homebrew

[sullen echo]

which essentially just adds pure damage onto the attack

[scenic dew]

I guess it depends on what you imagine as true damage to me it means nothing and nobody has resistance or immunity to said damage.

[sullen echo]

So yeah we have the same thought process

[urban bay]

so spells that don't exist

unless you mean Haste and Slow

neither of which boost damage

also any +Xs are usually just added to the damage type the weapon/spell was already dealing

unless they specify the +X's damage type

[sullen echo]

It does exist, it's official third party D&D content

[kind spruce]

This looks quite good imo. I would say maybe scale the temp hp granted with the spell level it's casted at maybe, but I see this as good

[urban bay]

well the amount will increase with later features

Channel Divinity - Tidal Ring (2nd Level)
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to create a ring of tide that protects your allies and helps them mend their wounds.
As an Action, you can create a 20ft radius sphere centered on you that persists for 1 minute. It remains where you created it, not moving with you. Spells or features used by you or creatures of your choosing that heal or grants Temporary Hit points get a bonus to the healing or granted Temporary Hit Points equal to your Proficiency Bonus while inside the ring. Upon creating the ring, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to your Cleric Level.

When a hostile creature enters the ring for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, it must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, it is pushed 10 feet away from the center of the ring. On a success, nothing happens.

such as this

[wet adder]

Rogue (2024)

3rd Level: Spiritual Remedy
Your remedies are a reflection of nature’s, allowing you to borrow resources from the wild in order to create potions.
You gain proficiency in an Herbalism Kit, and as long as you have one, crafting Potions of Healing are reduced to a fifth of their normal time and gold cost.
Additionally, you can drink or administer a Healing Potion as a Cunning Action, or before or after you perform one as part of the same Action.

3rd Level: Emergency Aid
Upon using the Help Action, you can suppress one of the following Conditions from a creature within reach for 1 minute: Blinded, Deafened, Paralyzed, Poisoned, or Stunned.
Additionally, as part of the same Action, you can grant your target Temporary Hit Points equal to your Sneak Attack damage, at the cost of expending one of their Hit Dice.
You can use this Help Action as a Reaction in response to a creature within reach taking damage, being forced to make a Saving Throw, or becoming afflicted with one of the Conditions above.

[urban bay]

hmm ok this stuff is more interesting but it's still overtuned. "Suppressing" statuses is not a thing as far as I know, so it's basically is a free, infinite Lesser Restoration that also grants THPs and can be used as a Reaction, Spiritual Remedy also acts as a more specific "Fast Hands" for the Thief (which is fine, it just steps on toes a little bit)

really Emergency Aid is the issue

because it's infinite Lesser Restoration that also removes Stunned

on top of a bunch of other things

[wet adder]

hmmmmm

hold up

new idea

[urban bay]

what about Tidal Ring?

[kind spruce]

Initial reading, it's helpful as a support if you have a lot of teammates. I would say maybe lower either the radius or the duration by a bit. Either that or requiring concentration would make sense.

[kind spruce]

Just out of curiosity, why a Con save if it's for pushing back? Also if the hostile creature enters the ring and fails the save, 10ft from the center is still inside the ring

[wet adder]

3rd Level: Emergency Aid
As part of your Help Action, you can cause a willing creature within Reach to gain Temporary Hit Points equal to your Sneak Attack damage, at the cost of expending one of their Hit Dice.
You can now use the Help Action as a Reaction in response to a creature within Reach taking damage, being forced to make a Saving Throw, or becoming afflicted with a Condition.

9th Level: ???
When you expend a creature's Hit Die through the use of your Emergency Aid feature, you can end one of the following conditions: Blinded, Deafened, Paralyzed, Poisoned, or Stunned.
When you do this, expend three more Hit Dice from that creature.

[urban bay]

it's a Channel Divinity

[urban bay]

should it push farther?

[kind spruce]

Oof, fair enough

[urban bay]

tho yeah I could bump the push to 15 ft instead

[wet adder]

(mb minor update)

[urban bay]

ok "equal to your sneak attack damage"

[kind spruce]

You could also simply push back to the edge of the ring and 10ft past it if they weren't inside already

[urban bay]

interesting but a bit much

[urban bay]

fair enough makes sense

[wet adder]

hmmm

even if its temp hp?

[urban bay]

the issue is not the dice itself

it's spam

you put no cap

at how many times you can do it

[kind spruce]

True

[wet adder]

i was thinking that the hit dice would be the resource expense

[urban bay]

that is nothing

[kind spruce]

Even if it was, you're making it dependant on the other creature's hit die and not the user's

[urban bay]

honestly you could get away with it if it's Once per Creature per Long Rest

hell you could get away with it being real Hit Points if it's half the Sneak attack, with the same limitation of Once Per Creature Per Long Rest

[kind spruce]

Could I get your ops on this?

[urban bay]

that sounds... not fun

[kind spruce]

It's not meant to be 💀
Tbf the scaling for these character is a lot higher than normal, so I'm not just crippling them

[wet adder]

could i bump it up to twice per creature per long rest at 9th?

[kind spruce]

These guys have an average of like +6 to Dex, with the highest being +8, other stats that are close to that, base speed at 40ft, and a whole lot of extra features like two attacks per action that make up for their limitations

[urban bay]

only if the second heal has diminishing returns

[urban bay]

ok maybe it should be Strength

to resist the tide

Ocean Swell (6th Level)
Whenever a creature gains Temporary Hit Points from a spell you cast or from your Wave Flourish feature, that creature gains additional temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier. When a creature fails its saving throw against your Tidal Ring and is pushed, it also takes bludgeoning damage equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Potent Spellcasting (8th Level)
Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.

[kind spruce]

That makes sense

[urban bay]

Wellspring of Might (17th Level)
At 17th Level, the bounty of the ocean turns to ferocious might. Any creatures that have Temporary Hit Points granted by your spells or features gain the following benefits:
They have advantage on the first Constitution Saving Throw they make after gaining them.
Once on each of its turns, when a creature deals damage with a weapon attack or a spell, it can add your Wisdom modifier to one damage roll.

[true forge]

seems kinda weak?

first part is mainly for casters

[kind spruce]

I like these features

[true forge]

the 2nd part is just, more potent spellcasting that stacks with potent spellcasting

[urban bay]

maybe for a Cleric Capstone

[urban bay]

well on yourself it would be yeah

[wet adder]

3rd Level: Emergency Aid
As part of your Help Action, you can cause a willing creature within Reach to regain Hit Points equal to half your Sneak Attack damage (rounded up) + your Proficiency Bonus. If this healing restores a creature to full Hit Points, any remaining healing is granted to them as Temporary Hit Points. You can only use this feature once per creature per Long Rest.
You can now use the Help Action as a Reaction in response to a creature within Reach taking damage, being forced to make a Saving Throw, or becoming afflicted with a Condition.

9th Level: ???
When you restore Hit Points to a creature through the use of your Emergency Aid feature, you can end one of the following effects: Blinded, Deafened, Poisoned, Paralyzed, Stunned.
You can also craft Potions of Healing with this effect, but your Herbalism Kit only reduces their time and gold cost to half, instead of a fifth.

[urban bay]

this seems fine

[wet adder]

sweet

[urban bay]

9th Level features could be called "Premium Remedy"

[kind spruce]

If you have no exhaustion or injuries, you may use your reaction to make a revised dodge or block against the attack.

Revised Dodge: You gain your proficiency bonus to your next Dex save / the next attack against you suffers a reduction equal to your proficiency bonus.

Block Reaction: Before damage is called, if an attack hits a creature by 3 or less above their AC, the creature may use their reaction to attempt to block the attack. This cannot be made if the attack is a surprise, a crit, or deals non physical damage. The creature makes a DC (Attack roll - 3) Dex save. On a save, the damage of the attack is reduced by 1/4.

[wet adder]

slight edit

on emergency aid

[cerulean seal]

Opinions on a third level subclass feature that lets you cast any cantrips as a bonus action from another locations as the origin point. Able to use the feature like Wis mod times per LR?

[wheat kindle]

How op would it be to move necromancer wizards undead thralls and animate dead in their spell book to level 5?

Perhaps in exchange for them not using enchantment spells

[shut cliff]

Hi I wanna make my first campaign as an DM so I'm kinda excited, but I work with dnd beyond and foundry, is there any way how I can make my own species in there or is the best I can do just take a similar race?

[cerulean seal]

Best to check #ddb-support 😁

You should be able to make your own species but check that channel.

[shut cliff]

Okay thank you

[sacred current]

Is this infusion too strong?

Plant Bag
Prerequisite: Level 6+, a Backpack (requires attunement)
The wearer of this backpack gains these benefits:

• Whenever the wearer regains hitpoints, they regain 2 additional hitpoints.
• The wearer has advantage on saving throws against being Poisoned

[frank berry]

Overall seems fine, though there is a slight case of being able to be abused: If they have a paladin using their Lay on Hands pool outside of combat to heal the person with the backpack 1 hit point at a time, this would allow them to be healed triple the usual amount easily

[sacred current]

That was the exact worry I had in mind

And also works with Goodberry

[frank berry]

Also true

[sacred current]

Whenever the creature regains more than 1 hitpoint,...

[frank berry]

Sounds like a good fix to me, at least at a quick glance. Could also limit it to only spells to remove the paladin abuse

[sacred current]

Still leaves Goodberry

[frank berry]

Which only heal 1 hit point at a time

[sacred current]

Oh nvm I read your sentence wrong

[frank berry]

Ahh fair I see how

[sacred current]

Is this infusion too strong?

Plant Bag
Prerequisite: Level 6+, a Backpack (requires attunement)
The wearer of this backpack gains these benefits:

• Whenever the wearer regains more than 1 hitpoint from a spell or Hit Dice, they regain 2 additional hitpoints.
• The wearer has advantage on saving throws against being Poisoned.

Dream druid and celestial warlock can't synergize with it but that's fine

[frank berry]

Healing is always a tricky thing to deal with 😛

[sacred current]

Unfortunately so, because I love healing

[sacred current]

Thanks for the help!

[arctic frost]

This is where we can show custom items right?

[frank berry]

Yep!

[arctic frost]

Judicator’s Chainbrand
Wondrous weapon (counts as a martial ranged weapon)
Requires attunement by a Ghost Rider or similar bound avenger
Base Use

• Damage: 1d6 piercing or necrotic (your choice)
• Range: 30/90
• One-handed
  Chain Function
When you hit a creature, you may choose one of the following instead of dealing extra damage:
• Bind: Target must succeed on a STR or DEX save (their choice) or be restrained by spectral chains until the end of their next turn
• Pull: Pull the target up to 10 ft toward you or pull yourself 10 ft toward them
• Mark: The target glows faintly with infernal sigils; your next attack against them has advantage

How’s this?

[past torrent]

I have a homebrew D&D Class but I only have it in PDF format... Plus it's a bit OP... I don't think it is short enough to fit in non-Nitro messages either

[past torrent]

Is this essentially Ghost Rider's chain weapon?

[arctic frost]

Pretty much
I made a ghost rider class to go along with it

[past torrent]

Niiice

I made a Jack Of All Trades class.

[past torrent]

I unfortunately can't share it here because of this

It's tame enough that I think it's fair but it's OP in places

[strong gull]

Your name fits for this channel so well 🤣🤣

[past torrent]

It synergises with Halflings very well

[strong gull]

Can I see it?

[past torrent]

Thank you. I actually got it from playing D&D.

[past torrent]

I'll DM you it.

[strong gull]

Thank you

[arctic frost]

I’m made two versions of it
Ones the normal playable class
The other ones… the universe is done making it seem like this can be solved politely, and hells the contractor

[past torrent]

Sent it

You'll instantly see why I say it's a bit OP

I think it's still fair though

Frostyy want me to DM it to you too?

[arctic frost]

Sure, I’ll dm you mine

[past torrent]

I have yet to play test my own class though

I wanna though

[strong gull]

It can be very op with the right race, but it's fair as you can't multiclass it. Kinda giving me monk vibes, but more appropriate to the name you chose.

[past torrent]

Halflings synergises with it way too well with Halfling Luck

I think the easiest race to play it with would be Gnome.

@strong gull what would be your opinion on the optimal race to combo with my class?

[strong gull]

Thematically, teifling because it would help counter balance their untrustworthy view in other's eyes.

But that's me not putting much thought into it

[past torrent]

Fair... I didn't think about that. I play Tiefling Paladin most of the time

[strong gull]

I have only played 3 classes so far

[past torrent]

Halfling Luck with my class is OP.

[strong gull]

Re rolling a nat 1 is always big. But eloquence Bard would be a way bigger deal with a halfling

[past torrent]

Fair

I think the max hp possible at level 1 for my class would be 9. 1d4 + INT mod.

My math could be completely inaccurate though

[strong gull]

I had an idea for a con based caster that takes HP DMG instead of using spell slots, but keeping it to a similar system so that you can't just go wild with it.

The muscle wizard😅 if you will

[past torrent]

That's cool

So that one anime character?

[frank berry]

Danger with a Con based caster is gonna be that they are gonna be needing to basically rely on a single ability score, and overall be stronger casters for being able to keep up concentration

[past torrent]

I can't remember his name

@frank berry do you want to see my homebrew class I've mentioned in the previous messages? You seem very experienced from just one message already.

I'd have to DM it

[frank berry]

Not a fan of going over whole classes. Way too much to read and consider for balance, and even then it's gonna be either difficult to impossible to say if something is balanced or not

[past torrent]

Fair

I have had a niggling idea of making the mythology version of Aegis (the sheild with Medusa's head or eyes embedded in depending on the version) as an item

I know it'd only be able to used properly by Lawful Good aligned characters though

[strong gull]

Denken?

[strong gull]

This! Is true

[unkempt elk]

is "Gain +1 to hit and +1 to attack against creatures with a CR greater than or equal to your level" balanced for a Race feature?

[strong gull]

A +1 can be very helpful, but it doesn't seem op when I think about it

[unkempt elk]

Alright, thank you

[strong gull]

And as mentioned, muscle wizard. It would require strength.

It's a WIP for me

I'm thinking his concentration saves would be based on str instead of con

Looks like it's been made on Reddit🤣 but not the way I imagined it

[unkempt elk]

Is two skill proficiencies balanced for a Race Feature?

[boreal rover]

You can look at half elves, or humans, that get proficiencies (half elves get 2, variant humans get 1). It also depends on what else the race has and if the proficiencies are static or variable.

[past torrent]

The anime Harry Potter with the main character being muscle obsessed and cream puff crazed

[strong gull]

Mashle

[past torrent]

Yes

[severe trellis]

How often can a monster choose between damage types on an attack like

Longsword

Does 1d8+4 slashing damage and 2d6 Fire or Necrotic damage

[strong gull]

Each attack can have the option. Primary attack/ fire and then if you have a secondary attack of the same turn you can change what damage type it does.

For example

[severe trellis]

Does this make sense as an ability to put on my Auroran? They are meant to be Redeemed and Ascended friends and thus have become the angels of redemption and protection.

Reject Corruption (1/day)

The Auroran targets up to 4 creatures, other than itself for the next 10 minutes those creatures gain resistance to Necrotic damage and advantage on saving throws against spells and effects from Fiends and Undead

[umbral dust]

doesn't seem particularly game-breaking no, but i assume you mean fiends and not friends

[severe trellis]

autocorrect typing on my phone lol

[umbral dust]

lol nice

seems okay yeah but i assume it's for relatively low level players?

[timid fox]

if i need help working out a stat block for a creature do i ask for help here or in #dm-discussion

[umbral dust]

here would be the place

[timid fox]

okay. so i have this idea for a grand end boss. im very new to dnd as a whole aside from watching critical role. so i want a little help from someone or people who know how things really work

the idea is more or less stolen from what i think was a monster hunter video that had what i can only describe as a jet dragon.

and i want to make one. i havent fully thought it through. but im wanting it to be unreasonably tanky and strong. with that being moderated with things given before the fight. and its like a boss fight in games where the party is supposed to hit various weak spots to deal more damage than if they were to hit the dragon outright

i want to make a stat block. and i want to have it as reasonable as this unreasonable creature can be.

[umbral dust]

an idea i do have is turning the boss into the battlemap itself

as 'weak points' are kind of difficult to do in d&d as you either hit or you don't

maybe the characters stand on the back of the dragon, and have to attack 'weak points' whilst fending off hordes

however any boss you make should be based off your party's level, so a good starting point is knowing that?

[timid fox]

the idea is that the players can climb onto. or hit at a range. weak points.

melee characters having to climb onto it. and ranged characters having to just aim at the weak spots

[timid fox]

its supposed to be the last one they fight. my hoped is level 20 ish. but from what i hear thats unrelistic for dnd

[umbral dust]

do you have any ideas on how you'll run that mechanically at your table? when you attack you either hit or you don't, so how are you going to let your players aim for the weak points without just saying "i aim at x"

imagining the fight like a videogame with weak points is cool, but dnd as a system doesn't have a cursor to aim with. unless you just split the dragon into separate healthpools for its parts and let your players choose which one they shoot at, and when one part dies the dragon loses a bit of its ability?

for instance players can choose to shoot the wings, torso, or head. the head 'dying' means the dragon can't use its breath attack, whereas the wings could mean it can no longer fly

[potent radish]

Greetings.

I was debating on creating a few Homebrew classes for one of my campaigns. For starters, will begin with the Spellsword.

Naturally, the concept of a Spellsword is something we already have with Hexblade Warlock, Eldritch Knight, Bladesinger and even College of Swords Bard, for example. However, the goal was to create something different and new.

If anyone would be able to provide some feedback regarding this, feel free to poke or reply to the comment. Here's the Google Docs link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zNIUppf-ggaBxQEVEIMBz2Dw9EsJ_fWhiXLU3L_WWY0/edit?tab=t.0

[timid fox]

im thinking id do it through narritive. like the dragon charges up its breath attack and thats the signal to aim for its throat. the dragon charges up to fly. thats the signal to aim for its wings.

[umbral dust]

that's pretty cool and could work with the separate health pools idea i gave? players can shoot at whatever body parts you have, but maybe if the dragon is charging up it's super awesome breath attack players have advantage to hit or deal extra damage to its head?

also yeah 20th level is a little high to be aiming for, especially as a newer DM

combat rounds can go on for a WHILE

[timid fox]

thats the idea.

either the weak spots do more damage. or the attacks to non weak spots are resistant or they have a higher ac so its harder to hit

maybe higher ac for the weak spots. but it does more damage to those spots?

[timid fox]

i see that. but i was going to go with the flow. adjust things as they come

if the party become gods and do a billion damage. id adjust for that. but if they are reasonable. id probable knock the dragon down a few pegs to keep things fun but still dangerous

[umbral dust]

i think it's really good but yeah i was gonna say only criticism i have is that there are already a lot of subclasses that fulfill the spellblade fantasy. i do think you've done enough to make it stand out however, and it looks really balanced

obv haven't scoured through the whole thing but i like it on a brief overlook

[potent radish]

Thank you and yes. The goal was to make it different than the already current options regarding the 'Class/Subclasses' features to give. Thank you.

[timid fox]

i was planning to just play and try to keep things fun. characters dying and whatever. and just continuing the story or doing whatever the party wants along the story line until i make an end.

[umbral dust]

if you don't know the power level of your characters when they'll fight the boss, i don't think you should create concrete rules for it yet. a concept is good, which you seem to already have, but spending hours making something just for your players to be over/underlevelled for it by the time they fight it may be a little annoying

[timid fox]

i was thinking of the general premis. like what attributes it may have. what stats it would have as it goes for strength and dex and whatever. but leaving all the specifics like ac for the body and weakpoints. and the damage of the special attacks and the other details until it becomes important.

[umbral dust]

red dragons have their highest stats as str, con, and cha in that order so i guess that?

in terms of weak points, ac, etc, i think the body, head, wings and maybe tail should be separate points that are each tied to an attack each

the body parts have separate hp pools, and when the parts die the dragon can no longer use its assigned ability

the ac should be dependent on the importance of the body part, so the wings/tail should have the lowest ac and hp, while the head and body have the highest hp/ac

maybe head has mid range hp, high ac. body has mid range ac, high hp. tail and wings lower ac lower hp

for any definitive ac, hp and stats you'd need to figure out what CR you want it to be (which you should decide when your players are getting close to fighting it)

[blissful juniper]

Does anyone have any experience homebrewing a pc item?

I was put in charge of homebrewing my pc’s huge mech that I’ll have to fix up throughout the game, but I’m so confused on where to start, I have art and references but beyond that I’m totally lost, it’s for a spelljammer game but his empire is meant to be more pacific rim/cyperpunk ish :,)

[mild forum]

Might servant of Leuko might be a good place to start.

A mech can easily be an entire subsystem. Id personally want to keep it simple.

[blissful juniper]

Id like to, i know i was gonna work with the Servant statblock then alter and such, but sadly its a MUCH larger construct, its meant to be rewarding by end game, according to dm, ive done small homebrew things but never a whole MECH i have to put together throughout game lol

[severe trellis]

Is there a way for me to link a statblock? I cant do images

[midnight elk]

My players kept asking for me to add a chicken sandwich, so I added it to the shop:
🐔 Chicken Sandwich of Absolute Destruction
Legendary Improvised Weapon (+3) — Requires Attunement
💰 Cost: 5 GP
Grease Strike. On hit, deal +2d8 bludgeoning damage. Target must make a Dex save DC 16 or fall prone from slippery sauce.
Extra Crispy. Once per turn, add +1d10 fire damage as the sandwich magically reheats itself mid-swing.
Snack Break. As a bonus action, you may eat the sandwich to heal 3d10 HP. The weapon reforms in your hand at the start of your next turn.
Sauce Cataclysm (1/day). Throw the sandwich in a 20-ft line. Creatures in the line take 6d10 bludgeoning + fire damage (Dex DC 18 half) and are covered in glowing sauce, granting advantage to the next attack made against them.

[sweet path]

what the hell is this

hahahahaha

this is the chicken sandwich of area god of war

[restive tusk]

Damn only 5 gp? Crazy good deal

[upper tinsel]

Can I get fries with that?

[midnight elk]

It's honestly the least unhinged item in that shop

Here's the full shop:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DiTXGsKcEXOO3ywwzTqg-FWIrAHkM_c77lwX90fhnPQ/edit?usp=sharing

[midnight elk]

No

Frier is broken

[midnight elk]

We also have:
🧪 Boomstick of Questionable Safety
Legendary Firearm (+3) — Requires Attunement
💰 Cost: 45 GP
Scattershot. +2d10 piercing.
Misfire. Nat 1: you take 2d10.
Overload (1/day). 30-ft cone, 8d10 fire.

I specialize in unhinged weapons.

[midnight elk]

The names are for players who bought it.

[severe trellis]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dSlonCVJD2Fxd4AUgp774XD4vgojQd6Y8V1e2hsWNAw/edit?usp=sharing I made this! Its the stat block for the Auroran, an angel of redemtion

Does it feel fitting for it's role? Like do the stats and abilities feel fitting for this angel of redemption, on a power scale it's meant to be between Deva and Planetar leaning more towards the latter, and do you think it'd be something you'd add to your game/world

[scenic urchin]

seems fine

[sweet path]

okk! I finished my homebrew fairy race(v1 at least..)
I will be happy for feedback!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TgYPYzPVi18ymeF0nLHnon17obQSYxeqIFJUBgYkD4Y/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.bk4jc8gcap4s

[lone sierra]

Small problem here.

im trying to make a character introduction forum for my players so its easier form them to play while i do the work in the background, its much easier in my opinion by making it a forum of sorts, but what would be generally all the things that would be needed to be included in this forum of sorts, i am also very new dm ( probably a forever one ) and we are going heavy homebrew so im are working from scratch you could say.

Any ideas 🥲

[severe trellis]

cool, do you think it seems like it'd be fun to put in your world?

[raw solstice]

what do you mean? like you want the players to introduce themselves while you prep the campaign?

[lone sierra]

Since all of us have very terrible time scheduling skills

And bad memory

Its all in a discord forum

[scenic urchin]

i haven't run a tier 3 world in a long time, but if i did, i see no reason why not

[lone sierra]

Where each character is

And i used to have it going in an extemely simple format: it was the most basic thing ever

[raw solstice]

my dm gives an inspíration point everytime a random party member can correctly describe what happened in the last session, and dm helps with important details left behind, so everyone can follow along

anytime you need someone to describe something, reward them for it and they will pay more attention to things and describe it better

[lone sierra]

I love that idea, but the bigges problem is i find them forgetting their own characters before all of that 😂

[raw solstice]

thats precisely why it works, everytime they do a really good roleplay, play into the universe, recall events, and introduce themselves well, reward them!

[coarse iron]

I have an interesting situation:
Hypothetically, if the disintegrate spell was used on a Taken from the game Destiny would they be dead for good? (As normally Taken get sucked back into the Ascendant Plane, and theoretically die for good there).

[scenic urchin]

um, roll a d20, on a 10 or less, the taken is gone forever

[coarse iron]

(This happened in the material Plane)

[lone sierra]

I understand that very much, but i also think it would be nice for them to have a simple hub where their basic information for their dnd characters is placed, to also keep the roleplay going if push comes to shove

Also most of us have no idea how to actually play dnd so were coming up with a work around, this would probably be our actual first proper session

[scenic urchin]

its the same question about if you disintegrate a devil, do they respawn on their home plane

[lone sierra]

If we can get it started even

[scenic urchin]

the answer is ... ask your DM

and if you're the DM ... you decide

[raw solstice]

make them write a journal!!! My dm always make us keep notes of things, and force us to pass history checks to remember things

[coarse iron]

I am the DM in my game this happened thats why I am asking (wanted a 2nd opinion in case I wanna retcon anything)

[raw solstice]

if youre a dm you always pick the more badass option, not the boring one

[coarse iron]

(I see, so I got some retconning to do 😈)

[raw solstice]

just say they failed perception checks, and then tell what you really want to happen

lol

[lone sierra]

Ill take note of that aswell, but i still want the hub idea to be placed so i can also use it for notes aswell, its a good workaround.

[scenic urchin]

its hard to say that the party failed to perceive the creature exploding and destroying everything within a mile of it

[raw solstice]

yeah its a good middle ground

[lone sierra]

I just wanna keep the forum because i plan to somewhat be a prick to them, having them solve some things on their own without any help

By that i mean

[raw solstice]

fair enough

[lone sierra]

I wanna like make it easier for myself to build in a general sense

If i can simply find all their info in one place

Making a better story, and combat

And this format can help me make more intresting NPCS and enemies

Going back to the topic, what could add to this that would help the forum development so to speak.

Lemme get it rq

ALL OF THESE CAN BE WRITTEN IN ANY WAY.

PART 1:

Title: a short title depicting YOUR character. ( mandatory )

name: character name. ( mandatory )

age: character age and how much it is in human age. ( mandatory )

size: ur, weight, height and width. ( extra info if necessary for other stuff. ) ( a lik optional but you can combine it with description ) ( mandatory )

race: ur race homebrew or not. ( mandatory )

class: ur class homebrew or not. ( mandatory )

Alignment: ur alignment homebrew or not. ( mandatory )

Characteristics: how do they act and how do you play them out. ( mandatory, but you can hide some stuff from the others. )

Likes: what they like or enjoy. ( optional to reveal )

dislikes: that they dont like or hate. ( optional to reveal )

hobbies: what they do to pass the time. ( optional to reveal )

Flaws: a negative thing about them ( optional to reveal )

Description: your characters design, what they look like, what they are wearing and ect. ( mandatory, but you can hide some stuff from the others. )

Backstory: ur story of how you began your journey, a backstory of how they got to where they are now.

weapon: the special weapon they use, how it looks, and how it works ( gameplay and design wise )

EXTRA: DM to me in private, i will review everything and make changes accordingly, you can also hide some things from me if they are for a fun surprise or a thing you do.

The main twist i guess is of the campain is

The characters have a special weapon only to them

Each with its good sides and bad sides

One of the examples is the “tank”

Its big shield that is very heavy, but can split vertically in half to form a handle for a massive two handed battle axe, the shield can be split vertically completely in two aswell and used as a form of gauntlets so to speak

The handle of the axe is its own seperate part which they carry and have to spend an action to screw onto the blade, later on it becomes a bonus action as they level up and get more proficient in combat

The entire gist of their character is a one noble knight whom was kidnapped by occultists

In which they engraved a curse onto his soul

“The Bliss”

Contrary to the name, it makes him go complete haywire whenever he fails a wisdom save if hes hit by a critical attack or attacked normally when his hp is under 50%

They are extremely slow in terms of movement unless they are in the bliss state

Maybe a max of 20ft if they dont dash probably

And when they are berserking the tables turn

They are MUCH faster. (30 or 40ft of movement without dashing. )

Much frailer

But hit like a truck

Big downside

Because they dont distinguish freind from foe in that state

[coarse torrent]

guys how do i make a greymon 2010 as a playable character in dnd

[lone sierra]

And will attack the closest target to them no matter what

The funny thing about that tho is

The duded entire kit aswell is meant to have others stay close to him

He can react to defend near someoneone who is 10ft away for him to attempt to take the hit for them

His sheild grants total protection to anyone directly intront of him

But when hes using the axe form hes deadlt but even slower 😭

One of his “abilities” or what we call them in the forum

Is a slow upward cleave

Its good dmg on a single target

But he has 0 speed for that turn of combat as a drawback

The counterbalance is that if he kills something using that abillity then he can attack again to anyone in a 10 ( or 20ft ) radius using the same attack, like a chain attack that ends when it isint the killing blow

Their kits are quite diverse most the the characters are like this

But i try to keep their weaknesses apparent and in check

Hea a high risk high reward character so to speak,

A good meatshield but a “false knight” thats his title

But anyways

What do you think about this

And the forums explain the gist of all of these in them

But i feel they are still missing smth

Ehat should i do?

Ignoring the top what should i do for the introductions forum

[midnight elk]

Is this shop I made expansive enough? I made all the items:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DiTXGsKcEXOO3ywwzTqg-FWIrAHkM_c77lwX90fhnPQ/edit?usp=sharing

[oblique cloak]

how much damage should a sorcerer cantrip that deals lightning damage on a failed dex save do?

[flint marsh]

depends on range, number of targets etc

could just swap sacred flame to do lightning damage pretty easily

[marble hull]

Howdy folks

[true forge]

Ectoplasmic Effigy

3rd level Spectre feature

You can channel the power of the inhabitants of the Ethereal realm into the Material Plane. As an action, you can place an Ectoplasmic Effigy anywhere you can see within 30 feet of you. You can choose how this Effigy looks, although a tombstone, pillar of bones, or a cage filled with souls are recommended. This Effigy cannot be moved unless you use your bonus action to move it 30 feet along the ground.

The Effigy emits a 20 foot radius of worry and woe, as it channels the power of those who wander in death. As a bonus action, you can activate this Effigy to produce one of the following effects. If any of the effects require a saving throw, you use your Spell Save DC.

Spine Chill: All creatures of your choice within the radius take 1d4 cold damage.

Shrieking Souls: A number of creatures of your choice equal to your Wisdom modifier within the radius must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a fail, the creature takes 2d6 cold or necrotic damage (your choice) and falls Deaf for 1 minute.

Doom Sealing: A number of creatures of your choice equal to your Wisdom modifier within the radius are forced to make a Dexterity save as they are forced to face their impending doom. On a fail, the creatures are unable to leave the radius. This effect lasts for a minute.

Thoughts on this?

Oh yeah, lasts for a min lol

[frank leaf]

Gabriel's Cunning Ammunition
-# Ranger, Wizard, Warlock
-# 2nd-level transmutation
-# Cast Time: 1 action (Ritual)
-# Range: Self
-# Components: V
-# Duration: 8 hours.
-# For the duration, you can replace any ranged weapon attack with firing the weapon’s ammunition into a 5ft space in the ground within the weapon’s range. You can only have one piece of ammunition per 5ft space, and can only affect 4 pieces of ammunition this way. Whenever you miss a ranged weapon attack roll, you can use your Reaction to affect the piece of ammunition fired this way. When you set a creature move within 30ft of one or more of those pieces of ammunition, you can use your reaction to cause that ammunition to fly at the target, forcing them to make a Dex saving throw. On failed save, they take a number of d8s in damage equal to the number of ammunition that flies at them. The damage they take is the same as the ranged weapon attack replaced by this spell, and they suffer any effects of the ammunition they would have if they were hit by an attack roll. On a successful save, they take half as much only. The spell ends early if there is can be no more ammunition affected.
-# At Higher Levels: (When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the amount of ammunition that can be affected increases by 4 for each slot level above 2nd.)

Propelling Gear
-# Ranger
-# 2nd-level Transmutation
-# Cast Time: 1 action (Ritual)
-# Range: Touch
-# Components: V
-# Duration: 1 hour
-# You enchant an Tiny object with the strength to pull you along with it when you command it to. The object becomes immune to fall damage up to its Far Range, requires a Strength check against your spell save DC to move out of its Far Range from you, and whenever you throw the object, you can move up to its Short Range in a straight line towards the point where it's thrown. If it is upwards, you can use a Climb Speed to move towards it, being suspended in midair if you do not reach it, and If it lands somewhere you cannot reach because of an obstacle or you are stopped, the move ends early. The spell ends early if the object leaves its Far Range in distance from you.
-# At Higher Levels: (When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, you can move up to the object’s Far Range towards it.)

Two spells for my homebrew Ranger, "not very spell like" non withstanding (smth I need to work out), there any balance issues?

First one is kind of supposed to be a prep time ambush spell/Reaction use if you're playing bow ranger. Latter is smth for more interesting movement options, AOT style.

[scenic urchin]

tryin to cook up a creature with a song that can be heard for miles, and as long as you can hear it, long resting is "impossible"... and because its a song, it gets introduced through changing the session music

[void jewel]

A special siren would work

[celest mica]

Bra of Holding (wonderous item, uncommon)
The inner side of this one-size-fits-all bra has a portal to a tiny demiplane—roughly 3 cubic feet in volume. It takes a Utilize action to put on or take off. While wearing this bra, your breasts or pectorals are comfortably stored within the tiny demiplane, making your chest appear flat. The weight of your breasts or pectorals are also significantly reduced while wearing this bra.

If this bra is pierced or torn, it becomes a non-magical piece of clothing, and its contents are forced out into the space between the bra and your chest.

Placing a Bag of Holding or similar item inside of a Bra of Holding instantly destroys both items and opens a gate to the Astral Plane. Any creature within a 10-foot-radius Sphere centered on the gate is sucked through it to a random location on the Astral Plane. The gate then closes. The gate is one-way and can’t be reopened.

[void jewel]

Saw this in gnome depot the other day

Common idea for a binder I think. Works well, but so does a normal binder. Depends why you want it. Both are cool!

[true forge]

Thoughts on this?

[restive hare]

Do you think having a monster called
"Carcass Hydra"
Is a little too much

Because I'm thinking this is a Hydra comprised of those that a player has killed
So if you hunt a whole forest expect a Hydra comprised of those animals and the animals it killed its self

[frank berry]

Too nuch in what way? It can potentially be something very gruesome, so whether or not its too much in that way is entirely dependent on the players / DM and whether they are fine with that

[hidden sigil]

I want to create an item that burns the soul, but not the body of its target. A "ghostfire blade" something that you could cut off someone's hand and leave the limb in tact but entirely useless, or kill someone but have their body be entirely physically untouched.
How would you represent this mechanically?

[frank berry]

Probably the easiest way would be to just take the Sword of Sharpness, and reword it so instead of cutting off a limb, it makes it useless, and leaves no physical marks with its attacks

Maybe even changing the damage type of it to something like Necrotic

[sinful vessel]

Currently creating a 5E custom subclass feat and I was wondering how to make Vicious Mockery reliable at later levels in regards to damage and wisdom saving since it ties to the rogues sneak attack?

The Fool

3rd-level Harlequin feature

Your time spent playing the fool has taught you the art of misdirection and mockery.

You learn the vicious mockery cantrip. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

In addition, you gain proficiency in the Performance skill. If you are already proficient in Performance, you instead gain expertise in it, allowing you to add double your proficiency bonus to checks you make with it.

Mocked

When a creature fails its saving throw against your vicious mockery, you can mark that creature as Mocked until the end of your next turn. You can have only one Mocked creature at a time.

While a creature is Mocked by you, you gain the following benefits:

• Once per turn, when you hit the Mocked creature with an attack, you can apply your Sneak Attack damage to that attack. You don’t need advantage on the attack roll to use this benefit. All other rules for Sneak Attack still apply to you.

The Mocked condition ends early if you are incapacitated, or if you mark a different creature as Mocked.

[full storm]

Has anyone got a suggestion for the damage die for the holy handgrenade from The Holy Grail. I want to add it to a future campaign

[scenic urchin]

staff of the magi is a good thing to look at for epic explosion damage

[frank berry]

I've made one based on it (combined with inspiration from the depiction from Worms -series), though its still on my WIP list of magic item to be tuned 😛

Holy Bomb

Very Rare
Round golden bomb with a godly symbol on top of it. Small enough to fit in a palm.

This item is only usable by a good or neutral Cleric, Paladin, Celestial, a creature part of a good religion, or a creature blessed to use this item within the last 24 hours by a creature that fits any of the categories listed. Such creatures also automatically succeed against the saving throw of the bomb.

As an action, you activate the bomb by speaking its command prayer, and throw it up to 60 feet away, after which the bomb will explode and be destroyed in the process.
All creatures within 20 feet of the bomb when it explodes must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw, taking 8d6 Force damage and 8d6 Radiant damage, or half as much on a successful one, as the bomb explodes in searing holy light and a sound of a magical, holy chorus audible 300 feet away.

[full storm]

Thanks

[sacred current]

Spine Chill feels unbalanced as it is free damage

Shrieking souls and doom sealing seem balanced

There appears to be no limit to this feature's uses btw, unless that is intended

[true forge]

Just forgot to add limits, one per rest, min uptime, can spend a spell slot (ranger) to use it again

Also also, the 1d4 cold damage from chill is basically the same damage as a failed artilarist flamethrower save

[stone vessel]

hello

may i get feedback to my homebrew dnd-ish game rules here

specifically for combat

[cerulean seal]

What do you eat by ish? lol

You are welcome to share your homebrew stuff here freely

[stone vessel]

cool

currently making a campaign for my friends

and i want to cut out all the complex stuff like movement

while keeping it entertaining

[cerulean seal]

Sure, just share what you got V and we can take a look

[stone vessel]

currently it's not much

[static maple]

Im really curious what ideas you have in mind, cutting out movement seems like a weird change

[cerulean seal]

Yeah, idk how you cut movement in a ttrpg but I’m here for the vision

[stone vessel]

i want to make it like a video game with complexity adding with time

[stone vessel]

i mean every character just takes turns and attacks with 1 of 4 pre-made attacks

ig i could add a random intercation where melee fighters get grabbed on their attack and take extra damage

[static maple]

While the point of homebrew is modifying the rules to fit your campaign better these suggestions seem pretty against the core of dnd

[rugged olive]

Trying to make a specific feat for sword and Board play besides Shield Master

[stone vessel]

movement cut-out or premade attacks?

[rugged olive]

My fighting style for this gives +1 to attack rolls and +1 ac while wearing a shield and a non-heavy melee weapon

[static maple]

No movement means you lose the tactical positioning, ranged vs melee, squishy characters will be heavily disadvantaged because why hit the 20 AC paladin when the 12AC wizard is also hittable. Limiting them to 4 attacks is also limiting for spell casters whos power usually comes from their ability to adept with their large spell lists. While for martials this might work as they tend to have less options it could still run into similar issues

[cerulean seal]

This doesn’t work at all in DnD rules. A lot of features, spells and so on are dependent on location of characters and range. It’s a big part of the balance.

This works fine in a video game turn based rpg but not in a table top game where your characters strategical location factors heavily into combat

[stone vessel]

ok thanks for the feedback

i can make movement semi-optional

[cerulean seal]

Why is movement your concern?

Is there an aspect of movement you worry about?

[stone vessel]

so that it may not be used but delving into it adds an advantage

[static maple]

It could be worth looking into a different system that fits your table better. Dnd is a great system but not the only ttrpg

[stone vessel]

complexity, lack of physical space to execute it and i dont have neither a board nor figurines to move

[cerulean seal]

Why not use an online play space then like Roll20 or DnDBeyond?

[static maple]

Whiteboard and a marker gives you a board for max a couple dollars, and you can use anything as a character marker

[stone vessel]

i just went to the first ds for homebrews i could find :/

[cerulean seal]

Also you don’t need a board and figures to play DnD. I once used sugar cubes and a bare table with a party.

[stone vessel]

i do have a whiteboard...

[static maple]

You dont need actual character minis just something to say 'this is me'

[cerulean seal]

I once used a piece of beef jerky for the big bad guy

[stone vessel]

i made a oneshot with only paper so yeah

[cerulean seal]

Yeah, you don’t gotta worry about having the equipment. DnD is all about the theater of the mind.

[stone vessel]

ok so movement and session 0 it is

[static maple]

Did the person that killed it get to eat it

[stone vessel]

true, but making movement without any physical mediator sounds too hard for me

[cerulean seal]

If you want to make it fun for your players. Tell them to bring a little trinket to represent their characters.

[stone vessel]

ok thanks i got some inspiration

time for work

bye!

[static maple]

Draw on squares, ruler, string with markers every '5 foot'

[static maple]

Goodluck

[cerulean seal]

Yeah didn’t have to be anything crazy

As long as it makes sense for you and your players

[cerulean seal]

They did not. The piece was kinda dirty by the end of the session

[stone vessel]

strong foe ahead.

[hollow siren]

Hey guys! I would love feedback on this shield-like cantrip i brewed. In particular, i’d love feedback on 1) better names for it and 2) balance-too much and if so how to make it better balanced?

Warding Shield
Abjuration Cantrip
Casting Time: 1 Reaction, which you take when you are hit by an attack or targeted by a saving throw effect that deals damage
Range: Self
Components: S
Duration: 1 Round

You generate a visible warding field of magical force from your outstretched hand to ward away the effects of a spell or attack. The appearance of the ward is determined by you. Depending on whether it is an attack or a saving throw effect that deals damage that triggers this cantrip, you either add 2 to your AC or you add 2 to all saving throws (until the end of your next turn).

At Higher Levels:
This cantrip gains greater benefits as you reach higher levels:
At 5th level, this cantrip’s benefits apply regardless of which type of trigger you use this reaction against (an attack roll or a saving throw effect.). The effects both increase to +3.
At 11th level, this cantrip’s benefits instead add your spell casting modifier to your AC or all saving throws effects that deal damage for the duration of the cantrip’s effects.
At 17th level, this cantrip may be used against any saving throw effect (regardless of whether it deals damage), and when used against an attack roll the attack deals half damage if it overcomes your AC.

Spell Lists: Sorcerer, Wizard, Warlock

DESIGN NOTES:
i wanted, in particular, to give something like the war magic wizard ability as a cantrip, but one that scaled far better and less underwhelmingly. Specifically, my three pain points for that ability are: 1) being lower amounts of AC/ST rolls bonuses for the ward than Shield (which makes sense at lower levels but not so much as you level up), 2) only being able to pick either a ST or an AR, and 3) because it doesn't last the whole round like shield.

i understand these were to balance out the fact that that's at will, but i also wished it scaled better so that overtime and over levelling, it would scale better. IMO, this should have led to being able to shield better than shield eventually at higher levels.

i also wanted to give something that an abjuration focused player would be able to get great mileage out of, and might rework mark of warding (2014 AND 2024), abjuration wizard, and clockwork sorcerer's 1st and 6th level features to grant/synergize with/synergize and interact with (respectively) this cantrip. i gave it to warlock as they don't get shield, and if this tests well with people i next will brew eldritch invocations to work with the cantrip.

all of these went into how i designed the above cantrip

feedback would be deeply appreciated on balance in light of that!

in particular, i am trying to make sure the cantrip is not broken while still giving something along these lines to mages. i recognize that shield is a 1st level spell for a reason, and that only wizards were able to cast it at will at 18th level in 2014 5e.

[void jewel]

War magic arcane deflection is far from underwhelming. It is one of the best level three subclass abilities in the game

It in cantrip form accessible without the subclass commitment is a major power boost

Especially without its downside

It doesn't need to have an ac boost to be an amazing ability. The save boost is crazy

[hollow siren]

i should clarify, it isn't underwhelming insofar as it does not scale at higher war magic wizard levels, which is my sole issue with the subclass

[hollow siren]

this is a good point and a concern i had as well

[void jewel]

I mean you could look at it that way but it wouldn't make it not insanely powerful at level 20. It still is

[hollow siren]

War Magic already gives you that though

[void jewel]

I was speaking on war magic

Arcane reflection's purpose is making you paladin levels of good at saving throws

[hollow siren]

for sure. to this effect, i contemplated reworking the cantrip to be concentration and limiting you to casting cantrips only till the start of your next turn

[void jewel]

As concentration its fine because that would auto break anything you try to use it to protect

[hollow siren]

yes, I know. that was to your comment that the ST bonus is crazy

[void jewel]

Concentration would make it excellent, but fine

[hollow siren]

fair! one idea i played with is as follows:

-make it concentration to start with
-level 11 means damage doesnt break concentration
-level 17 makes it non-concentration, instead of what i gave for level 17

[void jewel]

I mean that just shuffles the problem down to lv 17 imo

Which is where saves are most deadly too

[hollow siren]

at level 17, who cares

[void jewel]

Not a valid design philosophy imo

Some people do

[hollow siren]

ok fair

i misspoke, what i meant is that at level 17 compared to other things you get, that isn't that bad

some features, like the UA conjuration wizard, let you double concentrate IIRC (at level 14)

Here is the version with concentration and the War Magic cantrip only casting downside:

Warding Shield
Abjuration Cantrip
Casting Time: 1 Reaction, which you take when you are hit by an attack or targeted by a saving throw effect that deals damage
Range: Self
Components: S
Duration: Concentration, 1 Round

You generate a visible warding field of magical force from your outstretched hand to ward away the effects of a spell or attack. The appearance of the ward is determined by you. Depending on whether it is an attack or a saving throw effect that deals damage that triggers this cantrip, you either add 3 to your AC or you add 3 to all saving throws (until the end of your next turn). You can only cast cantrips for your next turn when concentrating on this cantrip.

At Higher Levels:
This cantrip gains greater benefits as you reach higher levels:
At 5th level, this cantrip’s benefits apply regardless of which type of trigger you use this reaction against (an attack roll or a saving throw effect.). Concentration on this cantrip is no longer broken by taking damage.
At 11th level, this cantrip’s benefits instead add your spell casting modifier to your AC or all saving throws effects that deal damage for the duration of the cantrip’s effects.
At 17th level, this cantrip no longer requires concentration altogether.

Spell Lists: Sorcerer, Wizard, Warlock

Alternatively, the concentration not being broken could instead be moved to level 11

what other ways could i nerf this?

WIP, and if i can adequately balance the above cantrip out, i would rework Arcane Ward from the Abjuration Wizard as follows:
-the Arcane Ward feature would grant this like Illusion Wizard's Improved Minor Illusion/Improved Illusion features.
-Arcane Ward would be reworked to be triggered either by an Abjuration spell of 1st level being cast (+ the other requirement of expending a slot under 2024 5e that they added) OR by this Cantrip.
-one of the later features (one gained after damage breaks concentration) would allow you to cast it on up to 2 other creatures when you cast it, but damage would break concentration/it would require concentration at 17th level

further ways to balance it out i am playing with:
-level 5's concentration not broken by damage moved to level 11, and it scales as +2 at level 1/+3 at level 5 (it would still have you get benefits with both AC and STRs at level 5 though)
-abjuration wizard lets you either use your int mod or add your int mod to the sum it grants (i am leaning to the former TBH) at level 10
-AW changes detailed above would go with these balances

[hollow siren]

besides concentration and the cantrip casting limitation from war magic that i also incorporated, any other way you'd nerf the cantrip to make it balanced?

[frank leaf]

What about making the saving throw trigger only be physical saving throws until later on?

[hollow siren]

oh this is a good idea!

[frank leaf]

STR DEX and CON

[hollow siren]

yes, i love that idea

for con saving throws, though, what about saving throws when concentrating on this cantrip?

is that too much

i like this idea though, its a good limitation

[frank leaf]

A lil, ye. Unless you want to replace the concentration immunity boost with gaining the bonus?

That's more intuitive too

(and less busted)

[hollow siren]

i may just make it so that the con bonus doesnt apply to concentration saving throws with this cantrip

it is also moot by level 11 as i have it scaling now too (damage doesnt break concentration)

[frank leaf]

Ah

[hollow siren]

sorry *level 5

not level 11.

i may move that tho

[frank leaf]

Alr, so, I made a bet a while back I'd compress all of Blood Hunter into a Ranger subclass. Their subclasses included.

Because I called Blood Hunter just edgy ranger

Updating it to fit my Ranger Rework now

Sanguine Conclave (Ranger)
-# 3rd, Cursed Mark: At 3rd level, you gain the ability to channel—or sometimes sacrifice—a part of your vital essence to curse and manipulate creatures through blood magic. You learn a number of Cursed Marks from the Cursed Mark List equal to your proficiency bonus. Each time you learn a new Cursed Mark, you can also choose one of the Cursed Mark you know and replace it with another Cursed Mark.
-# 7th, Blood Destruction: At 7th level, your life force has grown accustomed to being destroyed constantly, and now makes the most of when it happens. Whenever you expend hit dice and don't regain hit points, you can roll the hit die and either gain temporary HP equal to the number rolled or a bonus to the next check you make until the end of your next turn.
-# 11th, Cursed Coalescence: At 11th lvl, you learn to spin the fading life force of those you curse into complex new curses. Whenever you use a BA to target a different creature than the first target with Hunter's Mark, you can apply any Cursed Marks the last creature had to the new target in addition to a new one of your choice.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-KEFdmbmAy9aMEVA5HKuACVknqKfY2bwCH8tGOohF-s/edit?usp=drivesdk

These are the Cursed Mark options

[hollow siren]

Here, which would be better in light of the above changes recommended:

At Higher Levels:
This cantrip gains greater benefits as you reach higher levels.
At 5th level, At 5th level, this cantrip’s benefits apply to both attack rolls and saving throws, regardless of which type of trigger you use this reaction against (an attack roll or a saving throw effect.). Concentration on this cantrip is no longer broken by taking damage.
At 11th level, this cantrip’s benefits instead add your spell casting modifier to your AC or all saving throws effects that deal damage for the duration of the cantrip’s effects. You can also cast the cantrip in response to all saving throws and now include Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma saving throws.
At 17th level, this cantrip no longer requires concentration altogether.

OR

At Higher Levels:
This cantrip gains greater benefits as you reach higher levels:
At 5th level, this cantrip’s benefits apply to both attack rolls and saving throws, regardless of which type of trigger you use this reaction against (an attack roll or a saving throw effect.). In addition, this cantrip’s benefits instead add your spell casting modifier to your AC or all Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws effects that deal damage for the duration of the cantrip’s effects.
At 11th level, concentration on this cantrip is no longer broken by taking damage. You can also cast the cantrip in response to all saving throws and now include Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma saving throws.
At 17th level, this cantrip no longer requires concentration altogether.

[frank leaf]

Second one is better

[hollow siren]

honestly, i kind of agree

my only concern, however, is how this interacts with psykinetic psion

if i granted this to psykinetic, which would fit, the mental stats being later feels weird

because psion

[frank leaf]

I mean, I could def see the justification. Seeing as it's hard to predict mental attacks coming your way

[hollow siren]

that is true too, actually

ok, i am convinced then

[hollow siren]

ill take a look! interesting idea

[frank leaf]

Dam, capstone is big, three options tho:
-# 15th, Dark Augmentation: At 15th level, you defile your blood in exchange for a great tool against that which you hunt. Choose one of the following options:
-# Blood Pact: You strike a blood bargain with a creature which can supply you with magic, lots of it. You gain access to the Warlock Spell list, and you can choose 1 Eldritch Invocation for which you qualify. Once you cast a spell from the Warlock spell list, you can't do so again until you finish a Short or Long rest. Additionally, whenever you finish a short or long rest, you can expend up to 2 hit dice to regain cumulative spell slots equal to the number of hit dice you spent.
-# Explosive Catalyst: You dose your body with formulas made from deadly creatures, creating a terrifying alternate form that can perform feats far above your normal limits. You obtain the Unarmed Fighting Style, or another fighting style of your choice if you already have it. Additionally, when you use your Hunter’s Mark feature, you can trigger your Catalyzed Form, and for 1 minute or until you are incapacitated, you gain the following benefits:
-# -You can add your Wisdom modifier to Strength and Dexterity Checks and saving throws.
-# -You gain temporary HP equal to twice your Ranger level.
-# -Your size increases to Large
-# -When you deal damage with your Hunter’s Mark feature, you regain hit points equal to the damage you deal with it.
-# -Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest or spend a spell slot of 3rd or higher to use it again.

[void jewel]

No, because the cantrip doesn't actually have an ongoing effect

I assuming the boost is not ongoing. Only one time

[hollow siren]

no, its the same duration as shield

[void jewel]

Oh that's broken as heck

[frank leaf]

Last option lol
-# Soul Conduit: You invoke the power to pierce the veil between the living and dead, inviting those who have long since not belonged. You learn the following spells, which are always prepared, which you can cast each once per long rest without expending a spell slot and you can alter in the following ways:
-# -Unseen Servant: The servant’s strength score increases to your Wisdom modifier, has temporary HP equal to your Ranger level, and it is Proficient with an Artisan’s Tools of your choice.
-# -Levitate: You can choose a number of creatures or loose objects equal to your Wisdom modifier, the spell’s range is doubled, and you can change the Altitude by up to 40 feet in either direction on your turn.
-# -Spirit Guardians: If a target fails by 5 or more, it becomes possessed, and falls under the effects of the Command spell, which you choose the command for when they fail the saving throw.

[hollow siren]

hmm, ok

[void jewel]

Arcane deflection is a single attack/save for a reason

It definitely doesn't last all turn

[hollow siren]

honestly, thats a gripe i have with it

i would understand it maybe if it was your modifier at level 2

but still

[void jewel]

I see that as an intentional balance design - it is an extraordinarily powerful ability even when working against a single save

[hollow siren]

let me rephrase, i have this as a gripe because it doesnt scale as you gain wizard levels

[void jewel]

Flat saving throw bonuses are nigh impossible to get otherwise. AOP is the only other source and AOP is like almost all of paladin's value

[rugged olive]

Anyone made a 2024 update to Astral Self monk?

Since Str checks are rarer now in combat

[void jewel]

The bonus itself is so large it doesn't really need to. +4 is relevant at second and 20th level

[rugged olive]

And you can use dex to grapple as a monk

[void jewel]

Your saving throw bonuses (proficiency) scale. If this also scaled, you'd have issues

You'd out-scale the enemy DC increases

[hollow siren]

yeah, but the bonus here isnt that large at lower levels. i actually also just revised it to retain the +2 (+3 at level 5)

[frank leaf]

Oh, I haven't, maybe I should though . . .

[void jewel]

Even so, due to the reactive nature, it is crazy good. And this persists, unlike arcane deflection

[frank leaf]

This is prob the biggest thing

[rugged olive]

I looked at 2 on DnDbeyond and didnt think they did well

[void jewel]

You can just not use it if you don't think it'll make you succeed

[hollow siren]

i should clarify too, the bonus is either to all attacks or all saving throws for a round, until level 5

[void jewel]

It'll never really "miss" - the actual amount added just determines the amount of the time its usable

[void jewel]

Either of which would be amazing at level 19

Wait. Does it apply to all attacks and saves after level 5????

[hollow siren]

yes

[void jewel]

You are insane man

[hollow siren]

like i said,trying to nerf this lol

im trying to make this scale appropriately and not broken, but still useful

[frank leaf]

The best way to say this is that you're making a better Shield (1st level) a cantrip.

[hollow siren]

which is a very difficult balancing act

[frank leaf]

Alright, how about making this an action first of all

Preemptive so it can be wasted

If you make the wrong call

[hollow siren]

oh interesting idea, but i would make it a bonus action if so

wait lemme check what the text block for resistance is

brb

[frank leaf]

Maybe Action, BA as part of Abjuration Wizard since I think you said you wanted that subclass to include it

[hollow siren]

yes, i wanted to make it interact with abjuration wizard

[frank leaf]

Like how they get Dispel Magic as BA

[hollow siren]

ok, i have a better idea with how this will work

resistance lets you add a d4 to a saving throw

my thinking here is to instead make it a 1d4+1 bonus, instead of a flat bonus

and you would roll the d4 every single time you get hit with an attack roll or saving throw (putting aside the issue of whether to apply it to every one for a round or not)

i would also make it scale atypically, most likely. level 5 wont get a boost, level 11 and 17 would

[frank leaf]

I will note. Resistance is an action. And got reworked in 5.5

(It's pretty bad now lol)

[hollow siren]

it is, yes. but this is intended to be a self-defensive/reactive spell whereas resistance can fill that niche or be buff to another creature

[rugged olive]

Ideas for updated Astral Self: change +2 to 11th level, make the str checks to grapples, change deflect energy entirely, and the idea of maybe adding another BA for your turn, but must be a different BA

Visage is fine I think

[frank leaf]

Right, self only. Then we can compare it to Blade ward

[rugged olive]

Oh wait, change intimidation to persuasion

[frank leaf]

1d4 penalty to attack rolls against you

[hollow siren]

yes, this one is self only unlike resistance

[frank leaf]

So, have you considered just letting you cast both Resistance and Blade ward with the same action? (Blade ward isn't concentration). Hm, but there is a mismatch with new Resistance being garbage and new Blade ward being the one that fits . . .

Oh, wait, just remake old resistance as a new spell and stick that to Blade Ward.

[hollow siren]

interesting idea...let me think on that

[frank leaf]

Not scaling, but balanced and gives you somewhere Abjuration Wizard can interact with it

[hollow siren]

right

[frank leaf]

Making it scaling could be smth for Abjuration Wizard could do.

[frank leaf]

Anyway, anyone got thoughts?

[cerulean seal]

So in designing an “echo” subclass similar to Echo Knight but for a half caster class I’ve been working on.
The idea is that the echo is either you from another timeline or like a split part of your soul/mind manifested.

I don’t want to copy Echo knight. Wanting to lean in a more magic maybe illusory focused direction.

Does anyone have any ideas or general input?

the basic 3rd level feature I have so far is that a illusory echo projection appears wherever you start your turn and you can do stuff with this projection.

[hollow siren]

Here is the reworked version, need to know if further toning down is needed:

Warding Shield
Abjuration Cantrip
Casting Time: 1 Bonus Action
Range: Self
Components: S
Duration: Concentration, 1 Round

You generate a visible warding field of magical force from your outstretched hand to ward away the effects of a spell or attack. The appearance of the ward is determined by you. You gain a 1d4+1 bonus to your AC and to all Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws that you make until the end of your next turn (when the duration of the cantrip and your concentration on this cantrip both end). You roll the 1d4+1 against every attack roll and saving throw roll. The bonus to Constitution saving throws also does not apply to any Concentration saving throws that you make for this cantrip. |You can also only cast cantrips until the end of your next turn when concentrating on this cantrip.|

At Higher Levels:
This cantrip gains greater benefits as you reach higher levels:
At 5th level, concentration on this cantrip is no longer broken by taking damage. The action changes to either a Bonus Action or Reaction.
At 11th level, the benefits of this cantrip now also extend to Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom saving throws.
At 17th level, instead of rolling the 1d4+1 bonus for every attack and saving throw roll, you add your spellcasting modifier instead. |Moreover, the cantrip either no longer requires concentration or you no longer can only cast cantrips until the end of your next turn when concentrating on this cantrip (choose when you cast this cantrip).|

Spell List: Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard.

Sections book ended with | and | are things i am considering keeping to further introduce limitations.

[coarse torrent]

who here plays digimon who can give me a short and normal description of a greymon species

[hollow siren]

i may also reintroduce the only against all attack rolls or all saving throws limitation and have that removed at a higher level

likely that would be level 5, and move the reaction or bonus action to level 11

mind, i still plan to brew invocations for it and have abjuration wizard interact with this

[hollow siren]

i think this is a cool idea, but tbh i'd instead just make a ranger subclass that does Profane Soul/warlock stuff, one that gets a wildshape instead of a lycan, and rework plane walker or whatever its called to do radiant damage with weapon attacks like ghost BH does. this approach is much simpler and prone to either 1) less feature bloat or 2) having to choose benefits and then sacrifice features to prevent feature bloat in #1

the curse marks are decent

[barren sand]

Pop quiz
It is a monster that targets humans
And deaf people are the first to see it

[hollow siren]

reworked the above cantrip even further:

Warding Shield
Abjuration Cantrip
Casting Time: 1 Bonus Action
Range: Self
Components: S
Duration: Concentration, 1 Round

You generate a visible warding field of magical force from your outstretched hand to ward away the effects of a spell or attack. The appearance of the ward is determined by you. You gain a 1d4+1 bonus to your AC and to all Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws that you make until the end of your next turn (when the duration of the cantrip and your concentration on this cantrip both end). You roll the 1d4+1 against every attack roll and saving throw roll. The bonus to Constitution saving throws also does not apply to any Concentration saving throws that you make for this cantrip. You can also only cast cantrips until the end of your next turn when concentrating on this cantrip.

At Higher Levels:
This cantrip gains greater benefits as you reach higher levels:
At 5th level, concentration on this cantrip is no longer broken by taking damage.
At 11th level, the benefits of this cantrip now also extend to Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom saving throws.
At 17th level, instead of rolling the 1d4+1 bonus for every attack and saving throw roll, you add your spellcasting modifier instead. Moreover, this cantrip's concentration does not end any spell you are already concentrating on, but that spell's effects cannot be used the subsequent turn (even if they do not end).

Spell List: Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard.

some of the inspiration for this cantrip too was the lesser/steadfast/greater ward spells from skyrim, tbh

[void jewel]

Mind you, some times no scaling is proper scaling

[hollow siren]

honestly, this is fair

[void jewel]

It is not, with the BA cast time

Make it eat your reaction IMO.

You can use this AND shield

[hollow siren]

oh true, thats a good point i had not considered

[void jewel]

This is fine now actually

[coarse torrent]

whats tranmutaion is it like fusion?

[void jewel]

It's very potent but concentration makes it its own strategy instead of being a crazy boost to other strategies

[hollow siren]

right

[void jewel]

Transmutation is turning one substance or thing into another

Ala classical alchemy, for example

[hollow siren]

but its fine even without eating a reaction in addition to the BA?

[hollow siren]

thanks!

[hollow siren]

wait, you can't. i think. the wording lets you ONLY use cantrips until the end of your next turn

[coarse torrent]

is there a fusion one as i need a fusion ability for greymon 2010 as a sub species

[hollow siren]

otherwise, i would change it to:
"Until the end of your next turn, you cannot cast any levelled spells using an action."

assuming that casting shield and this would be fine, which is not a bad idea because that still requires you to spend a spell slot. also shield itself doesnt apply against saving throws

[void jewel]

True. But still better as a reaction mo

[coarse torrent]

How do I make a fusion trait

[hollow siren]

true. i could also change it to include verbiage that states that casting this as a bonus action also uses any reaction actions for this turn (note, this doesnt apply to next turn)

alternatively, making it a reaction is not something i am opposed to either. the bonus action was because some thought that it was unbalanced as a reaction

[void jewel]

Generally, your reaction is a greater cost than your BA, I find

[lean crow]

Certainly for wizards

[hollow siren]

you think so? thats a fair point

[void jewel]

But removing the casting of levelled spells changes that to be fair

[hollow siren]

right

i agree, tbh

[lean crow]

Tbh I struggle to imagine a situation where I'd cast this instead of Shield.

[void jewel]

An encounter where you don't want to use resources, probably

a situation where you can doorway dodge, for example, while spamming this

[hollow siren]

gritty realism

[void jewel]

Ala blade ward

[void jewel]

Gritty realism is a caster buff

[hollow siren]

gritty realism rules, this would come in handy

[void jewel]

Still the same xp budget per LR. Doesn't actually change spell slot economy or make the game harder

[hollow siren]

no, short rests are unchanged but long rests are a week.

[lean crow]

No wizard, warlock, or sorcerer is doorway dodging.

[void jewel]

Yeah and encounters happen less to compensate

[hollow siren]

right, makes sense

[void jewel]

Unfortunately you can't handle more encounters with the same resources under gritty realism

So it doesn't actually change the resource management that much

It basically just narratively inserts time

[void jewel]

Huh? Yes they are. They armor dip

[hollow siren]

TBEF, that does impact resource use.

[void jewel]

The wizard with an armor dip is the party's best doorway dodger

[hollow siren]

you're not going to long rest before the BBEG/final boss, as that is a whole week instead of a night

[void jewel]

True but your made a mistake if you let them do that normally too imo

[lean crow]

Not at all. They're still more useful using their control spells.

[void jewel]

Both. Both is good

The can concentrate while doorway dodging

[hollow siren]

a fair point but one i have seen DMs do

[void jewel]

Which is another reason they are better at it. Martials don't have contribution while dodging, casters do, since they have active concentration

[lean crow]

And, frankly, a spell that essentially requires you to multiclass for it to be at all useful should not be on their spell list.

This belongs on the cleric/pally list.

[void jewel]

Let's be real at medium and high optimization levels wizards are required to MC

[lean crow]

That's a very silly thing to say.

[void jewel]

That's an opinion

Which you can have

Wizards taking 1 level of artificer or cleric is standard wizard optimization tho

[hollow siren]

i made minor changes where i adjusted the spellcasting mod substitution to be at level 11. would that be fine?

as an alternative version

alternative version is as follows:

Warding Shield
Abjuration Cantrip
Casting Time: 1 Reaction, which you take when you are hit by an attack or targeted by a saving throw effect that deals damage
Range: Self
Components: S
Duration: Concentration, 1 Round

You generate a visible warding field of magical force from your outstretched hand to ward away the effects of a spell or attack. The appearance of the ward is determined by you. You gain a 1d4+1 bonus to your AC and to all Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws that you make until the end of your next turn (when the duration of the cantrip and your concentration on this cantrip both end). You roll the 1d4+1 against every attack roll and saving throw roll. The bonus to Constitution saving throws also does not apply to any Concentration saving throws that you make for this cantrip. You can also only cast cantrips until the end of your next turn when concentrating on this cantrip.

At Higher Levels:
This cantrip gains greater benefits as you reach higher levels:
At 5th level, concentration on this cantrip is no longer broken by taking damage.
At 11th level, the benefits of this cantrip now also extend to Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom saving throws. Moreover, instead of rolling the 1d4+1 bonus for every attack and saving throw roll, you add your spellcasting modifier instead.
At 17th level, this cantrip's concentration does not end any spell you are already concentrating on, but that spell's effects cannot be used the subsequent turn (even if they do not end).

Spell List: Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard.

[void jewel]

Magic stone is another spell that many classes have but don't get value out of without a MC combo

[hollow siren]

i may include that the shield generates dim light or something

the "instead of rolling" scaling was previously at level 17

frankly, i think its fine at either option, considering i also removed the part of 17 that lets you cast levelled spells

[rugged olive]

@frank leaf Whatchu think about it?

[flint marsh]

@hexed igloo you might like the first entry here. This was originally built in 2014 rules and has been updated for 2024

https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-NW0w97pU_itwZZXPAVG

[hexed igloo]

very interesting, thanks

[flint marsh]

It has been tested extensively over the years

[hexed igloo]

eyyy, they got legends of runeterra art, already love this one

[flint marsh]

Hilariously that art actually is carrying two axes but it's cleverly framed 😉

[hollow siren]

that's true too. honestly, i may even make an even further truncated version that doesnt scale but has most/some of the later benefits

[hexed igloo]

trifarian shieldbreaker or something iirc

[fervent holly]

Hiya, I’m working on a Psion subclass inspired by Sardior and gem dragons for my Dragon Delves campaign, and I’d appreciate some feedback on this very rough first version of it.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11V98qkjXMZ3mrgdfiN6ZBGjw1ZwZbJiyvXSjX-hSqsU/edit?usp=drivesdk

[flint marsh]

Yep. It's even credited as such on the page hehe

[fervent holly]

I wasn’t sure about the spells, especially. I chose ones reminiscent of each of the main five kinds of gem dragons, but I wonder if it’s too loose

[dry lintel]

What are good, effective spells to put on a time-based artifact?

[coral delta]

Haste and Slow, perhaps?

[dry lintel]

those are themeatic, but not very good

[void jewel]

Can give it chronal shift charges

[dry lintel]

?

[coral delta]

Gift of Alacrity? ||Time Stop?||

[void jewel]

Hard not to find uses for those

[void jewel]

Chronal shift is a chronurgist wizard subclass ability

You could yoink it

It's basically rewinding an event in time to force a reroll

[dry lintel]

my character is already a chronurgy wizard

[void jewel]

Ah

At artifact tier you could do temporal shunt

X charges per day

Good reaction to have charges of

[coral delta]

Something a bit gross about "I'm designing my own homebrew artifact for my own character and, no, those spells are too weak"

[void jewel]

I agree lol but maybe was given the request by the DM

[void jewel]

Though haste and slow are both pretty bad spells tbf

Haste more so than slow.

[dry lintel]

yeah, that was the issue

[coral delta]

Don't drag me into your #optimization

[void jewel]

Slow has an actual niche. And haste has the world's smallest niche (hasting a rogue)

[void jewel]

Lol fair

[dry lintel]

i'll add slow at least

[void jewel]

Dosh has a point though, what's the context

Is this for an existing campaign and your DM sent you on a quest to create it?

[dry lintel]

eh, just wanted spells that actually did something AND were thematic

[void jewel]

I mean the context for the item

Like is it just something to have in your binder, or for an existing campaign, or for publishing

[dry lintel]

a pocketwatch that controls time essentially

I just like building thematic artifact for my character backstories

[void jewel]

In that case I agree with this sentiment

Probably not best to come into the campaign with ideas for an artifact level homebrew item without serious DM buy in

[dry lintel]

k, ill add haste and slow. guess I got to think about theme more than effectiveness

[dry lintel]

I mainly play one shots

and besides, I will ask DM permission to add my custom items anyways

if at all, I mainly am making it for fun

[void jewel]

It's fine to not add haste if you'll never use it. That's okay. Slow is a genuine option sometimes. I'd consider temporal shunt, too

At artifact tier power you can do temporal shunt

[dry lintel]

I did not want to add non-PHB spells, but yeah, that makes sense

actually, I think it will have a once per day buffed version of Time Stop.

keeps things simple!

[frank leaf]

Srry, in and out because of class, so actually I think the Wisdom modifier change could be simplified to replacing your Strength and Dexterity with your Wisdom modifier

During the duration of the arms

Visage could prob be changed to be the Message or the Thaumaturgy cantrips for free whenever you take a Bonus action for the "Word of the Spirit" benefit

Moving the AC to level 11 makes sense.

Also, for replacing Deflect energy, why not smth like "improved deflect attack"?

Boost it from reducing just 1d10 of damage to a number of them equal to your Wisdom modifier?

[timber owl]

okay so I had a devious devious idea for a semi-custom statblock

WHICH PROBABLY HAS BEEN MADE ALREADY

but I was thinking of the mimic from vita carnis and had the idea to make a statblock for like 2 encounters for the elder mimic and the standard grown mimic, since the mimic that exists doesnt focus much on deciet and like luring the players, and is easy to knock out of commission

I was thinking like a few sessions worth of content (I dm like an hour a week)

and i do need opinions/if something like this already exists (dopplegangers aren't exactly what im looking for)

[frank leaf]

There is already a Mimicry trait, and even a trait iirc on a specific Fiend that lets them throw their voice to be somewhere within 30ft

Putting that on smth resistant to nonmagical Bludgeon, Pierce, and slash damage is a good idea

[timber owl]

interesting

see i want the enemy to be a really big threat that they can't beat (YET) but rather evade, whilst it attempts to track them down, and (either when I decide or down to a roll) shows back up at night/during a long rest (At the very end)

similar to a natural disaster, you bunker down, or run, you don't try fight back since it's useless

(unrelated to bbeg, just a sort of filler enemy)

it's all still in the works so I have a while

but I want it to be of quality

[frank leaf]

Oh, then why not immunity to nonmagical Bludgeon, pierce, and slash damage except from Slivered weapons? Silvering is a good preq to lead them towards somewhere you want them to fight it

[frank leaf]

What level are they?

[timber owl]

campaign isnt started yet

but I have it NEARLY ready

im just adding in like level filler and such

[frank leaf]

The question still stands lol

[timber owl]

but since I have 2 years of 1 hours a week

[frank leaf]

What level are they starting as

[timber owl]

starting level 2, I would estimate they'd be level 9-12 at the end depending on how quick they progress

I usually give 3rd level quick, then slow down slightly

[frank leaf]

Alr, then immunity to spells of 3rd level or lower should solidify the Elder Mimic

You could ward it off by 9th, but def not defeat it

[timber owl]

that's kind of what I want

I want them to encounter it early and have them ward it off with a gimmick

I had it planned for right after a minor boss where they're in a cave, then end up in tunnels separate from eachother (boss was a spider enemy, party were sent to help trapped NPCS) and the mimic first mimics the NPCS, ect, insight check tells them that the voices sound off (not the exact wording, more specifics but you know) and it falla victim to some bullshit gimmick, in order to show them it's a threat without risking actual player death

or even they watch it evolve throughout the campaign

might be fun

[hollow siren]

now that i had a quick break, i simplified this as follows:

Warding Shield
Abjuration Cantrip
Casting Time: 1 Reaction, which you take when you are hit by an attack or targeted by a saving throw effect that deals damage
Range: Self
Components: S
Duration: Concentration, 1 Round

You generate a visible warding field of magical force from your outstretched hand to ward away the effects of a spell or attack. The appearance of the ward is determined by you. You gain a 1d4+1 bonus to your AC and to all saving throws that you make until the end of your next turn (when the duration of the cantrip and your concentration on this cantrip both end). You roll the 1d4+1 against every attack roll and saving throw roll.

You can also only cast cantrips until the end of your next turn when concentrating on this cantrip. Moreover, concentration on this cantrip is not broken by taking damage, and this cantrip's concentration does not end any spell you are already concentrating on, but that spell's effects cannot be used the subsequent turn (even if they do not end).

Spell List: Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard.

A variant Abjuration Wizard's Arcane Ward, a reworked (slightly) Mark of Warding/variant Greater Mark of Warding, and a homebrew eldritch invocation would all work to replace the roll with the respective spellcasting modifier. Greater Mark of Warding would allow you to deflect the attack/spell like Iroh, but I am workshopping that later today

honestly, either the above version or this works

[vocal imp]

wording is a little confusing

only can cast cantrips until the end of your next turn when concentrating

so if you stop concentrating right before your turn, can you cast cantrips on that turn?

i also feel like youre taking away from war wizard's identity

[scenic dew]

So I was thinking about spell. It's not really original since it's heavily inspired by something, but how does this sound ? Too strong ? Too weak ?

Malicious Nebula
5th-level spell
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (15-foot radius)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

A freezing gravitational vortex erupts around you, dragging bodies toward your presence and choking their movement with frost.
When you cast this spell, and at the start of each of your turns until the spell ends, each creature within 30 feet of you must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 15 feet toward you, ending this movement in an unoccupied space as close to you as possible.
If a creature ends this forced movement within 15 feet of you, it takes 4d8 cold damage. A creature takes this damage only once per turn.
In addition, a creature that starts its turn within 15 feet of you has its movement speed quartered until the end of that turn.

It's for Warlocks.

[vocal imp]

this is a good spell for martials (genuinely just straight upgrade to blade ward)

and decent for spellcasters around tier 1 play

[vocal imp]

range is a 15 ft emanation that effects creatures within 30 ft?

anyways its not great

generally you want to push enemies away from you

[scenic dew]

15 ft is damage and speed reduction, but 30 ft is the pull itself. I didn't know if I should use the damage dealing part or overall as range

[vocal imp]

pushing them towards you, especially on a light armor prof class, is very deadly

[scenic dew]

I kinda think of the spell as nieche for dealing with group of weak enemies that have quantity or possibly multiple spellcasters.

[vocal imp]

you have warlock spells that fill both those niches better

warlocks are great at aoe damage

especially at 5th level with synaptic static

[frank leaf]

@timber owl
-# Elder Mimic (Huge Fiend, Chaotic Evil)
-# AC 19
-# Initiative +8
-# HP: 247 (15d20 + 90)
-# Speeds: Walk 35ft, Climb 35ft
-# STR 26
-# DEX 8
-# CON 17
-# INT 17
-# WIS 19
-# CHA 14
-# Saving Throws: Str. , Int. , Wis.

-# Traits
-# -Mimicry: The Elder Mimic can mimic simple sounds it has heard, such as a person whispering, a baby crying, or an animal chittering. A creature that hears the sounds can tell they are imitations with a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Insight) check.
-# -Greater Magic Resistance: The Elder Mimic automatically succeeds on saving throws against spells and other magical effects, and the attack rolls of spells automatically miss it. Without the Elder Mimic’s permission, no spell can observe the Elder Mimic remotely or detect its thoughts, creature type, or alignment.
-# -Dread Ambush: The Elder Mimic benefits from the Invisible condition against creatures relying on Darkvision to see it.

How's this as a base?

[desert trellis]

How much homebrew is too much homebrew like if I made a whole new god system which abbreviates clerics (they are buffed a bit if plot needs it and gain passive boons corresponding to the deity) and how magic works (without changing the spells but adding some to fit the system so wizard is still a wizard) also it allows players to become gods but allows doesn't mean they will be able to cuz it's just very very very very very hard
either way like i said is this homebrew overkill or is it alr for a homebrew campaign?

[scenic dew]

Options are good. Would increasing the damage slightly make it more viable ?

[frank leaf]

Ascension is risky business, if its a way to end a character arc other than death prob fine though. Changing spell slots is obviously the biggest risk, but not out of the question if it's homebrew heavy. I just hope you're thorough in balancing it.

[vocal imp]

its kind of like a reverse spirit guardians in that it does damage to those near you

[hollow siren]

it is inspired by it, yes, but i think this can be fixed by reworking arcane deflection to just have this cantrip but better for the WW.

also, i get that concern too. YMMV ofc on this cantrip. it would be nice, however, to get some at will warding as a cantrip IMO too

[frank leaf]

The God stuff has already been done with Piety officially too

So just a homebrew version of piety ain't outlandish

[vocal imp]

but the reason spirit guardians is so good is because of the stackable difficult terrain it also imposes

[hollow siren]

no, this was intended to give guidance as to the duration of how long you're locked out of casting levelled spells for. that is why it is written with that segment in parentheses

[vocal imp]

this makes it significantly harder for enemies to hit you

even when its a spell that locks you in melee

maybe you can push and pull them in a circle around you

i think that would be cool, anyways. just a suggestion

[scenic dew]

Yeah, I originally thought about it as Lightning Lure + Spirit Guardians. I like the idea although I would want it to be viable.

[desert trellis]

nah i'm not tampering with spell slots and ascension would realistically end at a level of an angel who's like a lvl 20 cleric with one or 2 exclusive spells they can cast once a day

[desert trellis]

it's mostly supposed to be a plot device

[frank leaf]

This is like that graviturgy spell that makes a small black hole

[vocal imp]

if you were amenable to making it a non-emanation, it would be very strong

[scenic dew]

Like creating ring of enemies around you ? Pull them 15 ft to you, but not closer and not allow them close than those 15ft ?

[vocal imp]

like if theyre a certain distance away from you at the end of their turn, it either pushes or pulls them away

maybe if >20ft, then pull, if <20ft, then push

[scenic dew]

Yeah, it's bit similar. It's inspired by Ominous Nebula ability from SDS just with cold damage since I was also thinking about it as extension of Armor of Agathys. Maybe I could've named it after Agathys to point that out.

[scenic dew]

Hmmm making the 15ft line base so if they are more than 15 ft away from caster they can be pulled toward caster to reach the 15ft and if they are closer than 15ft they can be pulled away from caster to be again 15 feet from them.

[desert trellis]

ik but i kinda dislike it i don't feel like that's what god is supposed to be at least in my description of this world (gods are more of a symbols rather than conscious beings with the lesser gods (also the last step that entity still has some consciousness) being the representations of concepts under specific domains for example you can have a god which has the authority of luck and can bring you good luck and you can have other god which holds authority of unluck and make someone or something unlucky and they both fall under the domain of fate I'm borrowing the ideology from lotm cuz it's very good power system for gods etc "other than the part that you drink potions to become a god")

[scenic dew]

You are onto something here. More and more I think about it, better it is. Rings of Agathys

[hexed solar]

Hm… anyone know of any good Ninja themed subclasses? Other then Ryoko’s guide I feel like I don’t see it to often. But I guess assassin or arcane trickster cover the fantasy easy enough with a little reflavoring. One leaning more into the physical and the other magical.

[fervent holly]

Okay I changed the spells, will update the doc in a sec

The original spell list felt very wrong because of how I weighed the gem dragon inspiration. I looked over the Psion spell list intently and found that some of the gem dragons couldn’t adequately be represented with the class list, so shifted the focus to be on those

Anyway, it updated now

[distant lotus]

Guys, is a level 8 spell that deals 18d8 damage to a single target and then cc's with a choice of stunning or blinding an enemy balanced or too strong?

[rugged olive]

Damage type?

[distant lotus]

either lightning/necrotic or radiant

[frank leaf]

Oh, I didn't say it was bad, the opposite. You asked if there was a "too much homebrew point" and if you reached it, I was just saying you didn't.

[desert trellis]

nah dw i didn't think you said it was bad
but thanks anyways

[timber owl]

holy crap you're awesome.

I will give him skulker too 🥹

[frank leaf]

I decided to make it just faster than a player base walk speed, to make them always feel like if they're not running away, they're falling behind

Any condition immunities you think it should have?

[fallen pollen]

Maybe just prone?

[timber owl]

definitely anything do to with mental incapacitation (fear as an example)

anything to do with being physically overpowered (grappled, prone, with exceptions to do with gimmicky mechanics, such as terrain falling, ect)

and a ton of damage resistances (all non-magic + immunity to bludgeoning, low level spells fail/roll with disadvantage, so on so forth)

because again, he isn't really meant to be defeated

moreso he's a roadblock to fill the boring gaps of the campaign

[fallen pollen]

Throw in the Acid damage immunity that mimics have, too.

[timber owl]

honestly I think acid should be one of the things he DOESN'T resist

since it isnt a classic mimic

it's more like a doppleganger on steroids and every other drug on the planet

[fallen pollen]

Intriguing.

[timber owl]

it's lowk based off the guy from vita carnis in concept

there was just a statblock conveniently pinged at me

"the statblock was just... there!"

[frank leaf]

He's already immune to spells and most melee attacks until you give your party silvered weapons

And too strong even if it weren't that way for a good while

If they have a race option/nonmagical way to deal damage, then just use it as a bone to lead them by

To somewhere it might be guarding so nothing around can hurt it

Grappled is a good Immunity tho

[timber owl]

this is utter peak

how long have you been doing homebrew for chat

[frank leaf]

Incapacitated/Unconscious too (fight til death)

[timber owl]

ive mainly done player character homebrew

[fallen pollen]

Something mechanically fun to give it would be a feature akin to the Tarrasque's Reflective Carapace or Flail Snail's Antimagic Shell, just so you have a mechanical basis.

[frank leaf]

Me? I don't rly do monster homebrew. Mostly player stuff too. (If we count that, 4 years)

[timber owl]

this is a great idea I believe

[frank leaf]

They already auto save spells/make attack spells auto miss

[timber owl]

poisoned is another immunity

anywho I will go forth and refine it to what my party may like

and update you all on my findings

[frank leaf]

Oh, smth else

[timber owl]

also opinions on duo bosses

[timber owl]

ooh I do like "smth else" info

[frank leaf]

Give it different Lair Actions everytime they fight it to emphasize it lured them there.

Makes it stronger and more terrifying

[timber owl]

should I give it the bonuses vampires get from being in their lair

I actually need to read up on the vampire bonuses tbh

idk if its like "get strong!!!" or "turn to mist every four turns that you roll a d4, get a 2, then a d6 and get a 3" esque buffs

[frank leaf]

Duo bosses imo are fun if you make sure that they cover each others weaknesses, but isolated are very obvious. One being a caster the other being a martial for example. Or one being good at applying Conditions/debuffs, the other having extra effects when attacking targets under those effects

[timber owl]

I do want to follow the trope of big strong guy and little caster guy

[fallen pollen]

Duo bosses are great if they play off each other, like DaHo said. The first thing I thought of was Throne Watcher and Throne Defender from DS2.

[timber owl]

but I think two big strong guys would make for a really fun fight

especially if they focus on different sort of classes types

so like fighter barbarian esque

[frank leaf]

Oh, basically, it occurs at Initiative 20 (so people who have higher initiative go first), and then the creature gets to take a Lair action. It can't take the same actions again until they take all the actions (max 3)

[fallen pollen]

Something like Barbarian and Paladin could be fun.

[frank leaf]

It always has smth to do with the environment

[timber owl]

one thing I do like doing for smaller bosses, is making them LIKE a player character would be made

but like a few levels up

[timber owl]

this is valueble info

thank you wisdom wizard

[fallen pollen]

To build on what DaHo said about Lair Actions and Environments, I'd say have something that forces your players to think about their movement.

[frank leaf]

It could, but again, make sure they're distinct. Or, you make them exactly the same, but give them mix ups, so they randomize which option they'll take in a round. Maybe both take the same and you didn't prepare for all that damage? Or maybe one went for hard CC and now you're in the line of fire.

[timber owl]

hmm

valuable information

ive been dm'ing for like a year because I was the most experienced player, and our dm quit cuz of some drama so I was forced into place

so I wanna make a good campaign

but when is too much stuff TOO MUCH

liek i want to have them have fun

but there needs to be sessions where there arent four hundred eldritch dietied

[midnight elk]

Yesterday I posted about a shop I made for a campaign I'm running (all items are made by me) I just finished adding new stuff and was hoping for some feedback. Here's the link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DiTXGsKcEXOO3ywwzTqg-FWIrAHkM_c77lwX90fhnPQ/edit?usp=sharing

[frank leaf]

Incorporate backstories. Players love being able to talk Abt their characters pasts

[fallen pollen]

I would also give the characters choices to improve the players' sense of agency. Not too many. You don't want to give them choice paralysis.

[frank leaf]

I remember you said smth bout the NPC dying, so don't surprised if your players want to save the npc

Players will do things you won't expect, as you should expect

Improv is a DM's greatest skill behind planning

[fallen pollen]

And never overprepare in one direction or another. Leave yourself room for creative liberty and allow your plans to change. You can have specifics laid out, but don't go overboard. Just focus on the most important things. You don't want to burn yourself out.

[timber owl]

sometimes with improv I accidentally derail the campaign

the players yearn for the tracks

[frank leaf]

If the players want to derail it, there's clearly smth they see in how they're doing it. I'll drop how I reshaped my spell jammer campaign a while back in #tales-from-the-table if you want, but basically, they can only do that with what you give them

If you don't want the dragon Crit by 3 Dragon slaying arrows, don't give the players the arrows

Not to say not to give them free will, but a significant amount of "derailing" is caused because someone thought they could force a player to play out and encounter the way they planned it

If you put smth in, be sure you're fine with them doing anything they want to do with it

Anyway, @timber owl #dm-discussion is somewhere you can always go to ask Abt this stuff too

[timber owl]

ouu my bad i forgot this was the homebrew channel

[timber owl]

I see i see

[fallen pollen]

Here's a homebrew sublcass for Sorcerer. Opinions, comments and criticism are all welcome and invited.

=Spellblade (2014)=
-Battlemage Training-
At 1st level, your hit point maximum increases by 1 and increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level in this class. You gain proficiency with Simple Weapons, Light and Medium armor, as well as Shields.

-Extra Attack-
Starting at 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. Once on each of your turns when you make a weapon attack, you can expend up to 3 Sorcery Points to deal an additional 1d6 Force damage per Sorcery Point spent.

-Spellblade's Ward-
At 14th level, when you use your bonus action to convert Sorcery Points into spell slots, you gain a bonus to AC equal to the level of the spell slot created until the start of your next turn.

-Imperial Invigoration-
At 18th level, once per turn when you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a weapon attack, you regain 1 Sorcery Point.

=Spellblade (2024)=
-Battlemage Training-
Your Hit Point maximum increases by 3, and it increases by 1 whenever you gain another Sorcerer level.
You gain proficiency with Light and Medium armor, as well as Shields.

-Spellblade Spells-
When you reach a Sorcerer level specified in the Spellblade Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.
Spellblade Spells
Sorcerer Level Spells
3 Aid, Arcane Vigor, Heroism, Wrathful Smite
5 Blinding Smite, Conjure Barrage
7 Death Ward, Staggering Smite
9 Banishing Smite, Destructive Wave

-Extra Attack-
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. Once on each of your turns when you make a weapon attack, you can expend up to 3 Sorcery Points to deal an additional 1d6 Force damage per Sorcery Point spent.

-Spellblade's Ward-
When you use your bonus action to convert Sorcery Points into spell slots, you gain a bonus to AC equal to the level of the spell slot created until the start of your next turn.
While your Innate Sorcery feature is active, any Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage you take is reduced by 3.

-Imperial Invigoration-
Once per turn when you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a weapon attack, you regain 1 Sorcery Point.

[frank leaf]

Expanded Spell list at 3 is too big, unless you add features that interact with those spells to add them. Level 3 is still ironically pretty mid. I like the Sorcerer smite at 6, in fact maybe buff it to max Cha. Mod. in points.

Level 14 and 18th feel kind of uninspired tho.

I like the damage reduction from level 14, though, during Innate Sorcery

I wish you did more with it

I think you're trying to make a sort of pally-sorcerer, right?

(offensive, compared to defensive martial subclass for Bladesinger?)

[fallen pollen]

Something that I noticed about 2024 Sorcerer subclasses is that they grant 4 spells at level 3, which is why the list is so large. 2 1st level spells, 2 2nd level spells.

[frank leaf]

Wait, do they?

Yup they do lol

Okay disregard that lol

[fallen pollen]

As for the level 14 and 18 abilities, I wanted something that built on the existing sorcerer features and abilities.

But as you said, it might be too little.

[frank leaf]

Yeah. So, for level 14, why not emphasize that Pally side a bit with an offensive aura?
How about when you use your Innate Sorcery, you create a 10 ft emanation where creatures once per turn take elemental damage (you choose) equal to your Sorcerer level?

[frank leaf]

And we can move the damage reduction during Innate Sorcery to level 3, maybe improve it later too.

(reducing the damage by Cha. Mod. Probably works)

[fallen pollen]

Could be a reduction based on PB so it scales through the levels.

[fallen pollen]

Move the damage reduction to 3rd level and base it off PB, change the cap on sorcery points for the 6th level "Sorcerer Smite" to be CHA mod, add damage aura to level 14.

[desert trellis]

a question where to find a lot of homebrew content? other than dnd beyond ofc

[frank leaf]

18th level is pretty bad also, but it's a very slippery slope of a feature. Maybe make it so when you expend Sorcery points for the level 6 smite you can roll a d6 and not expend them if the number rolled is higher than the points expended?

That way you get Paladin's Perma smite and can gamble attacks harder lol

[fallen pollen]

I like that idea. Also, would keeping the ability to regain sorcery points via defeating enemies be too much on top of that?

[frank leaf]

Tbh, probably, just given it's much lower value how few and rare it can be, and only serves to make a bag of rats method have to be DM fiat vetoed more.

Maybe get 1 Sorcery point back on a Crit?

[fallen pollen]

Yes. That's a great idea.

[frank leaf]

Btw, thinkin Abt it, somebody who plays this til 18th gonna feel like yuji with a three six roll hit with all 5 sorcery point smites (third comes from a Quickened spell True Strike)

15d6 extra DMG just for gambling, you love to see it

[fallen pollen]

I didn't give subclass Martial Weapon proficiency. Should I change that?

I gave the 2014 version Simple Weapon proficiency, and 2024 Sorcerer already has it.

[frank leaf]

OH, PROFICIENCIES, honestly, drop the Medium armor imo. Give them Martial weapons, ye, but since this subclass is more offensive, what if we give them a Weapon Mastery for 2024e? Not 2 tho, just one.

[tepid elm]

is there a way to make a homebrew monster in like 5 minutes?

im in a rush and i have to test it on avrae

[frank leaf]

Taking an official statblock an throwing on level appropriate shenanigans (that is, stuff probably meant for characters several levels higher/j)

[tepid elm]

hmm

im rushing it the session is in an hour

i need a map too

[frank leaf]

What kinda monster do you need lol? (Also, can't help with maps lol)

[tepid elm]

5 boss monsters.

[frank leaf]

You have my attention

I may or may not

[tepid elm]

actually 4 since one is a complete joke

[frank leaf]

Have made an 8 boss line up for a boss rush a while back

[fallen pollen]

So here are the changes:
Level 3: HP increase, Light Armor proficiency, Shield proficiency, Martial Weapon proficiency. While Innate Sorcery is active, reduce B/P/S by PB.
Level 6: Extra Attack w/ "Sorcerer Smite" with SP cap based on CHA mod.
Level 14: Gain AC when converting Sorcery Points to Spell Slots, 10ft. Elemental Damage Aura while Innate Sorcery is active (damage will likely equal CHA mod).
Level 18: When using "Sorcerer Smite," roll a d6. If the total is higher than the number of SP used, the Sorcery Points aren't expended. Regain 1 expended SP on a Crit.

[frank leaf]

Noice

[tepid elm]

Roderic Valehart(fourth boss)
Harald Thorne(Final boss)
Theophilus(Second boss)
Sans undertale(Joke boss)
Ellenor Thorne (First boss)

i need to make all of them

[frank leaf]

A) What level are the players? B) are any of these besides Sans a reference I should know, if not what are they like?

[tepid elm]

I have no lore no design no nothing

[frank leaf]

No boss rush premise then?

[tepid elm]

the first and second boss are related and elfs,theophilus is a barbarian and roderic is a human

[tepid elm]

they all are found in each town

wait i dont even have a map

oh im ducked

[frank leaf]

Again btw, what level?

The players I mean?

[tepid elm]

lvl 1

its our first session and i want to make it cool and nice :PP

they are dnd noobs just like me

[frank leaf]

Oof, okay, boss rush is a very interesting decision then. I'll be honest, I don't think they can make it through a boss rush of any kind at this level

[tepid elm]

it isnt a boss rush

it will just have some bosses

just 5

that is a totally acceptable amount

[frank leaf]

I mean, if you go through 5 bosses in a single session, that's a boss rush if you don't got some decent time skipping. A higher number of weaker enemies might be a better idea

[tepid elm]

if i have to make it just one its gonna be sans undertale lol

[tepid elm]

thx for the advice

[frank leaf]

No prob, #dm-discussion is a good place whenever you need dm advice. But anyway, players don't usually have more than 1 long rest (where they get all their resources back) per session, 2 is rare and 3 is nigh inconceivable.

[tepid elm]

for a first play is skipping travelling ok?

[frank leaf]

Is it okay with your players is the question. If you don't like DMing travelling and player don't care what's in the area they go through, you can totally skip

[tepid elm]

another question, can i not have a map.

[frank leaf]

Theater of the mind as they say. That makes it more important to you to keep track of distance in combat though, so I recommend you at least have smth to put players and enemies on

[tepid elm]

another question, can i thank you

im gonna use paint and screensharing

[frank leaf]

Sure, just use #dm-discussion next tho, do you have any more homebrew questions so we can get back on topic?

[tepid elm]

do you have any normal homebrew monster ideas?

[frank leaf]

I mean, using normal monsters that are reflavored is also fine (using an existing statblock and saying it's smth else than it says). Saying a Fire elemental is a mutated dragon for example (although that technically already exists lol)

[tepid elm]

thx

[pale talon]

When I use theatre of the kind I consider distance way less important.
You just have a few levels
In melee
Within 30ft (specifics don't matter)
And further than 30ft.

It's pretty rare you deal with long distances in combat but if you are you can add an extra sniping range or whatever

Basically all that matters is: can I walk up to that monster or can it walk up to me
And will my ranged attack hit the monster.

So just keep track of who's next to eachother and who's far away and that's all that really matters

[frank leaf]

Also a fair use of it, it just might help for them as a newbie to have smth concrete to look at for later on if they want to be able to use a map

[pale talon]

Yeah maps are king I think 😅

I ran theatre of the mind for many years because I hated how scrappy homemade maps and coins/tokens were and I could never get an adequate mini collection started

But I finally bit the bullet and bought some tokens and put a bit of art and craft work into making a nice simple map (dry erase + swappable background) and as soon as I did I don't look back haha

Can't play without the grid anymore

I also spent a long time wanting to make hexagons work because I thought they were superior, but once I spent some time wrapping my head around the D&D grid mechanics I fell in love with them too
I like how any distance is only as long as it's longest side 😝

[void jewel]

Notably, a cheap amazon projector duct taped to the ceiling and any laptop means quality maps forever and for free

Or even better quality if you make them yourself which is easy with a bunch of software

[midnight elk]

Is this an okay weapon?
🧹 Broomblade
Legendary Glaive (+3) — Requires Attunement
💰 Cost: 25 GP
Sweep Cut. +2d8 slashing.
Clean Escape. Bonus disengage after hit.
Duststorm (1/day). 20-ft cloud, blinded 1 round.

[stuck raptor]

Rust Contagion. The deadulai tarters up to two metal objects- armor or a weapon- worn or carried by one or two creatures within itsefl. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 18, the creature with the object. Failure: -2 penalty to to the AC it offers (armor) or to its attack rolls (weapon). Nonmagical armor is destroyed if the penalty reduces its AC to 10, and a weapon is destroyed if its penalty reaches -5. A magic item affected this way have their properties supressed for 1 hour. The penalty can be removed by casting the Mending spell on the item. Artifacts are Immune to this effect.
thoughts on this wording?

[vocal prairie]

how could i make a "fire staff" and or "elemental" staff for an elemantal monk (balenced for lv 1)

[flint marsh]

I'd just make it a regular quarterstaff that can do fire damage instead of bludgeoning

don't do anything fancy. it dovetails nicely into the elemental attunement at level 3, at which point you can add something else like "if attunted to fire, add wismod fire damage 1/turn" or something

[bronze patrol]

"itsefl" mhm good word usage here

[halcyon jasper]

I'm creating a Champion Of Death, which is basically a fighter (with certain extra things here and there). I want to give him Legendary Actions, but I don't know if these are balanced: "**Grave Leap. **Liam leaps up to twice his movement speed and lands in an unoccupied space. If he lands within 5ft of a creature, he can make one melee weapon attack against that creature.
Death Barrage. Liam makes two melee weapon attacks with his Deathblade. He can target the same creature or two different creatures within reach."

[frank berry]

"Balance" is entirely dependent on the party and intended difficulty of the monster, really, and the higher in CR you go, the less the actual numbers are gonna matter

The only thing I can say with just this, is that assuming 30 feet movement speed, this guy can move up to 180 feet a round with just his legendary actions, so any melee focused party member is gonna have a tough time, and it's gonna be difficult for the party to catch him is he just hops away 😛

[halcyon jasper]

I will mainly use that to cover large ground, in case the party runs away 🙂

[frank berry]

That is also another thing to add; DM control. Just because a monster can do something, doesn't mean the DM will use it in certain way, adding to the difficulty of considering balance 😛

[halcyon jasper]

Ah, forgot to mention he only has 2 Legendary Actions

[frank berry]

Doesn't really change much about the ability do answer whether this is balanced or not

[peak inlet]

Apprentice of the Hunt

Origin Feat

Hunter’s Mark. You have Hunter’s Mark prepared and can cast it once without using a spell slot. You regain the ability to cast it in this way after finishing a Short or Long Rest.
Call for Assistance. After making an attack against a creature marked by your Hunter’s Mark, you may use the Help Action on the same turn using your Bonus Action to give an ally advantage on an attack against the target.
Weapon Mastery. You can use the mastery property of one kind of weapon of your choice with which you have proficiency.

———
I think I like this, not sure if the free Hunter’s Mark should be SR or LR

[tired dagger]

Guys whats a low difficulty high difficulty and medium difficulty save DC for a level 5 party? Like i wanna give a monster attacks with save DCs but not sure what the numerals should be for a level 5 party

[frank berry]

For a good comparison, a CR 5 monsters (which are balanced around a level 5 party) with a quick glance tend to have around 14 to 16 DC for their saves, so I'd probably go with 16 or 17, dpending on how difficult you're looking for the save to be. Probably wouldn't be going higher than that, level 5 is still relatively low level so they are likely not making even the DC 16 save consistently unless they're proficient with the specific save

[boreal rover]

It also depends on what the effect of failing / saving against the saving throw would have on the players. Damage isn't the same as stunned or unconcious, or straight up death

[tired dagger]

So 14-16?

[noble lion]

I'd like to create a Nāga race for my setting based on the Hindu Nāga (and NOT the D&D ones. Although they bear physical similarities, they are complete opposites in every other regard). I need help crafting their features and traits as to make them unique.

Nāga are semi-divine serpent people who live in Patala, a beautiful subterranean otherworld full of gems and treasure. The Naga can either appear as humans with the hood of a cobra (or, more often, multiple hoods), and sometimes that hood is made up of many serpent heads kinda like a gorgon, or they can have the upper half of a human and the bottom half of a snake. Many of them are also all serpent but that doesn't work as a player character. Some are protectors of rivers and lakes, the waters of which they can purify, and some protect treasures like a dragon, but aren't so violently unwilling to part with it. That treasure, the wiki says, can be material, like gems and gold, or it can be a "spiritual treasure" whatever that means (probably referring to spiritual knowledge). They are also venomous, of course.

So a few possibilities for traits I've come up with based on this:

• Climbing speed (because of tail)
• Poison resistance
• Unarmed bite strike that can poison a target on a failed con save (once or pb times per day)
• Either innate spells or a trait that interacts with water/treasure

Any other ideas?

[wicked grotto]

I know this is a fairly simple change but how much stronger would subclasses like Eldritch knight or arcane trickster be if you could pick two schools to be limited too rather than just being limited to abjuration and Evocation, or enchantment and illusion respectively?

I ask because I never understood why they wouldn't at least consider other schools of magic, so while I'll admit this is a small change I had in mind to buff them a little it also doesn't make sense to me that you can't pick from a world building perspective either

[hollow siren]

i did some thinking on my warding cantrip i posted here yesterday. Honestly, i feel like the concept is best accomplished either as a cantrip that scales atypically or as a feat chain that interacts with the shield spell

the second is something i plan to explore drafting today

[rugged olive]

For unarmed strikes and monk weapon attacks?

[rugged olive]

Word of the Spirit is a free action when you speak

[rugged olive]

this astral monk redo is crazy

Time Stop spell at level 6 TvT

PB/LR

[drowsy sundial]

I’m new to homebrew content but how would one balance a class that doesn’t use spell slots

[rugged olive]

explain. What class and what do you want from it

[drowsy sundial]

Trying to make a class inspired by hollow knight

Like a spellblade style

[rugged olive]

oh, I don't know much about Hollow Knight, so hopefully someone else can give you better advice

I could advise you to some homebrew spellblades already made

[drowsy sundial]

Sure

[cerulean seal]

If the class doesn’t use spells at all then it’s a martial basically. Look at other martials and how they function.

I will warn you that designing a class IS the hardest homebrew you can do so if you are not super familiar with DnD or home brewing in general you should maybe consider instead making a Subclass for an existing class instead

[keen aspen]

Anyone do a homrbrew thats basically a cryptid? I need some ideas

[lone sierra]

Any good ideas for a plastic man like character thats also a changeling, super stretchy but also very weak to ice and fire? But can also shapeshift.

Their also a ranger that specializes in stealth.

[elder hollow]

Magic Item Idea: Magic Mouth Arrows that can be used for custom messages or enchanted with the 'Howie Scream' once fired for distractions or the 'Wilhelm Scream' upon impacts for comical effect.

[keen aspen]

I'd say changling race would be a goood start and just add some backstory about how he hates those thing bc of something that happened like a forest fire almost killed him or a friend of his and same for ice but instead it'd be almost drowning from getting stuck under a frozen lake

[weak epoch]

Gots me a question. So I use DnD primarily as a means to workshop a character for my DnD world and making like Written form versions of these characters. Now I need to know, cause I got a Character in Mind who is basically an awkward mix of Berserker Barbarian and Hexblade Warlock with Pact of the Blade.
HOW do you all recommend I shift the ruling of Barb Rage preventing Spellcasting and concentration to allow her to only be allowed to cast "Smite" and "Blade" spells even while Raging, but still keep her balanced enough to have her work as a Boss Character and ALSO as a potentially recruitable ally?

[cerulean seal]

I would probably just make a homebrew Barbarian subclass that does what you want tbh

That or give them magic items that do what you want from Warlock for them so they aren’t the one needing to concentrate and maybe their item does it for them.

Or if they are an npc you just give them the ability to do those things because npcs and monsters use statblocks and not characters sheets and get away with a lot of stuff that players can’t

So you can just make them that way no explanation

[weak epoch]

The idea is that, this character is a Daughter of a Cultist who was taken into custody of said cult because of her birth circumstances. The idea is that her sanity is incredibly fragile and as such becomes Frenzied and her main damage type is wild swings from Pact Weapons. That said, the character is recruitable because of the direction I wanna take the story where she can potentially be recruited by the BBEG and become a dangerous asset to them. In THAT case I can use a Stat block.

That said, I'll consider a Barb Subclass

[cerulean seal]

If it’s an npc then statblock is all you need and that’s super easy. You don’t have to abide by any character creation rules

You don’t even have to make her “rage” mechanical barbarian rage.

[cerulean seal]

I suggest a custom subclass if this is meant to be a player character

[nova basin]

When did slowmode get turned on?

[lean crow]

Always has been

[haughty edge]

Im very new to DMing- im currently working on a one shot, Elden Ring themed. Im finding it a little difficult to balance PC levels with the bbeg CR. I am going off someones homebrew for the bbeg (Radagon/Elden Beast), strongly considering nerfing it because they have CR as 30. There will be a total of 6 pc's against bbeg, one pc will be on bbegs side. If anyone would be willing to assist with that (again i am very new to it, so please bare with my inexperienced questions) i would really appreciate it! My dm's are absolutely open (literally any help is appreciated)

[nova basin]

Definitely not

[keen aspen]

?

[oblique delta]

What do you mean

[coral delta]

I have no idea what your original post means. Can you clarify?

What is a "cryptic" in this context?

[keen aspen]

In my context id say a being from the underworld summoned back and confused with no memories his summoners died after he appeared and nobody was near

[native gale]

Did you mean to say "Cryptid"? Like Mothman and Bigfoot?

[keen aspen]

Oh yeah I forgot the word thats it

[void jewel]

I'd avoid pvp

The game is not built for it and PvP is mechanically terrible.

[west tiger]

Hey, quick question about a specifc homebrew. One of my favorite homebrew class is KibblesTasty Inventor. Issue is, the last update on it is quite old, and I've heard 5e changed a lot in 2024. Any DM that had a player use it at their table since then that have some feedback on how it fit in the balance with the 2024 changes ?

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e7eab9fcc76e2321541f8b3/t/62d708fb6a4bcc5aaf59af5d/1658259716353/Inventor2.2.3.pdf Homebrew in question

[magic verge]

My general rule of thumb for balance is, is it as powerful as a baseline Wizard or Sorcerer? If not, it's probably fine

[west tiger]

I think one of the potential issue is the buff spike that differ from what it is in modern 5e, since it stay at boosting abilities on level 5, 11 and 17

Looking at modern Artificer Alchemist for example, those boost happen at 9 and 15 for comparaison

[magic verge]

2024 is intended to be backwards compatible with 2014 content, which includes classes and subclasses. So if it worked fine for 2014 it shouldn't be a huge deal for 2024

[void jewel]

2014 is generally weaker that 2024 if anything. Most things were buffed in 2024

Except martials who got gutted in 24 due to feat changes

[magic verge]

If you've got a player wanting to play that class I would honestly just let them, and if any issues arise, you can deal with it as-needed. The game isn't perfectly balanced anyway, and you as the DM can adjust things to fit with your party's capabilities, so imo it's kind of a non-issue.

[peak inlet]

I mean they did get weapon masteries which are huge, and GWM is still pretty good and more consistent

if anything, they mainly gutted Rangers and ranged attackers

[void jewel]

Yeah, however the SS nerf sucks and losing custom lineage as an option really really hurt

[void jewel]

Yeah. And melee is still bad because it's melee. Melee getting 20% better won't save it sadly. So martials as a whole were gutted.

Average Joe blow melee STR fighter may have been buffed, but optimizer martials got trashed.

[peak inlet]

custom lineage was broken tbf, Sharpshooter is definitely a targeted attack against ranged weapon users

GWM still works on them, but they decided to make it impossible to get for ranged users for absolutely no reason

[flint marsh]

Lmao "gutted" again

Sharpshooter sucked because it wasn't a choice. Gwm is better now than it was in 2014

And weapon mysteries exist.

[spark imp]

Weapon question; how would you make a longbow that when unstrung is a quarter staff. Would you allow that as a DM?

[flint marsh]

Martials got a huge glow up in 2024, they weren't "gutted"

[static maple]

Im half confident thats even legal RAW

[flint marsh]

As a one off sure. I'd probably just say they can us the stats for whichever if they take an action to unstring it

Not RAW, but with dm fiat it can be treated that way

[static maple]

My tought was improvised weapon that 'looks like' a quarter staff, though ig thats debateable

[lean crow]

And Sharpshooter is better in '24 than '14.

[void jewel]

Depends, Dave, on what you are using to evaluate "gutted"

You have different standards than mine. From my standard (maximum possible build strength) I find gutted a reasonable term

Exactly. Sharpshooter was so good it wasn't a choice, so its functional removal was devastating to martials, since it was that good

[lean crow]

It's damage buff in '14 was a trap feat, it's suboptimal to take a -5 penalty to your attacks just for some damage.

[void jewel]

Is the meta more diverse now? Yes. Is it as powerful at the high end? Not nearly.

[void jewel]

Simply mathematically untrue

Also, many major martial subclasses also got serious nerfs

Flagship gloomstalker, for example, is significantly less potent now than it was then

[lean crow]

I've actually got something written like this.

[void jewel]

Again, Joe average sword and board got a boost. That's good. They need it. But targeted nerfs at martials' top options was not needed

In a game like this, power is often defined not by how many options you have, but by how powerful the best options are. See: 80% of most spell lists being trap options relative to the power level of the top spells of that level.

[peak inlet]

it’s a free with the attack in 2024 to swap weapons, so a weapon that requires a BA to change forms isn’t an issue for the game at all

[peak inlet]

well, depends on the hit chance

DnD uses bound accuracy, -5 could easily screw you over at bigger fights

[void jewel]

Using both standard assumptions (75% after archery) and that assumption with advantage, sharpshooter wins just about every time

It only stops being good at exceedingly low hit chances

[peak inlet]

yeah, it wins when you assume 75%

[void jewel]

It also wins at 60%. Which is pretty low, post-archery

[peak inlet]

but not all enemies are 75%, it’s worse against some enemies than no feat

[void jewel]

Yeah, but you don't need to have it always on. A feature that is amazing in 80% of scenarios isn't substantially bogged down by the 20% it isn't.

[flint marsh]

Absolutely though check with your dm, a bow is significantly less robust than a staff so they may not rule it as a quarterstaff

If the DM is playing ball then yeah no homebrew required

[void jewel]

SS's other benefits are also integral, notably.

[peak inlet]

yes, obviously, I’m just saying I would sell an item like that in my games

my issue with SS is that the far range no longer affects thrown weapons and it’s otherwise boring

[flint marsh]

Yep! I'd probably do a club since they're so much lighter than staves, but every table is different, and it's always best to check with the dm

[peak inlet]

I also think GWM shoulda allowed DEX as a req and a choice for ASI

[void jewel]

It is definitely boring yeah.

And yeah thrown weapons are pretty trash and need some love (good homebrew territory IMO)

Would love to see wotc give atypical martial builds (thrown, ect) some love

[peak inlet]

Bomber doing nothing other than extending Thrown weapon range feels like a slap to the face

as I said, it’s pretty insane how clearly they are targeting ranged martials

I’m assuming this was done to block ranged Nick

[flint marsh]

I mean sharpshooter turns off every kind of penalty, and archery grants a flat +2 still

Ranged is doing just fine