/5eg/ D&D Fifth Edition General: Volo's Guide to Monsters Edition

How does one best mix Paladin and Warlock?

Just wasn't sure if I mightn't have gone past "cold-blooded and savagely utilitarian" into "mindless monster" territory.

Actually? If you're familiar with Malifaux lore, I only came into it late, would a party of 5 13th level or higher D&D adventurers have a chance of carving out a niche for themselves in that world, or is it too dangerous even for such experienced PCs?

Going to start DMing in the summer, but I'm a poor college student. I have the books, that much I can justify but what should I do about models?

I don't want to have to buy a hundred different sets of monsters, I also don't want to not have models either. What do

Do you mean fluff-wise or crunch-wise? Because that's two different questions.

Fluff-wise, easy; you're a witch-knight, serving a magical patron both as a caster and an armored champion. Best fits are Fiendlock-Oathbreaker and Faelock-Ancients, off the top of my head. Pact of the Blade is probably the most harmonious Pact, with that free magical weapon, though you can fluff the Chain and Tome to make it work as well.

Not the hardest thing ever. You could just be a Paladin of Asmodeus or The Queen of Air and Darkness who then makes a deal with one of their subordinates for increased power in order to serve them better. Pact of the Undying Light, in one of the UAs, is a pretty good one for any non-Evil Paladin. Vengence Paladins I can easily see risking fucking with a GOO or Fey to get the greater evil.

I meant more crunch-wise, I have a thing figured out for the background.

Well I don't know a TON about the lore specifically, but 13th level PCs would probably be around the level of most of the masters of Malifaux (or a little below for setting reasons).

>what should I do about models?
Get a one-inch hole punch and an extra-strength glue stick from a craft store, cut out cardboard pogs from old boxes, print out monster art, and glue the monster art on the pogs.

RAW uncommon items costs between 100 gp and 500 gp, and something as base and simple as a +1 weapon, which most players expect to get anyway (even in the form of a mundane masterwork weapon), would probably be on the low end of that price range. There are other uncommons that are way better, like a broom of flying or gloves of missile snaring or a wand of magic missiles that would be on the higher end.
The reason your GMs price it at over 500gp is because 5e has created an atmosphere of reverence for le holy bounded accuracy that must never be broken while basically saying fuck magic items and fuck you for wanting them. On top of that, the prices for mundane items are all over the place and it sets a really wacky precedent. Being able to reach 18 AC is set at 1500 big ones, alchemist's fire is 50 badonkadonks a pop, and of course the ever popular Basic Poison which is set at 100 gold dabloons despite being useless.

Superbestfriends play 5E when?

Mind telling us what that is? Difficult for us to suggest DevPaladin17/Fiendlock3 or Chainlock18/Paladin2 without knowing what you're planning.

Thanks friendo

>the fire giant dreadnought

yes please

I basically want to make a tough battlefield control/support dude, with sword n' board preferably. Keeps you safe in battle, patches you up after, that kind of deal. I'm not really familiar enough with the system to know what the best split of levels and choices of features are.

Veeky Forums, halp. I'm still not used to DnD but I got myself into leading a game of Tomb Raider, except based on 16th century and with a lot of naval adventures.
Is introducing firearms a good idea and how dnd handles them?
What makes for a good dungeon/lost temple run?
Is there anything supporting naval combat or do I get to handle It myself?

don't use dungeon and dragons, go play GURPS or a dedicated system about pirates

Firearms rules are in the dmg

Volo's reads like beholders can choose their eye ray, however the type is rolled at random

Well, Devotion and Civilisation (an Oath from SCAG) are probably the most defensive/supportive ones, though Ancients has Aura of Warding, which is boss.
Faelocks with Familiars or Oldlocks with any Pact are pretty controlly, although the Seeker Patron (media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/UA Non-Divine Faithful SFG.pdf found here) is also really good in that role while Undying Light offers great healing/survivability.
In terms of split, you usually see Warlock only getting three or two levels for Patron, Invocations and Pact features. Paladins don't multiclass much cause those capstone features are BOSS, but 17 Paladin levels are pretty strong.

Actually, I could do fucking wonders in Broken Wheel but my current group is a bunch of shits and I am kind of obligated to at least try to make It in 5e.
I just have no idea how you guys would do It, since dnd is a completely different experience for me

I am in the same boat; I basically made tokens out of things by just printing out dime sized token pictures and sticking them to dimes/quarters depending on size.

Go play GURPS or Savage Worlds

A kobold inventor can obviously choose what kind of mundane item they use on their turn, but the ability says to roll at random.
The roll is to see which one they decided to use.

I'm so neurotic lately about the campaign I'm running.

My plan is that a city's protector knows about a big army attack coming soon, and he's asking the party to bring a special thing to a big cave not far underground just past the city walls so he can eventually blow it up under the invading forces.

I figure they'll figure it out real fast if I don't figure out a clever thing that someone would want underground that is also explosive

I don't think there's support for naval combat, so you're on your own there. There is a homebrew Fighter archetype called the Gunslinger on DM's Guild that you can probably find in this general's mega for free. It has a bunch of neat guns in it to go along with the class. I wouldn't recommend using the firearms inside the DMG because they have the potential to make greatswords obsolete.

Someone asked me to make a Lich prestige class in the last thread, so here's the unbalanced rough draft I whipped up in like 2 hours of casual writing and haven't even proofread yet.

Have a look, tell me how shit it is, and I'll probably get back to tweaking it tomorrow.

If I wanted to make a wizard villain character for my first session, what would be an appropriate level to face 4-5 level 1's?

DMG pg 267-268
Isle of Dread (there was a 5e playtest packet of it prolly need to make it tougher though)
DMG pg 117-119

Did some reading of Volo and got inspired for Orc lore ideas

Orc Traditions:
>Orcs carve into their tusks to mark their successes in life: participating in a great battle, being blessed by a god, ect.
>When an Orc dies his tusks are removed and placed on a necklace that will be passed down to the first born, the necklace embeds the power of their family on those who wear the necklace.

He will have support from some skellies and zombies.

There's this CR2 caster enemy from Princes of the Apocalypse, could adapt it from there. He was a crazed necromancer with a bunch of zombies and such.

Perfect, exactly what I need

Sounds good. Thanks friend.

New DM looking for some help. My PC's sucessfully snuck into a bandit base and disguised themselves well enough they could pass off as members of the gang last session. What are some ways I can imply that they could potentially cause a divide in this gang and make them fight umongst themselves without me having an NPC straight up say he thinks he could be a better leader than the current one?

>I figure they'll figure it out real fast if I don't figure out a clever thing that someone would want underground that is also explosive

I uhh.. I physically do not understand what you are asking or trying to say. Want to run that past me again?

Have an NPC say he thinks he could be a better leader than the current one.
They would probably not even pick up on that as being a hint of low levels of gang loyalty. You need to be extremely heavy handed with players.

Hmm Lizardfolk can make a shield and sell it... so it's 5gp per short rest? Not too much to actuall effect game, but enough to live comfortably.

Have people imply the current leader is weak and if I or such and so were in charge we'd be rolling around in blackjack, booze and hookers and we should be aiming for bigger targets but the current leader is scared and maybe we'll build our own tree house, but this one's pretty nice though, so maybe the leader should just leave and we vote for a new leader. Just have them do missions and hang out with the bandits and have the general chit chat be about that sort of thing.

In the center of camp there sits a set of gallows where a few corpses sway in the wind. A sign hangs from the neck of one such body. It reads, in distinct letters:

"Treason will not be tolerated."

And then have an NPC say he thinks he could be a better leader than the current one.

I could have worded that better

I'm hoping the players don't figure out this guy's plan early, but that would require something more nuanced than "Hey guys, go stash this bomb underground because I'm bored, thanks."

I'll come up with some second in command type character that feels underappreciated or something and is overly talkative to his subordinates if he thinks they are loyal maybe. I know I need to work on my RP as a DM, one of my players even told me he feels like his character isn't working out since he feels like every encounter is solved easier with combat and his character is much more RP focused.

Go to the leader, pray on his insecurities till he feels compelled to Cary out a Stalinesque purge of his men. Then behind his back act horrified among the men that their leader has so lost his mind. Continue to gaslight everyone till it all comes crumbling down taking you with it.

Also, create love triangles. Nothing breaks up the band faster than women

Subtlety is for filmmakers and novelists. Be blunt.

If you have the books, then all you need to worry about is a screen and mat.

The screen is easy, just get a Manila folder and spray paint it to whatever color you like. Or paper clip two binders together like pic related

For character tokens, use various coins for enemies, American coins have really radically different sizes, which works really well, pennies for humanoids, quarters for orcs, those fuckhuge Kennedy half dollars for Giants and ogres etc.

For player minis, either have your players supply their own, or just use d4s as characters because they're distinct and don't slip or roll around.

Amen, brudda.

Does unarmed count at a weapon attack?
Can I infuse my Lizard bite attacks with divine strike?
What classes can use bite as a main attack and not lose out on anything? As I see it, it seems only Life and Trickery clerics

A cheap option for a battle grid is to get a large poster frame from a thrift shop. Then get some wrapping paper with a grid of guide lines on the underside. Put the wraping paper in the frame with the grid up. Draw on the glass with expo markers. I did this and my total cost was 5 dollars cause I stole expos from my professors.

>pic semi related just shoot for bigger

Have him refer to it as a powerful magical relic he does not want to fall into enemy hands, it is disguised as a large wine-keg to help hide it and conceal its nature. He does not want to discuss the nature of the relic at all and is evasive of any questions.

If you play it right, when the players get curious they will want a peek when they ge a moment to do so.

Have them retrieve something from the cave, but they also have to place some sort of mysterious package down their as well.

Unarmed strikes count as melee weapon attacks, so can smite with them. However, they don't benefit from improved divine smite that you get later on.

Reminder

>half casters determine spellcasting level by (level/2 rounded up) when level is 2 or greater.
>third casters determine splelcasting level by 1/3 level rounded up from level 3 onwards

>multi-classed casters determine level by 1/2 ROUNDED DOWN if half caster, or 1/3 ROUNDED DOWN for third caster
>this is on top of the fact you already don't get high level spells and higher level features from each class
>if you're a EK4 and you multiclass into paladin or ranger, you LOSE SPELLS

What, are they scared about multiclassing?

Well, I was sort of hoping they wouldn't figure it out until the big kaboom, but maybe it'll be more dramatic anyway if they ruin it.

I'm talking about the clerics divine strike, but that seems to have similar wording to improved divine smite anyway. What's the reasoning behind it not working on unarmed attacks if they are considered melee weapon attacks?

By RAW, divine strike does work with unarmed strikes, but the flavor line before that means the RAI is iffy at best. It wouldn't break anything if a DM allowed it either way, though.

Does anybody have a folder with characters they've played of varying levels?

Interested in figuring out what some of the more effective characters are, for comparisons sake.

I'm sure my DM would be fine with it. I just want to play a Lizardfolk with a poison bite

To the user who was wondering why I would pull a curveball on my players that have been enjoying their sandbox adventure by sending them to a different plane: They absolutely loved it. After the session I was met with "Holy shits" and "Dude that was awesome".

Needless to say it went pretty good, going to the Plane of Water and sending them to kill a hag. Any suggestions for dealing with a massive kelp forest, or encounters / monsters?

They were gifted with a 24 hour Submerge Ship spell, so any combat encounters for that would be greatly appreciated.

The mind flayer shit in Volos is so cool.

I can't wait to TPK my group with an elder brain.

Oddly enough this worked for me too.

I was running a shamefully railroady campaign but when plane-hopping started they were all texting me between sessions about how great it was.

I made a whole handboook guide/map written by a wizard that they had to use to navigate the spots where all my made-up planes intersected and stuff.

Gazer familiar OP. Those eyebeams aren't attacks.

>Volo's Guide to Monsters is in the Mega.

user is the fucking best.

It's meant for NPCs or as a story reward, not as a choice for the find familiar spell, just like the pseudodragon etc. variants in the Monster Manual.

I was asleep through the last thread, so I'd like to thank the Volo scanning user now.

Cheers dude.

Would you allow it on a chainlock? Seems like a good fit for a GOOlock.

That's super smart, can you wipe the expo markers off, or do you need to replace the wrapping paper?

>Volo's Guide to Monsters is in the Mega.
That was fast!

I'm happy tritons look like one organism instead of two halves stitched together.

The wrapping paper is under the glass, you can just wipe it off.

Ancients Pally + Feylock is something I've always wanted to do. The fluff is pretty easy on that.

Beyond that

Vengeance - Fiend - Your hate and desire for vengeance is so great that you would go to absolutely any length to pursue your vengeance, including making a pact with a Fiend.

Devotion - Undying Light - Healer and protector traveling the land aiding any and all they find

Dunno how the fuck you'd do GOO

Pathfinder pawn boxes

I got the NPC, Bestiary and Monster boxes for about $80 in total. That's like 900 some cut outs with everything from Half-Orc Bards to Behirs

Fiend is for Oathbreaker, GOO is for Vengeance.

this post isn't bad but I think I can do better.

>grid
Buy iron-on interfacing with a 1inch grid at a fabric shop. You can get enough to cover your whole table.
Buy cheap fabric.
Iron them together, use the iron to get out any wrinkles.
Cut to size. Place on table. Hemmed or bordered edges nice but not absolutely necessary. Interfacing will reduce but not stop the fabric from fraying, so you would have to be gentle with it if you don't do anything for the edges.
Buy a clear acrylic tablecloth. Place over fabric.

Now you can draw over it in wet-erase markers.

I had a similar rig that I gave to a friend when I moved. Spent maybe 45 on a full table battlegrid.

>minis
There are flat printable tokens you can find online, for the most cheap while decent option, I've used that in the past.

There are 3d printable minis, for a nice but more expensive option, I'm considering using that in the future.

They really didn't like multi-classing and feats and shit this time around

it's a shame but I can dig it, kinda dissuades the munchkins and keeps them in their 3.pf cages.

Though some still come to 5e and try to get milk out of a cat

Devotion/Ancients Paladin 7, tomelock 3 with 20 charisma when you can get it as soon as possible.

From there, choose between levelling warlock to 5 or paladin to 11, though paladin to 11 is quite a nice one.

Tomelock means you ONLY need charisma - charisma is your melee stat, your casting stat and applies to things like the +save aura.

Strength can be at 15 if you want to wear heavy armour, but no more.

Get the +1 AC fighting style, probably.

Undying light is quite powerful as you can use 'green flame blade' instead of making usual extra attacks. It also fits quite well with a paladin theme.

Otherwise, fiend gives a little bit of extra tankiness in Temporay HP, or GOO if you want telepathic communication.

Aim for DEFINITELY 3 levels in warlock, DEFINITELY 11 levels in paladin by the end, and do whatever the heck you please after that.

the discouraging of feats seems pretty shitty to me, feats are fun and were a good way to make martials feel more unique. at the most it should only be casters that have to choose between stat increases and feats.

First, take 10 levels of Paladin, maybe with "Inspiring Leader" feat.

Then you're done.

>ye
>ye
>ye

Is Elminster Scottish?

Aye.

I agree. I'm still ironing out the details to make sure it works okay, but I want separate stat and feat tracks, which are not interchangeable .

Devotion Paladin with a Whip and Protection style.

Whips low damage is mitigated by smites and divine strikes, the reach works great with a shield and protection style, as you have more freedom to stand close to allies without losing out on your attacks. Take Inspiring Leader as a feat, then max out charisma. IL gives huge amounts of health over a combat day, combined with lay on hands and offering protection via your shield, you have the supportive fighter down.

Very Simon Belmonts, bonus points if you go Bugbear.

Inspiring leader is a very powerful feat, but it doesn't get used a lot.

It's basically being the team's support bitch that foreoes their own progression in order to give their entire team a flat +health buff.

Even worse for warlocks (A charisma-based caster) for all the many sources of Temporary HP they have.

While whips are stylish, but once they get levels in warlock club+shillelagh outshines it by far.

The main advantage of whip is using shield for protection and standing next to allies while still being able to melee whoever needs to be melee.

I'd say his build doesn't merit or need warlocks. A flat paladin handles everything.

That's true, but once they collect all the auras (plus probably improved divine smite, even though that's not team support) they don't really have a lot more team support to pick up, so they could probably go for things that give them more damag. Since they'll have focused entirely up charisma, they'll probably only have a +3 to dexterity or strength, so undying light warlock gives them +2 to hit from charisma, +2 to damage from charisma, another +2 to damage from 1d8 instead of 1d4 and another +2 on crits from 1d8 instead of 1d4, but no reach which might be a tad awkward. Then, they can use green flame blade and instead of two attacks for (2d4+2d8+possible two smites, +2d8 against fiends/undead) they can do (1d8+2d8+5+possible 2d8+5 extra damage to a second target, possible one smite, +1d8 against fiends/undead). Though, fire damage isn't all that great. Does do an extra 1d8 to each target at level 17 though.

Pretty skeptical about allowing undying light as such a multiclass though. Shadow sorcerer is already a horrific multiclass to exist.

.. Yet, still, the later paladin levels are actually pretty good too, but they're not as essential.

Then again, I guess undying light for green flame blade is valid enough.

It's up to +5 damage on GFB, but not Booming Blade, and it's instead of fiend's 'you get temporary HP whenver you kill' or seeker's 'as a bonus action, you gain resistance to damage and everybody who comes near you takes damage for a round'

..I still don't like seeker's ability, but I guess I've found fiendlock's ability to not be super powerful in practice.

Yeah a wizard with 12 in Dex does fine, why? because you have magic armor (AC is now 14) and can cast Shield if shit hits the fan, you aren't in the front line so you won't be attacked every turn. And sure, there will be casters and archers, but those aren't the majority unless the GM wants to fuck you up expressly. Same if you're a warlock because you have invocation that gives you mage armor at will. AC 14 is fine for a ranged caster (Cleric will have 16 or even more if he has shield even with low Str as long as isn't negative).

Barbarians ONLY lose unarmored armor if they wear armor, they can still wear medium (14+1 from Dex) and Shiel and have AC 16 which is fine because you have resistance to damage and d12.

Would they be better with Dex 20, well of fucking corse, but they will do fine with 12. A monk with 12 on Wis and Con won't, and your dodge and disengage depends entirely on your ki so at first level you don't have, and at low levels you can only do that trick once or twice, you'll die before you have enough ki to spam dodge (which isn't reactionary like Shield spell)

Yeah, I played in different groups, in adventure league and outside of it, precon and not precon games. No, I'm pretty sure it's YOU who don't actually play the fucking game.

Also if he is a wizard with with 12 Dex he can even go Bladesinger for that +Int to armor and lose nothing. Srly, why bladesinger makes so good ranged wizard? almost 0 incentives on going melee with it.

>AC 16
14+1+2= 17, broseph, but I get the point. It will be more because you can have 15+1 with good medium armors.

Doesn't smite take your bonus action? Or you meant "two chance for smite" as in two chance to hit, so your ability to smite that turn is doubled?

Also note that there are smites that do fire damage; another source for UL warlock to apply the CHA bonus.

And you could go maximum munchkin and add fire dragon sorc to that.

> Warlock
> waste invocation slot on Mage armor
You never play a Warlock do you

> QUICK Veeky Forums
I have to initiate two persons this sunday, with one or two veterans in it.
What do I run ?

Potent brew and/or LMoP