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

Pact of the familiar is good if you need a scout or can really abuse familiars without your DM hating you.

Book of ancient secrets is good if you don't hvae a wizard.

Pact of the tome is good if you intend to melee sometimes (shillelagh) and good for things such as guidance.

Pact of the blade isn't good at all, but you might still take it if you want to be some weird gishy guy.

Strength rogue (Barbarogue) is the king of high athletics checks. As other user said -
1. Grapple them.
2. Shove them.

Grappling takes an entire action to get out of, if they even succeed at all.
Shoving takes half their movement to get out of. Normally not a price to pay at all, but you can't do it at all while grappled.

A strength barbarogue has high strength, expertise in athletics and while raging has advantage on said athletics checks. Barbarian's very high level feature or rogue's reliable talent also ensures you'll never roll below a 10 on your d20.

You'll become the king of the ring.

>Go Eagle Barb and inazuma drop fuckers from 200 feet.
Hao?

Any advice on making an Oathbreaker Paladin?

Girl was like "Hey, let's make creepy borderline-incestuous siblings, I'll make a necromancer!" She isn't even into Game of Thrones, just thought it was a fun idea. I figured I would make a jovial, bloodthirsty dark knight to go with her scheming witch.

Is sword and board viable, or should I go two-hander? Any feats that work out better than they seem on paper?

Stack movement speed, grapple enemy, fly directly upward and drop.

It's been a while, but I think you can hit 360 ft. movement speed by combinations of Barbarian movement speed, monk movement speed, dashing and Boots of Speed, which ends up being 180 foot drop every round for 18d6 damage.

You end up having to be level 18-20 to make it work so it's more gimmicky than busted.

do whatever the fuck you want, oathbreaker and paladin are both op enough so it doesn't really matter

paladin is one of the best classes to sword and board with though, because their damage is so based on smite that the +10 from GWM and rerolls from GWF aren't nearly as important as they are to martials with lots of attacks (fighters) or ensure they hit with advantage (barbarians)

you guys might come across as that duo though, especially if you bring two obviously evil characters into a game of "good guys fight bad stuff"

Assuming evil campaign, oathbreakers are best against and with undead I think so it should at least work really well with the necromancer, assuming the GM

100 base with wood elf and 6 monk levels plus haste
Dash bonus action for +100
Haste action dash for +100
Already 20 and that's assuming no magical items etc.
Pretty cool but yeah, nothing broken really. It makes me want to play a high level eagle barb with haste though, you definitely get more out of the speed than most martials.

>assuming the GM
*assuming the GM allows you to build an army and all that.

Does anyone know a good homebrew to make a harpy PC?

>you guys might come across as that duo though, especially if you bring two obviously evil characters into a game of "good guys fight bad stuff"

Yeah, we plan on being careful about that. She's gonna be neutral, I'm aiming for the kind of evil that keeps his word and looks out for his close allies. More importantly, everyone's talking about their character ideas before the game starts, with an eye to creating a functional group.

The Elemental Evil Players Companion?

Are there any divination spells actually worth taking as a wizard? It feels weird being a divination wizard with only detect magic and identify as my divination spells

even then watch your mechanics too. oathbreaker is probably the best paladin route by far and the fact that you're pumping up a "why does she get to take 10 turns" necromancer with your auras is only going to exacerbate that. you're walking a tight rope. i'm not going to tell you not to play it and i think the idea of playing characters with a weird relationship like that is cool, but other people might not like it as much, especially if the necromancer gets a huge undead army.

Just refluff an Aarakocra maybe

Any ideas on how to make combat more exciting or dynamic? Other than using difficult terrain, shove/grappling and have the enemies kite the melee users?
Last time the party fought a group of two elves with a bunch of blink dogs, the latter fucked off to fight a displacer beast mid fight and the elves ran, they had to face the displacer beast later.
I thought it would be good at first, but one player thought it was "meh" and the other said it was good, personally feel it wasn't as exciting and now I am trying to come up with something better that will get the players interested, but can't think of anything

Everyone has to take 2 levels of Monk and must use their bonus martial arts attack to do something cinematic in the scene.

How is playing a necromancer in 5th? Should I play a Wizard Necromancer or is Cleric still the way to go to controlling legions of undead?

I will need to add stats for ladders, and have the next encounter be on the wuxian ladder factory

>new party
>dont want to do the "you all meet in a bar"
>you all meet in a hole and the last thing you remember is that you where in your house, bar etc...
>they are inside a wizard stronghold, if you fall in the hole you lose your memories from a week ago

i dont know what goes next, a door into the stronghold?

Scrap it; have them meet at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

So what happens if you fall into the hole of forgetfulness multiple times?

Do you forget the same week twice? Do you forget the week before the one you forgot? Could someone force someone into the hole multiple times until they can't remember language anymore?

Can it be weaponized with a portable hole?

Players start to make unclever references to Planescape Torment.

Wizard does the undead army part better than cleric now. Cleric does the negative energy life stealing thing better now.

honestly, playing Neverwinter, as bad as that game fucking is, the ideas it gives me for my games is pretty great.

Like this simple one where you find a safehouse of a gang you're trying to stamp out, only to find that they just set it on fire to cover their tracks, and you have to go IN the burning building to catch them cuz they are going underground (wererats). I wish I could make this kind of shit up.

and yes I know it's a shit game and shit setting, but for those of us running the shit setting it's got some things I can take and mess with, which is useful. also talking to some harpers and other factions makes the Faction thing in the rulebook make a little more sense to me, because when I originally read them I couldn't really tell a difference between them at all honestly.

I also have a buddy who does a lot of his combat encounters and ideas based off of WoW. He's more combat/tactician focused, I'm more of a storyteller.

Fuck Atari for making Neverwinter and guaranteeing that we'll never see a sequel to Dungeons and Dragons Online.

There's so many good magical item ideas that I've taken from DDO and put into my 3.5 and 5e campaigns.

>you meet in a hole
>you meet in an oubliette

same thing

5th Ed's combat does not lend itself well to interesting combats. It's simple, try the DMG combat options (marks, flanking, and such)

There are plenty of moving parts and character abilities in 5e for combat to be interesting and fun without lasting excessively long. If you want muh tactix play 4e, it was good for that and did it much better than 5e with tacked-on optional rules.

Tempted to play a Undying lock elf attempting to create a better process for creating Baelnorns/ turn himself into one.

any tips for high level play? never done a game at 10th level

I hope they play D&D for a vid/podcast. D&D picked up their podcast as a sponsor

First Draft of CR2 Monsterous Crab.
Large Beast
Hp 60 (8D10+16)
Ac16 (Natural Armour)
Speed 40ft, Swim 40ft.
Str16 Dex15 Con14 Int1 Wis9 Cha3
Senses Blindsight 30ft, Passive Perception 9.
Amphibious: The crab can breathe air and water.
Multiattack: the Crab makes two attacks with its claws.
Claws. Melee weapon attack: +6 to hit, Reach 5ft, one target. Hit 1d10+3 and the target is grabbed, DC14 to escape.

Does this all seem fair and balanced? Its attack bonus and ac is above reccomended for Cr2, however its HP is low and damage per turn is low. It has a decent swim speed, amphibious and blindsense, but lacks in any saving throws or skills. I'd rather it er on the side of weaker, than stronger since if it has too many advantages it would feel like I'm asking the DM to let me run something stupidly overpowered. Any thoughts on what could be higher? What should be lower? Any other abilities or skills that would be fitting a giant crab?

How the fuck would you even escape this shit at level 1?

What is a good way to incorporate my PC's sex life into the game?

I just have them roll dex rolls against constitution saves then roleplay the consequences.

>BBEG is a Red Shadow Dragon
None.

I'm playing an Aarakocra.

>that spoiler
Me too.

Not in my game user. I don't let people to pick edgy/meme races unless we are going for that sort of campaign.

How are bird people edgy/meme races?

Pick a druid, wildshape into a spider, crawl your way out of that shithole.
ezpz

Do you want to chirp while you are speaking user?

What about genki harpy waifu with a birdbrain memory and delicious flat chest?

I play on text

I am completely okay with this as long as the player is a girl.

>segregating character types based off OOC gender
fuck you, sexist

Played a short one/two-shot monstergirl campaign once. One of the girls at the table played a Harpygirl using aarakocra rogue, we had a ditzy cowgirl using half-orc great weapon fighter, a catgirl wizard (using elf I think) and I was playing a snakegirl valor bard using a homebrew race that got posted in one of the generals. Can't remember off the top what they had, It was like +1 Dex, +2 Cha, can grapple huge things and some other things. My tactic was to grapple things then shove them prone with Expertise boosted, inspiration boosted athletics.

It was very fun few sessions overall as well as a pretty fun little adventure/dungeon crawl.

I mostly think that flying is seriously overpowered and unfair to other players. Moreover, it can easily break the balance of the game and I can't be arsed plan around it everytime.

it''s bretty gud

anyone got a heroes of the orient rip, the book from DMs guild?

So you make your players talk with racial accents?

Yeah, level 1 flight makes a lot of early game hazards absolutely harmless and potential for "Oh, we're fighting melee enemies? How high is the roof, give me a crossbow and I start flying out of reach." It makes no real difference once you're past level 5-7 though since other classes have access to flying through magic items or spells by then.

In my group for Aarakocra we just ruled that their wings just double jump distance until level 5, where they get their full fly speed.

If you want to play as a bird might as well speak like a bird. Plus c'mon, racial accents are half the fun.

Thanks senpai, any input or does it look on the money.

I saw someone mention making monsters might be a good way to get some cash off the DMs Guild, but what kind of monsters are lacking in 5e?

Also, I read once that people would be more willing to tip for a "pay what you want" PDF than to buy a cheap one. Does that hold true?

My DM didn't expect anyone to really get into character. Then I entered with an aarakocra. He got the wonderful experience of listening to my (rather extensive) knowledge of bird sounds mixed into conversations.

It was awesome.

In bird culture that is considered a dick move.

Do it

...

>Where were you when Wooly the rogue stole the baker's fresh rolls

>Make combat more exciting or dynamic
Just because there aren't any explicit rules for doing stuff in the book doesn't mean you can't do them! The book itself gives examples like sledding down stairs on a shield or swinging from a chandelier -- give your players some scenery to chew on!

I don't see it in there.

...

In my session tomorrow my characters are going to command various allies while they help a Green Naga conduct a ritual to take them to the Feywild. I'm going to throw a legion of Undead at them, and have the players command various forces while they try to hold back the tide. At the end a Lich is going to enter and fuck things up while they make their way through the portal.

I balanced it so that the PCs won't actually control their own characters by default; if they want to pull their character into the battle, it will slow down the ritual. Essentially it's a "Mission: Survive" type deal, probably 15 turns, I'm thinking.

Is any of this a bad idea? I'm worried about disincentivizing the PCs from using their own characters, but I want the fight to be epic and have an element of desperation, so that if they bring out the big guns, it's a hard choice.

What's epic about watching a bunch of mooks fight a bunch of mooks?

Just abstract the big fight, then as the ritual approaches the final stages "the ground shakes and an enormous chasm opens in the battlefield. From the fires pouring out of the earth emerges a great demon summoned to crush this resistance. The spellcasters look to you and say 'go, buy us some time! We can finish the portal but not if that thing gets here first!' You know that your allies may die pushing themselves to complete the cast without you, but everyone will die if the demon charges unopposed. As the fight rages on around you, roll initiative."

Or you know, 15 rounds of bland mass combat.

I don't know your group but if they wanted to play a game like that then you guys are using the wrong system

They probably don't want to play a game like that though

Well, the mass combat was something of a request from my players, who wanted to do more killing shit and less dungeon delving/social stuff. I was gonna give each player several high-end allies to command, allies who are unable to pass through the portal.

But yeah, I get your point. Still, the last two sessions were mass combat, and they seemed to enjoy it enough. Maybe I'll ask my players what they'd prefer beforehand, in an abstract fashion.

I'll see what I can fix. Thanks user.

So I've got a campaign running that I've got a few skeleton ideas for but I'm not sure how to string it all together (We're only 2 sessions in, and my current group suprised me how much they're into the plot)
Basically, Yuan-ti are trying to raise a commotion by enslaving and charm/possessing humans, kobolds, etc to try and create a superweapon/summon their god. I'm thinking of having them run through a temple where the Yuan-Ti are trying to absorb the life force from some Green Dragons, but I'm not sure how to wrap the idea up
I like the concept because it allows low-level PC's to punch wyrmlings to their heart's content, but there's also the chance that they might befriend one, and later be betrayed (since manipulation is a major trait of green dragons)
However, this brings up the issue of how they got all these wrymlings, but it may just be more interesting to have the snakes all just morph into dragon-snakes from the power they're harvesting, etc
Any ideas, Veeky Forums?

I would see how the PCs react, and then change the story accordingly, depending on what's more interesting/fun to you. You only need to figure out how the next session is going to end, and then work on it from there.

As for where the Wyrmlings come from, maybe the Yuan-ti have been stealing eggs from a Green Dragon nest that was left abandoned for some reason. Maybe they captured a Green Dragon somehow. Maybe they're being stolen from right under a Green Dragon by magical means, like an artifact that can create portals or somesuch.

It didn't start that way, but it did evolve that way. I'm about to get things back to a PCs-vs-the-world type game, but the campaign is taking place in the backdrop of a huge invasion.

Ive got ya.

I like the idea of them stealing it.
Maybe they use the charmed NPC's to do their bidding-- that'll totally allow for a followup where a bigbad dragon is going ballistic because her eggs keep going gone

...

Veeky Forums, weird question about focuses. As I understand, to cast spells with somatic and material components, you need to have your spellcasting focus in hand and that same hand holding the focus counts for the somatic components, right?

But clerics and paladins can bear their focus, a holy symbol, on their shield. Does that mean that the hand holding the shield counts for the somatic components as well?

Any houserules, fixes you want to share?

Yes.

...

Seems fine, it's like a weaker chuul.

I just adopt the standing rule that any time a fraction is involved you round down, always.

Rarely comes up but the clarity is convenient.

Is there enough thematic room for a monk Way dedicated to archery and/or thrown weapons? As it stands they get proficiency with shortbows, but since they're not monk weapons, they don't benefit from Martial Arts.

You mean the rule that is literally in the first part of the PHB?

yes, and i would also note that i personally count every holy symbol as "held" regardless of form, because one of the three choices is clearly a mechanical advantage over the others, and clerics who dont use a shield, clearly have a free hand to jiggle around their necklace anyway

>limited flying ability, whereas aarakokra/tieflings/anyone flying using magic can wear whatever armour they're proficient in.
>limited walking speed.
>has an ability that says 'the DM can take this ability away if they want'
>that same ability has a weird save DC cap, but probably for the best because you can use it AT WILL and screw everyone up constantly
>the ability takes away creature's actions
>then tries to make the creatures use the action that has just been taken away to dash, even though it no longer has that action

I don't dislike the idea of a worse-than-flying ability, but I think it shouldn't be limited to lighter armour (the +2 dex is already a penalty enough to anyone who doesn't want to take a dex class and heavy armour is already punished enough).

And then there should be a few abilities of interest like how the half-orc has bonus crit dice and that 'set HP to 1' ability. ... Instead of that singing ability, which is an at-will 'CC everything over and over until people get tired of being incapacitated and charmed 24/7'

Severely underpowered without song.
Conditionally overpowered with song.

Oh hey I wasn't able to find that in the 5e book, guess I have no houserules off the top of my head then.

I thought my "cantrips can crit" rule was a houserule, but reviewing the critical hit section it doesn't specify weapon attacks so apparently full-on attack spells crit too.

it's a monster-esque race
it isn't made to be used in every situation

honestly, I dislike the song, but people were insistent that I keep it in because fucking harpies in 5e have it so integral to their character, and even when I nerfed it to hell, it still felt too awkwardly useful

Also,
>then tries to make the creatures use the action that has just been taken away to dash, even though it no longer has that action

Yeah, blame the harpy in the monster manual for that. They wrote it with
>specific over general

I'll try re-working it very soon with what you've mentioned though.

Playing Return to Ravenloft. The DM has allowed me to meet with Death, the entity who empowered Strahd, what should I ask for?guide to Lichdom? Playing a level 7 Eldritch Knight.

I think the best way to deal with the song is limit it to a short or long rest per use. Maybe don't necessarily put a cap on the DC, though I'd imagine most players would be sorcerers at that point since they need both the dex and the cha, and then they can abuse that cha saving throw.

Then, it could be a weaker part version of the monster's type. Perhaps it only charms enemies, which will stop the enemies from attacking you - which would be pretty useful for anyone such as a sorcerer. It also then means that it won't fuck up your entire party in the process.

Or maybe it could simply incapacitate any creatures that fail for a single round only and remove the DC limit. The fact this one still affects your allies is interesting, because then most likely you'll have your allies put wool in their ears all the time, or you'll have to position yourself carefully.

Those are actually fantastic ideas.
Thanks, user.

I was expecting to get completely fucking trashed while posting that race, since it was my first attempt at homebrew

>a 1/3 caster
You'd make a pretty shitty lich, to be honest. But maybe you might be able to if you're really lucky.

Become the right hand of death or something.

Invite him to a dinner party.

Shake hands with him, but use an electric buzzer.

Bone him.

Honestly, it depends whether you think the DM is going to make the guy hate you or do something selfless for you or make a deal with you or what.

Maybe see if he'll lend you a spell.
Cast mage hand and pet him on the head.

You've recognized a problem and even before I came here you were trying to do something about it.

That's way better than some things, where even supposedly experienced homebrewers fuck up big time.

And to be honest, almost all homebrew has some sort of a problem with it. Even some things in the PHB have problems with them. You only really deserve putting on the grill if you make something like picture related.

All the other elemental barbarian features were perfectly fine until you read this one ability where they completely lost the plot.

>Friend I've known a long time is finally talking about hosting a 5e campaign.

>Getting pumped, ready to discuss making characters and stuff.

>"World's going to be against magic btw. If you ROLEPLAY WELL, this shouldn't affect you. However, if you don't? Well, you're likely to die!"

I've played D&D in the past with this guy, and believe me when I say he's a massive hypocrite and couldn't roleplay his way out of a paper bag. He can roll well and succeed, but..he wants something he himself cannot do.

So what, do I just make a fighter and be boring McNoMagic and win everything, AGAIN?

Be an evocation wizard and blast everyone and everything to hell.