/5eg/ Fifth Edition General

Not out yet.

Not out yet, but the list of races is leaked.

Is Strahd well designed? Or does it suffer from Wizard's perpetual inability to design named personalities?

I didn't get the opportunity to use him in combat yet, but I've heard on plebbit that he's really, really weak and goes down like a chump during the climactic battle. And if he tries to fight fairly against the party who already has the sun sword, he goes down in a couple of rounds.

>fight fairly
lol. he's not supposed to fight fairly, period. that's just not how he's designed

>tries to fight fairly
Kek
If you play Strahd (and his minions) properly there's no chance in hell the party can beat him.

A couple of times, the MM refers to Adamantine weapons (damage immunity/resistance against weapons that aren't adamantine), but I can't find anything else about it. I see Adamantine armor in the DMG, it's listed as a magical weapon. Is that what adamantine weapons are, magical weapons that only have the adamantine property? Can adventurers adamant their weapons like they can silver them? Or does it only work for boneclaws?

Since adamantine's value is in its extreme hardness and not its supernatural properties like with silver, I'd guess that an adamantine-treated weapon wouldn't work well because most of the weapon would still be too soft.

If I was making a trap that released a gas that had an effect similar to the Slow spell, should it be a Wisdom saving throw (like the spell) or a Constitution saving throw (because its gas)

i Will entirely swap out the dragonborn for the lizardfolk

on an other note, does anyone have the total party kill handbook in pdf?

Drow use them, and the Drow Wizard in the starter set has an adamantine staff.
I'd say weapons can't be made adamantine, they have to be forged from adamantine.
Not sure what kind of price I'd give it, I'd be more likely to offer it as a quest reward.

Up to you.
Personally I'd make it CON - as you've said, you're just using the spell for the mechanics - the gas presumably is causing the slowing, it's not like the gas is casting a spell on them.

Definitely Con because it's gas rather than a casting of the spell

Just to toss in, Adamantine probably is much more common among certain groups and regions than others, I'd go as far to say that in places where it is generally used, it probably is more common for high end weaponry than steel.

Ivan Bouldershoulder's axe is adamantine, and he works it readily enough to make Cadderly a yo-yo esque weapon out of the material.

So it's just a strudy metal. So if someone wields an adamantine sword, it doesn't count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances/immunities, right? It's a little confusing because adamantine armors are listed as magical items.

And if you'd silver a found adamantine weapon, it could be both (adamantine and silvered)?

Is it a gas created by alchemy/magic, or is a toxic gas of some sort made by science/nature?

> literally anything good within fantasy
> HURR DURR TOLKEIN

Any tip for the first time Wizard? You guys convince me to go diviner, but I can't seem to find a good spell for it (other than Hold Person).

We're level 3, so 2nd level spell is the highest I can cast.

What if I told you, alignment is a social construct designed by the patriarchy.

Best 2nd level spells for a wizard are:
- Suggestion (especially with Portent)
- Pyrotechnics + Flaming Sphere
- Invisibility
- Misty Step
- Levitation
- Mirror Image (> Blur in pretty much every aspect, no concentration)

Some people like Blindness/Deafness but even with Portent I don't really see the point.

I'm only a LV2 Diviner but I'll probably take Mirror Image & Invisibility @LV3 and Suggestion & Levitation @LV4. Still wondering desu.

I hate how Detect Thoughts and Locate Object are this restrictive, they could be fun... sadly, not really worth selecting.

Hold Person isn't that great IMO, even with Portent. Too restrictive, not really interactive, pretty 1 dimensional. When I compare it to Levitation I just don't feel like I'll enjoy using Hold Person.

I think adamantine armor is in the magic items section because there is no section for "mundane items made from special material".
In my game, an adamantine weapon isn't intrinsically magical, but you can get magical adamantine weapons.
I see nothing wrong with silvering an adamantine weapon, it's a pretty niche bonus and it saves the whole "fighter with 10 greatswords made from different materials" that was common in 3.5.

I think it's in "magic items" because adamantine can only be forged by magical means, thus making the product magical in on itself.

> fighter with 10 greatswords made from different materials
What's so bad about it :^)

>aasimar
>firbolg
>lizardfolk

Hold persom = almost auto crit = happy Paladin and Rogue

I don't dislike it because of verisimilitude or anything, it's inconvinient if your DM runs carrying capacity - either RAW or "I'll tell you roughly how much you can carry" and is just another annoying "martials vs casters" thing.

Hobgoblins, lizardfolk, and orcs all have the potential to be player races in my setting as they have large populations and aren't inherently evil. Others on a case-by-case.

How do I make a PC with the power of One for all?

...

what do you mean by that?

It's mechanically superior and I understand how strong of a condition paralyzed is... But it still is a one dimentional spell that won't provide much fun apart from the "we are clearing combat encounters faster".

I'd much rather have the option to levitate people and things out of combat, than to make a combat encounter a lot easier.
I understand that might not be the case for everyone and that it also depends on what campaign/mindset you are playing. Just providing a different point on view.

So I remember when 5e first came out everyone considered rangers to be kinda underwhelming. Since then has there been any new ways to build them interestingly? I'm about to run a campaign for some friends and one guy wants to be a ranger and don't want him to feel like hes underperforming.

Is there a good way to play them? I thought maybe like a skirmisher swapping between bow and sword?

media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/UA_RevisedRanger.pdf

There's a UA that makes the ranger actually decent from a few months back.
Use that, or just run an Ancients oath paladin.

Check out the newest Revised Ranger in Unearth Arcana. That version is pretty good.

Essentially a muscle wizard

I'm doing Out of the Abyss next. Since a bit part of that is the idea that the characters are surfacers who have become trapped in the Underdark, in an environment that immediately makes them stand out to natives there, I probably won't allow goblinoids, kobolds, or orcs.

Everything else is gravy, though.

Right from Curse of Strahd itself:
- Strahd attacks at the most advantageous moment and from the most advantageous position
- Strahd knows when he's in over his head. If he begins taking more damage than he can regenerate, then he moves beyond the reach of melee combatants and spellcasters, or he flies away (using summoned wolves or swarms of bats or rats to guard his retreat)
- Strahd observes the characters to see who among them are most easily swayed, then tries to charm characters who have low Wisdom scores and use them as thralls. At he very least, he can order a charmed character to guard him against other members of the adventuring party.

"Strahd" and "a fair fight" go together like oil and water.

Sup /5eg/

On my phone right now so I cant post as comprehensively as I want.

I got a question: how can I get some new players at my table who may not be too into D and D into being /the/? Its a guy and his girlfriend who sort of got convinced to play by a mutual friend who really wanted to get a table running. My mutual friend also brought his gf and another bro who's pretty into D&D. They asked for homebrew so I obliged and made one based on the Crusader States era.

However I ran the session and it was... Not the best. The veteran players seemed to enjoy it but were a bit bogged. The newbies dont seem to be enthusiastic. My friend who set up the game's gf was cool... But she doesn't speak much English so I often had to translate into French as well (the joys of Canada). On top of this I didn't realize they had dogs that ran around acting crazy and just generally making noise.

I like most of the people in the group. I really like the campaign I made and dont want it to die. How can i build this game to be interesting even for skeptical new players? I've DMed plenty but usually for enthusiastic players with a tad of experience. Any advice?

>Not allowing goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears in the Underdark
They don't actually settle down there, there are much bigger fish that are way to much hassle for them to deal with. Just because they're used to living in surface caves or bunker fortresses doesn't mean they're used to dealing with drow, duergar, illithids, and all manner of nasties down there. In fact, it could be quite a valid way for such an "odd" race to fall in with adventurers, demand of the situation and all. Could be a good interaction.
Kobolds do settle a bit, but not a ton, could still be a near-surfacer.
Orcs generally live in encampments and basic structures, as out of their element as any human.

Did you make the Characters with the new players?
Do their characters have any actual goals they want to achieve or are they just
>Im an Elf and I have a Bow

Work out some short/medium/long term goals with the players for their characters, tie it into the plot and let them encounter it

Since people were unfamiliar with tritons from the last thread.

And pictures.

Well id agree with you except everyone was late as fuck. I got there about 6 and we didnt even sit for characters until 8 (wat.png). When that happened the new players were annoyed and just wanted to start so asked for pregens. As i said didnt seem to be too into actual character creation. I tried to help em out and make stuff but I do hope people will make 3D characters. I just dont know how much some folks give a shit and I want to give them a reason to care. Also as I said it took a long time to play and the pets were really distracting. They even stopped play at one point!

I don't want to be a shit DM I really dont. But I feel like I'm fighting a really uphill battle to get some players to give a shit. Also the language thing I wasnt quite prepared for. I speak french but not everyone does.

Thanks I'll check that out. I'd rather use that because we already have a paladin in the party. I mean he's going the more traditional route but players never like playing the same.class as another member even if built differently.

Sounds like youre trying to cobble a group together with duct tape and chewing gum where the is none

If you want to do the campaign thing you need a session 0. it can be with each of them individually so they dont feel pressured or ridiculed

otherwise just do one shots where they get to do wacky shit so it doesnt hurt if the game doesnt hold together

It's not just the native settlements that you have to take into account, however, but the slaves as well. Duergar and drow keep extensive goblinoid, orc, and kobold slaves, so anyone meeting them is going to assume "escaped slave" first rather than "surfacer".

What are good ancestors for an Aasimar characters?

I mean, the party is, so.
It would be an interesting dynamic. The thing with parties with monsters is that you have to keep it to only 1, or have the whole party be strange, for any campaign. Otherwise they can't easily find ways to include the odd one out, and don't want to all take circuitous routes.

>Cobble with duct tape and gum

I guess I already knew that just wanted to salvage. Maybe it'll work out if not its OK though.

I'll do session 0 in the future though and preferably where people show up on time without angry animals.

>I hope the next version of the Mystic UA is the full class with all option before the final version.

Lung dragons.

Me too, user. Me too.

Anybody got that homebrew four elements monk fix pdf handy?

it is

Maybe? I have this.

...

Yes, this is the one. Thanks.

A dead one.

Aasimar are an awkward situation. Celestials wouldn't just produce bastard offspring and then skip out on them. They'd be involved in their families' lives. And they're immortal, and a lot of them are very powerful. An aasimar basically couldn't work as a member of an adventuring party unless his or her celestial ancestor was killed while on its native Upper Plane.

I think I'll like Tritons thematically, but they look stupid. Why the dicotomy between a human half and a fish half if you're not going full tail. They should just look like Tritons from Marvel (who kind of looks like the Creature from the Black Lagoon).

>Play a wizard
>Take a few defensive spells in case targeted
>DM will only ever attack the big fighter in plate and with a shield
???

cool story, bro

Because they exist too in FR

> Play a big fighter with a shield
> Enemies will only attack the wizard

Aasimar are not the direct offspring of mortal and celestial any more than tieflings are meant to represent half-demons. Rather, they're someone from three or four generations down the line, or even further.

I rolled a battlerager despite /5eg/'s warnings that they are the worst thing ever.

I'm currently the biggest offensive and defensive threat in the party. We are level 4. It doesn't seem like that will change anytime soon.

Why are battleragers bad again?

Personally, as a DM, I don't allow unusual races unless the player comes to me with a meaningful, setting-coherent story as to why that character has to be unusual.

I don't like players that want to play a Tiefling or a Firbolg just for the sake of it (specially Firbolgs since I don't know much about it), the same for Drow. If they want to play, say, a Gnoll, they have to read about their culture, their gods, their rituals, their lust for blood and find a way to make that work in the context of an adventuring party. It's not that I dislike the concept of monstruous creatures as adventurers, in fact I love it, I'd love to see how the party would behave itself having a Gnoll in the party and constantly having to stand by its side to protect him from (somewhat valid) prejudice, because that's what heroes do.

But players that come up with "I want to play X" out of the blue, without even reading a fucking article on the Forgotten Realms wiki, those I turn down with a big fat "NO, you can't". When they tell me "but i'd like to experiment!" I'd tell them, "then look for the common race that fits the most and work on your roleplaying, experiment through your personality traits, not through gameplay mechanics".

As much as I don't want to think of the implications for grandma/pa, a (hopefully shapechanged) archon hound surely yields cute and faithful dog-person aasimar a few generations down.
My pic pickings are slim unfortunately.

Jesus?

Any other DMs get overwhelmed and overflowing with ideas for your campaign and where to go next and all these names and situations and things for the players to explore.....and then the night / day before or day of you're dreading you don't have enough or don't know what to do come session time?

I'm planning on throwing a huge curveball (the game has been fairly mundane so far, so I'm going to jack up the fantastical quotient) and I'm curious as to how everyone is going to react.

...

If the players are busy and having fun exploring a big sandbox and it's all you can do to keep up with them, why would you want to make your job even harder by introducing some world-shaking event?

They'd watch over their grandchildren, etc. just as surely as their children. They're not deadbeats.

Not necessarily a world-shaking event. They've been having some sandbox fun, moving forward from A to B to C to D without any overarcing theme, I'm just planning on changing the playing field (going to a different plane rather than FR / not-medieval-town-ville #34).

And force them to go there? Okay, that will certainly make your campaign more predictible for you for a while, at the cost of railroading them.

That doesn't mean they have no responsibilities or restrictions imposed by their celestial superiors. They can't just bugger off to the material all day and act as a literal guardian angel for their descendants, something they understand when they make the first. And given how much tail getting and responsible childbearing aasimar are up to with that divine build and strong sense of morals? Whoa boy, a celestial wouldn't have the time for it after a few generations without anything else to do.
At best, maybe they'll give them the occasional blessing of guidance, lead them to becoming a cleric or paladin, or otherwise lend them a small boon very occasionally. An extra present under the tree at !Christmas, a fresh plate of hot cookies when they're feeling down and alone.

Thinking of doing dark-grey fantasy adaptation of D&D 5E. Thinking of something akin to Black Company in tone and power level. Here are some fluff and mechanical distinctions, make me feel bad about it:

> PCs are mercenaries who work their way up within a company. There are rich cultures and traditions surrounding mercenaries.
> A major focus is mass combat, including leading men into battle in squads and (eventually) batalions.
> Another major focus is politics and winning the fight before reaching the battlefield. Also, the Black Company tradition of making sure your employer doesn't fuck you at the end of a contract
> fantasy races are slang terms for various nations and cultures; all are technically human.
> Magical creatures hunted to (basically) extinction
> magic is for fags
> Cleric not a thing
> Paladin not a thing
> Ranger spells are non-magical. Flavor accordingly.
> Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster are the primary spellcasters in the world.
> Full casters get fucked. Max out at 5th level spells, harder to regain slots. Probably getting extra feats or a fighting style or some shit because...
> Damage-dealing cantrips GTFO
> Magic that isn't abjuration, divination, enchantment, or illusion probably GTFO.
> there is a corrupting influence that pervades certain areas, so some dark, magical creatures are menacing (a hag coven, for example, with 6th level spells)
> Limited power level. There would be generic leadership-based classes (think Brute, Scholar, Tactician, Face) that you gain at even-numbered levels instead of normal classes. These would give ASIs, hit dice/proficiency bonuses, and leadership/mass combat capabilities.

It's barely D&D and it challenges many of the core assumptions of D&D. It's probably not for everybody. It might be for nobody.

It's a valid thing to aim for, but gutting half of a system not really designed for it probably isn't the best way to go about it. You might have better luck starting with a closer base entirely.

Mah edgy spikey mang stupidity.

I like them too.

>responsibility
Which is why you have to think long and hard about why one of them would have made it with a mortal in the first place. They knew that it would eventually lead to responsibilities they couldn't keep. They're these usually-genderless creatures of absolute purity with no sex drive, born straight out of the Upper Planes, and if they have so much as an impure thought they turn into fiends. If they're having children, it's got to be an intentional part of some kind of plan.

This sounds boring.

Anyone played Awaken Mystic? How are they? Psionic Investigation and Conquering Mind seems like a good ability to have in my new campaign.

You're dumb for two reasons.

>Listening to a bunch of min/maxing grognard neckbeards on a Mongolian basketweaving forum
> Trying to prove a bunch of min/maxing grognard neckbeards on a Mongolian basketweaving forum wrong with a sample size of YOU

They may indeed realize that they can't tend to all of their descendants some day, but the same is true of mortal races. And even then, the gifts of their power and influence (drive to do good) are upon all of their descendants still.
>Absolute purity, no sex drive
Source on that? Even if not, they can still feel love, and aasimar happen.

Yeah, I don't think 5e is the system you're looking for to do that, although I'm afraid I couldn't offer a better suggestion.

Main thing I would say would be caution with mass combat rules. Managing entire armies can be a bit boring, but running a combat with several dozen guys is a hassle.

I would suggest having armies be Huge-sized 'swarms' of soldiers, so that the player only has to control 2 or 3 in a fight against a similar number.

I would also say to just cut out most full casters entirely and lean on partial casters like the Fighter and Rogue. Maybe allow the Magic Initiate feat as the main way to get spells.

Lizardfolk +1 con, swim speed, can gain resistance to bludgeoning/piercing/slashing for a turn 1/rest, advantage on saves vs. poison, immune to disease. Claws/bite can up your damage with light weapons.

skink: +2 Dex, prof on stealth checks, your skin changes.
iguana: +2 Str, +1 natural armor bonus

Yea, I've run a lot of mass combat in 5E using swarms. It wouldn't take much to turn my notes and the conventions we use into a more robust, workable system. We've used them, for example, for a boarding action across ships (PCs were pirates.) It's a way to reflect there are 50 sailors on the other side without the law of large numbers fucking them in the ass for trying to do fun stuff.

I might just 86 full casters entirely, but as soon as I do that, a player is going to beg to be one (unique snowflake clause), so I might as well just make them suck

While I can see a celestial taking care of direct descendants as they have responsibility for creating them, if the half celestial makes a baby Would the celestial treat it differently than any other creature?

You are less effective than Two-handed Bear totem barbarian in both offensive and defensive departments.

The gap between ceiling and floor is pretty narrow in 5e though, so you can just play anything you like and still be useful to the party.

>usually-genderless creatures of absolute purity with no sex drive

I have no idea which D&D you're playing, but it isn't any D&D I'm familiar with. Celestials have both sex and sex drives according to official lore. The Hebdomad contains two females, three of Talisid's five Companions are female, the Court of the Stars has a female Queen.

The Book of Exalted Deeds had an entire subsection concerning relationships and sexuality, and it made a point of saying that sexuality is innately neither good or evil, it simply is.

An alternative might be to turn full casters into half-casters. It might take some tweaking, but you could essentially make them like the Ranger and Paladin and give them halved spell progression from level 2.

You might need to give them some actual weapon and armor proficiencies along with an extra attack at level 5 to make that work though. It'd be easiest to do for something like Bard.