).```

[coral delta]

Wowzers. Two in a row, huh? Please keep these behind links to Google docs in the future.

[tranquil dew]

oh? okay sure.

i need to hit my players hard, i think this might do it.

[fossil pond]

Hello I am looking for opinions and feed back on a jumping Barbarian Subclass Path of the Guillotine

Brief Flavor text- These barbarians thrive on momentum, using height and motion to their advantage. Their unique style of combat makes them dangerous predators on the battlefield, able to bound across obstacles, drag foes into sudden death-zones, or shield allies by controlling the vertical space. Enemies who believe themselves safe behind distance, wings, or walls soon learn the truth: nothing escapes the swing of the Guillotine.

"I was wronged! You wronged me! And now you float like a cloud believing I can't reach you!?"
—Gurtz, screaming at a beholder moments before leaping

https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/2590693-path-of-the-guillotine

[hard wren]

id mention more about the deck but i litereally have 4 letters left in the message os

[opal trail]

You're not a mod nor is that a requirement, thanks.

[tranquil dew]

it's a polite request

[hard wren]

i mean i can put it in a google doc

[true portal]

he is helping the mods by giving you the message they would give you, this is just rude

[hard wren]

sorry

[tranquil dew]

not you, the thing i posted.

[hard wren]

well what i posted is also long lol

may as well make it not flood the chat

[tranquil dew]

mine was 3 posts

[opal trail]

I think you're confused about what "rude" is, my statements were just that, statements. That, and I've posted and seen many things like what is above before with 0 issues. So, yeah.

[hard wren]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UTP_r6GGUI8vzE7U1yFspnQ5Kp9kZOkpu2wA3h4bsXY/edit?usp=sharing
thoughts on this so far?

im trying to make it balanced but uh being able to cast wish at level 1 is

sorta funny

[midnight elk]

Neat

@hard wren What do you think of this?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pOsUMDETy79hRUcGxNFhB2XQaR0TafnxxA1mdfWtwNI/edit?usp=sharing

[cold rock]

Can someone help me see if this monster is good enough for a level 20 party to fight?

[midnight elk]

Sure

[midnight elk]

Can I see the stats?

[cold rock]

Ill send them rn

Thx mate

[midnight elk]

No problem

[cold rock]

Nightlord

Large Undead, chaotic evil

---

• Armor Class 20
• Hit Points 566 (27d10 + 135)
• Speed 45 ft.
• Initiative +16 (26)

---

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20 (+5)	11 (+0)	20 (+5)	12 (+1)	16 (+3)	18 (+4)

---

• Saving Throws Str +13, Wis +9
• Skills Arcana +9, Intimidation +12, Perception +11
• Damage Resistances Non magical Slashing, Piercing and Bludgeoning
• Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
• Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned
• Senses Blindsight 120 ft., passive Perception 21
• Languages —
• Challenge 26 (XP 90.000; PB +8)
• Proficiency Bonus +8

---

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the Nightlord fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Magic Resistance. The Nightlord has Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Marshal Undead. Undead creatures of the Nightlord's choice in a 60-foot Emanation originating from it have Advantage on attack rolls and saving throws. It can't use this trait if it has the Incapacitated condition.

Regeneration. The nightlord regains 20 hit points at the start of its turn. If the nightlord takes radiant damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of the nightlord's next turn. The nightlord dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn't regenerate.

Spellcasting. The death knight casts one of the following spells, requiring no Material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 18):

At will: cause fear, Command, counterspell, darkness, Phantom Steed
2/day each: Destructive Wave (Necrotic), eyebite, wrathful smite

Actions

Multiattack. The Nightlord makes three Dread Blade attacks.

Dread Blade. Melee Attack Roll: +11, reach 5 ft. Hit: 19 (4d6 + 5) Slashing damage plus 13 (3d8) Necrotic damage.

Night Smite. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 24 (4d6 + 10) slashing damage, plus 63 (14d8) necrotic damage.

Starless Night Rain. The Nightlord casts Conjure Volley

Bonus Actions

Shadow Walk. The Nightlord teleports up to 60ft

Reactions

Parry. Trigger: The Nightlord is hit by a melee attack roll while holding a weapon. Response: The death knight adds 6 to its AC against that attack, possibly causing it to miss.

Legendary Actions

Legendary Action Uses: 3. Immediately after another creature's turn, The nightlord can expend a use to take one of the following actions. The nightlord regains all expended uses at the start of each of its turns.

• Dread Authority. The death knight uses Spellcasting to cast Command. The death knight can't take this action again until the start of its next turn.
• Fell Word. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 18, one creature the death knight can see within 120 feet. Failure: 17 (5d6) Necrotic damage, and the target's Hit Point maximum decreases by an amount equal to the damage taken. Failure or Success: The death knight can't take this action again until the start of its next turn.
• Lunge. The death knight moves up to half its Speed, and it makes one Dread Blade attack.

Sorry took mea bit to send

I created it based of Elden Ring Nightreign

[midnight elk]

Yeah I'd say that's pretty good for a level 20 party. Would you mind taking a look and. ging me some feedback on my current project?

It's in a Google document (I just doodled something and now have a 14 page document) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pOsUMDETy79hRUcGxNFhB2XQaR0TafnxxA1mdfWtwNI/edit?usp=sharing

[tranquil dew]

clean up wording in legendary actions.

how big is your party?

[cold rock]

Thx and sure!

[cold rock]

I will fix it right away, I've got 4 people on my party, maybe a 5th will join

[olive wing]

Ayoooo I wanna see can someone sit with me sometime and help me out making a homebrew class? I got soooo many idea lol and I need help balancing

[tranquil dew]

for a party of 4 that seems fairly appropriate, 8/10

[cold rock]

Your weapon is amazing! Great idea, for a legendary weapon it seems balanced to me

[cold rock]

Thx mate!

[tranquil dew]

good luck, have fun, hopefully there are some pc death

[cold rock]

If I find some time I might be able to help you

[olive wing]

@cold rock awesome it will be fun I promise haha

[glad veldt]

I've been working on a playable race for D&D 5e based on magic items, and so far it has been interesting.

I'm currently writing down all the features for each type of item.

But I wanted some feedback.

[quick topaz]

Like they are magic items is the race or the race is based on magical items?

[glad veldt]

They are magic items

You can tell me what a dumb move it is later.

[quick topaz]

Oh wow that does sound interesting

No I’m generally interested

[glad veldt]

Ok!

Anyways, when choosing this race you are litteraly a sentient magic item so you get a +3 divided as you wish between any stat you want, items are made with a purpose after all.

You choose a single mundane, basic item worth 1,500 gp or less to be the item you are/inhabit.

[quick topaz]

Of course

[glad veldt]

And based on the typing you get bonuses. Ranged items increase the range of your abilities by their range if you expend a point of ammunition when using it.

Martial and melee weapons can withstand being used as a blunt weapon far better then a normal spell casting focus. (Items with both martial and melee Weapon status take no damage, with items with only one taking quarter damage.)

[quick topaz]

ok so far sounds good

[glad veldt]

That's kinda it for features right now, I'm trying to come up with a few for spell casting focuses, tools, and simple weapons.

Shields have a damage threshold

Armor gets a naturally higher AC.

Rings are easier to slip by people and be dismissed as normal.

Staffs I'm still working on, same with rods and wands as they are spell caster specific.

But frankly I'd love to enable a barbarian class staff to just spring to life and begin attacking enemies.

[quick topaz]

yeah i can see how they would be harder to figure out

I would think people would like that

[glad veldt]

Thanks!

The biggest question I've been facing is how can I keep players playing items in the game loop of looting for items, talking to NPCs and interacting with things outside of combat. I have a few ideas but they are kinda complex so I don't know if I should go with them.

Ideas?

Thoughts?

[quick topaz]

my idea would be that these being sentient items they have an un ending desire to be possessed by a real person, and in order for that to happen they need to become famous, that becomes there motivation to do any thing or to talk to any one.

[glad veldt]

Personally I apply a crafting system I made so items can be used to upgrade the abilities of the player themselves.

[digital jetty]

So you can be blackrazor or the Sword of Kas and level up in character classes?

[glad veldt]

Basically, but you'd already have to be a high level, probably level 17 at least for those items specifically.

With level the item's rarity increases.

[digital jetty]

How would you move?

[glad veldt]

Not a simple question, but one I've been asking myself.

[quick topaz]

i think some liberties would have to be made as far as that goes like all items can fly

[glad veldt]

You'd get to choose 2 special abilities when you became that race, one of those abilities is the ability to hover 30 ft and basically wield yourself in battle.

[digital jetty]

When I first read your idea, I pictured items as having a humanoid form.

[glad veldt]

Creating illusions

The ability to warp minds and influence emotions

[digital jetty]

I wasn’t thinking illusions

But the that would be worth exploring

[rotund dirge]

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/guphJl4h11Br

Could you guys take a look?

[glad veldt]

Imagine you are fighting a swordsman who is very skilled and you strike at him only for your blade to go through him as if he didn't exist, because he doesn't.

I 'm taking inspiration from Dr Strange's cloak, the one ring, the moonblade, and a few other sentient magic items.

[novel root]

Question
Which is more OP: The Rogue's Reliable Talent or the Artificer's Flash of Genius with a +10 INT modifier?

[rotund dirge]

how do you even get a +10 Int mod with Artificer

[novel root]

hypothetically

[digital jetty]

So is the idea this would be for only high level play?

[royal osprey]

flash of genius because having 30 int also means you have a really high save DC

[novel root]

sorry i should clarify
I'm referring specifically to skill rolls

[royal osprey]

also bc +10 10 times a day is better than reliable talent making it so you cant roll below 10 on skills you are prof in

[glad veldt]

No, what makes you think that?

[digital jetty]

I would recommend reading up Soul Eater and Bleach for narrative inspiration.

[royal osprey]

flash of genius makes the average roll before modifiers 20.
Reliable talent's average roll is 12.75, only works on skills you are proficient in, and only works for you

[digital jetty]

You mentioned level 17 previously, you mentioned artifacts, +3 bonuses and what feel like high level abilities.

Is this for 5.5e?

[midnight elk]

Thank you! I still need to figure out where to put the prerequisite token for the ethereal ascended form.

[glad veldt]

I mean to play as the black razor you'd need to be high level.

You could play an intelligent magic item at any level.

[midnight elk]

I already made the art, stats and lore for the token but I have no idea if it should be in it's own section or lumped in with the weapons. Does anyone have any ideas?

[novel root]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BfnfOwq1mvyetmADIYHzrjjNPMS_NSHqXjbY_WOhnRQ/edit?usp=sharing I made a thing for bioshock fans

@ me to reply

[midnight elk]

@novel root Noice

[royal osprey]

this seems incredibly powerful

with blood frenzy at level 1 with 16 con you have a +9 to concentration

[novel root]

its definitely intended for an epic-level game
but this version is actually considerably nerfed from what I'm using in a pro campaign rn

[novel root]

I wanted to capitalize on the skill monkey potential of ADAM while also being a good blaster

[midnight elk]

I'm just imagining this combined with the weapons I made.

Even just one of the base forms with it is going to be highly OP.

[novel root]

show me

[royal osprey]

Idk what other homebrew is being used in that game but it blows any of the base game subclasses out of the water

[midnight elk]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pOsUMDETy79hRUcGxNFhB2XQaR0TafnxxA1mdfWtwNI/edit?usp=sharing

[novel root]

its honestly just a combination of different race, class, and magic item features that i like

[royal osprey]

Yeah

That's what makes it op

[midnight elk]

Well, would it be as OP as I think?

[novel root]

probably

[midnight elk]

Which do you think would work best with it (base or ascended)?

[novel root]

probably ascended, especially the transcendant version
tho i only skimmed the doc, i'm basing it purely on damage rolls

[midnight elk]

Fair, transcedent is also the strongest and hardest to get though. You need to use all other ascended forms and perform a ritual after obtaining a special token before it can be used at all.

I still don't know where to put the token in the doc and I still need to polish everything.

[cold rock]

Maybe you could use something similar to xifosymbiosis from Fabula Ultima

Its basically an item that can manifest a human body

[dull bobcat]

Are there any recommended homebrew or third party modules for running curse of strahd?

[sturdy knoll]

Maybe check with folks in #1029833015423143957 or #third-party

[dull bobcat]

Ah ok, I wasn't sure what channel to ask in thx

[tropic stratus]

you get 20 int then you read a bunch of books

tomes of intelligence to be specific

[midnight elk]

I've been sitting on this idea for a while but what about a weapon that appears as a broken sword hilt upon first look, but is actually able to read the wielder's thoughts to become any weapon they think of?

[midnight elk]

Even if they just think Tungsten Pan they get a Tungsten Pan.

What do you guys think?

[lean elk]

I know its baldurs gate slop but is 2 bonus actions for thief game breaking to use in 14/24 or would it actually make it a bit more worth using lol

[royal osprey]

you could give rogue 3 full actions in 2014 and it still wouldnt be the most op thing in the game

[lean elk]

Basically an item version of hex/pact weapon summoning, imo. Pretty interesting but at its base nothing too powerful

[lean elk]

Lmao

[midnight elk]

Oh

I mean it still has potential to be either extremely funny or extremely op

Especially if you think of the wrong thing.

[lean elk]

Well yeah but that depends on the statblock, i just meant the base idea is balanced as something like that already kinda exists

[wet seal]

Hi me (and some other players from this discord server) made a sub-class for the Barbarian; what do you guys think?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OHF8BzVyq9mIZuTk4he-Y5ieaQ087ml4pRFU5NHwjug/edit?usp=drivesdk

[faint sonnet]

This is largely why I ended up deciding on a class. Originally (for a very short period of time) the idea was for a species.

[lucid vortex]

have you guys ever made your own character sheets? If so what sites do you reccomend

[wet seal]

I know it's not all PSCT but I just wanted to give a general idea of it

[true forge]

uh, just no

stealing monster stuff is way too good, as PCs are never really suppose to have them besides spells and druid wildshape

yeah this is a new brew alright, percentages and weird abilites

not saying its bad, just, confusing

[wet seal]

Yeah sorry bout that; first time creating homebrew and only hours experience in DND campaign; sorry if it's confusing, but you can see what I was going for yes?

[true forge]

ah, new player making homebrew, tale as old as time

before makinng homebrew, learn the rules inside and out

play the game, alot

[lucid vortex]

speaking of homebrew, when yall make homebrews do you make specific character sheets for those homebrews? If so, how

[true forge]

dicecloud, google

[tidal remnant]

Quick question

[midnight elk]

I mainly use Google docs and hand draw my art. However, I mostly do items and weapons.

[tidal remnant]

Is it bad I made a CR 30+ monster as a final boss for my campaign?

[midnight elk]

I've heard worse.

[tidal remnant]

It has legendary resistance to every kind of damage

[midnight elk]

Someone I know rolled for seduction to unlock a door.

[true forge]

well CR 30 is really made for level 30 PCs, but CR is more of a suggestion

[tidal remnant]

And it can one shot a level 20 character

[true forge]

Lresistance is stuff about saving throws and not damage

[tidal remnant]

Fair enough

[true forge]

how much damage does it deal?

on avarage per turn

[lucid vortex]

geh, i was hoping i wouldnt have to hand draw because that takes more time than i think i have

[tidal remnant]

It's lowest hitting attack deals 210 D8

[true forge]

944 damage

[midnight elk]

I can always help with items and stuff. Just DM me with the description and stuff.

[true forge]

yeah no, that sounds like CR 50 mate

on avarage, CR 30 creatures deal 303 to 320 damage per turn

[tidal remnant]

Also, it has four phases and each phase gets more difficult with the base one starting at 2,000 HP

[midnight elk]

Oh dear

[lucid vortex]

im homebrewing a one piece campaign (not to publish, just to play) and i want the character sheet to include sections for haki and devil fruits and stuff

[true forge]

and CR 30 creatures have about 850 HP

so, yeah no

no player is killing this

[midnight elk]

Does it's diet consist of Tarrasques?

[midnight elk]

Okay, I'll see what I can do

[tidal remnant]

This thing is designed to be "you cannot fight, you can only survive", and no, this thing's diet consists of worlds and universes

[golden temple]

i dunno how a monster you're intended to have a long and epic fight with does hundreds of damage per round,,

[tidal remnant]

It's called the Erernal Maw

[midnight elk]

Oh dear

[lucid vortex]

otherwise idc if it's identical to your typical texbook character sheet

[midnight elk]

I updated "The Twin Blades" https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pOsUMDETy79hRUcGxNFhB2XQaR0TafnxxA1mdfWtwNI/edit?usp=sharing

[mortal nexus]

Guidance please.

[tidal remnant]

Do yall want me to post the opening line for when the Eternal Maw awakens?

The sea falls silent.
No waves. No wind.
The air hangs heavy, as though the ocean itself is holding its breath.
Then… the water begins to retreat.
Miles of seafloor lie bare, glistening like the ribs of some impossible corpse. A sound rises—not thunder, not storm, but the heartbeat of the deep, pounding inside your skull.
The horizon splits.
A line of jagged teeth taller than mountains breaks the surface, stretching from one end of the world to the other. The sea itself spills into its yawning chasm, screaming whirlpools dragging ships and islands alike into the abyss.
The sky fractures. Stars wink out like dying candles. Lightning freezes in midair. Reality bends around the impossible form now towering above you.
Then… you see it.
The Maw.
Not a beast. Not a god.
The End.
Its gaze finds you, not with eyes, but with hunger—an eternal hunger that gnaws at the core of creation. And in that moment, you understand: this is not something you defeat.
This is something you survive.

does that tell yall how this thing is?

[midnight elk]

Oh dear.

[true forge]

Primal Connection

6th level Primal Domain feature

Your powers over nature grow. You learn one druid cantrip, which becomes a cleric cantrip for you and doesn't count towards the number of cantrips you know. In addition, as a bonus action, you can force a Plant creature within a 30 foot radius around you to make a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC. On a fail, the Plant is charmed until the end of its next turn.

well have the nature cleric reboot thing im making its old CD in form of an actually thing, still very niche tho

[tidal remnant]

want me to post what this is all from (the stat sheet for the Eternal Maw is kept separate from the main notes)?

[midnight elk]

If you had a weapon that could turn into any weapon you can think of an infinite number of times what would you ideal combo be? Keep in mind it is not limited to conventional weapons.

[tidal remnant]

seriously, do yall wanna see the stuff other than this that I have for this campaign?

[true forge]

really any melee to ranged weapon

[tidal remnant]

well, here it is

[true forge]

that is AI i smell....

[tidal remnant]

I had ChatGTP help me because I suck at putting details for notes

[true forge]

oh and it gets better with AI made monsters

AI cant make anything besides ideas

[tidal remnant]

I gave it the outline of what I wanted and it made it

[true forge]

monsters have a very set guildlines and ways they need to be made

[tidal remnant]

I will tell ya, better than Gemini for this

[true forge]

anyway

[stuck raptor]

AI generated content is not allowed on here

[tidal remnant]

fair enough

[true forge]

AI is aganist server TOS

[tidal remnant]

I'll delete it

sorry

[true forge]

long story short, AI is bad at making DND stuff

so dont use it

[tidal remnant]

well, I'm going to go try and make it without AI stuff (I suck at this)

[lucid vortex]

ai is bad at a lot of stuff

[tidal remnant]

would anyone be willing to help me?

[wet seal]

Any idea where to find games?

I have DND Beyond

[true forge]

look in #looking-for-players

[wet seal]

Though I only have the free stuff

[wet seal]

Eh; just looked, none available

[true forge]

well cant help you then

[tidal remnant]

can someone help me remake this campaign outline of mine? I'm still learning

[true forge]

learn how to make monsters

there are many guides and stuff online

[golden temple]

i dunno i feel like the worldbuilding precedes the homebrew,,

[true forge]

or look at WOTC monsters and learrn how they work

for worldbuilding, go to #dm-world-building

[tidal remnant]

thanks for telling me that

[hybrid breach]

so when you publish your homebrew species, are they supposed to vanish from your homebrew creations but still be in homebrew collections?

[rotund dirge]

How broken would it be if i allowed this subclass to increase Elementalism's area of effect by 5 per FP spent?

Like, if i spend 4 FP, i could use the Sculpt Element part of the cantrip to affect a 20-feet Cube

Kinda like upcasting

[midnight elk]

What if sculpt element meant elements on the periodic table of elements?

[royal zodiac]

Ah yes, my favorite spell: "Conjure a 1 foot cube of uranium 238." XD

[tepid violet]

oh heck yea lets give the bbeg radiation poisoning

[royal zodiac]

Sounds like the average way for a party to beat a bbeg instead of just using their abilities

[tepid violet]

real tho lmao

[rotund dirge]

I can definitely see the players actually learning chemistry just to deal with a minor (or big) inconvinience during the game

[royal zodiac]

Most normal artificer:

[midnight elk]

Nah

[faint sonnet]

Looks good, though I wonder if a non-gish spell would fit better instead of the classic SWS/DW.

[rotund dirge]

(Jokes aside, I still need to know)

[midnight elk]

the density of osmium is 22.59 g/cm³ or 22610 kg/m3 or 4.05 trillion lb/km³ meaning I can just shoot a guy in the face with a 25 ton cube moving 100 meters/second producing roughly 1.2 BILLION Newtons of force or 125.4514187741 kilotons (125.4514187741 thousand tons of TNT) which would be stronger than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined (35 kilotons) .

[royal zodiac]

Yup, sounds like a normal party's idea XD

[rotund dirge]

Then he casts Absorb Elements

[royal zodiac]

Ingenious problems require ingenious solutions

Now you have the power of an atomic bomb inside of you.

[tepid violet]

we’re supposed to adopt the goblins, not drop an atom bomb on them, geez /lh

[midnight elk]

It gets worse.

[tepid violet]

oh no

[midnight elk]

The Tsar bomba (emperor bomb) was a russian nuclear bomb with a 50 megaton yield the strongest ever. But this would be equal to 2.5 of those.

My idea would be 2.5 times stronger than the strongest nuke in HUMAN HISTORY

[tepid violet]

crazy

[midnight elk]

I CAST OSMIUM NUKE

[azure cloak]

Man I love osmium

[slender olive]

@void jewel

Whisper Dice

Wondrous item, Uncommon (requires attunement by a creature proficient in Charisma [Persuasion or Deception])

These twin dice - one dark as obsidian, one pale as polished bone - rest quietly in a soft leather pouch. Hold them in your hand and their etched sigils seem to shimmer, whispering confidential secrets just beyond comprehension. While attuned to the Whisper Dice, you may invoke their power before making a Charisma (Persuasion or Deception) check, rolling one die and adding the result to your check. When another creature attempts a Charisma (Persuasion or Deception) check against you, you may roll a die and subtract the result from their check.

If you make a Wisdom (Insight) check against a creature, you may roll both dice and add half the total (rounded down) as a bonus to your check. Each die can be used once per short rest in this way, while both dice together may be used once per long rest.

[azure cloak]

How would I make this
Assist. The reaper assists it's creator or one of their allies, giving them Advantage on their next attack roll or ability check. The reaper cannot perform this action again for the next hour.
More worthwhile to use?

[slender olive]

Maybe I should increase the uses to twice per short rest?

Since it's a pair

[fresh sapphire]

Hey so my buddy made this Bard subclass and I’m talking with my DM about it. Fortunately hasn’t been utilized yet so we got time to balance it out :-)

Bards of the College of the Aegis are battlefield leaders and protectors. They do not stand behind their allies, but in front, shield raised high and words of encouragement flowing like steel. Their magic is a rallying cry, their shield a beacon, and their voice a fortress. Where they stand, their allies find the courage to endure and triumph.

Level 3 Aegis Training
Shieldbearer’s Grace. While you are wielding a shield, you can add your Charisma modifier to your AC.

You gain proficiency with shields if you don’t already have it.

Level 3 Rallying Presence
When you give a creature a Bardic Inspiration die, they can choose one of the following effects:

Defensive Rally. The ally expends the Bardic Inspiration and gains temporary hit points equal to the number rolled on the Bardic Inspiration die + your Charisma modifier.
Offensive Rally. When an ally expends your Bardic Inspiration and deals damage with the roll, they can deal extra damage equal to a roll of your Bardic Inspiration die.

Level 6 Harmonious Guard
When an attack hits a creature within 10 feet of you, you can use your reaction to bolster their defense. Roll a Bardic Inspiration die and add the result to the target’s AC until the start of your next turn. If this increases the target’s AC above the attack roll, the attack misses.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Level 14 The Unbroken Shield
Your will to protect manifests as an unbreakable barrier. When you would be reduced to 0 hit points while holding a shield, you instead drop to 1 hit point. When this happens, each ally of your choice within 30 feet of you gains temporary hit points equal to twice your bard level.

Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.

[azure cloak]

Wait are these real dice or is the PC actually rolling a die?

[slender olive]

PC is rolling a dice

This is a magic item, sir

The yin & yang of Charisma

[tepid violet]

you should get some white and black dice to roll tho when your rolling the extra die

cus that would be sick

[slender olive]

I already do have 'em

The only minus is they have an eye on the center piece

They're decor

[slender olive]

Here's some options:

• Allow advantage on both an attack roll and a saving throw
• Add a flat bonus/modifier
• Grant temporary hitpoints or some recource recovery/recharge
• Reduce the cooldown to once per short rest
• Add extra damage
  Basically boost the impact of the Assist

[slender olive]

Shieldbearer’s Grace

• Change AC bonus from Charisma modifier to proficiency bonus (scales slower), or cap bonus at shield’s +2 maximum.
• Prevent stacking excessive AC; do not let it exceed plate armor defense for martials.

Rallying Presence

• Cap temporary hit points and bonus damage from the Bardic Inspiration die to proficiency bonus + minimum 1.
• Require the choice to use Defensive/Offensive Rally before the roll, not after the results are seen.

Harmonious Guard

• Require reaction to be spent before learning if an attack hit (declare after attack roll, before DM says results).
• Confirm uses per long rest scale with proficiency bonus, not unlimited.

The Unbroken Shield

• Limit the number of allies who gain temp HP to your Charisma modifier (not all within 30 feet).
• Cap temp HP gain to Bard level, not twice Bard level, to avoid mass HP inflation.

[void jewel]

Hey this is actually pretty cool! Vaulting this.

[slender olive]

I basically reflavored bardic inspiration and cutting words into a magic item specifically designed for Charisma interactions ("whispering") and then added an extra (Insight plus) to still keep it more effective than both

[hybrid pilot]

Making a multilayered coruscant like city for DND where it gets more corrupt and more poor a squalid the further you go down, and more regal and wealthy the higher up you are. Needing ideas for buildings to put in

[brave moat]

Whats the general opinion of the 'stacking advantage' homebrew rule? For example, if you get advantage from 2 different sources, you roll 3 D20s and take the highest roll.

[slender olive]

Take some inspiration from Lost Valley of Solasta: Crown of the Magister, that entire campaign is built around this theme

[slender olive]

Yes, that is a super advantage - and is completely legal as RAI
Throw in Silvery Barbs (or become an Aberrant Mind sorcerer so you can cast it with Sorcery points)
Throw in Portent as Divination wizard
Throw in Lucky as a feat
Throw in Elven Accuracy as a feat / Throw in Halfling Luck as a racial ability

You'll be rolling wayyy more than 3 d20s

[brave moat]

I thought it wasn't RAW, is that a 2024 change?

[slender olive]

Nope, this is 5e (2014) compatible

Though you will be a potential target for DMs

Especially ones that love writing epic monsters

[brave moat]

In the 2014 rules it says it doesn't stack in page 173, unless they errata'd it somewhere

in the Player's Handbook

[slender olive]

I think it may be homebrew, I'm not sure, I'm not sure if Elven Accuracy counts as advantage since you're only rolling an additional die

[slender olive]

However, you can use these as simulation advantage

[boreal rover]

For EA to apply you already need to have advantage

But there is no such thing as "stacking advantage" RAW, just features that build on each other or allow for extra dice, some require advantage while other don't

[slender olive]

Not a big deal if you're a rogue (or if you're insane and use True Strike)

Wasting a sorcery point to cast True Strike as a bonus action

And I'm talking legacy True Strike

Not the usable one in 2024

[mellow pollen]

Talisman of the [insert subclass]
requirements to attune: must have levels of the class of said subclass is hailing from
When attuned to the talisman: gain the features of the subclass as if you were playing that subclass (you keep your original subclass features) duplicate features don't stack

[slender olive]

No, because multiclassing exists, I wouldn't waste an attunement slot like that

Why would I get this talisman, if I have that many levels to just multiclass into that subclass anyway?

[rancid basalt]

Depends how many subclass features the item grants, because getting all the benefits of a subclass in a single item is really quite excessive

[mellow pollen]

Oh yeah, I forgot you can multiclass into the same class in the new dnd

[slender olive]

You can multiclass into 5e as well

[rancid basalt]

Multiclass into the same class, since when?

am I missing some sarcasm here?

[slender olive]

Did I say same class?

I said multiclassing exists in 5e

[rancid basalt]

Chaotic is talking about it, yeah, and you replied, so I'm trying to work out what's going on

[slender olive]

Chaotic said "new dnd", I replied "into 5e" meaning both VERSIONS support multiclassing

What are you on about

[rancid basalt]

Chaotic's talisman is about getting two subclasses of the same class

which is the benefit, since multiclassing wouldn't cover that

[mellow pollen]

Yes, both 5e and the new one support multiclassing, but only the new one allows you to multiclass into the same class so you can have 2 subclasses

[rancid basalt]

That's news to me, where do the rules allow that?

[lean elk]

I converted the Nothic into a playable race, how would balanced ruling work on weird insight?

[slender olive]

The official SRD and Sage Advice clarifications make it clear: each class feature and progression is tracked as a single class, and multiclassing is only intended for combining distinct classes such as wizard and rogue, not duplicating progressions.

For example, a character cannot be a "cleric 5/cleric 2" or "barbarian 3/barbarian 2"; those additional levels are simply added to the existing class level

-SAC

[mellow pollen]

I remember DND shorts talking about it about a year ago

[slender olive]

DnD Shorts is a YouTuber, he's a content creator, that too a HOMEBREW creator, this is not RAW

[rancid basalt]

OK, I'm reading the 2024 PHB, it does not say you can multiclass into the same class to get more than one subclass

[slender olive]

Yep, same

RAW you can't

Multiclassing's point is to have MULTIPLE CLASSES

That's the combination of the word

Multiclassing rules and prerequisites appear in the SRD and PHB, pp. 163–164 (5e). No option exists for duplicating a class via the multiclass system.

There's a reason why a Fighter wouldn't multiclass into both Eldritch Knight and Rune Knight

That's too powerful

[rancid basalt]

so apart from that confusion, I think a homebrew magic item that gives you another subclass is unbalanced and too powerful

[lean elk]

asking for a player's use btw

the full ability as the DM to learn "a secret or fact" can get out of hand really fast in a player's hands

[rancid basalt]

is just a straight up Nothic, with the same origin as the typical monster NPC, or some kind of modified Nothic that makes it suitable as a playable race?

either way it's gonna be like the Bugbear monster vs PC race conversion, doesn't have to be a one-for-one change up

[lean elk]

yeah its adapted to fit more player balanced monster options

but i'm unsure how to tune weird insight without losing its cool factor

right now it doesn't unlock until 3rd level, could make it 5th and have it be a free modified version of detect thoughts x number of times a day

[rancid basalt]

Did the player state a specific interest in the Weird Insight ability?

as in, would nerfing it diminish the thing that interested them?

[lean elk]

oh no i'm just making this for use, nobody specifically asked for it

[rancid basalt]

Oh OK well ball's totally in your court

[slender olive]

There's a variant rule that lets you do this anyway called GESTALT

[rancid basalt]

that's homebrew

[slender olive]

Respectfully, what is this channel for?

[rancid basalt]

fair enough

[lean elk]

as of current it operates like the monster slayer/battle master feature of revealing defences, certain stats, or "fears" but i'm unsure how that last one would play mechanically lol

but the "learn a secret" part is the really cool part

maybe it just gets detect thoughts at a later level

[rancid basalt]

Insight proficiency, Detect Magic, Detect Thoughts

[lean elk]

this is true

[slender olive]

Inquisitor rogue vibes

[rancid basalt]

it's a non-combat not too powerful thing, so opening it up to find out stats and stuff as an alternative to secrets should be fine if you limit it

Prof Bonus number of times per Long Rest

[lean elk]

yeah the main reason i'm doing this is to have a spy that is a nothic for my campaign and i've got it set up on inquisitive already haha

[lean elk]

yeah I was thinking that or wis mod since its an insight roll

[slender olive]

This should've been what Borrowed Knowledge is, not giving proficiencies

[rancid basalt]

these days most racial options are PB

[lean elk]

yeah, its less restrictive so i probably will just do that

[rancid basalt]

scaling uses off ability modifiers seems to be less common

[lean elk]

yeah i actually can't think of any off the top of my head rn

[slender olive]

Intelligence for history

I forgot what Nature checks use

[lean elk]

what

[rotund dirge]

Int

[slender olive]

Nature checks can also be used to determine info

[lean elk]

i meant racial ability charges that scale with an ability modifier

i'd like to keep "Weird Insight" tied to insight haha

[slender olive]

Could use INT since it could be flavored as mind-based

[rotund dirge]

Always remember:

"Oh, this is the Dragon's Tail Flower!" = Intelligence (Nature)

"I don't know the name of this plant but don't eat it, it burns like hell." = Wisdom (Survival)

[slender olive]

Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a tomato
Wisdom is knowing tomato goes in salsa, and not curry paste

[rancid basalt]

Could make it function like the Swashbuckler's Panache or whatever, where they make a Persuasion check contested by Insight and the target is charmed.

So the Nothic makes an Insight check, the target makes a Deception check, if the Nothic wins they get to learn a thing

rather than just a WIS save

[slender olive]

Passive Deception as a DC

[lean elk]

yeah thats how the monster block works, its a contested roll for this too

if you win you learn x thing

[rancid basalt]

oh damn you're right, the Monster Manual 2025 version is a WIS save

[slender olive]

You could be using disguise spells like Alter Self

[lean elk]

boooooo

[slender olive]

Then what?

Does the contest get an advantage?

[lean elk]

2014 is cooler for that imo

[lean elk]

i'd maybe give the deception side of the roll disadvantage

[slender olive]

no no no, the target of the insight check is using alter self

So they're trying to avoid being read

[lean elk]

oh, then they get advantage

but still, what i'm trying to figure out is what it should do after the check

[slender olive]

We also have Polymorph

Then the Changeling's "shapechanger"

[lean elk]

the check part i'm just ripping from the statblock

insight vs deception
roll conditionals at DMs discretion

[slender olive]

Steal some ideas from the inquisitor rogue subclass

The inquisitor rogue gives you info like whether the opponent's statblock is superior or inferior to your own

Only 1 stat though