/5eg/ D&D Fifth Edition General: Amerikokra Edition

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Any plans to celebrate the 4th with gaming, /5eg/?

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To be honest, I'm a bit bummed about my campaign. Recently some of the players have started to miss many sessions, to the point where last week only 2 showed up. Somehow I still ran a session for them, completely improvised, and it was really fun, but still.

Man an Aarakora paladin would be bad ass... And no we play on fridays, and it didn't occur to me to celebrate last week.

I think the majority of D&D players are something akin to a 40 year old housewife’s sexuality. She’s been disappointed for so long that she’s convinced herself that she is satisfied as long as the goddamn Viagra works. Who cares that he’s still fat and out of shape and cannot pleasure her to save his life. She has such low standards for success, anything that isn’t total shit is looked at as a good thing.
I feel like that’s how D&D Next was greeted.
D&D fans have been so cock-starved for something that wasn’t shitty to 50% of the playerbase that they immediately deep-throated whatever Wizards put out.
A good point that another fellow on Veeky Forums brought up a few days back, is that the D&D designers, Mearls included, are not paid to write a good RPG; they are paid to write a new edition of D&D. Dungeons and Dragons’ identity is based on many aspects that are considered substandard. Alignment in particular is among them. Armor Class is vilified as a concept, but it cuts out a step from combat (subtracting armor from damage) that I think makes it worth it. Vancian magic is garbage outside of the context of D&D; but within the context of D&D it is a vital part of the game’s identity. This is a lot of why 4th Edition was vilified; not because it was a bad game, but because it wasn’t D&D.
Similarly, 3.0 garnered anger from AD&D players who believed it wasn’t D&D anymore. “Ability score increases? Skills? What the fuck is this?”
The game has also been schizophrenic in its tone; from the low-fantasy of AD&D to the ultra-high fantasy of 3.5 and 4e, to the sort-of middle ground of 5th edition.
That said, 5e has a lot of good aspects to it. I can’t say I like it as much as 3.5 because much of its improvements relate to simplicity. Simplicity is good but it doesn’t really help when you already know the other rules systems like the back of your hand, and they offer features that the new edition doesn’t.

Go back to dungeon world faggot.

No one cares, Virt. Go jerk off to some elf guro and realize what a waste the last two years of le epic trolls on Veeky Forums (and the two years before that on reddit) have been.

Rate my backstory

>Wild Magic Sorceror
>Comes from the marriage between two families of magical degenerates
>Many ancestors on both sides have tried with varying degrees of success to lay with many different kinds of magical creatures
>Now the blood is mixing together and reacting inside them producing powerful, but chaotic and uncontrollable, magical effects

I think ease of play is a pretty big factor. 5e's simplicity makes combat go by faster, and even out of combat encounters are simplified since everyone doesn't have to skim their list of spells for what bonuses they can contribute, because one advantage is enough.

I think alignment is only really hated by people who don't understand the cosmology that the game is set in, and I always thought that the alternative to AC was just as stupid.

I have struggled with vancian magic though. It doesn't make much sense, and only minimal effort has been made to explain it.

Except I don't play Dungeon World

Who is "virt"?

It seems serviceable.

5/10

Barely better than just inexplicably being born chaotically. In your defense though I am currently playing with a trandimensional time traveling cowboy wild mage... Which is pretty much the most D&D thing I've ever heard.

>4 line green text backstory
>Good, or even worth reading

>amerikokra paladin of liberty
>light powers
>fire powers
>freedom powers
>crusading through the land freeing the oppressed
>skull fucking tyrants and ejaculating burning freedom directly into the braincase
i am now fully erect. know what i want to play now

3.5 players are literally cancer.

They're like the 50 year old woman holding on to the ashes of their dead husband. Too afraid to move on, and just fine with giving up on their life.

I suppose it's less of a backstory and more of rough draft idea. Could probably get some good stuff by exploring the idea of living with two families that regularly "interacts" with magical beasts. Might even through in a montague/capulet angle for additional antics

Okay, you've explained how your character got the powers that define their class.

Now tell us how they actually are as a *character*, what they did with their life in the many years before they became an adventurer, hero, and so on.

Animate Dead suggests there is room in the game for "trade spell slots for minions" spells. Would you like to see more spells of that sort, or was Animate Dead a mistake?

I'm gonna ask here because I don't want to start a new thread entirely for one question

What dice brands do you guys use? What's a good store to buy dice from? I'm gonna take the plunge and buy dice that reflects my character more and was hoping for some feedback.

Are those players newbies? Roleplaying isn't necessarily everyone's cup of tea and maybe they decided they didn't like it but are bound by the obligations of friendship to show up.

Otherwise, can you think of anything that might have put them off your campaign?

I just started playing DnD for the first time and we started with 3.5

What's wrong with it? The only thing I don't like is that there is an XP penalty for multi classing.

I don't know what you're talking about with AD&D being low fantasy, given that AD&D gave us Spelljammer, Planescape, and Dark Sun.

For that matter D&D 1st edition had a module where you adventure in a crashed alien flying saucer.

D&D has never, ever been low fantasy, you only think it has been.

Also, go away, Virt, no one likes you.

what

3.5 has some...issues...with class balance.

Do i need to use some sort of grid or tiles during combat? I haven't in the campaign I've been running and the players are pretty passive on it, I could go either way so I'm not sure.

The only thing wrong with 3.5 is that it is pretty bloated compared to other editions... And its fanbase is a little over zealous.

It helps, but it isn't necessary, depending on how complex you want the combat to be.

Like what? My DM has stated there's a few classes that are not so great. He pretty much stated that bards and wizards are not very good, and wizards are extremely difficult for beginners. He also said that druids are really good at just about everything. I'm playing a rogue now, gonna prestige class into assassin to get those sweet spells.

>wizards are not very good,
Was this ever a thing?

It doesn't matter as much in this edition as it does in others due to a lesser need for positioning but it always help make combat a bit more smooth.

3.-anything is just an exercise is selling books to Munchkins who think their abilites (plotted out at least 10 levels ahead) actually define their "character" and make them "interesting".

I say this as someone who's DMed since second edition.

Your DM is bad and he should feel bad.

1d4chan.org/wiki/Tier_System

Read this. And then nothing more need be said on the matter; this is /5eg/, not /3eg/.

I usually just go with Chessex. They have a pretty good selection and variety. If you want something even more detailed you'll have to look at places that aren't just mass-produced pieces of plastic, and that can get pretty pricey.

The Party I DM for each has a backstory that is extremely tl;dr to post here, it takes in intervals from when they were 8 yrs old to when the campaign started 11 years later. Letting the RP through important parts of their backstory has them so attached to their characters that they are legitimately afraid they might die.

3.x has some issues with balance that are most egregious in core, as full spellcasters are better at every role than any other class is at their own role. There are other things, but this is the main sticking point for some individuals. I personally don't mind it (the vast amount of material for 3.x means that you can usually find something interesting amongst all of it), but this is the wrong thread for it.

They are all younger players than me, school buddies and a co-worker and the wife of one of the school buddies. They are all about 28, which is 20 years younger than myself.

They've all played D&D to some degree for the last 10 years, but never really roleplayed in it, like a lot of players they just did a lot of snarky table-talk and joking around, played it on a table-map with miniatures like a dungeon board game.

I am slowly building up their roleplaying confidence, they now get into character easily when I am roleplaying an NPC at them, soon they'll be doing it at each other.

Question for the Thread: Anyone Want to Suck My Fucking Dick?

I critted on the dracula guy from Ravenloft and blew his fucking ass away and the only girl at the table, who was the DM's sister and totes out of our league, ended up blowing me after the game. She said "Ive never seen anyone handle a bow like that before user" and she sucked my cock while locking eyes with me. I shot my load in her mouth and she smiled and raised up and said "Can you help me with my warlock" and I smashed birthday cake in her fucking face and hit the road and got drunk with some niggas I know. I love this fucking game and I love this fucking thread. Shout outs to a real nigga.

I still don't agree with your decisions in some cases, but at least now I agree most weapons are balanced.

I still absolutely do not get why the buckler is necessary or reasonable when compared to regular shields.

Clearly the post of a level 20 Wizard.

Liking 3.5 was the point when I realized this was a troll post.

Say, what's your favorite Wizard specialty, Veeky Forums?

I like Necromancers despite the fact that most DMs will REEEE if you play one.

Uh... Welcome to D&D? I feel obligated to tell you that your experience so far has been... Atypical.

That's because most DMs don't have time for the kind of player that wants to play a necromancer.

Illusion. Especially if your DM isn't a nard and portrays monsters like (s)he should. Animals fucking investigating my illusions? What kind of shit is that?

My group has some downtime coming up soon next session or so for like two in-game months so I was going to abuse Divine Intervention some(level 12 tempest cleric)since I should hopefully be able to get one or two off.

One use I was thinking of is having my god create a new base for us(medium size)with hallow already enchanted on it.

Otherwise I'd like to have some suggestions on good non-combat/specific scenario uses for Divine Intervention I could run by my group. I'm still new to DnD so not full of ideas yet.

It sucks ass unless you like to self-insert as le nerdy mage kid showing le big dumb fighter jocks that intelligence always wins. It was also designed to fellate optimizers at the cost of everyone else, deliberately, by one of the worst game designers ever.

I wanted to make something that was more fitting a smaller, handheld shield used largely for active defense (thus the mini-parry). I also didn't like older editions' version of the buckler that was just strapped to your arm with the tiniest penalty to your attack rolls.

One of my player uses one on his Dex-based rapier-wielder and enjoys it without any big downsides in-play, so I've seen no reasons to adjust or remove it.

It's not generally a mechanic for you to tug at your God's sleeve repeating "Mom? Mom?...Mooooom?, Momma?, hey Mom?, Mom? Mommy?, Moooommmmmm?" til they give you attention. What you'd get in my campaign is a size 777 flip-flop upside the head.

If you pray for assistance protecting it, I could see the god intervening and auto-hallowing it for you. But building the base for you wholesale? I'd be tempted to have your god conjure you a hallowed outhouse and nothing more.

Yeah I feel like if you try this you are just asking for your DM to piss in your Cheerios.

I was looking at it more like I keep trying to call him every day but kept missing him, until I succeed and get him on the phone to ask for a favor.

I don't want to abuse it to mess up the game flow(my DM already said I can't go too crazy with it)but just to abuse the use for more mundane things since there's nothing crucial I need it for and it feels like a waste not using it as much as I can.

Yep.
Divine Intervention is for when Pharoah is rolling up on your ass with an armada of chariots, and "well crap" there's a large body of water blocking your path.

It isn't intended to supply you with a crew of Solar contractors who will build you a nice 2-story with a deck and a pool.

Building a base might be too much yeah, if anything maybe just helping construct it faster than normal if we have the materials? Or helping rebuild a ruin.

Also definitely don't want to do anything that would make the DM mad, just to abuse the ability for stuff that would be way harder without. At least it's got a decent cooldown.

You mean the kind who wants to be awesome and protect villages with minions that can't feel pain? Every hobgoblin arrow a zombie takes is an arrow a small halfling child does not. Why do you hate small halfling children?

Halfling children would be permanently traumatized by having the village outskirts transformed into a scene from a George Romero film.

Also, when the spell's rather brief duration wears off, you've left the village surrounded by zombies.

Feat idea:

>Gearhead
>You are an expert at utilizing various pieces of adventuring gear. You gain the following benefits:
>* Increase your Dexterity or Intelligence score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
>* If you use a piece of adventuring gear with a save DC, such as caltrops, ball bearings, or alchemist's fire, the DC becomes equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity or Intelligence modifier, your choice.
>* If you use a piece of adventuring gear that requires an attack roll (such as throwing a flask of alchemist's fire), you can add your proficiency bonus to that attack roll.

Perfect for thief rogues, good for anyone else that wants to make more use out of adventuring gear but are put off by their low save DCs. Thoughts?

What if the Pharoah is rolling up on your ass with an armada of sluts who want to get down and party, and "well crap" you told him you had a bitchin' pad and you don't?

Why would you worship a god who can't help a brother (of the cloth) get laid?

Children love zombies as much as we do.

I call that "incentive to pay the nice wizard so he leaves with his undead army". Plus you can recast it to maintain control over them.

What happens to the society that uses the undead for manual labour?

It prospers and becomes an enlightened utopia, obviously, and never has to worry about immigration because skeletons will do the jobs its citizens don't want to do.

Just shoot your DM a text and get an idea of what he's okay with. He will be stoked that you didn't spring it on him mid game and force him to wing it.

I like this very much. In fact I just stole it.

Well that's great and all, but you are bringing creatures that a literally animated by concentrated evil into the world... Plus when you take a stray arrow to the eyeball they have like double the problem they had before.

If it's a utopia, wouldn't people want to immigrate there?

When the inquisition shows up to burn this guy, they will probably deal with the goblins as an afterthought, so there's that.

Depending on the setting, they either starve to death or get cut down by holy warriors.

Or things get exciting for everyone when there's enough Undead Labor saturating the countryside for Orcus to manifest himself freely on that plane.

True, I guess drawing the attention of good guys could be seen as a benefit... Unless you are drawing them away from something more important.

It was nice when my new campaign fired up, and no one suggested playing a character class with Death/Necro/Shadow/Blood in the title.

"Concentrated evil" is a bluepilled lie. This isn't 3.5 anymore. Unless you have proof signed by at least three gods of different alignment that there is, in fact, such a thing as quantifiable evil and that it animates harmless and charming skellingtons, I refuse to believe that this isn't just a trick used to prop up the decaying and morally bankrupt feudal system that is reliant on the "lower classes" performing menial tasks rather than getting educated and contemplating the overthrow of their aristocrat masters. You can't stop the wheel of history from turning!

> Plus when you take a stray arrow to the eyeball they have like double the problem they had before.

So what you're saying is that I'm safe from assassins indoctrinated into zealotic, reason-hating faiths? All the better!

My melanin-enhanced guildsman.

Grave desecration just isn't socially acceptable in this millenia.

I have a guy who casts 1st level illusions at monsters that see with Tremorsense.

I've actually had a bit of that conversation already, basically he just treats it as anything achievable in-game one or two steps above what a player can do. ex:He let me permanently banish a villain with Divine intervention but I wouldn't be able to level us up.

Which is why I was asking for any good ideas for divine intervention, just to abuse the chance to use it twice with no crisis on hand.

I think the problem there is "Orcus exists" rather than "Undead Labor exists". Otherwise the argument is simlar to saying wealth is bad because it attracts thieves.

If your DM is just going to let you flog away at it like a normal ability, the sky is the limit.
No, wait, build a sky-castle.

Every god that doesn't like undead hates undead, and the PHB says it's evil.
Yeah that's always nice for a good party.

No, it's like saying "Littering your property with piles of garbage attracts bears and raccoons."
Asking for trouble is different from "trouble exists out there".

Yes, but this way the citizens only have to let in the best and brightest. Brain drain effect on all the surrounding nations WITHOUT taking in their criminals and welfare leeches.

What program/resources should I be using as a database for my DM notes?
Right now it is just loose papers, separated into a few paperclipped groups. Is there something I can convert my chicken scratch scribbles to something that is somewhat presentable/legible, that I can print?

Welfare isn't a think in Medieval/Fantasy universes, generally speaking.

Hey, at least divine intervention isn't a one a day thing like Wish, that 7 day cooldown on a success could mess me up if something happens.

Could probably swing a floating piece of land if anything, castle might be too much but hey if we have our own personal sky island who cares.

>melanin-enhance
... Subtle.

Yeah... Fire him? Wizards are supposed to be smart.

I just keep a folder with Rich Text Documents, organized by "Campaign Notes Week X"

While it's been established as a thing, it's pretty much exclusively the necromancers thing and giving it to a different school with no social penalties is probably a bad idea. That said, if it came with other restrictions or limitations it'd probably be ok.

Arcane Trickster, but yeah he really does try to "trick" untrickable monsters.

My buddy's wife plays the Ranger who's tried to use poisoned arrows on Constructs. They are adorably foolish.

>the PHB says it's evil.
Where? The description for Necromancers says it's taboo, but that not all necromancers are evil.
The spellcasting part has a sidebar that says only the evil use the spells frequently.

As a meta point, Is all this shunning because it's the only spell way to get persistent minions(plural)?

They sound new. It's kinda refreshing playing with new players. last week my party tried to kill oozes with a sword, then electricity. I was laughing so hard that I forgot they have blindsight and tried to control them with illusory walls. We are all new sometimes.

No, it's shunned because you are animating people's dead ancestors with negative plane necro-energy, and creating horrors that will wreak death and carnage the moment they are unattended.

Of course the gods support the established social order and the cozy little arrangement they have with the aristocracy. After all, even the most goodly of good gods don't want people to stop being desperate and having a lot to pray for. An egalitarian society supported on the untiring shoulders of an undead horde would cut into the temple offerings, and force the gods to more actively grant miracles if they don't want the people sliding into atheism. It's a matter of self-interest for them, justified on the premise of "well, if I don't ban it, that asshole Vecna will get more worshippers."

Open your eyes.

Also, what's in the PHB sounds more like advice than a hard-and-fast rule. What makes the act of raising the dead evil? It specifies that it isn't a GOOD act, but that isn't the same as an evil one.

Hah, they JUST had a Black Pudding encounter, fortunately for them they caught on really quick, and no one throws lightning.
The Champion has this non-magical keen masterwork sword that he split the first one with, and when I told him "permanent -1 damage" I thought he was gonna sulk.

That's like saying that only evil people kill people frequently... That's true, but only because killing people is evil.

And no, the spell itself is in no way broken. The 'hate' is because necromancy has always been evil in D&D.

What if you make a contract with people while they're alive, paying them for the right to use their body after death? Helps out the impoverished, avoids the nasty implications of grave-robbery.

You'd probably need Expertise in Persuasion, at the least.

Been playing Mask of the Betrayer?

What makes it evil is that you are animating them with negative energy, which is pure concentrated evil. Furthermore people who do it a lot end up going to the lower planes when they die, which is what happens when people are evil.

Sorry. I'm saying he's my nigga, was that more clear?

I am him, and yes it was clear, just took me a second. Tan and black aren't the same in my head... Though they probably should be.

Negative energy doesn't appear to be mentioned in the PHB, just "you learn to manipulate the energy that animates all living things". Do you have a problem with a flesh and/or bone golems?

People basically assume all necromancers are cackling badguys because they're uncreative plebs.