/5eg/ D&D Fifth Edition General

I know what it is. That first statement was ment to be rhetorical in "it happens so very little you might as well not know what it" kind of thing.... Should have probably delivered the joke better.

i can't even begin to fathom why anyone would willingly choose to put that in their game

as if leveling wasn't fucking slow enough

It was very clear. That user just didn't get it somehow.

Watch some games that people put up on youtube, run a premade adventure, and read the DMG.

It's great when the party has to decide between leveling up or stopping the evil fucker sooner

Or if the don't level up at the same time for whatever reason (resurrection/new character/etc). Double the fun or one of the party members just has to wait.

does anyone have the Macabre Escape PDF ? the continuation of Death House ? also... any good side quest adventures ? i saw some on DM's Guild... but dont know witch one is best.

is this post sarcasm? because all of that sounds fucking terrible

>as if leveling wasn't fucking slow enough
Doesn't adding the option to spend gold and downtime to level up speed up leveling?

Sneaking in combat is hard, especially if there's ample light in the environment. I usually rule that simply going behind and object and passing hide check doesn't cut it, since they know exactly where you are and can expect an attack from there. You'd have to move to get any advantage, and it'll be hard to do that unless there are plenty of ways to move unseen. This is to prevent a person staying behind the same object and hiding over and over again.

>Paladin beats the shit out of a little girl, pretending to try to train her, when the rest of the party aren't looking, because the Anubis Cleric, Eldrich Warlock, and Bender Monk are hella protective.
If any of my characters found out, even the evil ones, they'd be instantly after his blood. Little girls are off limits.

Buckler / Parrying Dagger
Martial, 1d4 bludgeoning / piercing, Light, Finesse, adds 1 AC if you have one equipped. Probably give Rogues proficiency too. Idea being that it gives dual wielders options other than twin Rapier / twin shortsword, and buffs them a little. Plus, muh realism. Should maybe only add the AC against melee attacks but I don't know that it's worth the complexity.

Any thoughts?

Also, what would a two handed Finesse weapon be like? I'm fine with Strength having exclusive access to the d12 / 2D6 weapons, so maybe a d10 reach martial weapon that counted for Polearm Master? Or, maybe just Finesse longswords given that Sunblades already exist.

Hype up your campaign for a while, then cancel it

Can't get enough white knighting in the real world, eh?

This

Question for Eldritch Knight:
Our group will soon reach 8th level where I can choose a 2. level spell, free of the normal EK restrictions. Does this mean I can choose the "find stead" spell from the paladins spelllist?

Women != little girls. Murder and rape all the women you like, and I'll only apploud your efforts. Little girls however are cute, innocent, and smell like strawberries.

This picture is super comfy.

Is there a limitation to the way of the open hand monk's abilities aside from needing to hit them with an unarmed attack? One of my players is playing a monk, and they're going to be taking on a young dragon in the next session. Having it get slapped around will fairly trivalise the fight.

Start with Phandelver and read the PHB and DMG. Watch a couple of GM tips videos on jewtube and possibly some campaigns. Remember that you aren't the players' opponent, you're only the narrator, and the overall goal is to have fun. Be consistent, be logical, and try to get inside the heads of the characters and monsters. How would a bugbear fight? How would a captured goblin act? You're there to make the world come alive for your players, so practice different accents, maybe go through some basic monster tactics, and don't be afraid to make mistakes.

Have fun, user.

What level is the party? Which colour of a dragon? Is it certain that it should be a combat encounter? Remember that dragons are not dumb lizards, they're cunning and intelligent, and know the weak spots in a party.

Kill your GM, I'll be your alibi

No when you also need the necessary xp

Excuse me if I doubt it

read the book

EKs use wizard spells, and find steed is not a wizard spell

Level 3, young green dragon. Their objective is going to be to convince the dragon to fuck off out of the area, which would be difficult as it's where it has its lair. The main objective for my purposes is for them to learn that the Cult of the Dragon is operating in the area, and is attempting to steal the hoards of other dragons as tribute for summoning Tiamat. Honestly there's no real reason the fight NEEDS to happen, but I know my players. Given the opportunity, they'll charge straight into combat.

If you have the necessary XP then why are you training rather than just leveling up?

^
This, there is no downtime, only constant adventuring to save the world.

But what if my character WANTS to spend weeks of game time dicking off doing nothing of importance?

Then he can do that without being required to by the mechanics every damn time. Put it towards learning a new tool or something if you must.

I spend my down time performing dark rituals in honor of my demonic lord in my locked inn room. Either that or chillin with my best friend, who is a good aligned cleric of a nature deity. Warlocks make for some interesting roleplay shenanigans.

Greens are cunning and treacherous, they would absolutely search for a weak point in a party and abuse the fuck out of it. Take wing, abuse breath weapon. Concentrate on the healer, then caster, then ranged weapon expert, then anyone who remains.

A 3 level party will be doomed if they decide to fight a dragon.

So I'm adapting CoS to fit my campaign and so far my players have decided they want to revive the Order of the Silver Dragon

Are there any rules, homebrew or not, that deal with managing a small force, a lá Diamond Dogs? Recruiting, training and ultimately leading your men into battle?

Said monk might get lucky with the stuns, but that sure isn't something to count on.

Stunning blow is a level 5 ability.

From the description you have given thus far, I'm assuming this is LMoP correct?

If so, the party does nit have a great chance in success, but it is possible to beat it. When my friends and I played through this module, our fighter recklessly charged the dragon and drug the group into combat (before we had agreed to try diplomacy since I was a dragon sorcerer. We were also level 3.) So we fought him and got wrecked, but with some lucky crits and some other damage being dealt, we got it down to below half and it flew away. Idk if that is something scripted for the module or not but you could have the same thing happen to help prevent a tpk.

Because the DM is a stinky doodoo head, obviously.

are there "spells are useful in this order" lists for 5th edition like there were for 3rd?
just the generic descending list of quality for class spell levels
im mostly asking for cleric, but am curious about everything i guess

It is scripted.
A real green wouldn't give up on rekking the party if they were already hurting.

Figured as much.

Things like concentration, spell preparation, ritual casting, less minmaxing, etc all change the nature of spell preparation so it's less important in 5E than it was in 3E. Plus, character build and party composition all play into it so you're probably better trying to work it out yourself. Think about what utility you need to cover, your action economy (Healing Word is great for reviving downed team mates whilst still fighting and Spiritual Weapon is great for damage for this reason too), what holes your Domain covers, etc.

thats more what i figured looking at the spell lists, but i figured there were still a few obvious "this spell is amazing, this spell is shit" that i missed or might take
i was planning on making a tempest cleric, but dont really know what the other spell people are doing yet

>app.roll20.net/forum/post/3355632/character-applications-here
Oh.
Oh no.
Oh nooooooo.

Well, this has completely turned me off to the idea of running a campaign on Roll20 for people I don't already know.

Can you screenshot it? Opening the link requires registration.

try googling some cleric guides, they will usually have a spell tiering system like light blue = best, blue = good, black = okay, purple = bad, red = terrible

just cross-reference the guides with one another on what they each think are the best spells, and then make your own evaluation of those spells taking into account your particular character and campaign, as well as evaluating what spells you are taking (eg there could be two concentration spells of the same level that are both unanimously considered great for combat, but you're going to have to consider which one you would prefer because you can only use one at a time)

with clerics, if you have high wisdom then you'll be able to get a healthy enough selection of prepared spells that you shouldn't have to worry too much, and you can change those prepared spells on a daily basis. a big bonus for clerics is domain spells, which you always have prepared, and range from decent to great depending on your domain

>and you can change those prepared spells on a daily basis
why am i worrying about this, and forgot that
it doesn't matter if i pick my full spellbook and it goes terrible with theirs. i can just shake my hands at a cloud while i meditate during a long rest and they're all new
il probably still look up a guide though, since im sure i missed more things than like fog clouds cover/sacred flame ignoring cover

There's like 16 applications, it'd take an hour to stitch a full page together.
Most of the others aren't terrible, but I didn't exactly read them either because they weren't eye-grabbingly horrid.

Oh ye gods be merciful

Derp, thanks.

Yeah, it's LMoP, essentially replacing the first section of Hoard of the Dragon Queen. I'm not super worried about them making it through the fight, I'm just not sure if I'm handling the monk's abilities properly.

As a DM, would you guys allow this character?

My players were complaining about low levels for a bit, so to change it up, everyone starts at 10.

Conjuration Wizard 2, Arcane trickster 4, Warlock 4

He's taken ever tricky thing he can, so think disguise self on at will, minor illusion at will, the conjuration feat that lets him create ball bearings etc. His stated purpose seems to be as tricky as possible, using low level features to do a lot of damage/control, while having eldritch blast+high cha as a backup.

It seems fun, but it also seems like it could get really frustrating to DM for.

New DM here, I was wondering: should I hand out the floor plans of locations to the party (like those provided in pre-made adventures) or just use them for my own reference and tracking of movement?

Put one copy on the table, and cover up unexplored sections with a piece of paper, unless it's all one section they can see completely.

If you don't think you have what it takes to run a game that could give such a build the challenge it would need to be fun let the player know.

>I'm not super worried about them making it through the fight,
You should be. A dragon, even a young one, would completely decimate a level 3 party. Unless you play it like a retard, in which case you're a shitty DM.

>I'm just not sure if I'm handling the monk's abilities properly.
Well to start with, a monk doesn't get stunning blow until level 5. The unarmed stuff is extremely simple:
>make an attack with either a monk weapon or unarmed strike
>can use bonus action to deliver an extra unarmed strike
>if he uses Ki, he can instead use:
>>two unarmed strikes as a bonus action after attacking
>>dash or disengage as a bonus action
>>dodge as a bonus action

Then there's deflect missiles, which lets him catch thrown objects and projectiles as a reaction. He rolls 1d10, adds dex to the roll, and the incoming damage is reduced by that amount. If it reduces the incoming damage to 0, he can catch the missile and throw it back using 1 Ki.

Open hand special stuff:
>after using 1 ki for flurry of blows (2 extra attacks on a bonus action) and hitting with at least 1 of the bonus attacks, he can impose a:
>>dex save or prone
>>str check or 15' push
>>inability to use reactions until the monk's next turn

That's it. There are no stunning blows for monks at level 3.
Did you even read the FUCKING book?

>A dragon, even a young one, would completely decimate a level 3 party.

My players almost killed it when I ran that campaign.

Read this part:
>Unless you play it like a retard, in which case you're a shitty DM.

You're completely ignoring the fact that luck plays a huge roll in combat.

I just draw it out as they progress

Yes, if you play like a retard.

The dragon has a really high passive perception, so ambushing it is extremely unlikely, it has 80' flight speed, and a 30' cone breath weapon that deals 12d6 damage (6d6 on a successful save). A party of lvl3 that succeeds in killing it would have to do so much damage in a single turn that it's astronomically unlikely.

It doesn't matter how well you play if you get shit rolls.

So my GM claims we will always get a disadvantage when shooting into a melee, and if we shoot without a disadvantage, we automatically hit an ally if we miss.

Is this the normal rule? He claims it is in the DMs handbook, and says we shouldn't read it because we would just "meta game too much".

I have tried my hands on a javelin fighter who uses ranged attacks a lot, and it immediately stops being effective when anyone getd into close combat. I saw the last thread where someone said the same thing, but someone said no, and then the thread was closed.

How does this work? Not finding anything in the players handbook.

Well I guess the dragon could do 6 damage to everyone on a pass, then be required to fly up to recharge its breath weapon.

So yes, you're completely right; the dragon might have to take 10 turns to kill the party if they roll extremely well and the dragon rolls extremely poorly.

What are some artisan tools that could be used for criminal purposes, specifically really low level criminal purposes at the moment.

We're playing a scummy gang game and I have a free proficiency with a set of artisan tools and I'm not sure what to take.

Ideally something I could theoretically use dexterity or wisdom on.

Some notes: We operate out of some slums, we are in a big city, there is no real big restrictions on alcohol (so bootlegging wouldn't be super profitable), and another player is a carpenter

The game I'm running for my players is soon to meet its end. For the next one, I want to build some lot more intrigue and social interaction oriented campaign where roleplaying takes precedence over combat and rolls. Are there any guides and tips for building such a campaign?

Roughly, I'd want my players uncover corruption, crime, or secrets of the rich ín an urban setting.

And that's it, after almost 2 years I'm, unfortunately, bored of this game. No campaign has went beyond 6th level, I (together with other players) have tried any possible combination, which are less knowing games die so fast, what's left is roleplaying but I can do that with any other game out there.

Good luck /5eg/ I hope your games last longer.

Because the GM added the you have to train for X days and pay X money to level on top of actually having the necessary xp, is that difficult for you to understand?

And any time it flies in for breath weapon all PC's can hit it with ranged attacks.

>Is this the normal rule?
No. You get disadvantage if you shoot while an enemy is adjacent to you, but there is no disadvantage for shooting while an ally is adjacent to your target. It's a rule from previous editions that some people refuse to let go of. It does not exist in 5e, even as a variant rule.
>He claims it is in the DMs handbook, and says we shouldn't read it because we would just "meta game too much".
He is lying to and trying to keep you ignorant of the rules so that he can do whatever he wants without fear of you calling him out on his bullshit. He is a bad GM and you should all leave the game.

In past editions, you had trouble firing into close combat (ie. At an enemy within 5ft of an ally), and needed to take a feat to remove this penalty.
This is no longer a thing in 5e, default rules - everyone fires into combat the same as everybody else (except the rogue, so actually GETS sneak attack damage)
The thing about disadvantage is that, if your DM thinks firing past your allies gives you disadvantage, then it does. If you're having trouble, you could ask if attacking from the side, or back, would stop the disadvantage (there's no ally in the way!)
There is a rule in the DMG about hitting cover if you miss the target because of it (cover gives +2, or +5, AC), but still hit the AC of the cover, then the cover takes the damage, with the cover being your friend in this case.

Basically, if you want to be good at archery, and don't want to kill your friends, tell your DM you're feeling like you can't get your character to do what you want him to do, and either ask for the disadvantage rule to be changed, or just ask for more ranged enemies /spellcasters to bonk while the fighter is fighting the front line!

My game died the other day too.
We should've stuck to 4e

He is a liar and bullshitting you in a rather offensive way. Fuck him and his game.

I also have been in 7 or so different groups, with more DMs (because in some of them there was DM rotation), but the constant: New game, reroll 1st level characters, literally killed this system for me.

Well yes, for one turn. After that turn, they'd have disadvantage due to range.

If every player has ranged weapons and everything crits, they might get the dragon down to half HP before they die.

Been in similar situations, thing is before being a player in 5e I was a DM, so I know the rules, everytime one of thse fuckers try to bullshiting me I tell him that they just go with
>b-but new errata appeared
>b-but new suplements appeared
I just leave, if you want to add new homerules, sure, though I prefer an explanation that isn't bullshit and some reason behind them beyond "I just want to fuck with players", if not I just call their bullshit and leave.

Wasn't the first time my actions also make other players acknowledge they were gaming with a DM cunt and forced them to leave too.

Why wouldn't every player have a ranged weapon?

Also the players would likely take full cover once their shots were in disadvantage range.

Even with the party being smart though, you're probably right. The damage variance is just way too much in the dragons favor unless it fights like a tard.

Jeweler's Tools, appraise the goods, be able to rework stolen stuff for resale, make fence contact.

This is something a lot of people don't get about 5e: level 1 and level 2 characters are not heroes, they're not really even adventurers. They're novices, they're supposed to be weak and die quickly. That was a deliberate design choice for 5e: levels 1 and 2 are meant for those people who want to play the farmhand that takes up a sword and eventually becomes a hero... eventually. Instead of having people cobble together "level 0" or "apprentice level" rules, WotC built the apprentice levels right into the game.

If you want to start a game where the players are already adventurers, level 3 is definitely where you want to start them. By level 3, every class has their archetype, and the main things that make their class their class, that's what they come into their own as real adventurers.

>Why wouldn't every player have a ranged weapon?
You'd be really really surprised. I've heard just about every reason for a character not carrying a ranged weapon. Some I can accept but most are just silly
>But my guy is a greatsword fighter he doesn't use a ranged weapon
>Ranged weapons are dishonorable
>I'm sneaky I can just sneak up close to people and dagger them
>I already have a ranged weapon I can throw these axes 20ft/I have guns (that also shoot 20ft)
>My character's dex isn't as high as his strength

About half of these are from the same player, to his (lack of) credit he also typically refuses to carry a melee weapon on his ranged characters. One particularly funny time was when he played a gunslinger in pathfinder and refused to carry EITHER a melee weapon or a ranged weapon that wasn't a pistol. It meant he had a 15ft area of effectiveness he could operate in that didn't include directly adjacent to him. It got kind of dumb at times

>Why wouldn't every player have a ranged weapon?
They probably would, but unless they specialise in ranged combat, they're not going to do a lot of damage. 1d6 for most, 1d8 for some.

>Also the players would likely take full cover once their shots were in disadvantage range.
Of course they would, but once the breath weapon is charged, the dragon would circle around to hit them around solid cover. And that cover goes both ways, so they'd have to move once the dragon swooped down if they want to hit it.

Once the dragon takes wing, the party can realistically do nothing except run and try to hide and hope that the lizard isn't interested in giving chase.

>Even with the party being smart though, you're probably right. The damage variance is just way too much in the dragons favor unless it fights like a tard.
Yeah. Barring spectacular circumstances where the party all rolls >17 for stealth to surprise the dragon and then manage to pin its wings, you're probably looking at a TPK. And even if they nail it to the ground you're probably going to have deaths since squishies can't take that 12d6 (or 6d6 with DC 14 con save) poison damage.

At level 5 with 3rd level spells and extra attacks it's doable, but I don't see it happening before that.

That's fucking retarded though, why would anyone add that houserule?

>Start game
>Constantly getting our asses handled to us
>Have to flee everytime
>Talk to GM
>GM ignores us
>Decide to flee from every encounter ever, not even try to pass it
>Game becomes us walking away from everything slightly threatening
>GM gets ubermad
>Talks shit about us being supposedly heroes
>Don't listen to him and still flee
>Rage quits
GG

>level 1 and level 2 characters are not heroes
The DMG says otherwise.

>My character's dex isn't as high as his strength
That's a legit issue. If you don't have the mod to hit with it attacking is a crapshoot. But that's why thrown weapons exist. Too bad they have poor range.

Tiers of play.

Whichever school they feel like? Dragons are intelligent creatures, they'd have just as much of a variation in what schools they each prefer as any other Wizard.

How can a DM fault their players for playing smart? Fighting for no gain is stupid.

If a good DM wanted his players to risk combat, he would add some incentive for them to engage.

Intelligent creatures with forced alignments and personality types. They'd likely gravitate to things based on type.

I agree to a point but if I'm playing a high strength character with martial proficiency (...all of them?) I usually pick up a longbow eventually, even if I have to wait for it to fall into my lap.

Being able to shoot something (poorly) from 300 ft away is still better than not being able to shoot it at all and it does come up enough for me to justify carrying a bow and 20 arrows

Well, sure, saving a village from a rat infestation might be seen as heroic.

Making 1-2 tutorial levels was a mistake. What was so bad about level 0?