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DMs, how do you run your dungeon crawling? Maps, grids, theatre of the mind, abstract dungeoneering?
Additionally to everyone, have you encountered tables (or done yourself) that provide great effort in providing visuals, grids, etc such as pic related?
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homebrewery.naturalcrit.com
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Maps with grids is the best way to do it. Though, as a roll20 DM, I tend to not map out areas unless it's important that it has a map. I'll usually have a picture to sum up areas, then draw combat maps as needed.
Yes, I know, I'm lame.
That table's cool as fuck. That's a great way of using that program. You don't even need a super expensive projector for it. Must've been lots of work, though.
Reposting this question.
My group prefers theater of mind, though if an area is big enough we'll break out a grid and minis. Most memorable was when we did a running battle through a city, and we broke out the Mordheim terrain. Having a batshit crazy troll on an Otuygh chariot chase you down is something you don't forget easy.
I'm gearing up to run SKT soon and it looks like I may have an all warlock party to contend with. Patrons look like GOO, two different Fiends, and an Undying. At least one of each pact. Anything I should be careful about, other than the lack of versatility, and maybe staying power per encounter? They're most likely to be based out of Waterdeep so buying consumable magic items/hirelings will be easy.
So my country's FLGS are neckdeep in Magic the Gathering so I can't find any dry erase battlemats for grids.
That said, I'm willing to make my own. Any kind of material on stores that I can purchase that would make good battlemats? I'm thinking of getting a large whiteboard but I'd like to carry the grids around so is there's some type of paper that I can draw and erase on that's readily available for purchase in an office supplies store?
hows revised ranger
My current campaign is kind of a mixture.
I have a map of the entire dungeon, with encounters and loot and details of what is in each room.
If they're dealing with a place which isn't commonly traveled (most dungeons are not), it's down to the players to map out the dungeon for themselves as they go. They have to be careful of getting lost.
If they run into monsters in the dungeon, we use the grid and make an area with whatever dimensions the dungeon room has for that encounter.
The last dungeon the players went through had pretty small rooms and 1-square wide corridors.Really made them think carefully about positioning. The Wizard and Sorcerer made great use of Cloud of Daggers.
Not bad. Which is saying something, since every take on ranger in 5e until now has been hot garbage.
Beast Master needs some tweaking. Mearls has said that if it does go to print, beast master pet will scale with Ranger levels only, not total character level.
Pretty nice. Apparently lackluster at the later levels, and it seems to be a little too good for some of the level 1-3 features (excessive multiclass potential).
They should throw a feature such as 'advantage on initiatives' until the later levels.
Fine if they don't, though, because then I'll have an obnoxiously minmax build to use when I really, really hate a DM.
>abstract dungeoneering
Google gives me AngryDM's article and I've been reading it and it seems rather off.
I know large dungeons can be a pain to map out and as a DM (sure the players as well), it can get tiring for them to check the 15th room of an old college dormitory to find nothing (or maybe have the DM roll a random encounter table which adds to the ad nauseum) but the style seems to take away some sense of control for the players if the DM is doing the rolling for them, I feel. (At least that's how I'm understanding the article)
Like in the article's example:
>“You find yourselves wandering narrow, cramped hallways, undecorated and utilitarian. Most of the small rooms you poke are empty, save for a stone shelf. Occasionally, you find the remains of a candle burned down to a stub. Here in these workrooms, bookbinders and scribes toiled by candlelight to preserve the knowledge of the ages.”
What's stopping the players from wanting to check these small rooms? Why does it the example's Event List (d8) have to do the wandering and hand holding on these zones? Am I reading and understanding it wrong? Cause to me, it comes off as on-rails in this way:
>Players enter zone
>DM describes zone
>DM rolls on Event List (wandering monster)
>DM says what happens
>DM rolls on Event List again (they find a secret door)
>DM says what happens
>DM Rolls on Event List
>somehow it lands on "Transition to
>DM then asks if players want to go further or stay
>PCs stay
>DM rolls again
>etc.
Granted, I read the part of the article where AngryDM says that he doesn't want to take control from the player when it comes to exploring these dungeons but the system he has laid out seem to not address that. Did I misread? I feel like Abstract Dungeoneering takes away player agency when it comes to exploring dungeons. In a way, it does destroy the needless time to explore dormitory room #15 but still, I dunno.
Hey there, anons. Race-building guy back again repeating his inevitable request for criticisms and suggestions as to which race to tackle next.
docs.google.com
For those who'd rather not poke around and try to figure it out, here's the direct list of races I need to get written up:
Pterran
Bladeling
Fey'ri
Rogue Modron
Hamadryad
Satyr
Huldra
Dust Genasi
Rain Genasi
Magma Genasi
Blight Genasi
Smoke Genasi
Tanuki
Mujina
Kawauso
Bakeneko
Itachi
Tengu
Spellscale
Criticisms brought up in the last thread:
* Racial feats are near-universally overpowered; need help toning those down.
* Many races are either bland, underpowered or both - need help boosting them up. Finding more "fluffy" racial traits and switching out the boring "free proficiency" skills is definitely on the list.
As an aside, could really use help figuring out where to go with the Spellscale and Yokai races. The former in particular... I wonder... Maybe go for a subrace mechanic based on Draconic Ancestry, and give 'em damage resistance, spell-like abilities and possibly other features based on canon dragons? Because, honestly, the old Blood Quickening mechanic probably wouldn't work in 5e and was kind of bland back then anyway?
Oh, I just realised... I've been focusing mostly on the crunch, but, maybe I should take a step back and try writing up racial fluff instead? Or should I leave that until I have all of the races statted?
I think there was an article on what the guy did, cost like 200$ or so, about half for the projector and the rest on the cables and setup used to suspend it over the table.
It's cool, but probably not as useful as it can be. Now, if it was like a large touch screen table, THAT could be much better, letting players move minis around digitally and it updating line of sight as they move.
Too bad those types of tables cost literal thousands of dollars.
To whoever in the last session felt like i called him/her racist.
I'm sorry.
Were we talking about Greeks?
Pretty great.
And MCing with monk now makes up for both classes having low damage.
Especially love the new favoured enemy feature.
What's so good about Moon Druids?
All those races have fluff, just write up the crunch
Question folks:
I understand the hate of the idea of being railroaded, the idea of being fucking pigeon-holed into a quest/whatever. BUT does anyone else, as a player, feel inclined to flow right into your GMs plans?
My thing is that the GM should act as another player (ie additional PC in a way) in regards to OOC planning. I mean this in the way that I don't want to disrespect his time outside of game, ie planning and such.
Am I the only player that feels this way?
pic unrelated
Wildshape lets you assume the full statistics of the beast you become, except you keep your Int, Wis, and Cha scores, and you get your skill and save proficiencies in addition to the beast's. And when you revert, you have whatever amount of HP you did in your humanoid form as you did before you transformed.
Now pair that with *Much* better available beasts to choose from in the early levels (You can become a Crag Cat at level 2) and wildshape continuing to scale beyond 8th level. You end up being a very capable front-line melee combatant, while still being a full caster when not in beast form.
>Top-heavy wine glass on top of your character sheet in a dim room.
That's getting knocked over in the first hour.
What other cheese is there in 5e?
At the start, yes. If the GM is dangling hooks the only reason not to bite is if you have a genuine adventure you like the idea of better (say the GM told you of a dungeon of rabbits, or all the characters have a common city in their backstory so they want to go there) or if you're an asshole. However, if the GM has a plot planned, then even if you try to follow it the end result will be wildly different, and no good GM will write a story and then insert the players. As a GM I don't really care if the game is player driven and I'm left reactionary, or GM driven where I'll need to do more prep and drive the action.
Just go into any printing shop and laminate a big sheet of grid paper.
If I cast barkskin on myself and then shapeshift into an animal, does the spell still affect me or it just ends? What about feats?
My preferred way of having things done is
"The DM builds the world. The players then dictate the direction and what plots they get involved in, and the DM builds the word more specifically where the players are, so there's always something going on and something for the players to follow. The players, however, only have as much freedom as they know what they're doing is (a choice between 'left' or 'right' means nothing if you don't know where either leads, which is just as bad as the DM rolling for plot) and thus the players should have options that they know may well lead to what their end goals are.
When I was developing one world, I noticed that the lore I was basing it off of had a lot of villages and cities and places that were destroyed or abandoned for various reasons. I thought in that case that there'd be good room for the players to potentially help change the course of fate of those places being destroyed and it'd end up being much like an x-com thing where the players have many things they want to do at any given time and can't do them all, and may have to be willing to let fate decide whether a place is lost or not, but gives them a chance to intervene and really make themselves a part of the world as they go out and save a nation. Or, more like, a village or town.
There's no reason they can't work, unless they say so. Feats that require weapon attacks for example don't. Barkskin targets a creature, and transforming, teleporting, going to another plane etc. do not make you a different creature than when the spell was cast so it still works.
Also, more on that, I'll admit there are times I feel 'I kinda wanna do this, but I don't want to waste the DM's time.'
It kinda sucks a little when you know and expect something you want to do to maybe be a waste of time for everyone else or something, but I think it's generally good to stick inside plans, to an extent. If something makes perfect sense or is vital for your survival (retreat and rest, the DM might not have expected) then it's probably something to do. An occasional detour.
Detouring all the time will just end up obnoxious. Also, DMs should be prepared to not get everything they planned used. It's nice to have a rough idea and do the easy padding out when a player gets closer, or make content that they know they could use at any point (e.g. make an outdoors map for random encounters).
I think that's part of making the character fit in the party. If they want to go save their mother from an uncurable disease but the rest want to delve dungeons and find loot, then the character shouldn't be there in the first place. Especially in longer campaigns I've seen this make players retire characters because they can't make up reasons for them to stay, and I think motivation is one of the most important parts of a character.
MP spellcasting has never worked, stop.
If you made it so they DIDN'T add their spellcasting modifier to their MP it works out almost perfect. If you used the Spell Point Cost table for casting with MP then early on if a character rolls well they will be able to cast a few more spells than average but this quickly evens out ending up with them having slightly less casts at 20, again on average.
However if you let them add their spell casting modifier they would get a lot more MP than a character would have spell points on average. A fix for this would be making every spell double its level in MP. This way they would have a ton of MP, but higher level spells couldn't be thrown around like candy.
*every spell cost double its level, eg: 1st = 2mp, 2nd = 4mp, etc
I don't know if it's because we're lazy but my group has never used any form of map; we all just imagine the setting
It's normal for a character to want to go see their mother or something, but they can either have it tied into the main campaign (find herbs as you dungeon) or have it assumed to happen outside of the main adventure.
Also there'd probably have to be a restriction on how many times a day you can cast level 6+ spells. Most casters can only cast one of each a day without some sort of crazy magical item.
Multiclassing from Warlock into Paladin or Sorcerer. Your spell slots from Warlock don't stack with the ones you get from other casting classes, and will always replenish on a short rest. You can still spend them for any class feature that asks you to expend a spell slot, like Divine Smite or Font of Magic.
Bards are full casters in this edition while having better hit dice and weapon/armor proficiencies than the other Arcane casters. College of Lore's 6th level feature is the bard's 10th level, even earlier. You can grab useful Class-specific spells like Aura of Vitality or Elemental Weapon 3 levels earlier than a paladin can.
Also, (Variant) Human Monk 1/Arcana domain (To grab Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade) Cleric X with Magic Initiate Druid (to grab Shillelagh) as their bonus feat. Use a Quarterstaff and have fun.
Multiclassing from warlock isn't really cheese. It still limits the max spell level you can cast (And might deny you foresight or wish or something similar), gives you two spell slots, or only three spell slots every short rest at about level 11, when a full caster will gain spell slots every level.
It's pretty balanced, though you do get odd things like cleric-warlocks being able to heal every short rest or paladins using that to smite.
Bard grabbing class-specific spells is pretty cheese, though.
>bard being a better ranger than a ranger is
You're missing 'grab war caster and grab pole arm mastery' on the spoilered stuff.
A warlock can go pact of the chain to obtain an invisible familiar. This familiar can technically remain invisible while using the 'help' action to grant any ally advantage on their next attack every turn, costing actions only from the familiar.
The rogue can use GWF by meleeing enemies with a heavy crossbow. It only deals 1d4 damage though and uses strength.
The rogue can also fight using strength with finesse weapons, but this is only really useful for barbarian-rogues.
High level wizards can use wish to cast 'clone' and then shove that clone into a pocket dimension and make the entire party immortal for free.
'Heat metal' is ridiculous when used against heavily armoured targets.
As hinted at somewhere above, booming blade works brilliantly if you have warcaster to use it as a reaction attack.
I have no problem biting the GM's plothooks. I draw issue when the hook's in so deep I lose agency as a character. I've had GMs that simply narrate our characters' actions to us, as if we were one of his NPCs.
Some GMs would rather play with action figures than with a group
>You're missing 'grab war caster and grab pole arm mastery' on the spoilered stuff.
This was errata'd
Just to clarify, 'heat metal' is a level 2 spell that can deal 20d8 damage if you cast it on someone wearing something metal that they can't remove in a minute (i.e. heavy armour) and then you can run as fast as you can (you don't need line of sight to keep concentration) and keep dealing that damage.
Continuing...
If you have 2 levels in warlock and get the wizard's illusionist capstone feature, you can at-will make ANY object that fits within a 15ft cube that doesn't move or has more than one part to it.
As such, you can conjure adamantium walls at-will, whenever and whereever.
Anything that gives you a reaction attack outside of your own turn can be used to give a rogue a load of damage, as they sneak attack even when it's not their turn, as long as it's not more than once a turn (once anybody's turn). Battlemaster, or an ally using a spell that makes the enemy make willing movement would be good examples.
If you grapple and then shove someone, they can't stand up because they have no movement until they spend an action to get out of the grapple and succeed. You can get insanely good grapple checks through a barbarian with a level in rogue for expertise.
Hunters can get giant crab pets which auto-grapple enemies that get close.
From my memory it was only eratta'd with regards to cantrips before there were any cantrips that could use the polearm to attack.
sageadvice.eu
"No – polearm master applies only if you use the weapons it lists to make the attack"
Booming Blade uses the polearms to make the attack.
Which classes are mechanically the weakest? And how would you fix them?
Ranger. UA did it. Sorc is almost strictly weaker than Wizard but is viable for multiclassing and is still good.
UA didn't fix Ranger, It made it viable for multiclassing into, that's it.
Aside from ranger (which gets talked about enough) there's no definite.
There are bits and pieces which suck, such as Four Elements Monk, Champion fighter if not used to maximize synergy, EK if you have no fucking clue what you're doing, berserker barbarian, barbarian's levels after level 5, Sorcerer compared to wizard (Only really good for quirky things like twinned spelling up haste), warlock can feel a bit worse than other casters sometimes although has nice flavour.
Compared to what it was I'd consider it fixed. Not sure how it works out but at least on lower levels it seems to definitely be better than some of the questionable subclasses like champion, Wot4E and berserker. I wasn't here when it was released but haven't seen anything analytical in terms of how it compares to other classes, I could just be talking out my ass without understanding how bad it still is.
is Dra-Sorc 1/ Rogue (Swashbuckler) X a decent Multiclass choice?
and does a monk boost of AC work along with Sorc dragon skin or mage armour so at lv 3 the character will have 19 ac
How would you increase the power levels in 5e?
>dra-sorc1
But why?
So you can have the 'shield' spell even though you'll have uncanny dodge?
Any number you see, times it by 10
Oh, if you're looking for mage armour (which is basically what the dragon sorcerer armour is) then it's not really worth it.
It's good for people who don't have any armour proficiencies such as wild sorcerers, storm sorcerers, wizards...
But if you ever find +1 studded leather (which 'may' happen) then mage armour is completely obsoleted.
Even then, you might as well take 1 level in fighter just for the +1 AC fighting style, because you get other things such as more proficiencies, more HP, second wind, etc.
You play pathfinder or you throw overpowered magical items with no downsides everywhere like a fucking magical whore.
Or you start everyone at level 15
ok the point of dragon sorc-Swashbuckler is to get a bit of cantrip from sorc like booming/GFB as well get that 13 Ac early on so you dont have to hope for magic armours
as for I had the idea of making a kamen rider character who most of the time uses his fist to fight hence monk as base class. He would then multi into 1 dra-sorc or 2 warlock for AC boost and plot wise being magically experimented upon
(dragon skin or magic armour invocation) So I was wondering if monk's Unarmored defense work those mention above
Hence you get
13 AC+ dex mod +wis mod
I'm not that autistic.
>So I was wondering if monk's Unarmored defense work those mention above
It doesn't. Your AC is either 13+Dex OR 10+Wis+Dex.
so the actual calculation would be
(10+UD mod or source)+ dex mod
It's actually like "AC is 10 + Dex modifier, OR you can choose to use another method if you have it (only one at a time)"
Other methods include Monk UD, Barbarian UD, Mage Armour, Dragon Sorc, etc
You're effectively right, but there's no 'actual calculation', that's why they always mention 10+Dex in these other methods.
No i was asking reviews of my homebrew for the 7th level deep stalker and didn't realize that 13ft could be stupid instead of puttin 15
reddit.com
My group of friends, whom all are totally new to tabletop roleplaying games, really like the starter set and its LMoP. We're looking at committing to one of the bigger modules, is there any recommondations? Thanks.
i see,I just though UDs is what a class can do to increase AC, while MA/DS ability improve the natural AC
>is there any recommondations
Stop playing 5e and go play pathfinder.
I go with theatre of the minds for most things, but during combat I break out a whiteboard. The characters and enemies are quick and most llikely labeled drawings.
To me, it's better than dealing with miniatures and a big grid. Also I don' want to spend money.
Currently a level 2 fiendlock going for blade pact.
Stats are
16
14
14
9
11
18
In order.
How the fug do I make this work?
Can someone give me some tips on making a good bard?
Yeah you'd multiclass a non-Beast Conclave ranger out after 7 or 8 in an optimal build but a 20th level UA ranger isn't a waste of space like the PHB one.
Get yourself a greatsword and hit things with it
If you mean you've finished the starter set, then it depends if you want to keep your characters or not.
If you don't mind rolling new characters then any of the modules other than Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat will be fine for you.
If you want to keep your characters you can transition from the end of the starter set straight into Chapter 2 of Storm King's Thunder, which is what I'm doing with my group of newbies (out of the four of them only one had ever played D&D, the other has played some Paranoia).
Have a good charisma, pick up healing/buffing/debuffing/crowd control spells, and sit on the back lines so you take as little damage as possible. Outside of that you got nothing to really worry about when it comes to making a bard.
Try and get medium armour prof somehow. Probably your best bet is taking a level in fighter and taking the defense fighting style. Can get up to 17 AC with scale, which is only 50gp.
Warcaster feat is great for keeping up concentration on hex.
Two handed big weapons will be good for you, being high strength. You can also take a hand off to cast (get a component pouch) without having to put your weapon away.
Probably go dex as your next highest stat after charisma, either for finesse weapons or going archer bard.
Even if you want to use vicious mockery as your bread and butter, a weapon is helpful in tight spots or weird situations.
Other than that, just pick some fun spells and crack on! Minor illusion is a great cantrip (put a wall in front of you for complete cover, as well as helping your inevitable lies)
Faerie Fire is good, healing word is only a bonus action, tasha's hideous laughter is good to disable a single opponent while you take out the rest of the battlefield.
I got medium armour proficiency with the variant human feat so that's all good.
Why the component pouch instead of arcane focus?
Just got into a new campaign! I can't decide between
The new Revised Beast Conclave Ranger.
A Moon Druid
or A Tempest Cleric (with Booming Blade and Lightning Lure)
You don't need to 'get out' the pouch to cast spells. It sits on your belt, and you can access M components as long as you have a hand free.
If your DM is a stickler for 'you can only do one thing per action', you might get stuck with your arcane focus in your hand in between turns, stopping you from using your weapon for opportunity attacks.
It's only a small difference, but there's no disadvantage to component pouches apart from it being impossible to find magic ones.
2 Level dip in Paladin. SMITE EVERYTHING.
In that case it doesn't matter :D
Maybe it's because our group is full of new people but the DM doesn't seem to mind as I described my focus as being attached to my belt.
I'd say either go with the moon druid or the revised ranger. First though, did you talk to your DM about the revised ranger?
new to 5e, just rolled a Half-orc Tempest cleric.
What's the best options for multiclassing, so I know what to look into down the road?
Not yet, but he's pretty open to UA / 3pp stuff.
Sorcerer for some Thunder/Lightning spell.
EN5IDERanon here. Reposting my mega which has been fully updated, up and including issue 101.
mega.nz
Also, if you have the time, could some kind user critique the bane wraith conversion I did?
homebrewery.naturalcrit.com
I am new to multiclassing but does short rest only recover warlock spell slot only
Yes. Some other classes can regain some spell slots, but not all.
>magic weapons change size so they "fit" whoever attunes to them
So could a Small creature wield Heavy weapons if they're magical, given that they should change size to suit them?
Tempest Cleric is strong without any multiclassing.
Yes. Heavy weapons still apply disadvantage to small characters though. Heavy doesn't say small characters can't wield them.
>Evil bad super demon archlich
>has done that thing where he seals his soul in a bunch of magical items phalactory(?)
>want them to be highly desirable items that people have killed to own
>first one is an powerful orb that summons hellfire that can (and has) destroyed cities but also has the power to mind control.
>second is a cursed gauntlet with spikes inside that, like a trap from saw, if you put your hand inside it would be impossible to get it out intact. But allows you complete control over the elements and elementals.
>third is a dagger that if you stab your heart with, kills you but resurrects one person close to your heart.
Can you guys give me some better ideas? Powerful effects that would be highly desirable
Players do earn the adjusted XP from DMG page 82 or they earn just the normal XP and the adjusted XP is only to calc the CR of the encounter?
>phalactory
It's spelled phallictory.
Also
>like a trap from saw
You should be ashamed.
Normal XP from the stat block.
what power are you looking for?
I mean the I got the idea with a basin/bowl which you donate/sac your blood and the container makes a clone of you but it drains you remaining life
Why are the optimization fags so bad at it in 5e?
Thats why i want some help making better ones, this is my first ever session i want to have something cool.
Order it online you fucking dumb-ass. You clearly have internet access.
So when you make the BBEG/villain do shit like "telepathically" speak to the player party at once in the middle of the crowded city or perhaps have the villain group be encased in some magical barrier that's probably 20 feet in diameter so they can protect themselves from incoming players that might interrupt their ritual, do you, as a DM, let that happen or do you have to follow the logic/rules of the game to make that happen? Cause if I did, Telepathy notes a willing creature should be viable for Telepathy and I'm sure a player wouldn't be willing for the BBEG to get into his head, that and the magic can be cast on a single target vs a group. Then on the other example, I am pretty sure there is not a spell that summons a large magical barrier that can deflect projectile damage.
Just items that are old, strong and filled with magic i suppose
Sadly, local customs fucks everyone in the ass where anything that ships from abroad will just double or triple the price I pay for. I am not dealing with that shit. Thankfully Book Depository ships directly to my door so I was able to get the core rulebooks easily without having to deal with customs.
this should be posted on the general intro.
AngryGM is probably the most conceited RPG blog since TheAlexandrian. The guy doesn't even use swear words properly, he blanks them out like a fifteen year old. Blog should be taken down, IMO.
They start from the 3.PF mindset that it can't be achieved by a single base class, and since there's no prestige classes, they try to convince themselves multiclassing for cantrip optimization is the way to go.
Ahh okay, I understand then. You're not a fucking dumbass in that case. Good luck OP. I would suggest fucking local customs in the ass, also, if you ever get a chance.
Thanks user. I rather like my DIY shit (I made a budget DM screen recently) so I'm willing to make my own battlemat which is why I asked for possible materials I can work with. That said, I did google for that and I got something to start on.
>I would suggest fucking local customs in the ass, also, if you ever get a chance.
Aye, that would be the fucking day.