/5eg/ D&D 5e General

Yo Veeky Forums, running an episodic planescape campaign where the PCs are agents of a planar police. I'm witting up a quest where the party is sent to bust a drug ring selling hard stuff from other planes in the material plane, what kinda shit should I throw in to make it fun? Pic unrelated.

What about also giving the animal companion it's own turn in combat?

that picture is evil

What are the playtest packets in the link? They make it seem like they're adventures designed for pre-generated characters, or older modules that are salvaged from 4e.

the reason they tried to avoid that in 5e, is the ranger then basically has two characters, one slightly gimped, and one shit

One of my characters was Cursed by Madam Eva. If they beg her to have the curse lifted, what should they have to pay her?

Something spooky like their name, years of their life or future children etc

>the only things i can think to have you pay are from a dm's perspective, not the player trying to barter
uhh... give her the D or something i guess, fuck

What?

castration

the only ideas i had were to the question
>One of my players characters was Cursed by Madam Eva. If they beg her to have the curse lifted, what should i make the player pay her?
not what you should try to offer up, so i gave a shitty answer

>undead created by a necromancer can act on their own turns and be created/maintained at mass
>these undead do not take up concentration
>any caster can cast a summoning spell with 1 action and get adds that act on their own turn
>these things are single spells that take little investment to obtain

>the beastmaster only gets one active pet
>the beastmaster's entire archetype is dedicated to this shitty pet
>the pet cannot act on its own turn and instead robs the ranger of his actions
Working as intended! Can't let that rascally ranger have two characters or the fragile action economy will shatter like glass.

Hunter:
Scale on Colossus Slayer (1d10 at 11, 1d12 at 17)
Change Giant Killer to "within reach"

BM:
Beast HP is max+4×level
Beast cr scales like basic druid wildshape

Both:
Vanish at level 1
Skirmisher's Stealth at level 14
Hide in plain sight is only lost after taking damage
Capstone does wis damage to all, double to preferred enemies

Was the Dungeon Master in the show a good DM?

...

hell no.

level 1 babbies against Tiamat and a wizard that kick her ass?

So this guy was literally doing his first DM run and decided to bring real-life people into his module?

>Multi-head creatures.

You always have the many stay head which is looking ferocious, but due to creative lack (or perhaps too much) you always end up with a head that is looking derpy.

Look at that White-Dragon head. The other four are hissing and roaring and breathing fire. White there looks like she's worried she left the dragon-grade-stove on at home.

This shit is why necromancers/minionmancers are nothing but cancer or villain material.
Fuck your 'muh industrialization' bullshit.

Looking for more Feedback.

Player in my game used Animate dead, wants to give the resurrected zombie a great axe and spoke about possibly throwing a suit of armor on it too. I'm unsure on allowing this since I think Animate Dead is balanced off their base stat-lines but at the same time, I don't want to just say "No mate."

Thoughts? I mean I'm slightly partial to allow it since worst case scenario he decides to waste his coin and treasure rewards buying spare suits of fullplate for his undead cronies.

You don't see many people reference that one. I guess it's hard to be as quotable as "I'm attacking the darkness."

Can you explain this to me?

That should be fine, seeing as zombies don't have any armor proficiency and would have disadvantage on basically everything it tries to do while it wears armor, including the saving throw it takes to stay alive.

There's no real reason to say no here. Balance isn't an issue. You're the DM. You fix game balance at a whim. You can fudge rolls, scale combat encounters up, etc.

It's not like he's doing something fundamentally imbalanced, like playing a caster in a martial game.

A zombie is going to lack proficiency with any of that stuff so RAW is disadvantage on any ability check involving str or dex for the armor. I'd also be inclined to give them disadvantage on attack rolls as a zombie isn't going to understand how to use a sword at fucking all (in fact I'd probably make them try to eat the sword at first). And don't forget about strength requirements for armor - if it's a bog standard 13 STR zombie then slapping plate on it is going to half its already slow movement.
Only thing he might be good at after that point is team mascot.

>Cards say Strahd is in the Study, along with the symbol of ravenkind

players are FUCKED

Wearing armor you aren't proficient with gives you disadvantage on attack rolls anyway.

That's better than one massive shit character made from two smaller shit characters

As GM, I'd let them give weapons or/and a shield fine, but not armor.

I feel 8AC is meant to be a balancing factor for zombies and spending a meager 50gp gives them Ringmail, a shield and a martial weapon. Having heavy armor stops their Dex 6 from affecting AC, so they have their armor class doubled up to 16, 18 if you splurge the extra 50gp for chainmail.

Accounting for 18AC, the Save-or-Survive ability and the decent bulk of hit points even 1 zombie serves as a robust tank able to handle several attacks while you hide behind dozens if not more of them. Letting them gear up with weapons really just makes them a little bit higher damage output and a bit more flavor for them at the expense of some coin. Personally I'd suggest halberds or pikes since giving them reach means they won't clog up combat and get in the way of other melee PC's.

I'd allow it. You end up with a lumbering idiot with shit saves, low HP, and a terrible to-hit bonus at the cost of money (for equipment) and a 3rd-level spell slot every day.

The imbalance is making him significantly more potent than other PCs. You'll have to balance encounters to challenge him while other PCs minimally participate

I need a reason to host a nationwide tournament for which the PCs prepare for.
Which is the least shitty:
>Princess needs a suitor
>Strongest under the heavens type shenanigans
>Yearly festival
>Used as secret bait for some unholy ritual

Make it Cannonball Run - Faerun Edition.
Just hope they don't watch old classics on Turner Movies.

Out of your list, though, the suitor is less shit because then you can have drunkards from local villages interrupt fights between the PCs and real knights, so then you get this whole village-brawl schtick going on.

Someone explain dash as a bonus action to me.

I assumed I could move, then action, then dash so my move speed was essentially 3 times normal if I used it that way.

Princess needs a suitor, you're competing for her hand in marriage, or something to the note.

Turns out it's entirely symbolic, the ruler doesn't even have a daughter and the "Princesses Hand" is just a symbolic trophy/title awarded to the champion of each yearly event as is tradition. Everyone but the PC's obviously know this and think they are stupid for not realizing.

That is correctly.

When you Dash, you gain movement equal to your speed. When you can Dash as a bonus action, you can also Dash as your normal action, so you end up with movement to 3 times your speed for that turn.

reroll one stat in character creation yes or no?

I worded it wrong, but that did clarify.

My thinking was:

Move at normal speed
Take action (attack for instance)
Dash at double movement speed (treated like an entirely separate move action)

point buy or die.

In the next campaign I play with some friends I'm wanting to try playing a gnome that eventually builds a giant metal suit that he can climb inside and pilot to fight baddies (basically a gundam). Any ideas on how I can make this not broken?

LITERALLY point buy, you can't fuck up with it.

at the appropriate level, for all intents and purposes you transform into a golem.

>LITERALLY point buy, you can't fuck up with it.
>13 13 13 12 12 12

Move is not an action, in 5e you have "speed" which is basically your movement budget

You can dash as a bonus action at the beginning of your turn, that gives you 60ft of speed you can divvy up however you want

Or dash at the end, it makes no difference when you actually do it, since all the action does is doible your speed for the round

There are no move actions, you just have a pool of movement and can choose to use up any amount at any time, multiple times a turn

Like I say when building gates to prevent people from falling into the meat grinders, this is supposed to be foolproof, not idiotproof.

Those are actually not terrible bard stats

The manga Gamaran is a great example of what you could do the plot boils down to the Daimyo looking for his successor. Calling upon his 31 sons, he tells them to search for whomever they believe to be the strongest martial arts style in the land. Once these 31 styles have been chosen, a great competition will be held. Pitting themselves against each other, these fighting styles will battle until one emerges victorious. The winner shall be known as the 'strongest fighters in the land', and the son who sponsored them shall become the Daimyo's successor.

Basically do that groups from all over compete to see which son is named heir

What level would you say I'd have to be at? I hadn't thought about ripping off a golem's stats but now I'm thinking about scaling down the iron golem's stats for the first model and then bumping them up as I built better models.

Gnome Wizard, working on a crude metal walker, doesn't do much and far too clunky to use in combat until at least level 7 where he can activate it's reliable combat modules and use it to engage in combat at the expense of his magical energy.

Aka, use Polymorph spell to turn himself into a Giant Ape, fluff it as him "Activating" his Mecha-suit devoting his attention to piloting it and starting to pummel.

Any effects that end the polymorph, such as dispelling it, damaging it too much or breaking concentration are easily fluffed as "Oh, you stopped the magic fueling the mecha and it broke down again.". The mecha can be freely piloted at a steady trudging pace as normal out of combat, as it has little use nor utility besides looks and flavor. Unless you find some more spells to re-fluff as using your mech.

>Necromancer with slightly stronger minions
>Significantly more potent than other PCs

Undead are not very tough. Even a plate armored zombie with a great axe isn't that big of a threat individually, assuming you ignore the crippling penalties for the lack of proficiencies. Don't get me wrong, a proper legion of undead can be a decent threat just through sheer volume of attacks, but a single fireball could easily wipe out half your army if they're not very spread out.

All great ideas.
You've given me a new one, and it's something like:
>The Imperial line is replaced or bolstered by the most capable leader put forth by the nobility in a great tournament. the only way the current Imperial line can maintain its own grip is either by marrying the tournament winner or producing a tournament winner of their own.

Any tips for a first-time DM I'm having issues coming up with a compelling campaign.

Just use a module from the links in the OP. It literally tells you how to DM the campaign, and there's like ten to choose from that are all good for 1st level characters.

Steal a first session from a book/movie/video game and go from there. No need to think up the entire story from the get go

Number one fastest way to get a player character to do anything ever is by putting fancy magical items and hella loot on the other end of the path.
Obviously, that means the best possible villain is the guy who has all of the loot you could ever want or has a mark on his head so high so high he would be hunted by any bounty hunter with a sharp enough knife.
Better yet, I'll give you a plot hook.
>Rich motherfucker puts an absurdly high fee on the head of some Joe Schmoe who stole some of his stuff
>PCs kill him, not that hard
>When they go in for the reward, the rich guy snobbishly makes it clear that he had no intention of paying them, despite having complete ability to do so, all from behind the
I guarantee you three times out of five he'll become the party's new BBEG.
And then just have him grow to hate the characters while they grow rich in the wake of his attempts to kill them, to the point where he eventually gets serious about it.

*all from behind enough bodyguards to make a master assassin think twice.

No, that just results in the party attacking him in frustration because 'he has a lot of guards' isn't enough to dissuade the guys who just fought through a dungeon of monsters. Then they die because the guards were too strong.

Otherwise you have to half-ass some reason to spare them, or have them actually get through the guards, but have the guy get away. God forbid one of the party tries to use a spell or shoot him so he can't and you have to BS some magic item to let him make his escape. Even if he does, then the party still got their reward in the form of his swanky house and anything in it.

There's a reason why not putting the BBEG in the same room as your players is often given as advice, and you're trying to do it from the word go.

I made about 7-10 one shots before starting a good campaign that lasted about half a year, learn from your masters, learn to improvise, and learn from your mistakes

Also this one is easy, let your players explore the town, then one dude with two guards says this in middle of town

"King X is looking for Courageous adventurers to clean the forest that is full of creatures(say it in a way it doesn't sound too dangerous) they will be paid with gold and their king gratefulness"

>say it in a way it doesn't sound too dangerous

I'd suggest having them ask for 'Courageous men' or 'Courageous hunters'. That makes it sound more like they're trying to recruit the townsfolk, rather than adventuring being a profession and they're just hoping some will stumble into town.

So adventurers are going to an old forest full of spiders, hangman trees, rat, snakes and other vermin, their mission is to go to an old miner town enter to a cave and retrieve a treasure from the cave that belongs to an old dwarf (the dwarf gave the mission) what kind of "boss" they can find in the cave they are a lvl 1, 5 man party

Meh. Bryagh was scarier.
But since Bryagh successfully killed the entire party of main characters before getting taken down, that makes sense.

Anyone have a good backstory they can create for a female halfling monk? Retarded or not, doesn't matter.

What kind of Monk?
Also what kind of origin, like how was she trained.

She got really tired of guys asking her to suck their dicks due to her being the perfect height, so she dedicated her life to perfecting the art of dickpunching

Kung fu panda but instead of being enourmously obese she's just short and fat

No idea, this is my first time playing.

Anything else you guys can add on to this?

I will attempt to give a serious answer.
Okay, so a Monk is basically a warrior trained in esoteric combat arts, right? They don't always need a monestary, just a teacher of some kind.

You could go with a Way of the Shadows monk. That fits well with the typical stealthy Halfling aspects.

But really, you don't need an origin, dead parents, lost heritage, amnesia, etc.
It's not a novel and you aren't the main character, so what you need isn't an origin it's a motivation.
A reason to go out and want to adventure and kick ass and earn loot.
Doesn't need to be complicated because there's a high chance nobody actually cares or will make use of it at all.

Have you already read through the "Backgrounds" section in the PHB?

She Isis Waning Moon, an acolyte of the shadows and seeks tho find oneness with the universe. Her nature is deceit and she exemplifies this by literally melding into the darkness of night.

She is a reincarnation of an ancient warrior and strikes with the force of a much larger person. She walks the path of the fist to become closer to her ancestor.

She has taken the name Humility, and recognises her own deficiencies. Once full of rage at the injustice of her lot in life, she has trained under her sifu to turn the strength of would-be assailants against them. Now she bares the name Humility as a living lesson to herself and others.

she will cheat on you, and you will catch something.
but you will tell your grand kids about that pussy

See if the DM won't put the Apparatus of Kwalish in there, or let you go on a quest to build it yourself.

Yeah, I just read it right now.

So, did any of it strike you as interesting? At least as a jumping-off point. There are more Backgrounds in the SCAG if you have access to that.

I don't really know what you are asking from us. 5e kind of spoonfeeds players "how do I RP" already.

I come in search of help. I'm gonna be running a campaign and haven't kept up with any of the most recents updates to the game, but is there anywhere I can find an official dillydad on Way of Sun Soul or is it 3rd party shit?

Sun soul is official, its in the Sword Coast Adventure Guide.
Its in the OPs mega link under rulebooks > supplements

Probably should've done that before making this post. Thanks

Well, this being my first time, everything seems pretty interesting. My question was already answered, and then some. I guess I would go with the monestary that would best suit my race, which is what you said Ways of the Shadows.

1 (You) for you sir!
*gives you a (You)*

Yo question. If You were a Jew would your (You)s be ((((You))))s?

>How do you manipulate events to make sure she never returns while simultaneously maintaining social standing with your adventuring group?
1. Do not pay her any attention
Done.

Playable Kenku when?

>Adventure Hook: Your friend is stupid enough to bring a girl who has never played D&D before. How do you manipulate events to make sure she never returns while simultaneously maintaining social standing with your adventuring group?
That depends, is she playing a druid?

That still has the problem of favored enemy basically being "I really hope the DM alters their entire campaign to make sure I'm not useless." I'd much rather have the favored enemy thing be a background feature like it is now, and have something more useful at the forefront.

I mean, honestly, I'd rather they stop pretending the Ranger deserves its own class in the first place, and give us a good set of universal pet rules that work with any class (y'know, like they promised during development), and let the Ranger just be a Fighter with nature skills like the gods intended. But it looks like we're stuck with the Ranger as a class of its own, so I'd at least like it to have more of a purpose.

>After a hiatus of one year decided to gather my group and play some 5e
>This time i want a small group , big groups get shitty fast
>Set a day for the session, one day before one says hey user i cant because some social event
>change day, one day before same shit
>repeat

All the players can play that day except him and other player wants to play , should i let him out and let the other player come?

if you mean its the same one both times, and he agreed to the second day as well, then yeah, fuck em
if he bitches, then he can show up when everyone else does
feel free to give him a third strike though if you really need to, but presuming you didn't just push it back a day or two, he's stalled the game for half a month

Being a dm is suffering, my players want it easy and dont respect the hobby, i am seriously considering in playing with groups of older people my group ranges from 18-20

H-Hi...
I'm someone who is interested in D&D, played it once and couldn't anymore for time and job.
How can I find people to game on?
Where can I see the basic rules?
Excuse me for being such a newfag, I don't even know if this is the correct damn thread.

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