/5eg/ D&D Fifth Edition General: Animal Companion Edition

To be honest, we all have a lot of fun every session, I'm just very critical and end up feeling like I made mistakes left and right. The players have a ton of fun and as sessions progress get more and more into their characters, which is aided by me gradually giving them tidbits from their backstory leading to eventual personal story arcs for all of them.

I usually do end up doing voices for characters, but sometimes I can't bring myself to. Their most beloved NPCs so far have been ones that I actually role played, one of which was a very short lived semi-sentient fish-folk thing that they could only speak to with the talk to animals spell, and which simply panicked and struggled against its bindings if they asked anything too complex.

Thank you, though. Whenever things do feel too forced, I definitely step back. I also let them get as into roleplaying as they want, I plan maybe an hour of content and they turn it into a four hour session having fun around towns.

I thought it was in the MEGA, but apparently not. I'll upload it in a few hours whe

/5eg/, I need a judgement call. This is from the Sword Coast book that's in the Mega. What kind of sword would y'all say this is, a Greatsword or a Longsword? I need to know because I *really* want to use it with my next character.

Looks like a two-handed scimitar or Falchion to me.

Ask your DM if you guys could homebrew in some new weapons. I've always felt that there was a serious lack of a 2-handed dex weapon (quarterstaff doesn't count)

bastard sword lmao

no but really, given how exaggeratedly huge greatswords are in this game, that's probably a longsword. I mean that character is holding it with one hand, and the long grip leaves the ability to wield it two-handed (also longswords being versatile basically made the concept behind bastard swords sorta obsolete, so...)

Stats-wise: probably just a greatsword.

Thanks, user!

Oh, I'm not making an Elf, just a human fighter. I just really like the look of that sword. I was actually planning on wielding a halberd before I saw that and fell in love with it.

>3 anons
>3 different answers
welp

well then it's up to you mate.

If you just wanna be strength just take a longsword or greatsword and describe it as that. It really doesn't matter, any DM who wouldn't let you say "My greatsword looks like this" is not a DM you should play with

>welp
yeah sure, but I'm the only one who pointed out they're wielding it one handed while everyone else is suggesting two-handed weapons lol

Is there a reason you can't just fluff it as whatever sword works best for your character? I mean, I've played games where we've treated curved blades as longswords stats-wise and it worked fine.

I know. I mean trying to decide which weapon to base it off of, the greatsword or the longsword.

it doesn't matter. Pick one that works best for how you play your character.

I'm making a lvl1 STR fighter who was going to use a Halberd instead, user.

Longsword. Thar's actually fairly close to longsword length in real life. Look at the scabbard, it doesn't even tough ground. Greatswords on the other hand are so big you have to strap them on your back.

and?

if you want to be more tanky make your thing a longsword and use a shield. If you want more damage, make your thing a greatsword.

your choice. you can describe your weapon in any way that doesn't effect the actual game (IE you can't say "well actually my longsword is REALLY long so it has a 10ft reach.")

anything else doesn't matter. It's fluff. flavor.

i like 5e but why is the character customization options so limited?

where's the prestige classes and stuff?

it just seems so homogenized

That makes sense. I always liked the old Bastard Sword anyways.

>i like 5e but why is the character customization options so limited?
compared to what? 3.x? 3.x may have given you a bunch of options, but fuck if it didn't have balance issues. inb4 "but you can't make any game balanced without making everything the same!!" fuck that noise, nothing's gonna be perfect, doesn't mean you act like there's nothing shitty about the system.

>where's the prestige classes and stuff?
prestige classes were DMG material from the time they were first introduced in 3rd edition, so I find it hard to consider the comparison fair. in any case, a lot of the options prestige classes gave have been integrated into class archetypes in 5e. I mean really, core alone how many prestige class options did a base class get?

I feel like that was kind of the point. One of the biggest complaints people have about 3.5 is that there are TOO MANY options, and alot of them are "trap" options that end up being significantly weaker or sub-optimal compared to other choices. All the options just become bloat that makes the system harder to learn and somewhat of a turnoff to new players.

Also 5e balances caster classes alot better than 3.5 and their Wizard=God setup.

Every class has multiple ways to be different from other players playing the same class built into the player handbook, with tons more released in supplements. Many prestige classes were also shit. I loved 3.5, but it had major issues, and a lot of them were addressed by 5e.

so im looking at the d&d site, and the mega
are the supplemental sourcebooks now in 5e just bigass adventures with barely anything in the face of new items/monsters/classes?

Pretty much. Most of the extra content so far has been the hit or miss UA,and they're even scaling that back.

those aren't sourcebooks mate

if I'm not mistaken, the only sourcebooks they've released are the sword coast adventurer's guide and the elemental evil thing that was free.

oh, and that Zendikar thing, too

THIS.

If you're not sure whether it's a longsword or greatsword, then you can get away with doing either, or even scimitar or falchion. It's so close to any of the above, that no one would argue with you.

yeah i wasnt sure what they were called and just fell on the old title. sword coast is called a supplemental, but elemental evil had races and spells and shit, despite not being one (and also not being called elemental evil)
curse of strhad clearly calls itself an adventure so thats obvious but then i wasnt sure about rise of tiamat and out of the abyss without having to look
princes of the apocalypse (elemental evil) and sword coast are the only two that actually "add" anything right? and even then most of apocalypse's additions are in the elemental evil players companion?

Do you prefer mythic fantasy or gritty fantasy? I'm having trouble juggling my love of cosmos-spanning adventures and grimdark darksouls adventures.

wait no im a potato, sword coast is the only "actual" addition, it seems most of the adventures that add stuff have a supplement
its just not separate like princes/evil

Both extremes suck. Too much Mythic and you might as well be playing an MMO, too much Gritty and you end up exactly like Dark Souls, grimdark angst where nothing the players do really matters and the lethality turns things into a meat-grinder (which works fine for a videogame, but not so much for a roleplay).

I always try to strike a balance where there's enough fantasy that the world is clearly isn't real-life reality, but serious enough that the world still follows it's own rules in an organic way. For example, if magic has the ability to summon water from thin air, you can sure bet the armies of the world and any kind of sailing vessel is going to use that to cover that logistical need.

Tone-wise... it's OK to let the players be heroes... but at the same time there should be enough realism that even heroes have vulnerabilities... and anything they can achieve, other people in the world can achieve as well.

EEPC was supposed to be a seperate book, like the player version of Princes of the Apocalypse, but they ended up cancelling it and releasing the content for free (which was really cool on their part).

as far as I know that was the only adventure that added any real amount of player content. it seems expected that a published adventure (especially a long one) would introduce some new content, but I'm not sure I'd consider that really useful (at least not worth buying the adventure for some new magic items and spells...)

What are some common spells for 5e casters that would drastically change civilization? Obviously Clerics being able to create water would make religion incredibly vital in desert societies, but what else?

5e does NOT work for mythic multiverse-saving fantasy because of lel bounded accuracy.

Search your heart.

All the published adventures have some new things, yes. Not a lot of them, but still...

Hoard of the Dragon Queen/Rise of Tiamat don't add much at all. The most interesting thing you'll find in those is stats for Tiamat. There's also some Drakes and several different cultists in a clear hierarchy. There's maybe a couple of new magic items, one being a sentient weapon.

Princes of the Apocalypse has stats for several different elemental cultists which look pretty neat, and also for the four evil Elemental Princes. It has a bunch of new items as well, like the Weird Tank, Wingwear, and a boomerang; and some relics, too.

Out of the Abyss has some interesting mundane items like a repeating crossbow. It has stats for every fucking Demon Lord, which is amazing. It probably has other stuff that I can't remember now... some drow magic items, I think.

Curse of Strahd has some really cool new gothic horror monsters! A gargantuan creeping hut, a guardian portrait, a psycho doll... On top of some neat magic items.

No real new class options, though. That's only supplement and UA material.

A Bastard sword is just another name for a Longsword.

thanks for the breakdown, i was a whore for sourcebooks and new stuff in 3.5 even though i never used most of them. even if there is alot less stuff (which is what it looks to be) this helped me kinda put in order the ones i want to look at or get first

Any form of long-distance teleportation would completely negate the need for things like trade-caravans.

Long range communication would change the world like the telephone did.

The ability to summon wind would drastically change sailing.

Druidic plant-manipulation magic could increase crop yields by multiples of dozens.

Healing magic completely replaces all medical science, and shapeshifting/polymorphing would be the equivalent of cheap plastic surgery with none of the risks/downsides

>DM threw bounded accuracy out the window
he doesn't understand when I try to explain why only having a 20% or less chance to hit, from what was around a 50% chance to hit doesn't work.
The party should be be getting better at shit, and facing tougher enemies with it that keeps it balanced, not worse.

Goodberry. Farming would historically have required as much as 90% of the population working towards supporting that so magical food production leads to a huge increase in available labour.

Mending and Guidance are big deals too. As cantrips they're implicitly easy to learn and can be used repeatedly once learned. If a standard nurse or doctor has 10-12 Wis and a +2 proficiency bonus to medicine then Guidance is doubling their bonus sort of thing. Similar things apply to other non-heroic skilled workers.

Yeah, I mean everyone knows the real legendary heroes are actually 30% harder to hit than what 5th ed allow. To deny that just doesn't make any sense

not in 3.5 it isn't. that's why I said "lmao"

how do you mean? like clerics just casting create water? the highest level water conjuration spell is Tsunami, and the maximum amount of water you can create is a 300x300x50 ft. rectangle, hardly enough to get anywhere, not to mention it ends in 6 rounds anyway...

all this implies that sort of magical shit is common, which d&d has always tried to imply that it's not.

also long-distance teleportation is high level, only allows you to teleport so much, and is expensive enough that it wouldn't be able to effectively replace trade-caravans.

druids would have to be convinced en-masse to fuck around with nature in order to make crop wields larger than usual. good aligned druids might do this in times of need, as might neutral druids if convinced, but they probably couldn't be convinced to make that a regular thing.

Here u go m8.
mega.nz/#!h5BVwAKA!O-VZEMOC3umf8z3ezdNjNm5MQz5-m_SqJjovtr_mLE8

Can probably be put into the MEGA also, I swear it used to be. Maybe disappeared with going from v2 to v3?

>(also longswords being versatile basically made the concept behind bastard swords sorta obsolete, so...)
The concept behind a bastard sword is not made obsolete by Versatile longswords because longswords and bastard swords are the same weapon.

Does pyrotechnics consume/extingish flaming sphere?

ugh, okay look. in 3.x longswords were one-handed weapons that did 1d8 damage. bastard swords were two-handed weapons that did 1d10 damage. you could use either with martial weapon proficiency BUT if you took Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Bastard Sword) you could wield a bastard sword with one hand.

in 5e there is no "bastard sword", but since the character was holding the sword with one hand when it can clearly be wielded with two I JOKINGLY said "lol it's a bastard sword" implying it's the 3.5 incarnation of the bastard sword.

>3.X has separate rules for bastard swords and longswords
Jesus fuck, that shitty system is so over engineered. People joke about glaives and halberds in 5E but I'd take that before over exaggeration of miniscule or non existent differences any day.

I liked how 4e used to-hit bonuses as an additional variable to make weapons distinct and give lower damage weapons other advantages.

katanas are just +1 bastard swords

How to become a lich:

>Reach Wizard 17
>Cast True Polymorph on yourself, turning yourself into a Lich
>Maintain concentration for 1 hour
>Permanently be a Lich

Right?

>get anywhere

Pretty sure user was talking about DRINKING the water. You know... when you're on a ship... in the ocean... which is all SALT water...

Lich is challenge 21

Motherfucker

Does the 5E starter set include any miniatures or maps ? Any previous editions' starters that are still worth picking up ?

i think its tokens, a map, a level 1-4 adventure, and a set of dice
i might be thinking of a different edition starter though so... not much help there

you can become a demilich (CR 18)

I have the 5e starter set. The adventure book has maps in it but no play mat maps and no minis sadly. Helps keep the price down though so there's that. Personally I think the 3.5 starter set is pretty good, probably because it was my first one. Comes with map boards, basic adventure (which is shit compared to LMoP) and a dozen or so minis, all of which are really nice. The 3.5 starter set could perhaps be worth a pick up still, but i'm not sure I would myself even though I enjoyed it alot.

So what are some good DM's Guild content? Free is preferred but if content is good and paid i'm okay with that. I've got a little bit of funds and I want to pick up some new options and just material in general. Any recommendations?

Blood hunter, blood magic, gunslinger, deathbloom druid

reading through sword coast and am just curious as i cant think of why this would be

what purpose would a "small penknife" have in a writing kit along with the quill ink and paper?

Penknives are used to sharpen quills

bah thats it
i couldn't for the life of me think why you would cut up paper with it when the only thing other than a small folded paper, was an expensive as fuck book you borrowed

ur dumb lol

Is anything worth multiclassing into as a monk? The only things that match up stat-wise is Ranger or Druid, and neither of those synergise with Monk. Dex Fighter? Cleric?

Or a map, or a letter.

My fighter has taken up cartography as a proficiency, it's awfully useful.

If you're Shadow then going into Rogue or Warlock (for Devil's Sight) after getting shadowstep can be good.

Rogue if you're a shadow monk
Fighter if you're open hand

>cast darkness on enemy
>shadowstep behind him
>unsheathe shortsword
Nothin personnel kid

I was actually looking at Sun Soul from the SCAG. Light Cleric would be cool thematically, but is lacklustre thematically.

From looking through the PHB, Battlemaster looks like a decent 3-level dip. The character will be coming in at level 10, so Monk 7 / Battlemaster 3. I'd give up three ki points and an ASI (and ultimately lose the Monk 18 and 20 capstones should we get that far), but gain Action Surge, Second Wind, a Fighting Style, and three manoeuvres.

>Light Cleric would be cool thematically, but is lacklustre thematically

Lacklustre MECHANICALLY. I should pay attention to the words I'm typing.

Plus it's a free relatively concealable dagger, which is nice

How useful is it really? Are you playing an exploration-style campaign?

Depending how much you want the lv17 feature you could push it one more level into fighter to get that ASI

Personally I wouldn't multiclass if I were to play saiyamonk, it should be kept pure

Do you guys think Wizards puts classes and options and feats and many other character options in it that are reasonably weaker so it makes people want to homebrew stuff?

It gets the community working together on things and brings people back. Plus they outwardly say the DM can change anything he wants and even gives him the tools to do it.

Not really, no

So yeah 2 subclasses are kinda weak and a few feats feel more like ribbons but there is no ivory tower philosophy in 5e, everything is more or less balanced

The reason why they encourage homebrew is because you can't please everyone, and the simplest thing in the world is to say "if you don't like it, then homebrew it"

Am I retarded or is the 5eg approved homebrew list gone from the pastebin? And if it is, could we remove that from the OP?

You're retarded.

>How useful is it really?
First, it reduces travel time when we are going trough a mapped area, and the DM gives me a bonus to foraging if I already foraged here, and second when we report to our superiors we can actually pinpoint where to deploy people, where we are going to investigate next (in case we don't come back, you know).

>variant human don't exist
>but everyone gets free feat at lvl 1

what would you make? Me I'd get mobile+booming blade from lvl 1

Neat, your DM is a cool guy

I tried this once
Didn't work out too well

>the greatsword or the longsword.
those are the same thing

the lvl1 free feat or the mobile booming blade?

Warcaster / Booming Blade / Command is sweet too.

Need some good Personality Traits/Ideals/Bonds/Flaws for what's essentially a "Fey Knight". Hand 'em over /5eg/.

The free feat

It's not too bad but some players come up with really strong stuff that might force you to up the CR on encounters by a lot

(You)
Guaranteed replies.

So either everyone get awesome feats or get some of the meh/good feats. Or it will feel like they have a level on you.

You can make the vast majority of older edition concepts in 5e if you look at what the system has instead of trying to do it exactly the way you did in 3.5 anyway. Metamagic means dipping sorcerer instead of taking feats now. Doing special stuff with weapons means dipping fighter now. That covers like 99% of what people actually tried to do in 3.5 outside of the really game-breaking stuff.

The monk 18 ability is really damn good if you think you'll actually get there and be able to use it for any significant period of time.

>What's the coolest shit you've done with an animal companion

Made a recurring NPC that was hunting the party. A real badass hellknight sort of character with a Hellhound companion. He'd be tracking them for a past crime, and it was really only the two of them. If the party actually faced the guy they probably could have killed him, but they were so intimidated by him that they ran every goddamn time. It was hilarious.

Just to be sure, can a bard be hit by his own spell (in our case Sleep) if he's in the AoE?

So, how's your guys Curse of Strahd campaign? Has Strahd killed all of you yet, or have your players managed to actually slay the vampire?

Unless the spell says it doesn't specifically, there's no reason at all why a bard should be immune to his own AoE, or ANY caster class for that matter.

He argued that because his spell was a song, it would be very weird if he would be affected by it. Thankfully he was only joking when he used jigglypuff as a reference.