>>94406593
we do a lot of planning and strategy, depends how tough the combat is really

>>94406593
>tq
Not much. My Friday game I start a timer if my players take too long arguing. I still haven't had it reach 0.
My Saturday game we're all pretty cooperative. We waste 30 minutes to an hour discussing video games and books every session though.

>>94406542
An Assassin and his apprentice. They're gonna foul up the party's ambush plan with a shitload of simple tools—caltrops, blinding dusts, paralytic darts, etc.

>>94406720
i love bringing a chest of adventuring gear to dungeons and stuff, using mundane things (bag of flour to counter invisibility?) instead of magic is always pretty cool

Can you put a demilich inside a bag of holding?

How different in strength is a Sidekick from a Subclass Pet?

>>94406999
Fairly. Unless a pet has some very useful special abilities, sidekicks tend to win, on account of getting actual features.

>>94406969
if it fits in the opening and isn't itself an extradimensional space's entryway, the answer is always yes.
In fact, in a PF game i once kept over a dozen animated skeletons in a bag of holding.
Hell, in a 5e game we once smuggled in a particularly skinny party member in a bag of holding, though it wouldn't have worked if they weren't a dhampir since it only has 10 minutes of breathable air.

No, the sticking point with your plan is getting the demilich to cooperate, or else subdue it in a way that's not killing it because then it will just reform elsewhere and now you're on a phylactery hunt, unless it's a intentional, transcendent demilich like Acererak, in which case it's thankfully its own phylactery, but you're fighting something even stronger, that is also much saner and more tactical plus actively trying to eat your soul every time one of you gets low.
Best option is probably somehow grapple the thing.

>>94406969
if its dead, sure?

>>94407055
Hmmm, dang, that's a good point.

Their starting stats and even their HP, attack progression, and proficiency scaling are pretty similar.
But sidekicks get ASIs/Feats, and their class specific abilities tend to do more than the pet-specific abilities.

Would you say it's still too different if the PC basically gave up their entire subclass to get said sidekick? Like, "has sidekick" is the only features a hypothetical "sidekick as pet" subclass would have?
actually, this might be better, because then it can be generalized pretty easy to multiple classes instead of built case by case for each PC class.

>>94407085
Oh, is the skull not inherently the phylactery for all demiliches?

I figured someone could run up, bag the skull, and just tie the Bag of Holding shut to stop it from escaping. Maybe put a seal on top to prevent any escaping sound. Then you could either cut the bag open to shunt it to the astral plane, or keep it on hand to empty open if you ever need to just really murder everything around you.

Thought it was a better plan than trying to fight one straight-up anyway.

>>94407100
technically speaking, i'm not sure if sidekicks actually get feats. I think pure RAW they can ONLY choose an ASI.
5etools says you can, but i pretty distinctly remember both UA and Tashas not mentioning feats. It might be another error like when they were trying to say '24 monks got to use ranged weapons as monk weapons just because they were proficient.

File: 2742a8dc81beef8205ff7feec(...).jpg (431 KB, 1780x2048)

431 KB JPG

What do people here think of the 2025 MM previews in the two free D&D Beyond adventures?

Uni and the Hunt for the Lost Horn and Scions of Elemental are out. Their 4th-level premades are wacky in that each has a very rare item.

Moreover, they contain 2025 MM previews, which, admittedly, "aren’t the final versions."

• Uni and the Hunt for the Lost Horn, Updated Monsters and NPCs: CR 1/4 blink dog, CR 1/4 bullywug (warrior), CR 1/4 sprite, CR 1/2 warhorse, CR 1/2 worg, CR 1 bugbear (warrior), CR 6 mage

• Uni and the Hunt for the Lost Horn, New Monster/NPC: CR 4 bullywug bog sage

• Scions of Elemental Evil, Updated Monsters and NPCs: CR 1/8 cultist, CR 1/2 gray ooze, CR 2 berserker, CR 2 cultist fanatic, CR 2 ogre, CR 3 knight, CR 4 incubus/succubus (two separate statistics blocks that the fiend can switch between on a long rest), CR 5 fire elemental, CR 10 stone golem

• Scions of Elemental Evil, New NPCs: CR 1 pirate, CR 4 tough boss, CR 6 pirate captain

There are some quirks here and there. Berserkers no longer have Reckless and instead simply have advantage on attacks against damaged targets (encouraging them to focus fire), cultists and cult fanatics no longer have Religion proficiency or Dark Devotion, knights no longer have Leadership but add radiant damage to all of their attacks (all NPC knights are at least somewhat supernatural now, apparently), incubi/succubi no longer have Insight and Persuasion proficiency and find it harder to land a mid-combat charm, tough bosses are actually fairly good at shoving PCs around, mages have that nasty triple melee or ranged Arcane Burst from MPMM, pirate captains have a pistol by default and can triple attack with it while simultaneously charming a PC, stone golems have a fairly good ranged attack, etc.

Wizard's tower with one ground-floor entrance guarded by a golem sentry who can see invisibility. How did the paladin NPC the party is looking for sneak in after the sentry politely refused him entry?

>>94406593
We all have the rules well memorized between the five of us, so there's rarely arguing about them, pretty happy about that. But we really slow sessions down with making plan (which won't work/go wrong after one or two steps).

>>94407271
climbed the wall to enter a window high up

Is it weird to bring gifts for the table?
We are about to start a new campaign so I bought player organizers that I loaded with a few sets of dice, pencils, a journal for notes character sheets, dry erase marker, and a player quick reference. They have one of those plastic covers so you can write on the character sheet with the marker.
I also got the DM a copy of the new 2024 DMG.

Did I over do it? Would it make you uncomfortable if someone at your table did something like this?

>>94407348
Are you rich?

>>94407366
No, but both my wife and I both have good paying jobs and no kids so, I have a lot more disposable income than the rest of the table.

>>94407377
Then it's fine, so long as you're not holding over how anyone should be grateful to you, they probably will be.

>>94407121
At least according to the 5e Monster Manual, there's two kinds of demiliches:

>oops, i forgot to feed my phylactery until I got dementia, now I don't even remember I'm supposed to do that so I starve down to just a head, my personality and identity reduced to that of a clever wraith. My phylactery is still out there somewhere and I still respawn there if I die. Technically I could even be saved from demilichdom if I got a soul to eat, but it sure won't be me doing it because the only thing going on inside my head is the Space Kook cackle from Scooby Doo. My personality has deteriorated to basically that of a bestially-very-smart wraith.
>Example: Iriolarthas of Ythryn. When the city fell, his phylactery, heavily warded against divination, got buried under literal miles of impact rubble. With no way to feed it because he had no way to find it short of somehow excavating the entire fallen city before he ran out of time, he was fucked..

>I'm one of the foremost deep lore experts on undeath in the multiverse and bodies are for small-minded losers. I'm going to cover my face in soul gems, transfer my essence out of my phylactery and into them, then go a step beyond and even pull all of my power out of my body until it decays away to dust, concentrating every scrap every iota of my lichdom inside them. I can now rip out people's souls offensively and at a distance, no more laborious rituals or dicking around kidnapping mortals back to my lair, but that's almost moot because now it basically doesn't matter how long I go without eating because I'm already a demilich! But because I did it with all the right highly esoteric, heavily redacted preparations instead of accidentally through negligence or paucity, I'm not a madly shrieking husk of my former self. Later faggots, I'm off to terrorize the multiverse.
>Example: Acererak the Devourer, the Eternal.

>>94407348
>got the DM a copy of the new 2024 DMG
If I were the DM, I'd be disgusted you gave money to Wizards of the Coast, especially on my behalf.

>>94407398
>i'm poor btw

just accept the gift you loser

>>94407388
I'm definitely not trying to do that. I do know that i have a little more ability to do this kind of thing but, sometimes I go too far.

>>94407281
I'll admit, that grates on me more than it probably ought to. My group will argue itself in a circle trying to come up with the "perfect plan" and trying to predict every possible detail, instead of just having *a* plan and rolling with it as it goes.

>>94407407
You need to learn reading comprehension.

>>94407348
no, I think that's very mindful, and all fairly practical/useful gifts that everyone should get a good mileage out, nice stuff anon. I guess it would be weird to REALLY overdo it, like bringing gift every session.

>Reach level 10 on my rune knight
>Ugh lame, 3d4 inches? Pointless ribbon feature
>Roll three 4s
See you manlets on the other side lmao

>>94407200
Weird how I like the class changes and HATE what they're doing with monsters. Fighty wizards and magic knights are just garbage as the default. Why the fuck should a mage have multi-attack when they have spells to cast?

>>94407271
Solid snaked in with a box

>>94407288
The one ground-floor entrance is the only entrance.

>>94407657
for what reason does this wizard have no other openings to their tower?

>>94407701
To prevent rival wizards from entering. If you have one entrance you have point you need to monitor, which I assume is important when you are subject to constant adventurer party raids, bandit raids, and rival wizard attacks.

>>94407771
why does the wizard only rely on mundane forms of defense and make them a prisoner in their home (no windows or balconies) instead of somewhere that they can make their own home? most people would go insane if they were in solitary confinement

or are they a lich and they're already kind of crazy?

>>94407867
A lich would have a sicknasty dungeon

>>94407701
>>94407867
Maybe there are windows but they're fancy unbreakable magic-proof glass. I want the bypassing the guard to be more interesting than "climb in through a window", so I'm seeking ideas. I also think it should be protected against teleporting in.
The tower's actually "abandoned" because the occupant trapped himself while experimenting. But the sentry's last orders were to let no one in.
>>94407618
Clever or creative ways to accomplish this are more what I'm after, yeah. Maybe using an uncommon or rare magic item (ideally that's not too broken for if the party gets it – they're only level 3). Amulet of gaseous form? Not very paladin in style, but it could work.

"I was told to let no creature in. A wooden box is not a creature, and I never saw is move."
This sentry is supposed to be pretty intelligent, but tricking him by exploiting his literal and inflexible "programming" is absolutely the sort of thing I'm after.

File: best-nazi-outfit-in-anime(...).png (223 KB, 564x797)

223 KB PNG

>>94406593
Ok guys.
What do you think of an elegant barbarian?

I know Divine Smite is a spell now. I know it is cast using a bonus action immediately after landing a melee attack. But, if you land a critical hit with the triggering weapon attack, does the Smite also crit?

>>94408346
I don't hoard images, so just imagine I posted one here implying you should read the fucking book.

>>94407389
That's a lot of words, good thing I read them.

>>94408241
I think that the title of barbarian should be a racial condition and not a class.

>>94408346
Maybe.

>>94407867
I imagine it bothers you less when you can scry on whatever locale you want and make your own demi plane

File: silvered.png (158 KB, 1066x179)

158 KB PNG

>In a "westernmarches" game
>Using 2024 PHB rules for reprinted races and classes
>Using 2014 rules for races and subclasses that are not reprinted
>Using 2014 magic items only
>Using 2024 spells only
>will not allow you to buy a silver weapon because silver weapons are not in the 2024 PHB and insists you must use the 2024 magic item silver weapons, which the server does not use
>multiple DMs have been using werewolves

>>94406593
TQ:

None. Why argue? We headbutt each other until only one is left conscious and that person DMs and plays everyone's character that week.

Current campaign is pretty good, really.

>>94408661
The 24 DMG is out, they need to fix that.

What's some interesting flavor you've seen?
I currently have a player on a barbarian "spellblade", where his rage is like a bladesong.
I've also seen someone play a light cleric somewhat like a wizard. He got a familiar and the warding flare feature was flavored as the familiar distracting the enemy.

File: 1731780323697466.png (38 KB, 729x453)

38 KB PNG

What are the gameplay implications of this?

File: 1455382210176.gif (2 MB, 295x216)

2 MB GIF

>>94409237
I love Ed.

>>94409237
The reason for the prevalence of dragon-blooded sorcerers and draconic as a language suddenly becomes clear.

>>94409237
>dragon milking machines

Hold on, doesn't the Dueling fighting style's +2 essentially upgrade any 1d4-6-8 one-handed weapon to the next tier of dice? So a 1d8 longsword effectively becomes 1d10 even without using it two-handed?

Or is there a math odds thing with the dice being more or less likely to roll a lower number with lower tiers of dice? Like is 1d6+2 still technically worse than 1d8?

File: crossbreeding from book o(...).jpg (1.12 MB, 1611x2192)

1.12 MB JPG

>>94409237
that dragons are the fuckboys of the fantasy world. They will impregnate you, even if it seems impossible.

Wanna get a tree pregnant? sure!
Wanna get your golem pregnant? why not!
Wanna get your husband pregnant? Gotta have that MPreg from somewhere dammit!

Pregnancy! Pregnancy everywhrere!

>>94409237
>it's Slurm but dragons

>>94409322
+2 flat is actually going up two die tier a single die tier is only +1 damage on average

>>94409322
>Or is there a math odds thing with the dice being more or less likely to roll a lower number with lower tiers of dice? Like is 1d6+2 still technically worse than 1d8?
The opposite, actually. You can theoretically get 2 more damage with a bigger die, but you always get 2 more damage with the +2, so it's just better.

>>94405607
>have classes that use stealth
>have tons of spells that assist stealth
>"no, you're not allowed to use a primary feature of the game, just be a fucking instant Ubisoft map reveal tower so I can involve myself instead"

Genuinely, unironically, literally yes. Stealthmaxxers introduce exclusive gameplay, which is objectively bad, whereas traditional "move carefully but not slowly" roaming progress through a dungeon and allowing the most perceptive players to spearhead the formation is inclusive, and objectively good. Me personally I would shut that shit down so quick by co-ordinating enemy patrols to stumble upon both parties simultaneously. Granted I wouldn't be an asshole about it, and the players would receive the benefits of surprise, but it's not fun for anyone to just sit around doing fuck all.

>>94407407
You sounded mostly based at first, now you just sound like a manipulative asshole with this statement alone.

The only stealth you need is a flying familiar with access to material-less invisibility

>>94409383
stealth scouting
fugg

>>94409322
1d6 = 3.5
1d6+2 = 5.5
1d8 = 4.5
1d10 = 5.5

File: images (2).jpg (12 KB, 206x245)

12 KB JPG

>the only stealth you need is a spotter with expertise in Perception and a spyglass guiding a full party with the sharpshooter feat and line of sight with longbows equipped.
>Get rapid fire 600 foot range arrows to the face.

>>94407348
>>94407377
>>94407428
y'know anon, generosity is often correlated strongly with guilt. what's going on buddy?

>>94409198
I'm currently playing a human with a crow thematic but using the dragonborn species for wings and some extra "magic".

we're about to wrap up give me ideas for next campaign setting please, so far we've done
>medieval europe
>ancient china
>caribbean islands
>wild west
I refuse anything steampunk or post apocalyptic

>>94409517
greece or rome

>>94409517
forgotten realms. make something up over by thay

>>94409517
Minamoto era Japan.

>>94409237
Do male young adult dragons spend centuries just gooning into their eager mouths? Are chaotic dragons more likely towards this action, or lawful ones? On the one hand, nothing more freeing than shooting load after load of hot and sweet dragon jizzum into your filthy whore mouth, but on the other hand routine is certainly a lawful tendency...

>>94409546
>eat so much dragon jizz you have half dragon triplets

Let's say I want to build a character that allows me to Push an enemy as far away as physically fucking possible. What is the best combination of classes and feats to make this happen?

For example -
>Battle Master Pushing Attack +15 feet
>Swordsbard Mobile Flourish + 5 feet + 1d6(8, 10, 12) feet
>Crusher +5 feet
>Push mastery +10 feet
>Strike of the Giants Stone Strike + 10 feet
>Charger +10 feet
I'm sure I'm missing things.

>>94409431
I kinda feel a little guilty that I have the means and they don't. I don't want to rub it in anyone's face.

>>94409619
You could always send me money, anon. I am spending $300 a week just to get to work that gives a $500 weekly wage because I don't have a car.

>>94409538
Anything unique about that Heian era for you to recommend it over the more well-known Sengoku period?
>>94409524
Would a Roman setting necessarily have to be all about AVE GLORIOVS IMPERIVM because I would want a setting that can accommodate a mixed party of characters from other fantasy regions like Carthage or Scythians or ancient european barbarians

>>94409619
Just say it's an early Christmas gift
Don't let anons guilt-trip you

if you're going to remove racial stat bonuses because it's 'problematic bio-essentialism' wouldn't you logically also remove race specific things like dark vision or elves having innate spellcasting?

this stuff is so dumb

>>94409364
>>94409365
>>94409387
Damn, all this time I've been trying to figure out a way for 1d10 two-handed longsword to work, when I could have just had 1d12 one-handed longsword anyway.

In that case I just need to figure out how best to get more attacks. Does the +2 apply to cantrips like green flame blade?

>>94409624
>$300 a week just to get to work
Huh? If I take the train every day it's like $50 a week, and I didn't consider that on the expensive side. How is your travel situation that fucked?

>>94409635
>if you're going to remove racial stat bonuses because it's 'problematic bio-essentialism' wouldn't you logically also remove race specific things like dark vision or elves having innate spellcasting
Nope.

Is Agonizing Blast on Eldritch Blast still worth taking as an invocation on a 5.5e bladelock?
Can I apply Agonizing Blast to Booming Blade instead or is it in that niche where Booming Blade isn't itself dealing damage and it's actually just a buff on the weapon?

>1d8+CHA+CHA
Feels dumb to me

>>94409377
>Genuinely, unironically, literally yes. Stealthmaxxers introduce exclusive gameplay, which is objectively bad, whereas traditional "move carefully but not slowly" roaming progress through a dungeon and allowing the most perceptive players to spearhead the formation is inclusive, and objectively good. Me personally I would shut that shit down so quick by co-ordinating enemy patrols to stumble upon both parties simultaneously. Granted I wouldn't be an asshole about it, and the players would receive the benefits of surprise, but it's not fun for anyone to just sit around doing fuck all.
So by the same logic you speed through social encounters because anyone in the party with shit charisma will just be sitting there like a lame duck? Same goes for every other skillcheck activity in the game.

By the same token what if you have a party of three, with one being a Rogue, one being a Ranger, and one being a Barbarian? If the Rogue and Ranger want to sneak around, are they just SoL because the Barb would be left out? And what about parties that build around stealth by taking stuff like Pass Without Trace or invisibility spells?

In general there are plenty of times in any campaign where a player will be split off and have to do their own thing for a while. Do you also shut down Disguise Self shenanigans?

>parties that build around stealth by taking stuff like Pass Without Trace or invisibility spells
Cringe

>>94409643
Reply to this post in 2034.

>>94409639
It's not a 1d12, it's 1d8+2, or 3-10. Which averages to 6.5.

But anyway, yes. Dueling is a solid pick to have for a sword and board user. Personally I would opt for Defense myself as the +1 to AC is arguably a bit more useful unless you expect to be eating a lot of magic in the future.

>>94409683
Don't worry anon it's 2024 stealth doesn't make you hidden anymore it just gives you the "invisible" condition and there's nothing in the "invisible" condition that makes you undetectable. No I am not kidding, hiding is 100% mechanically out of the game.

>>94409668
>social encounters
Yes.
>Same for every other skillcheck activity in the game
Correct.
>Barb stealth
Indeed.
>Party-based stealth
Wow, you actually managed to run facefirst into the point without managing to get it. Holy shit.

>>94409646
Eldritch Blast is always good. I think Agonizing Blast works on melee attack cantrips too, but the rules on that might be weird.

>>94409684
Nah.

Zombie animal statblocks accessible through 5e tools?

>>94409687
But 1d12 also averages to 6.5, no?
The AC would be good, but I'm trying to work out a Redemption Paladin build, and one of their features is just "take an ally's damage, and don't fucking reduce it by any means." So it might be a wasted feat.

And as always the best mitigation is not taking damage to begin with.

>>94409767
I would personally contend that minimum damage matters a lot more, disproportionately so at lower levels.

>>94409699
Generally most effects, attacks, and interactions require you to be seen. So if you're Concealed and can't be targeted by anything that needs to see you, you're hidden.

You could argue that an enemy could just attack the air and it could hit you, but rules is if it isn't targeted where you are, it automisses.

Of course if you're in a cave of bat-people with echolocation or whatever, being unseen is not so useful. The rules on not being heard are not fleshed out at all, by which I mean thet don't exist.

>>94409699
>use the hide action in the middle of an empty field
>now basically invisible
yeah that makes more sense

>>94409767
>But 1d12 also averages to 6.5, no
TECHNICALLY crits allow bigger damage dice to pull away on average. 2d12 is 13 and 4d6 is 14, while 2d8+2 is only 11. But also as >>94409796 says, minimum damage is nice. Through GWF does help in that regard even if the DPR effect is minimal.

>>94409800
If Frodo can pretend to be a rock whenever he wants, then so can I.

>>94409699
>nothing in the "invisible" condition that makes you undetectable
I mean, yeah? Turn invisible and fart in someone's face and they'll know you're there.
I get your point though, and using invisible instead of a "concealed" condition is dumb.

Can I get stuff enchanted I have a displacer skull I wear around that I want enchanted

>>94409826
Yeah, but in universe you'll need to find an arcanist and suck their dick, and out of universe you'll need to find your DM and suck their dick.

>>94409835
Sucking dick is momentary looking cool in a fantasy game is forever

>>94409643
yeah it makes complete sense that dwarves having a con bonus is considered racist while dwarven toughness giving them a bonus to hp is not

>>94409870
Now you're getting it.

I have a wizard who wants to coordinate multiple illusion spells at once to put on a show for a noble's feast and gain influence with them
Should I make them roll arcana/performance to see how good of a job they do, or just base it on how they describe what they're doing?

>>94409913
Meet them in the middle, I think. Give them an easier DC the more detailed or passionate they are about it. You could also have them roll Performance (Arcana), perhaps.

>>94409913
Either casting mod + any artisan tool proficiency, or performance, their pick.

>>94409928
>Performance (Arcana)
Those are both skills. Intelligence (Performance) maybe?

>>94409945
>freudian slip
I was thinking about often I use Intimidation (Strength) and ended up thinking about how Arcana was an intelligence skill, and accidentally combined the two. But yeah, do that: Performance (Intelligence)

>>94406255
>>94406255
>>94406255

Here you go fellas. OCR searchable and partially bookmarked.

password is what it's called when you roll two dice and take the higher. lowercase, 1 word. If one of you still inevitably starts bitching about not knowing what the answer is, then sorry bud but the DMG is probably a little too advanced for you anyways, start with the PHB first.

https://easyupload.io/qgoi9u

File: password.png (23 KB, 490x331)

23 KB PNG

>>94409982
Anon the password field isn't nearly long enough for what you said the password was, please fix.

>>94409982
is it case sensitive? i dont want to get locked out for answering it wrong

>>94409982
>>94410049
nvm I'm an overeager retard i profusely apologize for my incompetence and poor reading comprehension

the players are about to heist the vault of an overly cocky bard who has an incredibly powerful artifact
so far the traps i have set up are
>mirroring painting
>the longer one stares into the moving painting, it will shift by moving across the world from the lanscape it depicted, to a mirror image of what the players see, trapping them inside the painting

>unironic gorgon head
>a functioning gorgon head underneath a tarped glass jar, remove the tarp get stoned

>glutton's chalice
>cursed chalice that is activated when you grab it, overflows with wine and it floods the room in five minutes, unless you specifically tell it "thats enough, thank you"

>charming love letters
>love letters that inflict a week long infatuation towards the bard if read, until you get harmed by him

>chameleon robes
>like animated armour, however will stealth and suffocate the party if they dont periodically check their surrounding

feedback and additions are appreciated

File: OSCKBB1-2.jpg (508 KB, 1200x840)

508 KB JPG

>>94410258
Is this your bard?
Why the fuck would someone set up a series of traps which the entire answer to is to fucking ignore them?
Robes make some sense, dunno why this nigger didn't just hire some fucking guards though. Probably cheaper and more effective.

>in two games with same guy, one as player other I am DM of
>almost gets into it with another player at my table because the dude was laughing at him
>thought that was fair, I might might've gotten randomly mad too
>later at other game we are laughing about something
>mentions he might confront another player who has been trying to train their npc follower and do side-crafting stuff
I don't think there's anything I can even do to head this off either, why can't people let others have their autistic fun?

>>94409982
thank you brother

>>94410299
>entire answer is to avoid them
because thieves/players get greedy fingers and will touch anything that looks valuable inside a "vault", on their way to their main objective

>yeah but why
because each "trap" is a tool with which the bard has conned/manipulated monsters to expand his family tree, for example
>trapping a monster inside the painting makes it easier to transport/extort
>love letters/notes ensure relative safety when sent in advance/handed
>a gorgon head is a classic get out of jail free card
>chalice allows to inebriate entire banquets/impress with cheap party trick/set fire to large rooms
its a vault/toolshed for the classic conman bard
especially since everyone likes some wacky Saturday morning villian shenanigan
doubly so if they manage to steal his tools for their own use

the real treasure is guarded by his dragontaur daughter, a mix between a young dragon and a barbarian statblock
the challenge is to avoid a fight at all costs, especially since they will spend a session gathering information, collaborators and tools
the party has two bards and a wizard, its an intended, but not guaranteed TPK if theyre not smart about it

File: 15a29e20c0e8c268b0e491651(...).jpg (671 KB, 2000x1000)

671 KB JPG

What are your thoughts on Arcane Burst multiattacks being the standard for wizard-like NPCs going forward?

Judging from the free Uni and the Hunt for the Lost Horn adventure, where the 2025 mage NPC is revealed to have an Arcane Burst triple attack (tentatively, anyway), it seems like the writers have fully committed to Arcane Burst being the standard for wizard-like NPCs going forward. In 2014, a barbarian rushing up to a wizard-like NPC and slamming them with Reckless Attack is somewhat safe. In 2024, a barbarian doing the same thing eats an Arcane Burst in melee form for their trouble, all with advantage. Not even bear rage will save the 2024 barbarian, because 2024 removes force, necrotic, and radiant damage (in addition to psychic) from bear resistances.

File: 872cd1d36afb21be92b1b6265(...).jpg (134 KB, 750x750)

134 KB JPG

>>94410348

Furthermore, at no point does a PC wizard ever get Arcane Burst, so this feels like something that wizard-like NPCs are just plain better at.

Why didn't they just go apeshit with champion and give them an additional improved crit range for every subclass feature level?

>>94410459
too many reroll
too many dice
too many crit

>>94410342
>dragontaur daughter, a mix between a young dragon and a barbarian statblock
I want intensely to fuck her.

>>94407536
Rape.

>>94407539
I wouldn't take the examples too seriously, but it's not a good look.

>>94410348
>>94410358
I dunno how I feel about it making them solid melee combatants, but for throwing around blasting spells I don't see the problem with an attack unique to a monster/NPC statblock. You can still give them the regular levelled spells you want them to have.

>>94410348
Why didn't they call it Witch Slap? It's bad design because as you've identified an enemy wizard shouldn't be going toe to toe with your barbarian. I don't care for the laser beams (cantrips already exist) but it's nowhere near as egregious as the melee attack.

>>94410589
yes, thats also part of the bait, the issue is that she is feral and is only kept because of the specific mutation
not to mention cumheads will try to persuade by any means necessary

the hardest part of the implementation is to construct an arena which the players can use to actually fight/flight a deadly encounter
>cover
>elevation
>hidden access/escape
>environmental traps
it will be the first time they face lair/legendary actions, it should be a blast

>>94409641
NTA but some people genuinely fly to work so maybe it's that. If your target destination is relatively close but has little or no public transport links, and the place your currently at has very low rent (or the place you fly to has very high rent) if might save money to get some sort of frequent flyer discount.

>>94409913
>>94409945
>>94409970
Why not just do both Arcana (INT) and Performance (CHA)?

>>94410348
seems like martials just get fucked in every single version of dnd without fail

>>94410889
If martials suddenly became good this thread would hate them because we're all contrarians.

>>94411121
until rogues fighters and barbarians can cast wish for free on critical hits there's no saving this dogshit archetype

>>94410687
So your entire dungeon is a meta-commentary on your player's instinct to interact with your world designed to punish them for doing so?

File: Screenshot 2024-11-18 081030.png (21 KB, 1126x897)

21 KB PNG

>>94409687
>>94409810
>>94409767

what could be a fun "build" (as in, stats, prepared spells, wizard cantrip) for a level 2 high elf paladin?
it's for a one shot, I want the class and race for rp reasons (connecting the character to a previous one).

>>94410853
performance (dex) or even sleigh of hand could make sense considering that the difficulty of coordinating the spells could very likely be linked to somatic components rather than charisma related stuff.

>>94411136
nah, its just meant to showcase immense wealth and the worldly nature of one of the settings most accomplished bards
you did remind me to put plaques under each of these items, to make it more of a vault/museum, so good catch
the intent isnt a punishment, but a practical showcase of function, for example the gorgon head would be turned away from the plaque/have a blindfold

the painting however would be a bonafide trap/tool, bedsides a locked door

>>94407536
Kek that is more interesting than the "actual" level 10 feature
>Once per turn you deal an extra 1-2 damage

>>94409517
Mesoamerica, colonization campaign except replace natives with hobgoblins or something

>>94410348
>What are your thoughts on Arcane Burst multiattacks being the standard for wizard-like NPCs going forward?
I'm fine with it- NPCs should have stuff that PCs cannot do and its mostly here to give the NPC a consistent and effective thing to do each turn without relying on their X/Day spells. I've actually really enjoyed the general nature of them- as I've been making all my NPC Wizard or Mage types have something like it and just flavoring it into something fitting to the individual. My last Necromancer NPC for example had her ranged Arcane Burst look like whips of shadows and dark blast of evil energy while her melee ones were her nails turning into necrotic flaming claws that she'd just rip people in half with. It was fun!
I made a Scribes Wizard who's arcane burst was a floating spectral book that just bonked people really hard.

>>94411382
Why not just give them cantrips, then?

>>94411185
I'm too brainlet to understand this.

>>94411465
Cantrips don't keep up with CR calculations for NPCs.

>>94411222
nice digits, anon. anyway, I'm assuming you're doing 2024 core rulebooks:

>Origin feat
I would contend that this is going to depend on what kind of Paladin you are. Personally, I think an easy go-to is to pick Magic Initiate: Cleric since it's one of the only ways I'm aware of you can use Charisma for those spells. As I recall, you might also be able to use your Paladin spellslots to cast whatever level 1 spell you do choose. Guiding Bolt would be an easy pick for me, since you get Bless from your class anyway. If you just want to hit stuff, then Savage Attacker is a no-brainer.
>Stats
4d6 less lowest, random roll, if allowed. Strength > Charisma > Constitution > Wis = Dex > Int. On average you can expect to get two +2's, three +1's, and one -1. If you're using point buy then just follow that stat hierarchy. The default stat array for Paladins is fine and tries to push the players towards half-feats, but I just don't think you're going to be able to reach an ASI in your one-shot, so those odd numbered abilities won't do you any good.
>Level 2 feature
I would honestly just take the Cleric cantrips from the "Blessed Warrior" optional feature. You can literally never have enough players in a party that can cast Guidance, and Sacred Flame is a solid-enough workhorse ranged utility cantrip. If you insist upon a traditional feature, then I would honestly just default to "Defense" every time. At low levels, +1 AC is just too good to pass up, doubly so if you plan on running with a shield. If you're the only Martial in your party, then "Duelling" is also a solid option. But if you're going to go apeshit with a greatsword, then picking Great Weapon Fighting is an obvious, easy choice.
>Wizard Cantrip
"Message" or "Light" are probably my go-to picks and I would argue are the most RP-friendly options available to a Paladin, though I could see an argument for Firebolt.

>>94411222
>>94411538
If you picked the feat(s) and feature(s) I mentioned, you would end up with any four Cleric cantrips, which is incredible utility all on its own not to mention the possibility of knowing "Guiding Bolt" for some solid radiant damage in a pinch. You'd also know a Wizard cantrip (I'm suggesting "Message"). "Bless" is exceptionally effective at level 2 since it can nearly double your party's accuracy in some instances. In addition to that, it's always nice to have someone who can heal in a pinch, so "Cure Wounds" is my next suggested slot. Lastly, every party member should have at least one method of Control, so "Command" is my last recommendation for your prepared spells.

In summary
>Magic Initiate: Cleric
>14 to 17 Strength, 13 to 16 Charisma, 10 to 14 Constitution, avoiding odd numbers if not able to pick an ASI at level 4
>"Blessed Warrior" Paladin Fighting Style option
>Known Cantrips: Guidance, Sacred Flame, Resistance, Light, Message
>Known Spells: Guiding Bolt, Divine Smite, Cure Wounds, Command, Bless
>Chain Mail, Longsword, Shield

>>94410258
>bard
The vault should be protected by his harem of exotic, and powerful wives.
>Orc Chieftess
>Drow Sorceress
>Elven Witch
>Halfling Assasin-ess

>>94411222
MI Druid could give them Guidance, Starry Wisp, and Jump those are pretty good.

File: 1460576850492.gif (293 KB, 294x266)

293 KB GIF

Should I go Redemption Paladin + Eloquence Bard to be a CHA god with base 15 before persuasion rolls, or Swordsbard to actually be good in combat?

>>94411222
I'll mention something not yet brought up by others.
Magic Initiate: Druid can get you Shillelagh using CHA if you want to dump STR. If using standard array or point-buy, you might still need some STR for armor. You're also stuck using a staff/club, though you can flavor it a bit as it lets you deal force damage.

You can also do something similar with a warlock dip going for the blade pact invocation.

File: bg,f8f8f8-flat,750x,075,f(...).jpg (100 KB, 750x1000)

100 KB JPG

>>94408387
Would you prefer to watch 20 minutes of some talking head D&Dtuber explain it to you with more meandering to fill time, worse jokes, plus a 2 minute ad break for raid shadow legends?

Reading the MM entry quick rundown itself is a dryer read with markedly more words, I assure you.
Not to mention somehow still less comprehensive, I included in-lore examples for both.

>>94412334
Read his post again anon.

>>94408661
Time to stock up on alchemists fire, oil flasks, and torches.
Resist this, you bitch-ass furry.

Acid, contact poisons, manacles, chains, and nets also do good work.

>>94409237
Damnit greenwood, this constant magical realm shit is why Greyhawk is the default setting again.

>>94412334
In fairness, he did say he *did* read them, I think it was an ironic complement. You did write a fantastic breakdown of it. I can't help but feel like those should be different creatures or classifications (If we get like, five or six Beholder types they could split that), but otherwise that's a perfect breakdown.

>>94411823
>>94411823
I wouldn't touch sword bard at all, multiclass or not.
Eloquence bard is great on it's own, same as any paladin, but I don't think you would get the most out of either multiclassing that, especially if your goal is just to have high persuasion, just having proficiency, a good charisma and skill expert would do the trick at a lesser cost. Still, that could make for a decent concept, so if you really want to choose, i'd go with the first choice

>>94411823
Really depends on the table. If your DM/group lets you get away with a lot of face rolls and allows you to actually succeed then you may be able to bypass combats or open up funny scenarios, but if you have a bunch of murder hobos you'll likely want to be able to hold your own somehow.

Anyone know of some good GM screen inserts for 2024?
The official one has like one page of relevant info (conditions) and the rest is shit the GM might use when preparing the a session, certainly nothing that warrants being inconstant wiew.

File: image_2024-11-18_195824473.png (1.3 MB, 1024x1341)

1.3 MB PNG

Is it any good?

File: Winking-Dog-meme-9.jpg (28 KB, 620x435)

28 KB JPG

>>94412419
Sorry, I read it as sarcastic classic biting of the hand that feeds him. 4chan and all that.

If it's not, then thanks for the appreciation bro. I try.

>>94407389
>My personality has deteriorated to basically that of a bestially-very-smart wraith.
Fuck, i wrote that twice.

What I get for posting from work and panic-submitting because my manager finally showed up to work, albeit three hours late.

File: image_2024-11-18_201642835.png (20 KB, 545x102)

20 KB PNG

>>94407200
>they're still doing spellcasting like this
Why are they such lazy bums, bros?

File: proud-cool.gif (239 KB, 220x123)

239 KB GIF

>>94413010
Actually wait, part of the description was about how I the hypothetical demilich have dementia!
This was CLEARLY an intentional joke by me. Ha ha!

>>94413018
Unironically because the average DM struggles with anything more.

>>94413018
They insist it's easier for newbie DMs, same as the legendary reactions are now just extra reactions thing.

I say if they really want to make it easier for new DMs they should move the bonus action and reaction spells to bonus and reaction sections.

>>94411357
Hmmm. The Aztecs were basically the Rome of Central America. Hobgoblins aren't an awful fit.

>>94413018
Unironically, what's wrong with this?

I think my group has more fun when I'm not there, from how they describe game sessions when I'm not present to me afterwards.
I reckon the responsible thing to do is to quietly drop.
Feels... a little sad, I guess. At least they are having a good time, tho.

>>94413230
How many sessions has that happened now, and what is your character's role in the group dynamic? What's your role in the group dynamic?

>>94413300
I've missed 5 or 6 sessions due to work in the last 4 months, and my pc is The Heavy, big guy, big axe, big armor.
Not super sociable, but tries to help where he can.
I think it's more about me than the character. I've been called 'judgmental' a few times.

>>94413300
>>94413341
Add to that, the party gets to more silly stuff afterwards, and they, and the DM, seem to enjoy that kind of play more than I.

>>94409517
>>94411357
>>94413152
Actually hole up, go full Ixalan it's unusually kino for a modern mtg setting.

Natives are all the different goblinoid.
Hobs are Aztec warrior empire.
Goblins ride raptors and pull ewok shit.
Bugbears more like dropbears, welcome to 'nam.

Deep in the ground you basically have lost city ancient aliens-y atlantean dungeons to loot, with traps and autognomes and warforged, and everything is powered by a mythical mineral with supernatural properties.

The dhampir conquistadors could honestly be left as-is. But you could make them something else too if you wanted, if an entire country of vampires and semi-vampires is too much for you. Maybe Yuan-ti? But I think Bael Turath but it's pasty and fanged instead of beet red and horned works fine as is.

Then you've got all the Pirates of the Caribbean shit out in the waters. Merfolk and harpies and pirate faction wars and privateering and hell you could even easily throw in like an Elven British Royal Navy East India Company, that seems trademark high elf behavior.

>>94413341
>>94413355
Have you made an attempt to play something goofier, more in line with what the others are doing? There are ways of playing the straight man that would work with a sillier group without changing too much.

>>94413420
I could, but I wouldn't actually enjoy it, and this isn't the first time I've gotten this feeling from this group.
I'm friends with just about all of them, and may apply the adage 'having fun doing the same thing, is not the same as having fun doing it together'. If they are having a good time, shoudn't be me who gets in the way.

>>94411185
Why have you posted this? Why are you adding 2 to a d10 roll?

Does teleporting stop fall damage?

>>94413230
Stop being a bitch.
Nobody is thinking about you that hard.

>saw some weird "talent" MCDM thing on 5etools couple days ago
>look for it today and it's gone
Fuck I was thinking about brewing up a psychic enemy for a sewer fight, why was that shit in there anyways

>>94411538
thanks, but I don't think we're using the newer rules
sorry I didn't specify, I wouldn't have assumed that everyone already swapped.

>>94409517
Egypt and the near-east

>>94413656
It's in the homebrew section

>>94409517
>I refuse anything steampunk or post apocalyptic
Based. I'd say go with good ole medieval Europe.

>>94409237
I hoped this one was real...

>>94409517
The final setting should involve apocalyptic dimension destroyers like the eldrazi. It starts out as any other dimension, then evolves into an apocalyptic hellscape.

>>94413768
Weird, I can't get any of that open

File: Screenshot_20241118_16180(...).jpg (381 KB, 1080x1012)

381 KB JPG

Planning on taking picrel next level up.
Question though, does the fire vulnerability extend to my actual HP or just the temp HP?

>>94414110
Like it's not showing up in the list when you hit Get Homebrew, or the whole interface isn't showing up?

File: Screenshot_20241118_16212(...).jpg (474 KB, 1080x2408)

474 KB JPG

>>94414125
I don't see a get homebrew button, maybe cause I'm on mobile?

File: file.png (23 KB, 318x215)

23 KB PNG

>>94414139
its this, idk why its cut off i guess mobile chrome(?) is fucking up the formatting

>>94414149
Shit that was it, thanks anon.
On a side note, HOLY FUCK is there a lot of homebrew on 5etools. I wonder if it's filtered in any way or if everything anyone has ever converted is in here

>>94414123
You have the vulnerability until the end of your next turn.

>>94414174
It's technically filtered in that only things people have chosen to upload to 5e.tools are there, but I don't believe there's any curating body.

>>94414174
It's whatever someone has written up in the proper markup language and put on the list.

File: 1718334075648265[1].png (67 KB, 512x702)

67 KB PNG

Can I get some opinions on Globe of Twilight? I wanna pick it up since it's flavorful for a Gloomstalker Ranger (since pocket-darkness helps with the "invisible in the dark" bit), but I dunno if in practice it's just a more expensive version of Fog Cloud that biases the blinding to the enemy.

Do you guys ever cook one liners/zingers for your characters that you keep in your back pocket that you hope to be able to use one day?

I've found myself really enjoying doing this and setting it to some music. Big damn hero moments and that kinda stuff.

>>94414325
Seems pretty OP on gloomstalker desu, I'd take it

>>94414213
Dang, not as good as I'd hoped

>>94414325
It's better on melee-style rangers than bow ones in my experience. Besides the obvious "not Hunter's Mark" bit, it's a bubble of darkness that's only 15ft around you - only 3 squares - which means you're either only using it for yourself, your friends are bunching up (and get coned/fireball'd), or you're in spitting distance of most enemies. Doesn't help that unless your friends are also Invisible in the Dark, it doesn't stop the enemy from seeing them (unless they're in the short zone and even then they have to fail a save to be blinded which will certainly have shit DC due to being a Ranger).

Plus side is, it doesn't fuck with your allies seeing the enemy either unlike Fog Cloud, so friendly mages aren't cucked. And in the end, spamming Advantage is spamming Advantage.

File: 1704457419645777.png (30 KB, 289x162)

30 KB PNG

>>94413935
It is. It's also consistent with info from the 3.5e draconomicon.

>>94412615
I figure swordsbard because it's flourishes can give +AC, more mobility, as well as sweeping attacks so I can give multiple enemies Sap disadvantage. Thought about taking the Maneuvers feat just for that too. It also gives a fighting style so I can pick up an extra.

Plus the character concept is an Eilistraee worshipper, so Swordsbard is a good rep for that. I'm just missing a moon theme.

Eloquence would probably be better for the social rolls, since 10 base, +5 from channel divinity, plus proficiency/expertise would make it practically impossible to ever fail a charisma check.

Also intend to pick up Eldritch Adept for Pact of the Blade to use my CHA for attacks.

File: Group Character Creation (...).pdf (3.99 MB, PDF)

3.99 MB PDF

Made this group character creation method for my table. This is the third iteration, so technically untested, but versions 1 and 2 were big hits.

Would you run it at your table?

>>94415011
This only makes sense if your players choose races and backgrounds that are compatible with one another anyway. For example how the fuck is a Githyanki Rogue supposed to meet a Halfling Druid in childhood? You already need to come up with reasons to get them together, in which case why not skip the rolling and just have them choose from a list of secondary backgrounds that confer maluses and benefits?

>>94409641
American South. Job is a 4 mile hike both ways, on roads without sidewalks, and gun happy civilians and cops. And the job is labor intensive warehouse work. I want to die.

>>94415571
Sorry, not 4 mile. I meant 4 *hour*. I am exhausted after working an 11 hour shift.

>>94415571
>Job is a 4 mile hike both ways
I'm not so much doubting you as I am confused, but you'll have to walk me through how walking somewhere costs you $300 a week.

>>94414550
Every now and then, although most end up unused.

>>94415607
Literally right above you I explained that it was not a 4 mile hike, but a 4 hour hike. It's 12-13 miles away from my home. Which means for a 7:30 am shift, to get there on time I would need to leave at 3 am. Then work until they allow me to leave (today was 6 pm), and then walk another 4 hours home. Which means I would not get home until 10 pm. Giving me 5 hours to shower, eat, and get "enough" sleep to be able to reliably drive a forklift around for tomorrow's shift (which I am guessing you can see is not viable). Then, if it rains/ storms on either my walk to work (ruining my clothes for the day, plus any paperwork or electronics I have) or from work (ditto, and I would be exhausted), I'm fucked even further. So rather than do all that, Lyft and Uber charge me ~$30 each way. 2x per day, minimum of 5 days a week, and that is ~$300.

I just need a vehicle or a gun to shoot myself.

File: 5e-fire-giant-cover.jpg (254 KB, 1600x800)

254 KB JPG

I've been looking into various fire giant statblocks recently ad I plan on featuring them as villains in an upcoming game. While trying to come up with tactics for them, I realized that with their very high strength and fire immunity, they could just grapple the PCs and dunk them into lava. Would this be a dick move? Would this dick move be one a fire giant would do though?

>>94410889
What about 4e

>>94415911
as long as you warn the players with some local rumour that the giants dip [insert some innocent community people] into lava and eat them or something,

>>94415911
anything that has fire immunity and is around lava should utilize it, think iron golem guarding a bridge through a lava pit

>>94415709
Get a bike.

>>94415911
There could be a price for using it, i.e. their armor is melted and their ass is sitting on 10 AC now if that makes things feel more fair.

>>94415911
How much do you want to kill your party and how much will they accept that?

>>94415911
Hope some of them thought to bring some Misty steps and Thunder steps because this is going to be one of those "prep for the oncoming exhaustion" fights

Have any of you tried putting your players through wow classic dungeons? I'm 100% making my current group run black rock depths later down the line, but I'm wondering if I should send them through the whole gauntlet from RFC to Naxx, without ever telling them where the maps are from.

>>94409982
You're a legend, thank you.

>>94416882
holy shit anon that's actually really smart. BRD and UBRS are honestly really well-structured to be proper dungeons too

>>94415571
>>94415606
>>94415709
This >>94416163. If it has gears and decent tires it should be able to get you up, down, and through any terrain that isn't obscenely impassable for less than a couple hundred, this is assuming, of course, you have a place to keep it while working. As for the weather, you can easily pick up a vacuum-sealed waterproofing bag for your electronics, paperwork, and work clothes for $30 that will keep everything dry even if you went fucking swimming with it if you seal it properly. 2.5 hours of riding a bike is better than 9 hours of walking.

I'm suspecting you don't have a license and/or have either non-existent or straight-up nigger-tier credit though because $300 a week is like $1200 a month, which is WAY beyond what a used car would cost with even with a 36 month loan. For a car at 30 miles commute a day for 600 miles a month, you'll be using around 22-25ish gallons of gas at 30mpg, so do the math for your area. for me that's around $80 a month in gas. insurance rates are completely arbitrary but they will generally sit around $200 monthly. so even if i jack up the estimated cost of ownership to obscene levels, you'll still looking at around $750/mo.

if you can't afford that, then look into getting a motorcycle because a cheap 300cc bike is like $4k brand new. that's like $500 a month for a 12 month loan. You'll still get wet, but you will have a way to work that won't break the bank. just get a decent helmet and jacket. alternatively just go fight for israel since even in the wartime army youll have less shit to worry about than you do now.

With all this being said, how the fuck are you even able to play DnD unless you're playing it by yourself or are exclusively using VTT or something? you literally woke up one day and decided to choose the dark souls of american lifestyles

consensus on eldritch smite?
is burning the spellslot worth it?
how about multiclassing into sorcerer?

the whole concept is a literal "sword saint", taking celestial warlock (and draconic sorcerer if multiclassed)

File: everybody kneels.png (822 KB, 692x1100)

822 KB PNG

>>94409982
Thank you, king

File: Screenshot_20241119_04292(...).jpg (777 KB, 1080x2408)

777 KB JPG

>>94415121
Funny you mention it, I had exactly this come up with my current group.
A wood elf and a thri-kreen.
Ngl it was something we had to kind of shrug at, I think next time I'm going to lean into it and tell the elf he has to go through childhood and adolescence alone, unless there's another long lived race. I'll probably balance that out by making their rewards also lean into the long-lived aspect, give them a sense of history.

my last character died and I had no plan for a replacement so I just clicked the random result button on 5etools for all aspects (race, class, subclass, background) and I got a Minotaur wizard of scribes, smuggler background.

Since my DM wants to use the new stuff as much as possible I'm changing Smuggler to criminal and use the 24 wizard as the base class.
even found a fitting mini to resin print

please rate

>>94417341
Disregard mechanics. Aquire aesthetics.
If it sounds cool and thematic, you don't need anything else.

>>94406593
Random question. My DM is trying to remember the name of a monster that was basically a pile of discarded magic items. It sounds familiar but I can't remember it either. This ring a bell for anyone?

>>94417341
TL;DR Eldritch Smite is 3/5.
It's good when you need it for burst damage. Normally you use your pact slots for concentration, other general purpose spells, etc. If you tend to conserve spell slots, and have 1-2 combats per short rest, then it's worth considering. If you have spare invocations, that is.

>>94417484
>Please rate
You haven't sold us on anything, you just mentioned race/class/background. It sounds snowflakey, only because minotaur are enemy fodder in te majority of campaigns. It's not unsalvagable. HoMM vidya comes to mind, as far as wizard cow goes, but there's nothing striking about it.

>>94416163
>>94417291
>had a bike
>got hit in a hit and run
>police responders told me I "should not have been in the road"

>>94417291
Have a license, but my credit is shit due to CPTSD/ a decade of homelessness/ getting sued by $cientology because /b/ thought it was funny. When I was a little more flush with cash over the past year and a half, I tried finding a used car, but all the dealerships in my area wanted $3k down and $10k more. My own fucking whore mother committed title fraud and forgery against me, so I cannot even title and tag a vehicle I do have, and again I live in a red state so cops are happy to grind down the destitute into criminals.

I just want to die.

Is force damage the king of damage types in 5.5? Few class features deal force damage and no class has resistance to it.

>>94416882
Not technically Classic, but I always take a few minutes to review the map of Karazhan before I design wizard towers.

File: D555AlzUcAIa8c9.jpg (337 KB, 876x1200)

337 KB JPG

Builds for this feel?

>While you aren't wearing armor or wielding a
>Shield, you gain the ability to move along vertical
>surfaces and across liquids on your turn without
>falling during the movement.
does this mean naruto style where you just do this indefinitely, or do you fall after you've traveled one turn's worth of movement?

File: 753dea7f89684998b219e5518(...).jpg (56 KB, 1080x551)

56 KB JPG

>>94418127
You fall after your turn. You're more doing a Jesus Lizard sprint.

File: starter_set_1000x1000.jpg (97 KB, 1000x1000)

97 KB JPG

>>94406593
Anywhere that delivers to Australia that still has the 2014 starter set? I wanted to pick it up for nostalgia reasons, but am i too late and have to pay the scalpers tax?

>>94418033
You don't need a build, just roleplay.

>>94417502
thats the plan desu but i like to have some measure of synergy in my build get me?
>>94417675
i see, thank you for the explanation

multiclassing seems dead, so idk about a sorlock, but a blade celestial seems pretty dope

File: 1c56069a69ee002a6e1e95dcc(...).jpg (66 KB, 440x680)

66 KB JPG

>>94418521
>Multiclassing seems dead.
1 level dips are worse, but this doesn't kill multiclassing. Sorcerer X/ Warlock 2 is good for Eldritch Blast spam. We did lose ways to get medium armor and shield prof, which does suck. Going more warlock for pact of the blade should work, but you lose out on a lot of casting. That's always been the main drawback of multiclassing; you delay spell slot progression, or lose out on higher level spells known. My personal recommendation for a bladelock in 2024 is to start Fighter 1, maybe Fighter 2 for action surge at some point, and then rest in warlock. I prefer Fiend over Celestial, but any subclass should work. Warcaster, Heavy Armor Master, Great Weapon Master, Resilient: WIS, Mageslayer are good feats to consider up, but you probably need one or two ASI's for 20 CHA.

DMG 2024 live on 5etools lads
jlyk

File: Bobby-5Re.png (391 KB, 850x1184)

391 KB PNG

What is the best barbarian subclass currently?

>>94418851
>currently
I fucking detest that we don't outline 5e and 5.5e. I'm going to assume you meant 5.5e, or '24', fuck, whatever.
>best barbarian subclass
World Tree for defending the party. Berserker for a more selfish playstyle.

File: full-body-black-paladin-w(...).jpg (102 KB, 443x626)

102 KB JPG

>>94417341
>>94418521
It's cool for having a smite while not being a Paladin. I really like it, and honestly would dip it with Eldritch Adept on a normal Gish for that, if only it could use normal non-Pact slots for it, ah well.

However, I will note if you're playing on 2014 rules (Or even the new ones, it's technically better than a Paladin smite now because it's still a free action, kek), if you do end up multiclassing into Paladin - it will heavily hinder your spell progression, to a point, though between the Warlock slot progression and Paladin slots you get a fair amount to burn, if lower level - you can double up the smites. As in, use Divine or Thunderous smite, etc., use a Paladin slot, and declare Eldritch Smite and burn the Pact slot. Which, by 5th level when you qualify for ES, is 3rd level, so already 4d8 Force damage plus prone. Then the effects of the Paladin Smite. Typically, if you're say, level 7, Paladin 2 Warlock 5, that's 4d8 Force, Prone, and 2d8 Radiant damage on top of whatever weapon damage you're already doing. That only goes up with more Paladin levels if you keep it roughly even.

Is it powergamey? Yeah. Are you gonna be about a one trick pony for the investments it costs? Yeah. Can you absolutely fucking decimate nova damage shit that way? Absolutely.

And earnestly, it gets a lot of shit rightfully for people powergaming the fuck out of Hexblade and one-level dips, but if you keep it even and roleplay it, Warlock and Paladin can actually be an interesting character concept. You're drawing power from a deity and an oath already, it's more a branch of it. Start Paladin? Congrats, heavy armor. Depends on character concept, but for a "Sword Saint" it can work. Hell, even if you go Oathbreaker or Conquest and one of the less savory pacts. But unless you were tied to Sorc for full caster for whatever reason, you can make a solid gish this way, and multiclassing isn't dead, just less about dips.

Wish I could get paid for DMing, I guess it wouldn't be as much fun though

>>94406593
>TQ
My campaign group is entirely normies, the only people that speak when not spoken to are the two women that like RPing. I just generally throw out an idea of what to do next and we do that

>>94419099
Beer money, or super high effort expensive DMing?

2024 Dual Wielder + Fighter 1 worth it on a Rogue?

>>94419121
Honestly?
I'd be fine with something to spend on the campaign itself. Just like, everyone throws $10 a session, and all proceeds go towards minis and eventually a real table.

>>94417484
You spent your life raiding the Labyrinths of other minoaturs for spell lores until you became a wizard of the scribes. Your character should have a focus on stealing spellbooks and spell scrolls. Your eventual wizard tower should also be a labyrinth

>>94417717
he worked for a smuggler gang in the sewers of the capital city because his labyrinthine sense helps him navigate the maze like sewer system

he needed the money to pay off his wizard education.

sometimes it's more fun to roll for stuff and then try to make it work coherently instead of thinking of a character first.

I don't get how Minotaur wizards are snowflakey though. I rolled for it so I'm not taking it personally, just baffled by that reaction.

>>94419136
everything that's not a human male fighter is woke to /5eg/

>>94419131
See if a local bar or games shop or anything needs anyone to host games, you could probably get $5-10 per person. So long as you like your group you can run a game exactly as normal and have the same amount of fun.

>>94419136
>I don't get how Minotaur wizards are snowflakey though.
Mintoaurs are savage monsters, anon. How are you baffled that A) your minotaur is civilized, B) is a intelligence spellcaster, is not snowflakey? If you work with your DM this becomes a non-issue.
>>94419141
Fuck off.

>>94419191
>snowflakey
That's a weirdly unnecessarily negative way of saying "unique". It's not even a proper value judgment, because people should want to play unique and memorable characters.

More often than not, the people who complain about someone making an interesting character are the people who make boring characters, but also don't want to be outshone. And, this sort of thinking extends so far that they try to discourage the entire community from exploring possibilities and trying out ideas because of a distant fear that the community will move on and leave them and their rather limited imagination behind.

File: Screenshot_20241119_185956.jpg (27 KB, 496x79)

27 KB JPG

>read oath of the ancients '24
>see this
How would you rule this? He still ages but doesn't show or he stops aging?

File: dr manhattan.jpg (118 KB, 736x915)

118 KB JPG

My in person game ended and I just feel I didn't get to do anything with my character
The game was just whittled down to combat with brief social interactions that always felt like there was only ever one option
The entire homebrew module we ran was just chasing a guy because we were asked
no tension or real reason to do so
We almost had a chance for real character development when a party member was cursed
I had to leave early that session so didn't even know it was a curse, really just thought she actually wanted to roleplay a little. Anyways that was solved mid combat as a retconned remove curse scroll that we ment to copy into our wizard's book.
Everyone else is getting excited for our next characters and I'm just looking at a blank page thinking if I should just make a character that is fun in combat since thats all we had.

>>94419155
P gud idea, I'll ask around, I have a relatively free weekend day I can spare to run pub games.

>>94419184
I just want people to get some skin in the game.

>>94419254
I think the idea of the snowflake is one of someone who mistakes a mechanically subversive character for one that is good. Take the minotaur wizard; our anon rolled it randomly, and there's no reason it couldn't be a great character, but people who have had experiences with bad players will be more ready to assume he is one, because that's exactly the sort of "quirky" thing they think sets them apart from the crowd.

>>94419254
I get your sentiment. Doesn't change a spade from being a spade.
>My character is from a monstrous race that kills humans in sight.
>But he's actually not a brutal savage, so he can be in the party.
>Also, he's studied as a wizard.
At this point, you should have some questions. The critique isn't that this is inherently bullshit. It's that there should to be some reasoning behind it.
>In this setting minotaurs are civilized, and made a peace treaty.
>Minotaurs have a long lineage of studying magic.
All of a sudden it's not "one in a million" character that lacks any coherent explanation. That one PC playing a fullblooded savage orc, traveling along with the party, when all other orcs eat humans, is not creative. It's not about creativity at all, but rather consistency.

>>94419325
It may not be your kind of table.

>>94419337
I hurts because they talk about the game in ways that make it seem like my kind of table
And then it falls apart when the game starts
One guy is an ancient chainmail enjoyer and likes the gritty
Another does voices for his character but is admittedly a little one note and does drop characters for his next 3d print
A third likes the social aspect of the table so much she's gotten her sister to start
I think its honestly just because we play 1-2 times a month the dm feels a pressure to move the story forward instead of taking time in the other pillars of gameplay

>>94419325
Be the change you want to see. Force players to roleplay by having your character talk directly to them. Stare the DM down so he doesn't just force a scene change to stay on schedule. If they like their characters and are excited for their characters, they also want you to like their characters. You can exploit this by making them talk about themselves, what they want in that scene, how they feel about the mission. It can all start with you.

>>94419184
Then why does everything cost money?

File: scout_wut.png (116 KB, 368x368)

116 KB PNG

>>94419293
>5e
>Original text "Additionally, you suffer none of the drawbacks of old age, and you can't be aged magically."
>5.24 is this

Why the fuck would they even take the time to go in and change that? How often does that even come up? Maybe they just meant to add that in and the intent is all three, but that's just confusing.

Fuck I hate the new books, it feels like they just sent an intern in to change everything just slightly like a kid trying to re-word something to plagiarize on a paper, and ended up with so much confusing bullshit for no reason.

>>94419333
>The critique isn't that this is inherently bullshit. It's that there should to be some reasoning behind it.
"This minotaur was born freakishly intelligent, in a setting where freakishly intelligent creatures can gain power by becoming wizards. Minotaur culture prizes power beyond everything else, so he decided to become a wizard."

Mutations occur, and the explanation for why the minotaur was born incredibly intelligent can come from a million possible explanations, ranging from some distant non-minotaur ancestor, some strange combination of genes, a blessing from the god of knowledge, some funky magical fruit his mother ate, just about anything that may be appropriate, all the way down to "It's a mystery."

It's okay to be a one-in-a-million character if you're a PC. if anything, you SHOULD be a one-in-a-million character in some way or another.

>That one PC playing a fullblooded savage orc, traveling along with the party, when all other orcs eat humans, is not creative.

There's nothing wrong with it though, and at bare minimum it's definitely more creative than "a human defined by his class with no personality" that ends up being a far more common issue. There's infinite explanations as to why a savage orc may not act like a savage orc while traveling with a party, so I'm not sure why you'd try to inflict this sort of "There are no exceptions to any rules in this setting" doctrine, when it's exceptions to rules that make things interesting. Half the rules of any fantasy setting tend to exist just so that they can be broken anyway, so acting like a Champion of Consistency is really just setting yourself up to be cucked by the universe.

>>94419383
RPGs are like the one hobby that doesn't cost anything. You could even play 5e entirely for free, since the basic rules are available online and you don't necessarily need to buy dice/paper/pencils, thought those are nice to have.

>>94419191
yeah they're just not that in my DM's setting, he just allows all playable races. When I decided to play a Minotaur, he added them as a nomadic tribe of the mountains.

>>94419414
You're almost getting it. Let me break it down to you.
>You are born with magical talents.
This is not snowflakey at all, even if this makes your PC one in a million. D&D parties are comprised by outliers and outsiders constantly. If nothing else, that is the norm.
>You are the only non-evil drow.
Snowflakey as shit. But that's Drizzt. Doesn't make the character bad. All I care about is an explanation for it.
>You are a savage orc.
You should be dead once you enter a city. The party now has to vouch for this green giant, who actually eats people. It's just dumb, and I'm disappointed you even tried to defend it.
>Half the rules of any fantasy setting tend to exist just so that they can be broken anyway, so acting like a Champion of Consistency is really just setting yourself up to be cucked by the universe.
A swing and a miss. You keep talking about fantastical and creative elements, but it's not part of the discussion at all. Yet you keep bringing it up, because somehow pissing on established lore is super cool.

>>94419476
Yeah, that works. I didn't intend to dishearten you with the dumb ice-crystal discussion.

>>94419383
Because I, George Soros—am paying people to fuck you over.

>>94419489
>You should be dead once you enter a city.
Try being even remotely intelligent for a second.

You're a villager. Even a stupid villager.
You see a group of strangers arrive in your village. 4/5 of them all look like reasonable chaps, the sort you could have a beer with.
And the 5th is a horrifying monster.

The other strangers are not worried about the monster in their midst. They're chatting with the monster, joking with the monster, and the monster seems to be quite calm in their presence.

What's your reaction? Pitchforks and fire? Or do you go "Whoa, that monster seems unlike all the other monsters I've heard about. While I'm not letting my daughter go near him unsupervised, I may have to reconsider my personal "kill all monsters on sight" doctrine and perhaps change it to "kill all unaccompanied monsters on sight."

People should distrust the monster, be wary of the monster, and even consider it dangerous, but let's pretend that people need to all act like a Disney villain just sang some xenophobic song to them.

>because somehow pissing on established lore is super cool.
Breaking/bending rules isn't necessarily "pissing on". Once again, if you're going to pretend to be a Champion of Consistency, be prepared to discover that the lady you put on a pedestal is off having wild sex with the Excitement and Entertainment twins.

>>94409982
Muchas gracias

>>94415011
I promise I'll only bump this single time, but anyone else have feedback on this?

>>94419579
>You should be dead once you enter a city.
Try being even remotely intelligent for a second.

You're an orc. Even a savage brute.
You see a group of strangers arrive in a village. 4/4 of them all look like reasonable chaps.
How do you join them? Why would they travel with you?

You approach, and two guards put up their pointy sticks. A few arrows gets shot your way. You hear the sound of a horn. A man on a horse runs you down, whether you choose to flee or not. The guards wouldn't let you near civilians. How xenophobic, you think to yourself.

And that's when the party comes to your rescue. They're chatting with you, joking with you, and you seem to be quite calm in their presence. Then you decide to eat a child later. Because, you know, that's what your character would do. They 'of mice & men' you.

>>94418636
>Warlock 2 is good for Eldritch Blast spam.
They didn't fix this? What the fuck was the point then? From what I hear, it's even easier to get +mental stat to attack too. Why make such a big fuss about fixing multiclassing and do jack shit to fix the actually problematic dips????

>>94414691
>It is.
I can't find it on his Twitter page

>>94419652
I said to be remotely intelligent, not deliberately stupid.

I'll give you a second chance though. Try and actually having your brain work this time and see if you can make an intelligent reply. Last chance though.

File: bro what.png (44 KB, 739x281)

44 KB PNG

>Fighting a crew of mundane, regular-ass pirates
>Fail your saving throw against their captain, a random dude you've never seen before
>You now have the Charmed™ condition
>You can't attack him, even as he's stabbing the fuck out of your companions
The new Monster Manual is gonna suck so much ass, isn't it?

>>94419710
It's total garbage as far as I can see. I wouldn't mind powercreep, it's necessary given how classes have been buffed, but the decisions they've made are just nonsensical at best.

>>94419710
God forbid a character of any kind does something more interesting than "swing sword" without it being a spell.

>>94419099
Much like sex, the only people who will pay for it are untouchables who would never get it for free in a million years for good reason.

>>94419747
Can you really not see how retarded it is that a regular mortal can charm your character with a quip? I'm not against monsters having unique abilities, but this shit is just hijacking a PC's personality.

>>94419675
What's there to respond to? You put the orc in a village full of CR 0 commoners. I put it in a town with CR 1/8th guards and a CR 3 Knight. It's all arbitrary. You rejected the premise anyway. I had a player do this, and it was worst. Little known fact: you can't pick your party members. There wasn't a good explanation for why I was traveling with an orc. I ended up killing him the moment the character turned into an NPC for doing savage shit, including a 'human soup'. It's just a shitty concept you and I couldn't find common ground on, which is how I know you're just engaging in sophistry with me. Truth is I agree with 99% of the shit you were saying, besides the weird cuck complex you have, but you don't get that some character concepts are actually just fucking terrible.

>>94419710
You can thank Paizocucks for this one, they're the ones who screamed that every creature needs to have some nonsensical videogame mechanic attached to it. Now your 15th level Barbarian can fail a saving throw and be scared of one lion.
>>94419747
Correct.

>>94419791
>l can charm your character with a quip?
You only need to see the captain. It seems more like the idea of a commanding personality or be dashingly handsome. It's no more character hijacking than fear effects on monsters meant to be scary, which have been a thing since the game's inception.

>>94419815
>You only need to see the captain.
Oh, my bad, it was actually a wink. All good now.
>It's no more character hijacking than fear effects on monsters meant to be scary
There's a difference between giving such an effect to a dragon and giving it to some dude.

>>94419841
stop trying to argue with bad faith dude
it's obviously retarded and an over-done implementation of flavor
a charming rogue monster should have advantage on deception or something, not cause PCs to be unable to attack him

anyone with a brain would see this, but the new books were written by chat gpt

>>94419869
>advantage on deception
What a useless feature

>>94407200
I like 'em, I don't understand why Knights are spell less clerics/paladins but it gives them some flavour. Maybe the official MM ones will have some other gimmick but if not, they're still doing 1d8 more damage.
The other ones are pretty nice as well but mostly just because they tend to be stronger on average compared to their MM14 counterparts once you get to higher levels.

>>94419293
I guess it's an "Eternal Youth" vs "Eternal Life" type of thing.

File: the better captain.png (121 KB, 562x628)

121 KB PNG

>>94419747
>>94419815
>>94419881
The pirate captain in Ghosts of Saltmarsh had advantage against going prone, as well as the ability to threaten his men into attacking you better. These features supported the archetype of a fearsome leader of pirates without forcing you to cuck your teammates.

>>94420176
>>94419841
Fair enough, I concede that mechanically it's a retarded thing to happen to PCs. I get worked up whenever mundane characters (PCs and NPCs alike) get slammed for lack of realism, I associate it with the general refusal to let martial characters scale better.

it's just laziness and more garbage streamlining
>every monster needs a thing"
ok cool, that's a good thing
>charm is the only condition we have and we wanna make everything fit into standard lego pieces
now the pirate captain has a supernatural ability to make you stop attacking him like he's a fey creature or something

>>94419805
Eh, I'll say you at least tried a little here, though if this is what you think counts as being remotely intelligent it really means you've got a long ways to go before you can start making smart posts.

>You put the orc in a village full of CR 0 commoners.
I feel like you missed the point, and missed it hard. I'm saying even the dumbest brick of a commoner could figure out that a monster might not be a psychotic murder machine that must be killed on sight if its traveling with a party.

>I ended up killing him the moment the character turned into an NPC for doing savage shit, including a 'human soup'.
That's seems excessive, considering that cannibalism is largely a social taboo and not strictly a moral one.

>It's just a shitty concept
It's a concept; whether it ends up being shitty or not is not inherent in it. You're right, that some characters will end up horrible, and some types of characters are far larger creative risks, but the danger comes from trying to treat ideas like absolutes, largely because it lets unscrupulous people try and manipulate each other.

If you claim "X character concept is always terrible" and try and prohibit it from ever being used because of that, that's incredibly dishonest. It's far more honest to just admit "I simply don't like that idea" and in your case "I don't like that idea because of prior experiences and prejudice", rather than trying to pretend your personal opinion has some added potency or is anywhere near some universal truth.

If you personally don't like monsters as PCs, or PCs to have rare backgrounds or circumstances, that's really lt. It doesn't go any further than that.

>>94419810
>Me when I introduce 3.5e design without 3.5e's ability to escape number ranges rendering low-level checks obsolete

File: 1728256389347291.jpg (3.24 MB, 2478x4879)

3.24 MB JPG

>>94406593
Are the new summon spells any good compared to old conjure spam? I'm going to try it myself with a druid later this week (we start at level 3) but I was hoping for some advice or impressions.

Why did they remove all kinds of non magical disease? My current campaign has a faction all about them and having some rules would be great, especially since paladins and such are no longer immune to them.

>>94420243
Berating people for their presumed lack of intelligence projects insecurity, and makes you sound like an insufferable cunt anon. Have you tried coming across as more likable?
>I'm saying even the dumbest brick of a commoner could figure out that a monster might not be a psychotic murder machine that must be killed on sight if its traveling with a party.
Depends on the setting. And it was a premise I presented. City officials won't allow monsters in their cities; bigoted or not. Now you've twisted this into a point about how even a commoner knows not to mess without people with an orc slave. My counterpoint is that more powerful people won't, but who gives a shit, you made your little point.
>That's seems excessive, considering that cannibalism is largely a social taboo and not strictly a moral one.
Know how I called you a sophist? This is why. You would defend cannibalism, not because you care about it, but because being a contrarian is a fun little mental exercise for you. Defilement of the dead isn't a good enough argument to you, because nothing is sacred to you.
>If you personally don't like monsters as PCs, or PCs to have rare backgrounds or circumstances, that's really lt.
What was my original point? Do you know? It wasn't that monster PCs can't work. It wasn't that non-evil PCs of an evil monstrous race can't wrok. I just need a fucking through line as to why this character is in the party. The example with the savage orc is devoid of explanation, civility, and humanity. You can't accept that as a premise for what is unworkable within a party. If you re-work the concept, you already missed the fucking point. There are character concepts where I would rather just fucking kill you. I'm not arguing this for all possible universes, but my God, I weep for games were it is not. You could all just been evil-aligned assholes, sure, go for it.

>>94420369
They're alright. Good action economy, extra soak HP, etc.
The big deal with summons was mostly that new sources could give better ones, that they were -extremely- diverse (some still have choices when you summon them) and took forever to flip through the MM. The new ones kind of fix most of that.
Still, at the level you get them they're strong. But like most spells it kind of depends on the terrain/ability of the summon. Flying and fly-by is great, but if you're in a 10ft. high cave it's more limited.

>>94420460
>Have you tried coming across as more likable?
Holy hypocrisy, batman.

>And it was a premise I presented
>"That one PC playing a fullblooded savage orc, traveling along with the party, when all other orcs eat humans, is not creative."
That was the entire premise. Tacking on extra details like "City Officials won't allow monsters in the cities" is adding nonsense, because it's pretty clear that we're talking about something that would be an extraordinary circumstance and not something that would be codified. If orcs are walking peacefully into town often enough for there to be laws to prohibit that, we're talking about a world where an orc in the party wouldn't be a 1-in-a-million occurrence.

>You would defend cannibalism
Sure, I think cannibalism is icky, but I wouldn't kill someone over it.
>Defilement of the dead isn't a good enough argument to you, because nothing is sacred to you.
Defilement of the dead is a social taboo, and one that comes in many forms. Some cultures, out of respect for the dead, will practice forms of cannibalism on the deceased, and NOT eating part of the corpse would be considered a social taboo.

If someone doesn't have any taboos against cannibalism, you can't just impose your own social taboos on them, all the way to killing them over it. It's really that basic. While things like murder, stealing, and the like are moral crimes with clear victims, social taboos are not as universal and must be taught and indoctrinated. While there's many reasons to have social taboos against things like cannibalism, some societies have had different priorities and beliefs, and it's important to consider their world view before implying your own is innately superior.

>There are character concepts where I would rather just fucking kill you
Welp. If you haven't learned how to actually play with people yet, I guess it's too early to talk to you about doing so.

>>94420624
>Holy hypocrisy, batman.
Genuine question. You're deflecting.
>Tacking on extra details like "City Officials won't allow monsters in the cities" is adding nonsense.
I told you the orc would be killed on sight. You said "nu-uh!". Anon, it's my example. TL;DR some character concepts are unworkable within a party. This is a room temperature take.
>Sure, I think cannibalism is icky, but I wouldn't kill someone over it.
You actually started arguing over it, lmao. When I told you of the 'human soup', you didn't consider how the ingredients were procured. You just latch onto the tiniest thing I say, and run away with it to make up your own argument. You don't care what I have to say.
>If someone doesn't have any taboos against cannibalism, you can't just impose your own social taboos on them, all the way to killing them over it.
I don't advocate for vigilantism, nor am I a D&D character. The full context of that shitty orc-player interaction is too convoluted, but murder of innocents was very much involved. Even had my character eat the soup unwittingly.
>some societies have had different priorities and beliefs, and it's important to consider their world view before implying your own is innately superior.
Slavery. Honor killings. Human sacrifice. Arranged marriages. Selling children. Child labour. Sexual exploitation of minors. Stoning homosexuals. Burning widows on funeral pyres. These are some of the most vile examples, and if you are going to say "they just have different priorities and beliefs", then you have no moral backbone. Moral relativism is moral cowardice.
>Welp. If you haven't learned how to actually play with people yet, I guess it's too early to talk to you about doing so.
You lack imagination if you can't think of a character concept where this would be the case for you. You can do better than constant, non-stop, bad-faith arguments.

>>94420555
Thanks. Party has quite a bit of melee so the land beast pack tactics might be good in some cases. Then the flexibility of air and sea beast options. I don't know about the damage, but it's consistent and persistent. I should be fine on concentration rolls too in case anything goes after me. Hope it works out.

>>94418851
For 5.5, I'm seconding>>94418921 with World tree & Berserker
For 5e, Totem Bear & Ancestral guardian I'd say. I think beast is decent, Zealot too; not to sure about Giant

>>94419579
If I see a group of people with a pitbull or two, I'm still going to be cautious of the dog because of its breed even if its handlers seem to have no problems

>>94420794
>I told you the orc would be killed on sight.
It's like saying that all tigers brought into a city would be killed on sight. Kind of silly and ridiculous, and effectively nonsensical.

>When I told you of the 'human soup', you didn't consider how the ingredients were procured
Because how they were procured is a different matter.
And you're wondering why I'm calling you an idiot.

>You don't care what I have to say.
Largely because you're an idiot.

>list of moral rather than social taboos
Are you stupid.

That's a rhetoricial question. Ordinarily wouldn't explain that, but you're pretty stupid.

>You lack imagination if you can't think of a character concept where this would be the case for you
At what point would I be such a limp-dicked faggot as to be unable to converse with my group and find the proper compromises to enable us all to work together in a game of imagination? That's the only way such a situation could occur, and I'm sorry, but most people are not as much of a limp-dick as you are.

>>94420821
Smart of you to do so. Being cautious around any kind of dog regardless of how friendly it is to their own owners is a smart move.

Would you shoot their dog though? Get a group of friends together to beat it to death with sticks?

>>94420831
>list of moral rather than social taboos
Is that common ground? You also think those things are bad? Holy shit. You do have a floor for what isn't acceptable.
>At what point would I be such a limp-dicked faggot as to be unable to converse with my group and find the proper compromises to enable us all to work together in a game of imagination?
Anon, this entire stupid conversation started because I said I need monstrous PCs to have a reason they are civilized and travel with the party. If you can work with your DM, work with your party, then it all works. This sentiment is all I could ask. Instead we had this pissing contest, hurling insults and snide rhetorical questions, for a few hours.

>>94420842
That one does, admittedly, depend on how recently I've heard the dulcet tones of Richard White.

>>94420899
>You also think those things are bad?
You are still struggling to understand the difference between a moral sin and a social taboo.
You're going to continue getting into these sort of arguments until you get that sorted out.

>Anon, this entire stupid conversation started because I said I need monstrous PCs to have a reason they are civilized and travel with the party
You're conflating, just like you conflated killing someone and eating them. They're separate issues.
Regardless of whether a PC is monstrous or not, they should have a reason to travel with the party. You seem more willing to immediately accept a random group of non-monstrous people all have some reason to be traveling together without it needing to be outright stated, but won't extend the same benefit of the doubt to a group with a monstrous member.

It's weird, because that's the kind of cartoonish bigotry that Saturday Morning cartoons are supposed to have stomped out of our children, and yet here you are.

>snide
I don't think I've ever asked a less snide and more blunt rhetorical question in my life.

>>94420899
>I said I need monstrous PCs to have a reason they are civilized and travel with the party
Since you put it so plainly: why should anyone put up with you without being paid, with such unnecessary hostility and vicegripped adherence to ancient grognard muhverisimilitude? Where the fuck do you think you are, it's DnD 5e. Play whatever the fuck you want and let other people play whatever the fuck they want, your personal threshold for accepting people Playing A Character In A Game Using Rules Made For Those Characters is fucking asinine.

>>94409635
>if you're going to remove racial stat bonuses because it's 'problematic bio-essentialism'
nah, it's because it's boring to have the same races and classes paired so fucking often unless the player is the "haha 8 int wizard" type

are there rules for sidekicks in the new dm? does anyone know a page number?

>spend all week anticipating next session
>run session, everyone has fun
>repeat forever
This DM thing is great, everyone like and appreciates me. Last session someone bought me a gatorade protein bar.

>>94418127
>>94418400
Water Walk is the spell to be able to walk across liquids Naruto style.

>>94418921
>I fucking detest that we don't outline 5e and 5.5e
The Paizo thread has a rule to specify edition on any questions, that should apply here as well.

>>94421031
>You are still struggling to understand the difference between a moral sin and a social taboo.
You unironically started arguing about cannibalism. The distinction you made between moral and social is nonsense. I'm not interested in arguing about your arbitration.
>You seem more willing to immediately accept a random group of non-monstrous people all have some reason to be traveling together without it needing to be outright stated, but won't extend the same benefit of the doubt to a group with a monstrous member.
Seem? Pointless argument.
>that's the kind of cartoonish bigotry that Saturday Morning cartoons are supposed to have stomped out of our children
You can't accept orc = evil as a premise. You think that's how I run all my games. You think that's my general take, not just in D&D, but in real life. Pure sophistry, I don't give a shit.
>snide
adjective. derogatory or mocking in an indirect way.

>>94420176
You can also just replace their hand crossbow with a pistol and call it a day.

>>94421166
This isn't about my personal sensibilities, it's about making your character work with the group. Say the DM uses goblins as common enemy fodder. You decide to play a goblin. Why is everyone chill with you, but not other goblins? Say you're friendly. You present yourself better. There are tribes of goblins that have peaceful relationships with other cities. Do a bit of world building with the DM. Your character is now integrated into the world, and better for it.
>why should anyone put up with you without being paid, with such unnecessary hostility and vicegripped adherence to ancient grognard muhverisimilitude?
I encourage people to have their character make sense, and you take that as hostility? The character concepts I wouldn't want to play is a fully evil-aligned demon possessed orc who feeds me human soup from children he killed. If that feel like a personal attack, I'm sorry. I don't see how my character would travel with that character.

>>94421283
based. i do this on a smaller scale, my gal and I work opposite shifts so I spend my weeknights crafting bespoke adventures for her and building fantasy dollhouses, and in return she sends me sexy photographs and licks my asshole.

>>94419363
>its honestly just because we play 1-2 times a month the dm feels a pressure to move the story forward instead of taking time in the other pillars of gameplay
That can be rough. My Descent into Avernus game is fortnightly and in half a year we haven't left Baldur's Gate. I've been upfront and said hey the meat of this campaign takes place in hell, do we want to compress the intro chapters and they were like nah we're enjoying things at the current pace. There's been loads of roleplay and character development and not a lot of "wasted" time in that respect, but I do wish we'd got through it all in more like 1-2 months.

>>94417341
Generally you want to use it paladin style and save it for a crit, or at least for when the auto-prone seems particularly useful.

What are your thoughts on including real world like drugs in your settings? I just had a player go on a 30 minute rant complaining about them. I wasn't even really entirely sure what point he was trying to make, because he complained about basically every aspect and route that you can possibly take when it comes to drugs/addiction. When I asked him what his ideal drug scenario in DnD was, instead of answering, he just pointed out more ways to do it wrong than how to do it right.

>>94422755
Fuck did he say?

I'm having trouble balancing combats in my campaign. One of my players is absurdly lucky. I log dice rolls and his average roll on a d20 is a 14.3 over hundreds of rolls. We also rolled for stats and he got 18 18 16 16 14 13. His character is noticeably stronger than most of the others just because of his luck. I thought the law of large numbers would take care of it but still hasn't. We're all using the same online dice roller, so it's not loaded dice or cheating or anything like that. The other player I'm having trouble with used point buy for his stats because he said he has terrible luck and hates rolling for stats. He's correct as well, his average roll on a d20 is a 9.8 across roughly the same amount of rolls. But his character build as well as tactics in combat are significantly better than the rest of the players, he's done double the damage of the lucky guy and then there's about a 30% gap to rest of the players after that.

>>94422862
Just give the other players magic items to compensate.

>>94422763
Paraphrasing: drugs should be perfectly realistic without ever deviating from their real world equivalent but not too realistic to make light of people who have had irl bad experiences. But it's fine as long as it is purely magical in nature, like a curse, unless it begins to reflect your own personal political beliefs about the consequences of drugs. He has also been burned in the past by DMs practically killing his character after smoking what he thought was a cigarette which takes player agency away, but you can't let players have too much agency when it comes to role playing their addiction because mechanics should be perfectly respected without any deviation on the part of the DM.
It was like 30 minutes of impassioned argumentation that didn't really seem to offer any solutions. I'm probably just going to quietly tuck the little drug side story one of the players had going away and not bring it up unless they do.

>>94422862
This is why letting individual characters roll for stats can backfire. What you do is only use one method and enforce a collective way to generate an array to use or share them. Letting one person do pointbuy and another roll for stats is begging for discrepancy.

That being said, what side does the balancing need to come from?

>>94422937
I thought about that, but that seems unfair to the lucky rollers and the point buyer.

>>94423123
Well the problem isn't the stat discrepancy between the lucky roller and the point buyer, the point buyer is doing way better even with less stats. The discrepancy is between the lucky roller and the other players who also rolled. The point buy player is more effective in combat because his build is stronger and he's just a smarter player. I'm not sure what you mean by what side the balancing is coming from.

>>94423122
It sounds like he was gesticulating and covering any gaps in his declarations with qualifiers to the point he ended up saying actually nothing of fucking value. You're not going to make his character do drugs. Another player wanted drug stuff to cover. At the end of the day you're DMing and if he doesn't want drugs included because of a personal experience, then that's a good reason to exclude them, but if his main concern is that "it can be done bad more easily than good" then just say "well I'm going to include them and interfacing with that aspect is opt-in, so if it bothers you just don't do drugs???" Don't let players go on tirades like that in future. "You have opinions, that's nice and all, but if the jist of your tirade is "I think this is being done poorly" about something I'm portraying in the campaign, in the moment is probably the absolute worst place to pitch that commentary, you dig?"
I'm of the opinion that you can do drug mechanics quite easily but the whole "losing player agency" aspect is easily avoided if you make drugs not mechanically impactful. The player is in charge of their character and reducing "staving off the urge to use" to a dice roll is fucking cringe, just decide how your character would respond by yourself, it has no mechanical bearing anyway, you don't need to roll to wipe your ass and not cum on sight of a goblin teat.

>>94419489
>non-evil Drow Good
>non-evil Orc Bad
Kill yourself.

>>94423132
As in, does combat need balanced to accommodate for the stronger PCs? Or does it need to be accommodated on behalf of the weaker ones? Are they already failing to average encounters or are they acing them easily? You can adjust balance from different angles, DM side or player side, OP side or UP side.