>>97426775
>TQ
I usually try to use the help action whenever I can.
My DM has a rule where you need proficiency in a skill to use the help action for that skill. It doesn't make sense that a -2 Int Orc could help with a Religion or Arcana check.

>>97426786
That rule is in 5.5e. Do they spam help in combat?

>>97426793
We're still playing 5E, so I missed that change in 5.5E.
We don't really use it in combat. I prefer doing my own actions.

>>97426829
>We don't really use it in combat. I prefer doing my own actions.
Ah yes, makes perfect sense. In my party the often take the owl because it doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity then get it to spam the help action on enemies for advantage.

>>97426775
My players remember their familiars and companions, but primarily for out-of-combat shenanigans. Perhaps I should have vetoed the pelican.

>>97426775
Pic makes me wanna ask, how is 5.5e for sword & sorcery games? Like is there any good third party content for playing games in the genre?

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>always like CRPGs but never played TTRPGs until after Baldur's Gate 3
>get more into D&D and realize you can free souls trapped in soul coins
>Karlach was nomming and torturing souls before sending them to oblivion, some of which are genuinely innocent per in game lore

Damn, she is actually fucked up. I'll probably kill her on the next playthrough. Fantastic racism against tieflings never fails

That guy Bladesinger in my game took an owl and triple advantage feat because he only ever does what he reads online is best but he quickly found out something with 1hp and no ac dies constantly and his white room build doesn’t work in practice

>>97426775
___ ____ ____

>>97427020
>how is 5.5e for sword & sorcery games
It’s fine, 5.5e always does fantasy settings fine. Depends on how you define sword and sorcery. Magic is ubiquitous in 5e as written so you’d have to bane the majority of classes and many subclasses.

If you want something specifically made for low magic or S&S. Have a look at Iron Heroes or Blade of the Iron Throne.

>>97427047
Okay but you saved a thumbnail so your opinion is invalidated.

>>97427020
Unironically the forgotten realms suggests that the heroes are pretty few and far between and most people don’t really interact with magics on the norm

>>97427047
>Is fitting with an artificial heart that draws power from soul coins
>Spends years fighting against demons and competing devils and needing every edge
>Most people who end up in soul coins are genuinely bad people
It's definitely not a good act, but it's somewhat understandable.

>>97427488
The game goes out of its way to refute this. One of her old associates from Avernus sends her three soul coins but the cost is that she has to learn who is inside them. One is an 8 year old child that is there because of his father. One is a 15 year old girl who was beaten and abused her whole life, she made a deal with a devil because she wanted someone to truly love her just once. One is a man who made a deal with a devil to save his starving children. It consistently treats her use of soul coins like a drug addiction she is rationalizing hard. Karlach is a victim too really, she's not a cartoon monster, but that's part of the point, she is doing genuinely Evil deed despite that

>>97427757
On the other hand, if you're a soul doomed to spend eternity trapped in a coin in constant torment and being traded as currency, but instead get burned away, which is the better fate?

You also don't have to use a soul coin at any time, and overdriving her Engine with one makes her condition worse.

>>97427818
I didn't realize that you could use remove curse to free these souls when I played through BG3. That feels like a missed opportunity, it would add more weight to using the coins and also give you something you could do with them if you wanted to take the "good option."

>>97427873
Keep in mind that most souls in soul coins will just become Lemures if freed as well.

Aside from the locals being dicks and all of the relentless warfare going on everywhere, is Avernus so bad? It seems better than most other lower planes like Carceri and the realms of Hades.

>>97427976
It's full of literal lawyers, anon. Everything there is done via contracts.

>>97427976
Yes, anon. It’s literally part of Hell.
>but these other places are worse!
They might be worse than Hell. But that doesn’t make Hell “not that bad”. Sure, if you HAVE to pick one of the Lower Planes to go to, it’s probably one of the safer options, but it’s still awful.

>>97427976
It used to be the nice part of Hell, filled with great cities where trade and gambling went on all year round. After Bel lost the throne, though, Zariel basically turned the layer into a gigantic scorch mark in her autistic belief that it was possible to "win" the Blood War.

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>>97428332
And in most cases you aren't going to go there being personally sold to the head of the layer as a prize warrior like Karlach was, you're probably just going to be a Lemure.

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yuanti sexo...

>>97428066
Isn't Phlegethos the lawyer layer?

>>97427757
Mammon created soul coins for this reason. It makes it easy to participate in one of the most Evil acts-the trade and use of souls- without really thinking about it. "Oh, it's just a coin." It's meant to ensnare people without otherwise good intentions like Karlach into evil.

>>97427054
>No AC
>Bladesinger
Lol wut
Fuckers are practically invincible

>>97428665
Like jailbait

>>97428665
Was he the schizo or was that Dispater?

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>>97426775
Thoughts on druids? I find them cozy and relaxing.

>>97429074
Kumbaya Druids are lame and gay
Druids should be burning down towns and civilizations to let them return to nature.
Druids would not stop a wolf from eating a child. They might kill the wolf after and eat them both though.

>>97428594
The entire plane is Lawful Evil, that's just the part where they hyper-specialize in it.

>>97429209
>Shadow Druid detected

>>97428594
>Phlegethos
That layer is supposedly pretty alright so long as you have fire immunity and some pocket money to spend on leisure. Relative to the other eight layers, obviously. It's still Hell and all.

>>97429074
Depends on the kind of druid, I suppose.

>>97429548
Give opinions on any you played or seen.

Does this sound too Magical Realmsy? Need to know before tomorrows session
>Benegildor once shielded a village from harm, saving the child Kageas from enslavement. As she grew older (for she was mortal then), Kageas sought out the Gold Dragon and made plays at his heart, which were politely rebuffed.
>In his stark emerald eyes, even the noblest of humans were still lesser.
>The Kageas Cycle begins around this point, wherein she found the instruments of heaven, attained demigodhood, and then claimed a portfolio of her own. But even as a bona fide goddess, the dragon Benegildor refused her affections still.
>This time, because he saw himself as the lesser. And dared not overreach his station.
>Embittered, Kageas has spurned dragonkind ever since. Though nominally benevolent, she offers no blessings to good-aligned dragons. Her followers battle the Tiamat Cult with exception zeal.

>>97430019
If you have to ask the answer is yes - didn’t read the rest of your post, didn’t need to

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>tieflings are disgus-

>>97430058
Why did aasimar, dragonborn, genasi, giths, goliaths and whatever else never pop off like tieflings did?

>>97430058
That’s literally just a draenei. I’m pretty sure you can get that exact appearance set up in Wowhead’s dressing room.

>>97430032
It’s setting mythology, not character backstory.

>>97430019
Doesn’t involve making an archipelago out of cum, so you’re still above water with respect to real-world myths.

>>97430091
>It’s setting mythology, not character backstory
That has nothing to do with what I said.

>>97430073
If I had to guess, none of them have quite the same implicit narrative of discrimination and a sort of "original sin" that leaves them actually blameless personally but still with the possibility of making them brood about it. And then they can look both edgy and have tons of added sex appeal, and also fit in with every bodyshape an adventurer can be.

By comparison:
Aasimars are literally just generic blondes with a bit of shine.
Dragonborn are cool but will appeal mostly to scalies and repel the "I can't identify with someone who's not clearly human" crowd.
Genasi are kind of that weird spot where they only have one gimmick and it's not an extremely engaging one and you have to add some connection to elemental planes (tieflings have to lower planes, but again, people love a "woe is me, my granddad eats souls" narrative).
Giths carry a lot of baggage that will almost entirely define your character backstory and roleplay, and are ugly.
And goliaths I think actually have popped off slightly more than the others, but it's not like you're ever going to make one unless you were planning to go Barbarian or something Barbarian-adjacent.

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>>97426775
>TQ
I don't use my familiar for fights. I use them for stealth. He was the MVP in the last session.

>party at a pirate auction
>weapons and monsters in cages get summoned onto the stage via teleportation circle
>I summon my raven (because fuck owls) and cast invisibility
>look from up close how they activate the circle
>"does it work both ways?" "it does!"
>familar lands in the storage room
>find tiefling in a cage
>"fuck slavers!"
>familar steals keys from a guard (a bird rolls everything better than my wizard)
>free tiefling
>use bond with familiar to cast invisibility on tiefling
>session ends as the guy is about to open up a few more cages

He earned himself a few headpats if he comes back alive.

>>97430073
Tieflings look cool (or hot), they're customizable, they're an underdog, and they have built in conflict.

>>97429013
Bladesinger maybe, but not the familiar

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About to do the "human fighter again" meme, but as an elf wizard (again).

>>97430268
>you have to add some connection to elemental planes
"My efreeti gamps is huge dick."

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>>97430465
this but i actually made a human fighter again

>>97430465
>>97430473
For me? It's human sorcerer.

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>>97430473
I'll miss my human fighters when they're gone...

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>>97430465
>>97430473
>>97430487
It's a halfling rogue for me.

>>97430465
are the crazy eyes intentional?

>>97430471
Aside from only working for about half of the genasi variants, people also probably prefer when their extraplanar ancestor is doing something relatively tame like destroying all life or eating souls.
An Efreeti is more likely to do things like buying slaves or being racist, and so is unacceptable to depict in current year (TM).

ok dabbling more with beastmen homebrew, hows this looking?

Hyenamen
medium
30ft speed

Endurance Hunter
gain +1 ability score to constitution

Bite
unarmed attacks can be piercing damage type

merciless
Once per short rest, when you deal damage that bloodies acreature in 30ft that is not your ally, you then gain +5 to attack rolls on that creature, this effect is lost if the creature loses its bloodied condition.


Feeding frenzy
when you score a hit on an attack roll on a creature that has the bloodied condition, you may add your proficiency bonus to the damage roll


i also started on a boarman race
medium
30ft speed

Exceptional Snout
You are proficient in investigation. You know the spell ‘locate object’ and can cast it without using a spell slot a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, the charges are only regained on long rest

porcine charge
you may take a reaction to add your proficiency bonus to the damage roll of a melee attack if you previously moved at least 15 feet in a straight line as part of your movement in that turn

>An elf wizard, a human fighter, a human sorcerer, and a halfling rogue running a coffee shop
Such is 5e's direction

>>97430594
>no tiefling in the party
My suspension of disbelief only goes so far.

>>97430594
>running a coffee shop
Property ownership? In this day and age? I think you meant to say minimum-wage employees at a coffee shop.

>>97430337
Okay nm i 100% just didn’t read the post
You’re good

>>97429013
Do you think the bladesinger also had 1hp?

>>97430664
Hyperbole anon

>>97430681
You're not very bright, are you?

>that dragon who never learned any spells
>that dragon who forgot how to fly and got killed by apes
>that dragon who still shares a hoard with his mom
>that dragon whose hoard is all copper pieces
>that dragon who doesn't have any henchmen
>that dragon whose henchmen are all kobolds
>that dragon whose kobolds are all female
>that dragon who has never won a fight
>that dragon who missed his breath attack twice and then left in tears
>that dragon who invited heroes into her lair "one at a time"
>that same dragon who keeps "fighting" the same heroes every week
>that dragon that polymorphed into a dragonborn
>that dragon who got absorbed by a superior version of himself from an alternate dimension
>that dragon who ate sulfurous lamb and died
>that dragon who became a fucking lich

Because we play with theatre of the mind I feel like my group gets screwed over in combat all the time, which leads to no attempt at strategy.
>squishy healer
>run away from enemies and behind team
>DM: "okay the enemies go to you and attack"

It just feels like the DM can't handle all the characters in combat and there isn't any actual mechanics at play. On top of that we always fucking roll poorly and he always gets 17s or above. Combat is about all I look forward to with my group because they don't really roleplay and it's still horribly awkward.

>>97429074
I got talked into playing a shapeshifting druid and I just couldn't get a good picture in my head what I was, and it made playing them a mess. I want to like them though.

>>97430465
This, but she's already married to a hunky himbo berserker barbarian and has ten children already.

>>97430870
Does your DM roll in public? Or behind the screen?

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>>97429074
I hate how pidgeon holed druids are thematically. Having Bone Gnawer or Glass Walker type druids would go a long way towards making them more interesting.

Then there is the fact representing "evil" druids is so bankrupt thematically as well. You're either a radical echo terrorist or going against nature like the Blighter from 3.5.

Finally, why can't druids use unarmed fighting style?

>>97430894
>but she's already married to a hunky himbo berserker barbarian and has ten children already.
Beautiful.

Is Daggerheart any good as a system?

>>97431045
>Finally, why can't druids use unarmed fighting style?
Because they don't get fighting styles at all. Silly question.

>>97431706
not really.

>everyone gets a free feat at Level 1, if you write a three sentence justification for how your character learned it
Yay or Nay?

>>97431775
Kinda overboard if you're using the 2024 rules. Probably fine otherwise.
Though if you're worried about people exploiting it, you'd probably be better off just making a list of approved level 1 bonus feats so that people aren't jumping through hoops.

>>97431775
I did this but I just veto the feat if it doesnt make sense for their character, it's not like they could write some bullshit about being fey touched as a kid. It either fits or it doesnt

>>97431775
>everyone gets a free feat at level 1
Exactly what I did for 5.14. Haven't bothered with that for 5.24. Like the other anons sid, it's probably best to just have a list of feats your instead of judging your friend's writing ability. I could justify anything easily enough, but not everyone can.

>>97431706
Yeah, it's not perfect but I'd definitely give it a spin if the design intent of the game speaks to you.

>>97431775
Neither. I'd give it a yea at most.

>>97431775
Are you that desperate for player engagement?
You sound desperate

I used to play at a pretty good store and had some good groups back where I used to live, but I moved and the scene isn't as big where I am. Are there actually any good ways to play online these days? I've played a bit on tabletop simulator on steam and that was pretty cool. Anything similar or better than that?

>>97432416
roll20, like it's been for a decade

>>97432416
There are programs like Foundry and Roll20. Ways to pirate them too. But they're very restrictive and take forever to set up.

Personally I just use google slides and discord. You can set the background to the battlemap then roll using a dicebot. People can record their character sheets however they want, one player has a physical sheet. If you do theatre of the mind all you need is discord but you can run into this sort of thing >>97430870

>>97432416
Trick question. Playing online isn’t good.

>>97432480
spoken like a true no effort dm

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>>97431732
>The Warden Primal Order exists

All martials should be able to punch shit with the Monk being able to do punch magic. That said, the Druid can set itself apart by giving the Warden the option to use their Wild Shape to give them claws or fangs instead of just full on turning into a specific animal. Hell, I'm sure there are examples of this in previous editions so the presidence is there.

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>>97426775
>>97426832
>the owl
Love me ||ghost-||owl. Also love making sneak attack easier, but she was more than just a Help-spam tool to me. Much more, considering she turned out to be an important NPC at the end, and I released her before the final battle.

>>97432706
Oh hell, that's what I get for posting while half asleep and having spent the last day wrangling players over chat app

>>97430870
That's rough, anon. Maybe you can push for simple maps, like doing a quick sketch of your own and pitching it to the DM? "Is this roughly the idea? The treasure room is right off this intersection, or is it farther down?" Even a crude layout might help people visualize the scene.

>>97431775
I usually just let people have one for free, but forbid a few that I think are too annoying like Alert (I can never, ever make a surprise encounter) or Keen Mind (fuck off).

>>97432682
Feels like they tried to address this with the Primal Savagery cantrip, but no one uses it.

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>>97433034
They could have just made an intrinsic part of the class as opposed to another spell in the 10 million that already exist. It's as dumb as making Hunter's Mark or Smite into spells.

>>97432945
>keen mind
Fucking filtered. It's the perfect way to remind your player how retarded they are, especially when other players remember things without it.

>>97433120
It's tiring when I have to keep extremely detailed notes of everything they've seen because the fucker won't keep any notes himself but took the fucking feat for it. I already take enough notes as it is.

>>97433120
I find that I remember everything pretty clearly without any notes, save for an exact name or two.
Maybe because I autistically think about the game when not playing.

>>97433158
You're the DM, whatever you say is right. You don't need to keep detailed notes because you already have your DM notes. If it's important than you should have already written it down, and if not then whatever you come up with is now the right answer.
>>97433214
It's the feat that signals out to the dm that the player is a moron and can't keep notes. You know that you only need to tell the important things to the player, and not worry about anything else for them. All the other details are for the other players. The PC will remember, even if the player doesn't.

>>97433239
Agree that it's a waste of a feat when remembering is easier.

>>97430268
Okay but what about hagspawn/hexbloods?

>>97432682
>The Warden Primal Order exists
What the fuck are you talking about?

>>97433547
pg 80

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>>97433620
Monk subclasses? I get how those are related to unarmed strike, but not what they have to do with druid.

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>>97433701
>'14 slop

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Combat with one enemy and 7 players:
>Round 1: 42 minutes
>Round 2: 22 minutes
>Round 3: 41 minutes before the combat was paused and the session was ended with 1 player and the enemy yet to act this round

>>97433769
Where did (You) fuck up?

>>97433706
WotC’s 2024 abortion is far sloppier.

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>>97433883
>muh wotcslop is bttr thn ur wotcslop

>>97433769
Let me guess, the party is caster-heavy.
>I cast a spell!
>Alright, which one?
>...
>Which spell do you cast?
>Um...
>Where is that on my sheet?
>The section that says "spells".
>...
>This one here.
>Um...
>...
>...
>...
>I cast Earthbind!
>Okay, on who?
>...
>Um...
>I want to cast Earthbind on this guy.
>He doesn't fly, you know.
>What?
>That guy can't fly.
>...
>You know what Earthbind does, right?
>It traps them and keeps them from moving, right?
>It keeps them from flying.
>...
>They can still move, they can't fly.
>It doesn't stop them from moving?
>No.
>I don't want to do that, then.
>Um...
>...
>...
>...
>I want to cast Hypnotic Pattern.
>Okay, where?
>...
>Um...
>...
>I want to cast it on that guy.
>Centered on him?
>...
>I want to cast it on him.
>It's an AoE spell, you know.
>It is?
>Yes. 30 foot cube.
>Oh.
>In fact, you could probably get some of the other guys if you aim it between them.
>Um...
>...
>...
>...
>Okay, I do that.
>What's your save DC?
>...
>Your save DC?
>...
>Um...
>Should be written near your spells.
>Where are my spells?

>>97433939
typical bard player

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>>97433960
>>97433939
Who the fuck plays a bard.

Seriously.

If your group is 4 + GM, you're now basically 3 people fighting and one Julliard performer singing and dancing at the sidelines. While your party might not hate you, they don't feel any less functional or competent when you're away or dead.

You and your lute are dead weight and the first to be thrown in the metaphorical fire for warmth when shit hits the fan. You'd do everyone a favor in combat by closing your mouth shut and drawing a fucking sword instead of being an attention-whoring cheerleader.

>>97433939
>>97433974
Pasta aside, I do have some beef with the modern idea of bards. Battle drummers or war-singers are cool, and they have a place in an advancing army; so does the man whose job is to beef up the troops' morale and help them de-stress. (Although you could argue that in a smaller group of adventurers, the man who holds the banner, blows in a war horn or sings in praise of his friend's well-aimed arrow shot is slightly less useful, his presence can be criticized, wouldn't it be better if he took up the sword?)
Even then, the archetype remains fun. So does the idea of the pied piper, strange and slightly terrifying as all magic users should be, or someone who has mastered songs of power in the vein of the Silmarillion's. Skalds and those who compose songs and poems about the great deeds of heroes also have a fairly nice flavor, even if they run into the "dear god, just grab something sharp and kill the orcs, the slightly magical song and prose you just wrote about us is NOT HELPING" issue.
But the kind of bard that's always played at the table, the bard the rules support, is none of these things. He's a wizard with a harp who can dance and perform like some kind of medieval-fantasy rockstar and insult his enemies to death. That just sucks.

Honestly I only like Swords Bard and Creation Bard. Swords Bard is just a fighter/swashbuckler with added versatility and who can rock out outside of combat.
And I love the concept of the Creation Bard who's desperately seeking the primordial song that can alter reality just with it's individual notes. I actually do like such a concept casting magic through music. I like to imagine it's a completely entrancing song that can genuinely change your life and your understanding of the universe if you hear it.

Would this piss your party off?
>maze of ruins, half of it is semi-submerged in swamp muck
>inhabited by a band of ten Kobolds and the two Black Dragon Wyrmlings they worship
>guerilla warfare hell. Kobold traps everywhere
>Wyrmlings can move quickly by diving underwater
>They can also fire acid beams through "arrow holes" built specifically for breath weapons
>Most dangerous room is a straight hallway. One Wyrmling appears on one end, her twin on the other. Both will use breath weapons simultaneously if possible
I think the party is about the right level for this BUT all the traps and bullshit will kick it up a notch.

>>97434094
my experience running a maze of kobold traps for my players is they just triggered every one of them even when spotting them
>you see a box with a lid tied to a string, and hear a faint buzzing coming from within
>i open the box
>a swarm of wasps flies out and attacks you

but desu my players are just terrible. I hate them

>>97434094
Do they have a caster or some other way to effectively deal with those hazards, like freezing the water or blocking the arrow holes? If not, maybe give them some spell scrolls or an allied npc that can help?

>>97433989
>He's a wizard
What isn't a wizard in some sense? Even fighters struggle to avoid the label with some of their subclasses.

If I was going to play a bard, it'd be a Valor Bard who I play as a historian who recounts tales of older heroes to his allies to inspire them in battle. His motivation would be to find more of an ancient saga that the scholars only have bits and pieces of.

>>97433870
I'm a player is this campaign.
As a barbarian, round 1, I walked up and attacked, round 2, I was turned, round 3, I walked up and attacked.

>>97433939
Almost. One player, drinking a lot and rambling, turned every round into a chance for extended, slow roleplay.

The wizard did a little of the hesitating on your post, but not out of a lack of thinking. They were trying to come up with ways to trick the DM. They did also, somehow, forget what a spell save DC is. And where it is on their character sheet.

>>97434220
They have a pretty versatile cleric but point taken. It might be fun to give them 2 - 3 little mage apprentices who can contribute to the fight (solely by manipulating the environment).
And then they start getting picked off one by one

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This is how I Paladin

>>97434715
Good idea, maybe one of them will somehow survive and become a recurring ally or something.

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which class should I choose for my chud incel male drow lone swordsman type? he took up the blade to kill all foids that stand in the way of the beta uprising. I'm thinking either kensei monk or samurai fighter.

>>97434981
>not Oath of Vengeance Paladin

Kind of just an opinion question, but would you guys say it's more fun and/or cool to be a gish, or a full caster?

>>97435201
gish

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>Casters when the DM's latest boss monster wields a comically oversized mirror

>>97435201
Gish
It's plain and simple, if you swing a weapon you are a main character. If you don't, you aren't. I don't make the rules

>>97435452
I mean, there are some works of fiction out there where the dedicated caster is the protagonist...

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What's a good word to use like we'd use "humanity" in real life, as in to encompass all the people of a world, but in this context it's essentially all the humanoid races of a world.
I've had some people say "mortal kind", but that sounds too disconnected to me, like something a god or immortal creature would use to describe inferiors

>>97435490
kith

>>97435490
it would need to be something that describes the common ground for all humanoids.
"mortal kind" removes immortal humanoids from that group.
How about "soul carriers", "2 legged walkers", "brain users"? None really have a nice rind to it. It would be easy if they all had a single point of origin like a continent, planet or god. Something like "gaia's children".

>>97435490
peoples

you ever have the location, the creatures, and the npcs you want, but then making actually original scenes/encounters/setups is a blank. just that last little ingredient that ties everything together into something new/fun with conflict and choices

>just let the players guide the story bro
dont start with that reddit "RAILROAD RAILROAD" shit. Things need to be setup before the players guide the story. If there's a serial killer mystery, you need to actual setup first that theres a guy killing people before the players start affecting the outcome.

for example if i have some goblin dungeon, a goblin king, his ogre cook who is dumb and strong, one fun thing could be that the players infiltrate through the garbage chute in the kitchen where the ogre throws all the fish bones he cuts. they stink of fish, he looks confused, they realize he's a prisoner, etc - this is a fun setup that is far more interesting than just walking into 1 ogre in a room and fighting it

How ruthless are the different breeds of metallic dragons, when it comes to killing chromatic Wyrmlings?
>Wyrmlings =/= Babies
I know, I get it. But still, nipping a potential rival in the bud when he's only, what, five years old...? That's still kinda brutal

>>97435490
Children of man, or if that sounds too human-only or disconnected, maybe intelligent life, or Common-kind?

>>97435490
Featherless bipeds

>>97435490
Bros.

>>97435490
The Allied.

Which is better overall, Rogue: Scout or Ranger: Hunter?

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I've made picrel as an add-on to Steinhardt's. Do you think it's balanced?
Cleavers are 1d8, heavy, versatile(1d12).

>>97436127
no

>>97435490
seeing this image just makes me hate that aaisamars aren't just humans with wings

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>>97436192
Well, you can get wings temporarily depending on your type. Though if you just want to play someone with wings, 5e has the old avariel UA for elves.

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>>97436192
I tend to reskin Aarakocra as humans with wings if I want that appearance for a character

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What's the smuggest class?

>>97436301
rogue

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>>97436301
:/

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>>97436593
What a downgrade

>>97436127
Just make it a longsword but instead of Sap use Graze as the Weapon Mastery

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Snow canceled tonight's game. I played Halo instead. Made me think of the old d&d videos I liked when I first got into the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haOys7E2Zbo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-leYc4oC83E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ2SgzjTxaE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM8sIVzvOlw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6jyVXwonTA

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>>97437002

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>>97437023

>>97437023
>>97437026
Then they fall in lurve

>>97435201
>Fun
Depends on what you enjoy doing. Some gishes just turn into the same thing every turn which I find dull. Some are much more involved.

>Cool
Gish is probably cooler

god, I need to come up with a new character but none of my ideas are the right combo of funny but also real people with actual ambitions and goals. I can't believe how badly my imagination has decayed

>>97437778
Play a human male fighter who fights because it's all he knows how to do. Like his options in life are be an adventurer or turn into Robert DeNiro's character from Taxi Driver.

>>97437778
Celestial Patron Warlock who loves unicorns to the point where she makes a pact with one. She hopes to make friends with it and convince it to use its power to liberate her people's homeland from evil invaders.

>>97428665
Really makes you think.

>>97437023
>>97437026
what comic?

>>97439138
It's the only couple pages Culexus has released so far of these two in his Garlands fantasy setting.

>>97435201
Gish
I'm biased as hell tho, I love swordmages

>>97435471
Yeah, dumb gay ones.

Honestly, a Four Person Person Party where everyone does the "Core Four Multiclass" but Overspecced into one of the Core Four Roles could be really fun
>Fighter Role PC: Champion/War Domain/Assassin/Bladesinger
>Cleric Role PC: Battlemaster/Life Domain/Thief/Abjuration
>Rogue Role PC: Samurai/Knowledge Domain/Mastermind/Illusion
>Wizard Role PC: Eldritch Knight/Arcana Domain/Arcane Trickster/Evocation

I wish there were official published Avariel stats that didn’t come from an Unearthed Arcana. Most DMs don’t allow those…

>>97440038
I'd have a hard time finding something more boring.

>>97440058
Can't imagine many DMs would take particular issue with it unless they were down on flying races in general. It's baseline elf, plus flight that doesn't work in anything heavier than studded leather.

>get ignored in casual rp all the time
>my big moments are brushed off no matter what the context
>break my paladin oath to save another party member, met with zero thanks or acknowledgement from anyone
>still have negative effects from this over a full real life year later
>constantly get grief for the one big fight i caused that wouldnt have even been an issue if anyone cared to help
>despite others throwing way more
>dm punishes me further for being bitter towards the people that actively undermine everything i do (in-character)
im on good terms with these people irl so thats not it, what the hell am i doing wrong? are they just not engaged enough to care? thats probably it, but i cant help but feel like its my fault somehow

>>97440384
have you talked to them?

>>97440439
ive brought it up to the dm a few times but he mostly just focuses on how i should work with the party instead of against them, undermining the point. hes a great guy, but this is one thing i strongly disagree with him on

>>97440384
Retire the character. Clearly you're not happy having to play them in that fuckass campaign, and they're clearly not happy having you play them in that fuckass campaign.

Have you ever commissioned art for a character

>>97441059
if you're gonna do it, try to get them to show wips as it's the only way to distinguish ai (for now)

>>97441059
Yes. Will probably run you about $30+ for something with color, $60+ if you're looking at something higher quality.
Most artists are chill but there will almost always be delays

>>97440384
>>97440445
I suspect there is another side to the story. You’re probably playing a Lawful Stupid/annoying paladin who moralfags every situation. Either have your character lighten up or roll up someone new. If he’s always at odds with the party maybe he’d just leave.

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>>97441164
>>97441184
Do you think it'd be rude to send examples of a certain style and say I want something like it to specific artists open to comms?
Would it be better to post a request somewhere public and see if I get a response

>>97441453
This is one of the few times when reddit is useful.
Go to Hungry Artists or a similar art request subreddit. Post the style you are looking for and your budget. You will get several offers, weed through their post history to find the ones who A. Don't use AI and B. Actually draw in the style you want. (Lots of artists draw in just ONE style, so make sure its the one you want). From there you can PM the artist you like to get started. Also depending on the platform they use, there might be a 5% or 10% "tip" built into the cost. So factor that in ahead of time before revealing your budget.

As a player, would you rather receive money or a flavorful yet underpowered magic item? (At level 3)

I want to give the Paladin a reward but as Im thumbing through list after list of magic doodads Im starting to think fuck it, maybe his superior will just send a sack of gold. Gift card for Christmas style

How do you justify radiant or light-themed spells for a cleric of Shar

>>97442080
>Cleric of shar
So edgy and original. How about choosing a different deity you edgy cunt? How about that?

>>97442080
you dont
at some point reflavoring can only do so much, 180s are just not possible. You have to simply avoid it as a player or strongly suggest if not forbid as a DM

the game is badly designed in those ways, like celestial warlocks getting access to arms of hadar etc. There is no reflavoring or gymnastics that can make some things make sense

>>97442080
blacklight

>>97442080
>How do you justify radiant or light-themed spells for a cleric of Shar
You don't
Just don't use those spells. I refuse to resurrect people on my grave cleric because of this

>>97442295
bro I fucking kneel so hard for players who do shit like this to stay in character no joke like god damn

>>97426775
>TQ:
Is it bad if I don't allow familiars to do the Help Action? I fucking hate it. When I allowed it, I had to start casting AoE spells to kill them all the time. It's so fucking stupid. That was not the intended use of familiars and everyone knows it.

>>97442313
Yes, holy shit, git gud. Just throw a single attack at it, wouldn't you if you were in a swordfight and some fucking owl kept clawing your eyes?
>wow advantage on one attack, these pcs are too strong!!
just stop dming at that point

>>97442352
Nah, son. It makes no sense, it should cost an action to allow a familiar to Help. Reasons: Obvious, fuck that.

>>97442039
Depends a little bit.
I’d lean for the magic item (because that’s fun for me). But you need to make it underpowered, not useless. A sword that changes colors on command is neat, but frankly not worth carrying if you already have a sword. But like... A Horn of Silent Alarm or like a Tree Token - those are fucking great. Not needing atunement is a nicety as well - means you can keep them even when you level up and get more functional stuff

>>97428332
how many souls in a medieval world really end up in a higher plane anyway?

seems rather trivial to end up doing more harm than good in a life where toil doesn't guarantee safety or comfort

i mean most mortal lives are probably beneath the notice of most gods, good or bad but only lower planes really care to corrupt or torment mortals independent of their worship

>>97442360
>it should coat an action to have something take its action
You're retarded. Reasons: Obvious, your post

Any reccomendations for a one-shot to give to a group (3+gm all new) to try dnd for the first time?

>>97442039
I've been in a campaign where money was effectively useless
And another campaign where the other thing was useless

If you as DM want to reward him and are using his superior as an excuse, has the Paladin said there's something he wants? Have you asked?

If this is an inworld thing stemming from his superior, which holy order is it, what mission have they put him on, does that suggest something?

>>97442747
Bad Apples by Dan Coleman or a Wild Sheep Chase. If you must be level 1 the Delian Tomb.

>>97435490
Hnau

>>97442080
The only good spells from 0-4 that deal radiant damage are True Strike 2024 (which isn't even on the cleric list but it's a common pickup from origin feats) and Spirit Guardians, and with both of those spells dealing radiant damage is optional. I think you're going to be fine.

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>>97441059
A bit too much than I would like to admit, got a bit scared doing some rough accounting of the total sum since I started asking for comm since 2020 when I started getting good jobs (and not having much important spending). Pic related was one of my latest comm.
>>97441453
you should seek artists that have style close to what you want, it's not -that- rude, but you have to play towards the artist strength to get a satisfactory result for you (and its better to have the artist having fun/be interested in what you are asking them beyond the money).
I now have a pretty nice roster of trusted artists I commissioned multiple times, but lately the few new I sought out for some project have been a bit lacking regarding delays & communication, I can be very patient, but I'm a bit pissed off that in one case its been like 6 months and in another one 3 years.

Playing 2024 monk but DM made as roll stats

My starting stats are
STR 12
DEX 15
CON 13
INT 10
WIS 14
CHA 9

Am I fucked that DEX and WIS aren't 16?

>>97435850
>How ruthless are the different breeds of metallic dragons, when it comes to killing chromatic Wyrmlings?
It'd depend on the types of dragons in question, and the circumstances.
For the most part, I think Wyrmlings would escape a full grown Dragons attention.
Most adult dragons would not go out of their way to hunt them down, but if the Wyrmling where to engage them in combat they wouldn't hesitate to kill them either.
I could see a younger Golden or Brass Dragon killing a Wyrmling that's terrorizing the countryside or a Silver Dragon taking up arms to protect 'his' humans.
One thing about your core premise id challenge though: A metallic dragon would not kill a chromatic wyrmling because it's a "potential rival" but because it's an, well, evil creature and damaging to the world around it.
A Golden Dragon wouldn't storm the castle of a noble stupid enough to hatch and keep a Red Wyrmling (at least not until the Baron and his court got flambéed).

>>97443426
>picking a class before stats
ngmi

How do you guys handle custom classes or porting classes over from other editions/systems?

>>97443243
>3 years
Jesus. Hopefully you haven't paid in full up front or something
I'll probably end up posting on an art commission place on reddit like that ither anon suggested

>>97443426
Your background bonuses should be able to make both 16.

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>>97443625
>you haven't paid in full up front or something
aha yes i did Like I get that the artist has a big waitlist+professional contract with a wargaming line, but its a bit disheartening yeah (they did drew me two other comm, one which took a while, another almost immediatly, they were less complex so I'm not suprised that they were done quicker but shit man). If no set delivery time was sent, my habit was to contact the artist every three months or so, but lately I realized that 3 months is actually pretty long for single characters commissions.
Pic related was done in less than two weeks which was more than satisfactory, so yeah don't hesitate to ask for delivery time+asking for update accordingly

never used reddit before, I did see some comms popping up there, but I was annoyed that almost none of them were showing their prices, which makes me much less likely to ask them.

>>97443621
I usually don't, I'm all for putting new subclasses or homebrewing them, but I can't be bothered with implementing new classes; even if stuff like the Binder or the Avenger are really up my alley. Some of 5e content more or less fits them, like the vengeance paladin, or the new UA binder (which I find really mediocre though)

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What does the Artificer's Eldritch Cannon look like for your Artificer?

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>>97443832
I have honestly never played artificer
It just doesn't appeal to me

>>97443662
That's already after background bonuses

>>97443994
Should've picked a different class then

>>97443243
I'm having a current issue with an artist I paid upfront where its been almost four months.
I don't want to bother him for updates because he does good work and I feel like it may pressure him to rush.

>>97444016
I wouldn't have 16s regardless of the class I took.

>>97444036
True but you picked a MAD class even after realizing your stats are ass for a class that isn't MAD

>>97444058
I could rock a Monk with those stats. Sounds fun to RP. I might avoid combat as a tank, but popping in for a run by would be reasonable.

>>97442559
>Makes game unplayable
>Theatre kids get emotional when you kill their snake or whatever
>Gives literal advantage on everything they feel like once a turn

This is garbage, how do you not see that?

I know a lot of people here don’t like AI art, so don’t read what follows or you might get annoyed
After weeks of trying, I think I’ve finally found the ideal prompts to create my character.First, I take photos of actors, singers, athletes, or anyone really. Then I edit them using the ideal prompts I found, and finally I have them redrawn so they look like an illustration. I really like this process because it allows me to personalize my character a lot

>>97444269
And you’re not going to share the result? Also pen is pretty good at getting your ideas on a piece of paper

>>97444269
I found the trick is to work on the prompt with the AI and then use that prompt on a new chat.

>>97444357
Here to say I tried this recently. It's actually a lot better than just trying to come up with a prompt on your own.

>>97444356
I'm kind of shy about sharing it, but basically I did what this anon said
>>97444357
Always use the prompt in a new chat. Don't make the prompt too long because, in my case at least, they end up forgetting one thing or another.

I'm realizing that all of my world building is pointless because players are far more concerned with their own backstories than any world history. I'm not saying this is a problem, but I'll just focus less on detailed lineages and shit in the future.

>>97444402
The hard truth is that nobody gives a fuck about the history of a royal family or whatever unless that royal family is directly involving a player. Make a player or the entire group royalty and tell them ahead of time that the campaign is based around this.
If your players have a backstory full of npcs put those npcs in important positions

>>97444461
I had a player that had no history or personality beyond "I'm looking to find or build a gun for my min max." I mean, how is this fun?

>>97444483
Sounds like a shitty player
Did you drop a campaign hook prior to session 1? Something as simple as "You all are a part of a failing noble house on the verge of collapse in a declining empire" works to inform the players a lot
Some players will engage with it
Some shit players like him won't
But if you just go "hey lets play dnd" then the player is either shit or purposefully created a character without a complex background so he could more effectively intertwine himself with a main campaign plot

>>97444522
So, we genuinely had pages of their tribe's history, special names for leaders, past connections, a reason for joining the party to experience life. But they seemed to prefer that damn gun during convos and plot events.

In all fairness, they were on their way to a larger quest line in our sandbox campaign, but the players didn't seem interested in hooks when I baited them. This was probably a me issue, I was relatively new to DMing.

>>97444483
VET your players AND characters

step 1: is this a responsible adult who takes the game and everyone's time seriously or some no job stoner who will be late, fickle, or high
step 2: is their character interesting for both the dm to play with and the other players, does it have distinctive traits to play and a reason to be adventuring that can easily tie to hooks, and not just "become more powerful"

you dont have to fucking accept any player and every character. there is a line of players waiting for a game, you have the power

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Still messing with beastfolk homebrew, this one's a racial trait for a bearman, how does it look? painted portrait for one too

Ineluctable
When you attack a creature with an unarmed or melee Opportunity Attack, you add 1d4 plus proficiency bonus to both attack and damage rolls

feels balanced or would the 1d4 need changing? I feel like just giving advantage is too strong and the bearman's allies would just try to proc it constantly

>>97430019
So boring i couldn't finish despite my best efforts so not sure sorry

>>97444402
The goal with worldbuilding is to present your players with a scaffolding on which to build their character concepts and backstories. So you should have enough meat there for them to dig into if they choose, but enough blank space on the page for them to fill in with the character’s history.

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>>97433939
You are describing one of my players and he's been playing tabletop games and Dungeons and Dragons for more then 2 decades.

>>97435490
I use the term Commonfolk.

>>97443621
I’m honestly unsure of how to answer that as a general question. Some classes in previous editions make more sense in 5e as subclasses, while others work better as full classes. Some classes are straightforward to build just by giving them a spellcasting/initiating/psionic progression and a core feature that advances with class levels and gets modified by subclasses.

>>97445078
How is advantage (mechanically about a 3.25 increase) too strong compared to 1d4 (average 2.5) + Prof [1 to 6]? You don’t know your math man. And that’s just the to hit, consistently adding that to your damage as well maxes that substantially stronger than just advantage (the increased crit chance is not going to remotely cover the damage difference).

Like consider how good a 1+ sword is. You’re giving them a 3.5 + sword at level 1, that scales even higher, and can be stacked with actual magic weapons on top of that. It's only for the opportunity attack sure, but that is still pretty nuts, considering most racial abilities replicate the effects of like… level 2 or 3 spells most of the time

>>97445078
Like >>97446263 said, this is basically a +2 sword for free for opportunity attacks. I don't think that's a huge problem because opportunity attacks kinda suck, but it's pretty wild in terms of the normal assumptions of system math.

>>97443621
Generally I don't allow it
Unless its something that is thematically fitting for the setting (like the Odyssey of the Dragonlords subclasses in a classical Greek style setting)

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If he was in Faerun where would he live?

Has anyone already (ab)used the CR 0 flying familiar option?
>Medium vulture for Small character or possibly the Large giant fly for even a Medium caster
Assuming the DM allows it, which is reasonable.

>>97446442
I don't consider a fly a cr 0 but whatever. I won't step in the way because it's truly not as broken as one thinks.

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>>97446437
>If he was in Faerun where would he live?
None of ya friggin' business.

>>97446437
>If he was in Faerun where would he live?
It doesn't matter; none of this matters.

>>97446263
yeah im not a maths guy at all sorry, but its wild to hear that advantage is only 3.25, i'd have guessed much higher than that - i'll keep it as just adding proficiency bonus, it's a little frustrating trying to design these things just having to rely on 'damage according to prof bonus' because it seems to be the only stat that scales with levelling up, it's getting a little boring

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Another version of the saw cleaver.

>>97446575
Good enough, sticking it on his sheet

>>97446492
Interesting point.
They seem to only relate CR with danger, so that is why rather harmless flying beasts have been assigned CR 0.
>it's truly not as broken as one thinks
Agreed. We did have flying races in 5.0 aka 2014.
Can fly be broken at level 1? Perhaps a bit, but not a lot. Non-flying enemies have plenty of ranged attack options to choose from.
A 2024 Small caster riding a vulture familiar is not that broken, but it would be fun.
Life perspectives must be pretty interesting for such characters used to seeing the world from above and with rather easier travel.

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>>97443832
A wooden/puppet Mamodo from Zatch Bell.

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>>97426775
What forms of Shapechange do you know of that you can use to give yourself a bunch of long-duration self or party-wide buffs? These are the ones I could find:
>Arcanaloth/Archmage: Mind Blank
>Dao, Djinni, Efreeti, Marid, Zodar (Death Ward): Wish
>Githyanki Dracomancer: Nondetection
>Blackguard: Find Steed
>Witherbloom Pledgemage: Death Ward
>Adult Bronze Dragon: Water Breathing
>Kraken Priest: Water Walk
>Cultist Hierophant: Mass Suggestion
>Animal Lord: Animal Shapes

>>97446442
I disallow it because it only exists due to the fact that its a magic items stat block and not an actual monster

>>97446442
>Large giant fly
I will make an argument for why you should allow this, besides the nature of it not really being all that powerful: When the Giant Fly was made they chose to give it a CR rating- instead of placing the CR at 'None'. The Avatar of Death has a CR of 'None'. They could have done that here, but chose not to, due to that- I would allow a PC to Conjure a Giant Fly as their familiar. They still have to afford the Exotic Saddle to ride it.
In fact, the 2014 version of the Giant Fly had no listed CR, making it effectively have a CR of 'None' so they did purposely give it a CR of 0.

>>97446589
He’s a little off. It’s 3.325, not 3.25 (maybe just remembering it wrong). The average roll for advantage is 13.825 compared to the average flat 1d20 being 10.5. It matters, and crits make things a bit better for advantage as well because you’re doubling your opportunities to get a 20, but still it’s not giant or anything.

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>>97443832

>>97447695
>You need a hero tonight
>Someone to stand by your side
>Oh, I'm not the man that you need
>But I may be all that you've got

>>97447816
>Been slowly working on pushing my character into a shittier and shittier situation solely so I can drop "I may not be a hero but god I can still be a man" or some other protomen line
I know it's dumb
But fuck the songs are so good I don't care

>>97446845
I didn't know the giant fly came from the ebony fly figurine of wondrous power.
I looked it up, thanks for pointing it out. It is rather kind of quirky, so it could be reasonable for a DM to not allow its use as a normal beast.
The build could still be used with the vulture and a Small character, as was my test build with a rock gnome that makes one or two Prestidigitation 10 hour devices for his vulture to use. Nothing game breaking.
>>97446882
Interesting, fair enough.

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>Trapped in shitty monster motel dungeon. Mephits everywhere.
>Wizard: What now?
>NPC: Were you asking me?
>Wizard: Yes
>NPC: I don't know, improvise! That's what you people do right? You go running off the map and drag me around by the arm until I'm (sick?)
Touché.
Also that was a cute voice you did, do it again.

>>97447893
One of the great joys of DMing is being able to ham it up with villains and Protomen Wiley is fucking great for that.
>From the top of the world, every path leads down.

>>97447937
Yeah
I typically run a lot of human villains in my campaigns but I'm shifting away from them for my current stuff in favor of a bunch of inhuman monsters acting in their nature, but I do miss being able to be hammy with my antagonists like that

>>97431775
>This is my feat.
>I got it because I wanted my PC to have it.
>Fuck you.

>>97448233
cool, find another game

>grapple and shove are attack actions
>stabilizing a creature is a help action
>spells and magic items are magic actions
>using tools is a utilize action
>searching for fingerprints is a study action

how do you feel about actions being used for multiple things? Should escaping a grapple be a disengage action? Should charging be a dash action?

>>97448342
It's good. No. No.

Buddy the only 'action' I care about is the kind I have with your mom

>>97448342
>Should charging be a dash action?
Isn't charging already a dash action? Isn't that what the whole charger feat is?
>Should escaping a grapple be a disengage action?
Being something you could replace as part of an attack (like how extra attack can let you try to shove multiple times) could be interesting, since then it makes it so martial characters are more skilled at trying to break grapples.
But that's kinda convoluted, and I don't really see a point otherwise.

Which dragon type is the sexiest?

>>97448504
>bard hands typed this post

>>97448504
Silvers, due to them having a species-wide pregnancy/humanoid fetish.

>>97448504
Kimono Dragons

>>97448504
Red. I just think red is a very erotic colour.

I need some help with my Hexblade Warlock build. I'm trying to decide if it'll be better to go for a dual wield or heavy weapon build.
Currently level 5 with 20 Cha and 18 Dex.
I plan on taking Spirit Shroud at level 6 and then GWM at level 8.
I'm wondering if I should instead go for Fighting Initiate at level 8 for Two weapon fighting since I've been using a +2 Shortsword and a +1 Dagger.
The idea is that with Spirit Shroud, I can get an extra attack with TWF and I wouldn't have to work around the attack drop from GWM, but with GWM, I can deal more damage and eventually use Polearm Master at level 12 for the extra hit.

Why wizkids, nolzur and framworks minis so out of scale?

>Take a look at the Warlock vestige that came out because Binders were cool in 3.5
>It's just a pet subclass where the big final level is that your Vestige gains a pre-existing stat block but stronger

Does no one in WotC like their job or want to try to have fun?


>>97426775
>>Does your party remember their familiars? Do they spam the help action?

No one bothers using Familiars in our campaign. We have a Hexblade but I don't think they've ever used Pact of the Chain
Being the certified mage of the Party I've used it once or twice, I stick to using summon/conjure spells because I favor them more

I haven't played in about a month... well, putting that aside, has anyone here played Bard Lore? How was it? Did you like it? I'm interested in playing one when the time comes.

>>97449223
>use name of a previous class/subclass/power/feat
>new one literally has nothing to do with the old one
this happens so often I refuse to believe is not made on purpose, and not just with wotc but paizo too

>>97449302
Another failing is that you only get three options and out of the three options Fiend is easily the weakest. You're basically waiting for it to get good at level 14.
Plus there's only three options, you have creature types like Fey and Aberrations but you're stuck with Celestial, Fiend and Undead for some reason. It's in UA so maybe they'll add more but I doubt it, they probably don't want too much overlap with the other subclasses they'll have to port back over
The Dying God pet is the novelty but you're really only playing this subclass for the Cleric spells you'll be getting

Is there a concise list of rule variants and non core rules (official not homebrew) for 2014?

Has anyone tried mechanical variants that they liked?

I am curious how people feel about the +/- 5 in place of dis/advantage for instance

>>97430921
Behind a screen, but commonly they do pick up their dice to prove it to us.
>>97432723
I am the artist of the group, it could be neat to start being the cartographer.

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Can hags be male?

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For reasons i won't bother mentioning i'm basically forced to run this thing in the weekend for 2 greenhorns, i've heard that it's kinda shit but i was curious to hear more about it

I have never been asked to keep track of spell components when I play. Is that normal or is my group just lazy?

>>97450267
Only note spell components with a GP value. Otherwise a casting implement covers it

Would you say the Eldritch Claw tattoo is worth grabbing on a martial if you're not unarmed? For the extra reach and damage 1/day. We get a free uncommon item in our campaign, I wanted something utility focused but there's not many great options.

Also, any thoughts on ways to reflavour tattoo items? At risk of sounding like a prissy nerd I don't think a tat fits my character's image, even if it's a temporary magic one.

>>97440038
Why is cleric given BM and Thief when PDK and Mastermind both fit way better?

>>97450180
I can see ways one would write a setting in which they could be, but they can't in mine because the way they work is so tied into the maiden-mother-crone trichotomy.

>>97450239
Glancing through it, I think it's fine for two brand new players for a 4 hour one shot. The setting does sound a little dissonant with the players starting level but whatever. Like all modules, read it and adjust, especially if you've only got 2 players. Wrangle 2 other dudes to flesh out a party of 4.

question: does this character sound more like a rogue or warlock

>treasure hunter who didn't realize the tomb he was looting was a dragon's lair
>the dragon let him live, but now he's under a geas to gather loot for the dragon

>>97451251
Does the dragon teach/grant him new powers to aid in treasure gathering? Warlock.
Does he gather loot by subtly infiltrating locations and taking it by stealthy means? Rogue

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>Delete Ability Improvement Feat
>Delete all Ability Gain from Feats
>Every 3 CHARACTER's Level, gain Ability Improvement (no matter how hard you multiclass)
>Gain 3 Ability Improvement points, but 2 is maximum you can out on single ability at once, so you can only put 2 in one and 1 in one or 1 in to three
r8

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I know the final answer will always be "Just Make Your Own TM" but does anyone know of any good level 1 and up campaigns? Ideally third party. I've looked into Theros and it's cool but not my favorite and Grim Hollow looks like it'd be fun but also like it has so much homebrew it might as well be a new game.

I'm not nitpicky but I wanna run a short campaign for new players and I wouldn't wanna bog them down with all that.

Any advice?

>>97451520
Seems primarily to be a buff to multiclassing and various MAD classes. A Monk probably appreciates being able to get to 20 Dex and 18 Wis by level 6. But same is said for any Sorcadins or the like who aren't delaying stat boosts by dipping for features.
Given that dipping-based multiclassing is already the strongest form of multiclassing, I'm not sure how this makes the game any healthier.

>>97451546
What about every 5th level?
Then we can safely cap at 20 level and it's only 12.

>>97450180
There's hagspawn, which are all male.

>>97451520
Utterly fails to recognize or address what the actual issues are.

>>97442313
If you're going to mess with find familiar, which is a completely reasonable thing to do, you should make it not a ritual.

Where do familiars come from?

>>97452102
magic

>>97452102
magic stork

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This is a weird question but how do you handle players who're leaning too hard into the tactics? Not "deal with" in a bad way.

My party is all new players, like literally first ttrpg they've played new. And I love them a lot, they're real fun players with interesting characters but also they're still too "videogame pilled" I guess for lack of a better word. Last game they spent a full hour arguing with each other on the proper strategy to fighting a low level encounter. (I only let it go that long to see if they'd keep going and yeah... I ended up having to stop them at the full hour mark).

This is people I genuinely enjoy playing with so I can't just kick their asses. But I've talked to them about it and they said they'd try and tone it down and while I see them putting effort, and checking each other when they get too strategy minded, it's still happening.

I don't mind the strategy angle, D&D is the kind of game that does require strategizing but I don't like it getting in the way of the game. If they were thinking strategically while playing it's one thing but they'll have full on arguments and debates and stop everything.

>>97452102
When a mommy familiar and a daddy familiar love each other very much...

>>97452102
The elemental plane of familiars.

>>97452102
All hilarious responses aside, with their description as fey, fiend or celestial spirits from appropriate Planes of Existence who adopt the shapes of animals (mostly), I like to consider that they somehow enter an agreement with the casters they will indefinitely obey. Such an agreement could be automatically made via the spell Find Familiar.
Perhaps what they want in exchange is the experience of life in the Material World. Or some far fetching plan of their own or of someone else (like their caster's patron, in the case of warlocks, for example).

>>97453101
As you pointed out, strategy is fine and all, but too much can cause the game to be too slow.
One common recommendation is to establish a subjective time limit for each player. For ex.:
>on their turn, the PC is taking too long discussing tactics with the others
>DM says 'Time is of the essence' and if the player hasn't decided what to do in 30s it will be assumed they were paralyzed in shock for that turn
Things will begin to move more quickly very soon.

>>97453601
I'm just gonna assume every plane has an Office of Familiar Employment where various critters and tiny spirits go find work for a spellcaster in exchange for room and board, exp(osure) and the possibility of traveling the planes.

And the suckers even fall for it!

>>97453101
If the encounter has already started, I'd implement a turn timer. Not necessarily for finishing their turn, but giving them 1 minute to declare alwhat they intend on their action/spell to be or else they just dodge.
That would at least cut out the possibility of the players trying to argue or coach mid-battle.

If it's prior to battle, you can do something similar by rolling for random encounters if they're just arguing back and forth (presumably in character for at least portions of it)
But something else you could do if you see things going back and forth with no progress is to ask each player to summarize a plan, and then have them vote. That might cause some resentment depending on how things go, but so long as the result of a plan isn't catastrophic they'll probably adjust.
Setting up a timer for planning might also work, if you just tell them they've got 5 minutes to declare an approach, but that is a bit more heavy handed.

>>97453101
Within the encounter? Players get about 15 seconds per turn to decide what they want to do before they have to execute it.

Strategizing before the encounter? Your call as the GM on what kind of time frame is appropriate. If they're sneaking up on a guard post and arguing too long about how to approach it, the guard is relieved to go out on patrol or their arguing makes enough noise that the guard gets suspicious and investigates. Or if they're not yet seen by a goblin raiding party that's doing their thing and the party argues about how to stop it, eventually the goblins will have gotten what they came for and fuck back off to their nest.

>>97452102
IIRC the way it works the find familiar spell just clumps together some magical stuff and it takes the shape of one of the archetypal familiar critters.

>>97450267
In our group's second campaign the DM pointed out that a spell had a GP cost component and the player was like oh we don't bother with that, do we? The DM was like "yeah, of, course we do?" and I put in that the components a spell has is part of how it's balanced and by ignoring it you're sidestepping a nontrivial part of the design.

>>97453623
>the second most common reason for imps to submit their application at the Minauros branch office was to escape belligerent amnizu debt collectors
>the most common reason was to escape the uniquely foul stench that pervaded the layer, whispered to be the most putrid in all the planes

>>97453694
Yes many spells are balanced by the component cost. Were people just going around casting spells like resurrection and heroes' feast for free? That would obviously be overpowered.

>Talked to the group and decided to convert to OneDnD
6 months later, I want to go back. Why the fuck did EVERYTHING receive a buff? Was it really necessary? Did Spirit Guardians really need a buff? Oh, I remember those dreadful times, when no cleric ever used Spirit Guardians, finally it's viable now.

>>97453806
We weren't that high level and I don't know what the guy was doing in his other games. I think Augury was the spell and it would have been the first time it came up.

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>>97453828
I generally prefer 5.5e but I really fail to see the point of it. It makes extremely small improvements while not fixing the genuine issues of 5e like non-proficient saves not scaling at all, the caster vs non-caster divide, and the ubiquity of cantrips. They introduced new worse issues like no half-races, and ability scores being tied to backgrounds so every monk is a sailor etc.

>Ackchually anon you can just make a custom background
Many people don't bother with that. If they were going to remove ability scores being tied to race they should have just made them floating so you add the bonus however you wanted. But then the question would be asked

>Why have bonuses at all and not just change the point buy system?
Why indeed WoTC, why indeed.

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Alright boys, which class am I playing next campaign? Options are:
>Sorcerer
>Warlock
>Fighter
>Ranger
>Bard
I accept subclass recommendations too, for fun, power or just sheer flavor.

>>97453828
What's OneDnD?

>>97453892
The 2024 edition, the updated rerelease, call it whatever you want, smartass

>>97453892
The old term for 5.5e/2024 D&D. They didn't give it an actual name so everyone calls it something different. They must know it's not the OneD&D they wanted and probably will be replaced in a few years just like essentials for 4e.

>>97453873
I agree tying bonuses to background was a bit of a miss (or the awkward background feats), but I feel like the bonuses act as a bit of a fail safe for lower rolls since people still like to roll for stats.

I am mad about how badly they butchered Great Weapon Master and Sharpshooter.
Finding ways to mitigate the risk and get the high reward is what made them worth taking imo.

>>97453886
>human
>champion
>fighter

>>97453917
>I am mad about how badly they butchered Great Weapon Master and Sharpshooter
I think the game's better balanced without them. They were centralising and you they feel more interesting if they scale rather than getting a huge spike at level 4 or 1 if you go CL or vuman. Also SS on hand crossbow just made other ranged options pointless.

>>97453873
>Mfw I actually pick human so I can get the origin feat I want while still getting the background that I want.

humans stay winning.

>>97453917
I actually enjoy the thought of playing a 2weaponfighter and think its good that sharpshooter was nerfed (archery fighting stays winning though)

Anyone else who has never felt really comfortable playing a Warlock or Cleric? The whole "all of your power is being given to you by someone else" thing just gives me anxiety. What if they change their mind? What if they die? What if I want to SURPASS them and I literally can't? What if I just find out their political ideals don't align with mine and now shit's awkward af at family dinners?

Even Paladins already feel a bit much to me, and they don't even have to please a particular person, just their own initial ideas!

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>>97453886
Female half-elf Ranger with wolf companion.

>>97454104
in the forgotten realms, gods dont randomly change their minds in the forgotten realms (outside of Lolth but she's bae so she gets a pass).

gods will have an alignment which you should know of and will have a set of beliefs that they support. Gods get their power from worshippers, and then in turn grant it back to clerics and their higher followers. Gods have a vested interest in maintaining their position. Also, if a god does die somehow, or does change their position, some other god will take their position.

Warlocks are pact driven, and the patron cant opt out unilaterally after granting the power. Also, there's nothing stopping you from killing your patron if they're some weaker being.

Paladins are just people who have a set of ideals that they believe in, if this is an issue with you, take some philosophy classes and start exploring your own ideals

>>97453101

Turn time limits. Give everyone 2 minutes max for a turn (this is frankly generous).
If they spend a super long amount of time before the combat planning things out - move the enemies and ambush them

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>>97453886
>Human
Check
>Fighter
Check
>Male
Check
>Straight
Check
>White check
>Dick
Lubed
>Bitches
swooning
>Alphabet mafia
Seething

>>97453101
>videogame pilled
if your problem is how they see the game (as something win rather than as a collaborative experience) then it's never gonna get better. My advice is to start a campaign with players you curate for their gamestyle preferences, and keep playing with friends the type of game they like

if your problem is how long they spend talking to each other, you shouldnt. As a dm there's nothing better than just watching players have fun without your need to intervene

>>97454161
>outside of Lolth
Lolth is Chaotic Fuckery at its worst, someone who screws over her own devoted followers as much as she does her enemies.

At one point she personally healed Drizzt of an abyssal infection he would have died from because she thought the reaction from her clergy would be funny.

Even before she was Lolth, and was the Queen of all Elven gods, she couldn't help it with the treachery. She tried to kill her husband and frame her daughter for it twice before she went into exile with the Dark Seldarine.

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>>97454279

>>97454412
im aware of how based Lolth is, you dont have to tell me more.

>>97454279
>White check
That fuckup told me all I needed to know about (You)

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>>97454104
Ok well I've been reading around and apparently there's enough hints out there in novels and in the exact wording of the books that it can be assumed the relationship between patron and warlock is closer to teacher and student than, like, landlord and tenant. Which I like vastly more.

Might actually go ahead and make a warlock next time I have a chance now.