/5eg/ D&D 5th Edition General

Taking damage when you're at zero does not "Reduce you to zero". That is not what the word "reduce" means.

Aside from that, the fact that there's a sentence about instant death "when reduced to zero" and a seperate one about instant death when you take damage at zero hit points strongly implies that there's a distinction there.

Those are rules for when the players aren't choosing to leave the target stable user.

I thought the misunderstanding about the race came from people who assume that any null they make is under their control.

No, those are the rules for dealing damage to a target with zero hit points. That's why it says "Damage at 0 hit points". There are no rules for dealing nonlethal damage to an unconscious character, largely because there's no reason for any to have existed.

Pages 197 and 292, then go fellate a shotgun

They are fanatically loyal to the nobility, so I'd time that unless a higher ranking vampire says otherwise, they do what their sire says.

I've already clearly explained and cited the rule for non lethal damage at zero user.

If you hit them when they're unconscious they got 1 failed death save, 2 if you're at 5ft from them

Where? You don't reduce a target to zero hit points when they're already at zero.

A stable creature is still an unconscious one and still has 0 HPs therefore when you hit then they get failed death saves

I rule that a target's AC is effectively 0 when he's under 10% of his health and that any roll below 0 is an autocrit = no nonlethal damage.

If my PCs tried to hit an unconscious target, they'd be autocritting and dealing lethal damage.

You do, because damage reduces HP. It just so happens that the reduction is also zero due to dnd not having negative health.

>I rule that a target's AC is effectively 0 when he's under 10% of his health
Ew
That renders those paladin and barbarian abilities that postpone death basically useless

What happened to the guy who posts the 9gag official approved meme list?

Busy week at work, I've only got time for small shitposts.

Fudging rolls.

I keep ready no and I understand that, per RAW, when you hit at melee someone unconscious, even if he's stable, you give his 2 failed death saves. Also I can't find nonlethal damage for when someone is at 0 HPs. Halp Veeky Forums

none of those anons, but at my table, provided it's a melee attack and the target ends up at zero hit points after the damage is determined, I simply ask the player if they're intending to kill or not. No? Then it's unconscious. Yes? It's dead. I'm not interested in giving my NPCs death saves. I've got plenty more NPCs where that came from.

Just re-do it all on NaturalCrit.com

How would you handle partial surprise?
>party holed up in a building
>one of whom has Alert
>spot some enemies coming to stack up on the front door, don't spot the guys setting up to smash through the walls
>enemies plan to breach simultaneously
So, what's the best plan here? Part of this is setting up this organisation as well trained modern style commandos, so having them come in at the same time seems desirable. I'm thinking that what I'll do is have a surprise round involving all the enemies and the Alert guy where they all move in, but allow the other players to ready actions for the guys coming in the door. Assuming that the players don't want to run out and counterattack before their enemies can get in their first turn is going to be readying actions anyway.

I came across a really fascinating idea for initiative that I want to get your input on. Essentially, everyone rolls as normal, but at the beginning of each turn the people at the bottom of the initiative declare their actions first. So if the order is:

>Ranger (18)
>4 Goblins (14)
>Paladin(10)
>Ogre (5)

Then the DM would start by saying what the ogre is going to do, then the paladin would get to declare his action, then the goblins, and finally the ranger.

The idea is that it's supposed to simulate people being more on their toes being able to read slower opponents. What do you guys think? Does it make DEX too good? Most monsters have pretty shit stats, so I feel like this gives the players an even bigger advantage.

The main problem is that players rarely have any idea what they're going to do before their turn actually comes up, and even then 50% of them will take a minute or two.

Source: let's not kid ourselves, you know I'm right

RAW bloodthirst is complex and requires the help of a third party to stabilize the target every turn, so might homerule it as you want, but that doesn't mean the feature is meh rules as written and probably as intended

>roll high initiative
>can never be hit in melee
Seems stupid

I'm kinda partial to just house ruling it to "If the target dies to the damage" and seeing how that plays out.

That's a valid RAI anyways. This way could refer to the attack.

>This makes sense: you can kick an unconscious person without killing them or significantly impacting their odds of surviving.
For what purpose?

Expressing emotion.

Cleric
>Glyph of Warding
>Geas
>Ressurection

>Glyph of Warding the spell Ressurect on a wall in some secret place with the trigger that only your dead corpse can activate it
>Geas an ally or a quasit or some shit to bring enough of your corpse to the glyph in the event that you die

Sounds good, do it

>geas an ally
For what purpose

Just ask, don't be an asshole

Well how that would be handled is if circumstances change so that an action doesn't make sense anymore, then the person can attempt a new action at disadvantage.

Again, it makes sense if we consider that everyone's turn is supposed to be happening simultaneously.

I have a feeling that this will actually help people stay engaged the entire combat, and not just on their turn. They'll be listening to what other creatures are doing, instead of just playing on their phones and going "I attack".

I also think it will help with making combat more tactical. This way you can think about what you're doing in relation to what's going on around you.

It's not even players being on their phones, it's them not planning ahead. My players are always absorbed in combat, and somehow they still have to think when their turn comes up.

>Body lying mangled and bleeding on the ground
>Kicking it violently won't break a rib, puncture a lung or spill stomach acid on anything
Sure, why not

>think cleric spells are kinda neat
>think clerics are kinda neat
>think that a character who is entirely the bitch of the gods is silly

Have a wizard in the party and make a secret underground base with a bed for each party member, spend some time casting resurrection runes on the beds, have wizard cast contingency teleport on your corpses if everyone dies

Bam, you blacked out, return to the pokemon center

>Bleeding someone out
>Nonlethally

>entirely the bitch of the gods is silly
You might be thinking of paladins.

There's a difference between worshiping/following a god and being its slave. A cleric isn't anybody's bitch - a cleric does what he does because he believes it's the right thing to do.

Think of it this way - if the cleric didn't believe in the god's commands, he'd worship a different god.

Read the rules

Clerics don't have to follow a god, they can be just people who are very closely involved in the chosen domain

>Demigods
>Paragons
>De-powered deities

Etc.

>paladin
>bitch of the gods
Paladins don't even need gods, they just need their oath.

>paladins
>bitch of the gods
This isn't a 2e thread, broseph.

I think you've gotten that a bit backwards, champ

>Paladins
>Needing a god
Kek, they only follow justice

> str based ranger

Disgusting.

You can finally get Dex to damage and attack now, and you still want to go with some lame-ass Strength faggot? Put more points into Dex and max out a 20 Dex character.

He's still right about
>There's a difference between worshiping/following a god and being its slave. A cleric isn't anybody's bitch - a cleric does what he does because he believes it's the right thing to do.
>Think of it this way - if the cleric didn't believe in the god's commands, he'd worship a different god.
though.

You could even fluff it as someone who is slowly becoming a god after finding an artifact belonging to a dead and forgotten deity

Yeah, sorry, bitch paladins are a relic of the past. Doesn't change my point, though.

Guy who believes he is a wizard so hard that he's actually an Arcana Cleric.

>being a vampire.
>not able to lethally bleed someone out and make them a servant

The process is definitely lethal user, it's just that you're doing it slowly enough that you can convert them.

Pretty sure you can't cast Contingency Teleport in 5e. Contingency has a limit of 5th level for its linked spell. You'd have to use Contingency Teleport Circle and have an attendant ready to drag the body to your resurrection glyph

>not being a goliath beastmaster
>not grappling people and having your snake constrict them or bite them repeatedly for poison
>not throwing your giant crab into combat
>not having your wolf knock people prone and rip out their throats while you hold them in place

I'm always wary of stuff like this, Satan. I'm sure there's at least one game out there where everyone decides what they're going to do then it's all acted out simultaneously and I'm sure it works fine for that game but D&D just isn't designed that way.

How do you handle reactions?

Hmm you're right, but that wouldn't work either because teleport circle isn't an action

Guess it will have to be cloned wizard

>wizard last to die
>clone wakes up
>teleports to party
>teleports the corpses back to base
>puts them on the resurrection beds

Or just clone everyone

Reactions would just happen as usual.

So go from the bottom up, and everyone would declare their actions, then go down the actions list. As you do people could declare their actions. Kind of like Instant spells in Magic.

Under this system its basically impossible for a high Dex warlock with repelling blast and the 300 range invocation to ever die.

This.
If their intent is non-lethal, and it makes sense for them not to be killing the person, they don't kill the person.
If you personally disagree with that, then screw it and say it's lethal.
Own up to the rules at your table.
It should not be so fucking hard for people to wrap their heads around.

Maybe roll percentile dice for initiative, to randomize it a bit more?

>Or just clone everyone
Yeah. It's pretty hard to imagine a scenario where you can make, and use, a glyph of warding (Resurrection) where it wouldn't be easier to just use Clone.

>Drain creature down to 3 max hp.
>Bite creature, rolling 3 or higher on necrotic damage.
>Creature takes 1+Str mod+ 3 damage and dies instantly because that's more than its maximum HP.
>You still don't get a null.

The way I'd do it is all the enemies plus the Alert guy have surprise round, but any of those he didn't spot have advantage on attacks and such. Or maybe just go with the order:
>Guys smashing through the walls
>Alert guy or front door enemies, whoever wins initiative
>Whoever loses initiative
>End of surprise round, everyone else rolls initiative

>if a creature dies this way, it becomes a null.
>a creature dies this way.
>it doesn't become a null.

Nice blatantly false interpretation of the rules user. Meanwhile, in RAWland, I'm enjoying a zombie army, because the rules clearly say I'd a creature dies due to the drain attack, it becomes a null.

Irony: The post

>that terrible feel when you will never get to play as a player in zendikar because you're the perma dm and your players don't like magic.

Just run Zendikar. Fuck your players. They don't like it, they can go suck someone else's cock.

How would they know you're DMing mtg?

I want one of them to run zendikar for me.

I'm gonna try to brainwash them: run a zendikar campaign so good that if one of them ever steps up to the Dm plate, they will run it themselves.

What are some good warlock spells other than hex? I heard that Armor of Agathys scales really well.

It really doesn't

Command, suggestion, misty step, sleep. That one tentacle spell.

I am just trolling, but RAW
>The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and you regain hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. A humanoid killed in this way becomes a null.
>Target takes damage more than its max hp past 0.
>Target dies due to massive damage
>Does not become a null.
I hope you're getting all your nulls from creatures that were not at 0 current HP while using your 8 Str melee attack to make sure they die from reducing their max hp to 0 rather than from massive damage.

Has anyone tried out the Fighting Spirit rules suggested by the Angry GM?
theangrygm.com/fighting-spirit/

If you're going to be a Str-based ranger, shouldn't you be using a greatsword and Hordebreaker for "6d6+8" and "2d6+4" to the off-target with no feat required, the same AC (because defensive style), and the option to take GWM for +30 damage?

I have been using them and I'm kinda worried they make the party a bit too strong

Last session the cleric got taken down to 0 and he just moved back for a turn, healed up and went back in to crit a lv2 inflict wounds on a boss for 50-something damage, on an encounter they were supposed to run away

I'm happy, don't get me wrong, but later on it might make combat not as exciting

How come? Increased temporary hitpoints and cold damage as the spell level increases. that seems pretty nice.

>Wizard 11, Cleric 10
>Wizard casts Contingency Dimension Door on each party member, target location specified as "twelve feet above X location" (somewhere secure within 500ft of where the big fight is anticipated), trigger specified as "upon death"
>Hole up somewhere secure just before the big boss fight
>Cleric casts one Glyph of Warding linked to Raise Dead per party member, placed around the Wizard's specified location, trigger specified as "if X's corpse touches the Glyph"
>Wizard casts Leomund's Tiny Hut while the Cleric is doing this

If a party member dies, Dimension Door teleports them two feet above the Tiny Hut, which allows them to fall through and contact their Glyph, which Raises them inside the impenetrable dome.

The only hitch is that you need to know the exact location days beforehand, because Dimension door has a 500ft range and Contingency is a 6th level spell.

CL 21?

Two party members. One wizard, one cleric. Wizard needs to be level 11 (for Contingency), Cleric needs to be level 10 (for two level 5 slots for Glyph of Raise Dead)

Shit. Which actually means that the glyphs would need to be in place days befroehand as well, same timeframe as the contingencies, because each one takes two 5th level slots.

Balls. Back to the drawing board.

Yeah 500 feet is the big limiter there. This could be useful in a "defending a town from a huge army" situation though

Oh yeah. On a siege situation it would be amazing.

>5%? That's almost exactly correct.
>Proves it
Spooky. And underrated post.

>What are some good solo magic schematics, fellow engineering?
>Be prepared for him to spout off a bunch of 7th+ level spells.
Or nothing at all. The silence is telling, so here's the best one I know of. Beware: bunch of 7th+ level spells incoming.
>Get to wizard level 17-20.
>Simulacrum yourself
>Cast Magic Circle (level 4+) just in case
>Simulacrum casts True Polymorph to turn an object in the circle into a CR fiend, like a glabrezu or nycoloth.
>Wizard casts Planar Binding (9th level) on the fiend while it's under the Simulacrum's control.
>9/16-2/3 chance you have a fiendish servant for a year and a day.
>7/16 -1/3 chance you have to put down a free-willed CR 9 fiend that can at least dispel magic at will.
Takes one day of downtime and ~2600 GP of reagents.

The 5th level version is 5 times the numbers of the 1st level version. That's pretty good as far as spell's scaling goes.
Hold Person, Invisibility, Fly, and Banishment for scaling number of targets with additional slot levels. Command and Blindness/Deafness from the Fiend patron list scale that way too, and don't need concentration.

Tiny Hut ends if the caster leaves the hut, so it probably doesn't help as much here.

Contingency is self only, too.

I don't usually throw things with hit points at the party if I want them to do something other than fight, but I will keep that in mind.

I like to prepare for any eventuality, they got lucky/planned everything well so they deserve the victory

Really? Well shit, the rest of the party can go fuck themselves then. No martials allowed in the wizard-resurrection-treehouse.

>I don't usually throw things with hit points at the party if I want them to do something other than fight
What if you want a scary-ass encounter with a boss they clearly can't win as part of the plot? You know, "oh shit, he's too strong, we need to summon our elven allies blah blah."

obligatory: do your NPCs not have hit points lol

As it should be. Martials are second class citizens who are rendered obsolete by bag of rat carrying, polearm wielding Bladelocks with plate armor.

Anyone know where to get a working Hero Lab for free?

I FINALLY convinced IRL friends to play and they're all super interested in making characters to bring to the table but I probably couldn't convince them all to buy it.

Conversely, is there an "idiot's guide" to character creation? One of the players was open to doing it the old fashioned way yet despite following the step by step character creation, he had gaps in his sheet and didn't really like that.

>bag of rat carrying
Please leave

They will fight anyway, and they will all die, and they will blame you for "being unfair" and "killing them".

This never works unless you foreshadow it so heavily that the dramatic purpose is completely lost anyway.