/5eg/ D&D Fifth Edition General: Never Made a General Before Edition

Hit up roll20.
If not that, get a group of mates together and steal Lost Mines to run that.

I don't think I would like to play with some of my friends; they all live in a Dominican Republic and there is WAAAY to much noise in the streets. Like there is a car that pass 3-4 times a day with a megaphone selling crap, and also general car noises.

Neat. But uh, what part of their actions were considered by them to be a good idea?

What class would you base a homebrew Sha'ir on?

They seem to be called wizards mostly, but a warlock would fit if you gave them a genie pact.

Who is your BBEG and what is their plot?

What do they do and how do they do it?

All my players are new, and I waived that whole 'no evil characters' thing on the condition that they maintain team cohesion and use common sense when dealing with locals/authorities. So far it's working well enough. None of them are serious roleplayers, just murderhoboes looking for a good time.

I'm about to DM a campaign soon and the BBEG I'm creating is an Elvish Wizard who plans on destroying his home city to get revenge on his brother. He has no access to magic since it has been sealed and will instead use the players to help him regain his power through deception. He blames his brother for the death of his beloved.

Forget being good, messing with death gods seems to go against simple self interest. What did they get out of it?

Have the inn come to life as mugs, tables, and chairs, all gain awakened stats. Throw in some mimics as bosses or a rug of smothering.

As for the drinking game I hope you play when someone gets a kill the killer drinks, and on a natural 20 everyone drinks. If you die finish your drink. If you are rezed you bring the healer a drink as you get a new bottle.

There is no BBEG in my game, only powerful NPCs with their own agendas.

I want to pull a twist on my players, here's how I'm going about it. Would love ideas to make it better.

>Barbarian found a "Blackrazor-Lite".
>The sentience doesn't always work.
>It's actually more of a tuning fork / one way communication device with Cyric, but because of good roleplay and bad rolls, the half-orc barbarian thinks its Gruumsh speaking directly to him
>He's convincing the barbarian that the gods are bad, and they need to kill them.
>Been slowly buffing up the sword with each temple destroyed so far (one shrine to Tiamat, one to Bhaal)
>Planning on granting a "vision" from the sword, to go to unnamed and unmarked temples to destroy, promising more power
>Each temple is actually a lock or seal, the sword is the key.

That's how far into this plot I've gotten, any suggestions for how to cap it off or things to think of to throw to my players?

>any suggestions for how to cap it off
With killing all the gods, obviously

From 4e, where they were a Wizard subclass:
Sha'irs cull magical energy from the Elemental Chaos to power their spells. Rather than pore over ancient formulas and techniques, these wizards bargain with elemental powers for the magical knowledge they need. Sha'irs do not deal directly with these powers; instead, they rely on proxies, elemental spirits called gen servants, to negotiate on their behalf. Dispatching these servants to the Elemental Chaos each day, a sha'ir replenishes the necessary power and information to wield the forces of creation.

I'm joining a group that consists of a monk, druid, and necromancer. What should i play?

Barb or fighter probably. Alternatively, oathbreaker if you can get away with it.

Has anyone ever used a tarrasque in your game? How'd it go?

What kind of druid is it?
If it's Land, you might want to play someone who can take a few hits.
If it's moon, I'd go for someone with buff capability.

Oathbreaker paladin makes a necromancer really good. Battle master fighter would help out the group synergy too if the monk is not open hand.

I wanted to play a classic Paladin, but since we have Dat Guy, i think your average "I'm just in for the money" fighter will have to do.

>oh no the DM is doing CoC shit
nah just dickin around

This is me.

I might make this the end game, and have the players unknowingly complete a ritual or destroy the bindings on a Terrasque, and release that into the world.

I used the tarrasque as the still-living body of one of the Eberron overlords. The group was successful at keeping the overlord's consciousness from reuniting with the tarrasque. It created a good sense of tension for the party because a lot of major encounters happened under circumstances where the villains could still win by breaking a seal even if they died in the process. Encounters were about more than just reducing enemy HP to 0. The tarrasque itself is pretty brutal but a party that buffs the martials can do decently against it. The tarrasque's limited mobility keeps it manageable for a group with casters who cast fly. I still kept the tension up by using it in an area where the tarrasque had buildings and terrain to knock down, climb, or jump from.

I also might have played Blue Oyster Cult "Godzilla" during that last encounter.

Maybe if they're some kind of non-evil necromancer a Paladin can both buff and be a nice front line.

Fellow DMs, i need help. I have only DMed official adventures, and now that i'm trying to build something of my own, i feel a lack of creativity. I have been reading the DMG but it's not helping me much. How do you make your adventures? How do you set the pace? What about combat? How much is enough?

Steal from other sources. I made the first session of my new campaign the hospital escape scene from mgsv. None of my players have played that game so they have no idea I ripped everything off and they all thought it was a lot of fun

The oathbreaker has an aura that buffs undead damage.

Also evil isn't that hard to roleplay in a cooperative manner if the DM doesn't think evil = moustache-twirling Bond villain.

"I like hurting people who get between me and money."
"I have evil aspirations but I know I cannot achieve them alone."
etc.

Oathbreaker is possible but might be kind of a difficult stretch since it's not really designed as a player class. I just think a typical Paladin won't work well with a Necromancer.

Actually, I could see an Oath of Vengeance working with an evil necromancer if it means they get to kill even greater evil. ends justifying the means and what not.

Oathbreaker is "not really designed as a player class" in the sense that the 5e designers assumes everyone is non-evil and an evil PC could never function in a group. An oathbreaker doesn't have to be repentant at all and could even be a former oath of vengeance paladin. Maybe breaking the oath in one instance even served the oath of vengeance in some greater capacity that has not been realized yet. 5e has freed everyone from being that one specific paladin personality that has to care about everything.

Oath of vengeance is much stronger than oathbreaker on an individual level though.

Roll on those adventure/campaign generation tables in the DMG. No, really, I've never tried it and I want to see what happens.

watch the DM tips that mathew mercer did on critical role

What sorts of fun patrons, encounters and rooms could I put into a Tavern/Inn built in a megadungeon? The Inn itself is going to be large enough to almost be its own dungeon.

My favorite thing to do is open the MM to a random page and pick out a monster. Consider where it lives, why it might live there, what could it's lair possibly contain? Then slowly build out the surrounding area. Maybe there's a town nearby being plagued by it, and the party is tasked with clearing it out. Think up some NPC's to fill up the town. Think of where the village sits in relation to other nearby towns or cities. Voila, you now have an adventure and the skeleton of a world, fill it up as you see fit.

No joke, pinterest actually has a shitload of character and monster art for inspiration if the MM doesn't do it for you.

How the fuck does an inn, much less a giant inn, survive in a fucking dungeon? Who goes there? Who works there? How does it supply itself? Is its back door a gate to Sigil? Because that's the only explanation I can think of.

It's basically an inn for monsters. It was created by a lich who had nothing better to do. It's full of illithids, drow, and all other sorts of creatures just trying to have some fun.

It's for a more comedic adventure that doesn't take itself too seriously.

If there aren't Dire Rats in the cellar that the barkeep needs cleared out, you're doing it wrong.

Maybe the dungeon inhabitants frequent the bar to take a load off after a long day of patrolling their corridors. Use your imagination man, it's a fantasy game.

So there's a Christmas Truce kind of vibe in the inn? Adventurers and monsters sit at the same counter knowing that they'll be right back to killing each other tomorrow morning?

Someone should be hopelessly lost trying to find their room. Some of the more distant rooms from the main room should have occupants who refuse to leave and have fortified their positions. They occasionally strike out in attempt to rob resources from other patrons.

Of course there are dire rats, because those conditions are perfect for growing fungus and aging cheese.

The innkeeper obviously needs heavily armed bellhops for room service in those conditions.

The idea is that they buff the undead that the necromancer makes. Wouldn't be as good else.

I would be totally okay with that.

I now have a strong urge to see an ogre in a bellhop's uniform, tiny hat and all.

What are some good spells (other than Haste) for bards to get using Magical Secrets? I plan on playing a lore bard in the next season of AL.

Oh there are totally gonna be dire rats
the twist is that they just wanted to party too

Yep, Adventurers slip into the inn and have a drink with some bugbears, but the moment they walk out that door they're gonna be at each others' throats again.

Good ideas, I'll be sure to toss those in.

>I now have a strong urge to see an ogre in a bellhop's uniform, tiny hat and all.
This is now happening.

Is it just me or is Critical Role the Chad of rpg videos?

If your DM allows it, the Paladin class's Aura spells are pretty good.

Revivify is pretty helpful. Or Fireball if support spells are beneath you.

Okay I'll look into those thank you. I have yet to play a caster in 5E so I haven't really explored the depths of spellcasting.

And support isn't beneath me - so far our party has been coming along fairly balanced which is nice, so I'll leave the blasting to the wizard.

Make sure to clear the Paladin spells first. They're balanced around not being given to a full caster, so their level isn't as high as it should be.

Everyone says that because they're excited that they can squeeze some kind of advantage out of it, but if you actually look at the paladin and ranger spell list and compare them to full casters' spells of the same level, they're actually worse a lot of the time. 3rd-level paladin spells are not the equivalent of 5th-level wizard spells, or even 3rd-level wizard spells. They're minor supplements to a class that is mostly about hitting shit with swords and will probably spend all its spell slots on smiting anyway.

>DB fighter but her armorclass was so high

Was she wearing armor? Did she take the swim skill? I guess its athletics in 5e though... Usually falling in the water in armor is death by drowning.

Needs a Fomorian with the tiny hat and a monocle

>5e has freed everyone from being a paladin but you can still use the class features.

ftfy.

Aura of Vitality is pretty good for a 3rd level healing spell, to be fair. And it looks a lot better at 6th level (Lore Bard secret) than at 9th level (Paladin)

A well spoken Goblin concierge with a monocle and a uniform directing the Ogres and Fomorians, perhaps?

The innkeeper needs an imprisoned troll with scars all over him. Also the inn's specialty is a funny-colored sausage that the innkeeper never seems to run out of even though no one ever sees meat delivered.

Soylent green is trolls!

How screwed should my player be?

>Strength check to lift 2 barrels of oil over his head
>Rolls 1
>Drops barrel and one breaks covering him and his brother in oil.
>5 minutes later they want to throw barrels of oil at groups of cultists and light them on fire from an elevated position
>They are fighting a CR5 Red Dragonborn Sorcerer.
> Player *IS* going to be lit on fire.

How would I rule this? We're opening up the next situation with the bad guy retaliating and opening combat like this.

Ive started to run Phandelver with a bunch of total noobs, none in the party is a healer which i can see becoming a problem.

What would be the best way for me to implement an npc healbot to maybe help them out. I was thinking something like a pathfinder oracle who cant speak to kinda counteract me metagaming myself, but not sure of how to do this for 5e

Disadvantage to the saving throw of the spell that lights him on fire and on checks to put the fire out. Maybe an extra die of damage.

Check the rules for alchemist's fire and oil flasks in the adventuring equipment section of the PHB. Considering the player is probably covered completely in oil I would be inclined to bump up the damage a bit.

A dedicated healer isn't really necessary. You just need someone who can cast Healing Word/Cure Wounds to get dying people back up. Short rests should cover the rest of the healing just fine.

Just throw them some extra potions of healing now and again.

Don't make a full character if you're going to make an NPC. Do something like a benevolent sprite or pixie variant that has a couple of weak healing spells.

If you really want to help them out, then a local low-level acolyte should be sufficient. Just give them cure light wounds and healing word as their only spells, make them overly dedicated to the church so they don't know anything about the mines.

>aura of vitality
Eh. Using a third-level spell slot and for in-combat healing is dubious at best. Waste of a spell slot, waste of an action, and waste of concentration, which adds up to a waste of a magical secret.

You don't use aura of vitality in combat. You do it while you're wandering around or resting because it's extremely efficient healing.

Definitely using this one.

20d6 healing out of combat for a 3rd level slot is pretty nice. I can think of much better things to be doing with concentration in combat, like ordering around my horde of animated flying daggers.

I feel like that's.....not enough.

> I would be inclined to bump up the damage a bit.

Alchemist Fire is only 1d4 per round....what would be a good number?

If that's not enough, you're really trying to kill the player. Disadvantage on saves at low levels sucks. He'll have a very hard time putting the fire out as is, and much more will be guaranteed death if a CR5 NPC is supposed to be a big deal to this group already.

They're level 8, with a generous amount of magic items given out early in the campaign because I came from 3.5 (+1 weapons, +2 ammo, Elven Cloak, Manta Ray Cloak, homebrew magic instruments, etc. etc.).

They are a STOUT level 8 group of 5 players.

you really underestimate disadvantage

Oh then boost the damage to something like 6d4 or 4d6 at the start of each of his turns, give disadvantage on the saves and checks to put the fire out. Double up the conditions to put the fire out, like 2 rounds of being immersed in water, 2 rounds rolling on the ground, etc.

If you're out of combat, you could always rest and save the 3rd-level spell slot for something that not everyone gets for free.

Couple things
Balancing the Ranger:
I know Ranger is pretty widely regarded as the worst class in 5e. They get advantage on Survival and intelligence checks vs. their favored enemies and several bonuses in their favored terrain. Would balancing them be as simple as giving them advantage on attacks vs their favored enemies, and advantage on Hide and perception check in their favored terrain? These are significant buffs that don't break flavor and don't seem too powerful.

Also, I have a job that gives me long periods of random down time. As a forever DM that runs two games, I don't get much opportunity to play, what's the best method for me to play an impromptu 2-3 hour text one shots?

Yeah, it's situational. Sometimes a group gets run really hard or gets unlucky and their hit dice aren't sufficient. Depends on the party role, really. Conjure animals and Shield are my go-tos. Shield is just that good that I'd take a level 1 and save my Cutting Words for other people.

We were all pretty new and didnt bother with certain rules. We just wanted to have fun.

We don't tend to get that many free rests at my table, so I guess I value healing magic more than some people would.

I'd go with 1d8/round and use the normal rolls for quenching it. Unless it's like some absurdly flammable phosphorous/gasoline/nitro mixture or something like that, it's not going to be doing a ridiculous amount of damage. It's still just oil, regardless of what level your players are at.

>Usually falling in the water in armor is death by drowning.
In 5e, swimming requires no check unless you are swimming long distances or through rough waters.

Heavy armor has no RAW penalties wrt swimming.

1d4 is enough to kill a regular person.
I'd say 2d4 at most, no reason for it to be any higher.
Even if there is a reason it'll probably lead to consequences you and your group don't want.

That's reasonable out of combat, same as climb checks.
But in combat I'd put checks in. I wouldn't necessarily over penalise heavily armored characters though.

So, I love 5e, but there are a few rules I have issues with. If I'm reading this correctly, my jacked as fuck barbarian heman can survive off of one pound of food every seven days with no ill effects?

Any pally worth his salt in most settings will not tolerate necromancy or the undead. period.

>my jacked as fuck barbarian heman can survive off of one pound of food every seven days with no ill effects
If you've got 18 Constitution, sure.

That would be correct, assuming your DM follows the rules as written.

Depends what God they serve or what oaths they take.
Vengeance for one wouldn't necessarily be against necromancy.

I had a good aligned necromancer I played once. He was a funeral director with extreme reverence for the dead. Every intelligent creature we kill, he insisted on some form of burial if possible(even if it was only covering them with a blanket), He would always ask the corpse for it's permission(he usually took "not saying no" as consent), and he would typically use his power to help a person fulfill last requests( usually getting justice for their murder). Animating monsters was never a moral problem, they were horrible abominations in life, so having their corpses perform good deeds was almost a forced atonement for their evil.

Coming from someone that believes fifth ed is the best D&D so far. That's fucking retarded.

I wholeheartedly agree, which is why I'm glad I've never had to enforce rules for eating with my group. I prefer to rule it as eating a proper meal reduces the count by one, rather than reducing it to 0.

An Oath of Vengeance "ends justify the means" type Paladin who works with a Necromancer to take down greater evils seems fine to me.