/5eg/ D&D Fifth Edition General

>Latest News
Monk UA is out! dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/monk-monastic-traditions
Be sure to fill out the survey on last week's Fighters!
sgiz.mobi/s3/58266b749755

>Official /5eg/ Mega Trove v3:
mega.nz/#F!BUdBDABK!K8WbWPKh6Qi1vZSm4OI2PQ

>Community DMs Guild trove
>Submit to [email protected], cleaning available!
mega.nz/#F!UA1BhCBS!Oul1nsYh15qJvCWOD2Wo9w

>Pastebin with resources and so on:
pastebin.com/X1TFNxck

>/5eg/ Discord server
discord.gg/0rRMo7j6WJoQmZ1b

Previous thread What encounters have you thought would be easy but ended up wrecking your party?

Other urls found in this thread:

youtube.com/watch?v=brhwyOq1DSg
twitter.com/AnonBabble

i threw a couple manticores at party at one point, and it should have been an easy brush off encounter that only lasted a few rounds, but they played it so poorly that they almost tpk'd
they were more than high enough level

fuckin ogres man. 2 CR my ass

Same! they played so bad. split up, at one point our druid was at 2 life, in melee range, and uses a third level spell slot to inflict wounds instead of healing. when the fight wasnt close to over, so it wasnt a finishing blow. her character ended up dying

its strange because manticores arent even particularly crazy monsters
like they dont get poison spikes or anything
theyre just flying lions basically lol

> Druid
> Inflict wound
????

I've just gotten through half of The Water Margin and i've really been inspired by Zhang Qing's schtick, and i'd love to add it on, if able, to my old character idea for a Hobgoblin monk/martial.

What's the best way to make a PC that specializes in throwing stuff, preferably improvised rocks or other things. I'd like it to be a Monk but if another class works better then that's no issue.

youtube.com/watch?v=brhwyOq1DSg

And if it's totally unfeasible/ineffective in 5e then i'll just take inspiration from Wu Song, Lin Chong and Li Kui anyway.

>What encounters have you thought would be easy but ended up wrecking your party?

A single spectator.

If your DM dispel all 24 layers of tiny hut (what else would an elven wizard do during long rest?). He isn't fair.

A single animated broom of attacking.

your post made me lol but you're absolutely right

on the subject
what super difficult encounters have you had that you hyped the shit out of, but the party ended up destroying with ease?

Is there a compilation of 5e feats from all sources?

whatever the earth elemental cult leader is in pota is named

I learned very quickly that spellcasters die very fast if they're focused down.

I decided to always give tough casters blink from then on unless they've got another concentration they need to have up.

There's:
- The feats in the PHB
- The racial feat for deep gnomes in the EEPC
- The weapon feats in the feats UA.

seconding this
im only aware of the ones in the PHB, if there are more i need them in my life

How do you feel about using a mental puzzle outside of the game eg a cipher? I'm thinking of having my party find the journal of their "Ally" to clue them in that he's the bbeg, but I don't want it to be simple. Just the fact that it's coded would be a clue, but I'd like his plan to be attainable from it. If I use a simple rot13 cipher on a print out, possibly giving each player a different section because it's written in different languages, is that interesting? I doubt they'd figure it out quickly, I've got a friendly npc spy character who could figure out the cipher, but they'd have to leave the cave/wait a while to find him (they are currently travelling through a Kuo toa cave with him, under the guise of a guide because he's a drow from the under dark)
should I give int checks that give hints to the cipher? Is it just uninteresting/takes away from the game?

UA also has the gourmet feat, user.
Don't forget about that.

...

Mirror Image, baby. Though Blink is pretty great, too.

A flind that got hurricane rana'd off a cliff.

I ain't even mad dude rolled a Nat 20 on the grapple check and outrolled a 20 strength flind for a shove

I gave my players an incredibly simple alphabet puzzle.
26 holes in the wall, required them to spell out a name.

Took them 15 minutes to realize it was the alphabet when there was writing telling them they needed to input a name.

Just don't be afraid of giving them more clues if they seem confused and you want them to figure it out. If they can get by not figuring it and it isn't integral to the plot, that's fine then.

my man

Why not both? :^)
Still can't believe mirror image isn't concentration.

*Gourmand

you SWINE

It's more the details of his plot, I'm sure that finding a coded Journal will make them distrust him anyway, aside from the fact that he is a drow and one of the party hates him already

Once, at 6th level, when they were in a Wizard's tower, they came across a pretty simple mathematical puzzle which blasted for 2d6 fire damage, dc 10 dex save for half, on a wrong answer. The party of four came down to death saves, the monk almost died three times

>I'm sure [...] will make them
careful there

Haven't run a DnD game in a few years, thinking about starting one up. Ran 4E for about 5 years and loved it. How does 5E stack up?

Ah well.

So anyway now I'm gonna put Costanza into one of my games as druid that wields a baseball bat (club).

Exactly. I just have warlocks spam Dream at them so they can never rest and eventually die of exhaustion. If they can't deal with with a couple 9th level spellcasters on the other side of the world that's their problem.

Fair enough, just saying they are close to turning on him anyway

Beat me to it.

Subtlety is fine. But make sure your players are actually tracking along at the pace you think they should be. If they're not, don't be afraid to make things more obvious. If you're too subtle you can risk players going off in wildly different directions than you had anticipated.

Sometimes this can be a good thing. Sometimes it's just a massive waste of time.

I seriously hope you TPK.

I had my party fight a high level illusionist and I gave him the Displacement feature from Volo's. So he uses that and then casts Mirror Image, for a total of 8 duplicates. Man, that was fun.

You hope I TPK my players with Costanza?

That would certainly be an interesting way to end the campaign.

5E is very different than 4E because it's chanelling a lot of the spirit of 2E. Combat is not as much of a focus as it was in 4E and is less tactical in the sense that not everyhting is built around messing with the grid. I think it's the best edition of D&D that has been printed but if you grew up on 4E it's likely to be a shock to you particularly in how spells work.

i'm not saying its a bad idea, i think puzzles are cool. just be ready to beat them over the head with it if you need to.

Seems pretty cool.

Ive had a few of these as a player and DM especially in 3.5

>>BBEG gets hyped up for a several month long story arc
>>DM is an old AD&D guy and and doesnt know how a Cleric works in this edition
>>Gives him disintegrate not knowing it was a perfectly fitting thing for a destruction Cleric
>>Doesnt last two rounds

>>Throw a pretty solid Wizard at a mid level party of three
>>Wizard uses Resilient sphere on himself and the PCs cant do shit to him
>>PCs almost panic before one of them dispells it with a solid roll and curbstmp ensues

>>DM throws 3 Clay Golems at 12th lv party in 6E
>>Lawful stupid Paladin charges into them like an idiot in a game with Flanking optional rules
>>Trades hits and loses over 1/3rd health
>>My basic math kicks in and I realize my meat shield is fucked as the other golems are right after me in inti order
>>DM rubs hands in satisfaction
>>My Warlock has a +2 Pact keeper Rod and maxed Cha
>>Banishment mutha fuckah
>>Kill Golem quickly with party
>>Druid drops wall of Thorns before I drop Banishment
>>Initiate smug grin protocols as DM suddenly realizes the Golems will never make it out of WoTs with me constantly knocking then back with EB shots

> Elf wizard
> never sleep
> Dream failed
> Tiny hut
> "Spells and other magical effects can’t extend through the dome"
> Dream failed

You're a failure of a DM.

5e is much more like traditional D&D than 4e is, in terms of mechanics and fluff. It's easy to learn and run, a lot of fun as it is for people who just want to play D&D without much muss, but if your focus is mechanical depth or tactical combat you may be disappointed.

It's personally my favorite RPG.

don't forget to post about it

explain

The party killed a spectre, then the rogue started checking out the rooms on that floor. They opened a pantry and a broom came out and insta-KOd him.

>MFW I remember being a crabby grognard about 4e when it came out

Where has all the time gone?

>What encounters have you thought would be easy but ended up wrecking your party?

>A single giant octopus.
Oh god they had no idea

>A bunch of imps that looked like rats
Party just tried to stomp on them even after the rats bit them for a shit ton

what a rude broom

Started on 3.X, thought it was a mess, moved on to 4E. It had its issues, but I loved the simplicity of running it as a GM and the meatiness of combat as a player.

Right now, I'm probably going to be running for a pretty low-key group, so if 5E is more streamlined that's good. I just don't want the old 3.X issue of martials standing next to the monster banging it with their sword while the wizard/cleric/druid handle everything, or the other issue of monsters (especially casters) being a tremendous pain in the ass to run. That was probably my favorite thing about 4E - I can look at a monster stat block and see everything it can do at a glance, and make up or adjust them on the fly.

Had a similar thing happen with an animated rug.

I think you'll like 5e. It's pretty good.

Martials still have that problem to a degree but it's not as prevalent. If you're just doing a home game of 5E, give all the martials the disengage option of the Mobility feat to make it spicier.

It's definitely streamlined though, I really like it. Combat is MUCH faster to resolve than in 3.X or 4.

>Combat is MUCH faster to resolve than in 3.X or 4

Whelp, I'll check it out.

What's the best way to get started, beyond downloading the pdfs?

5e is more streamlined than past editions.

Martials do have some problems of sitting still banging it with a sword, but they're not punished much for not doing that, and their role as big-dick damage dealers and damage-soakers is rarely taken by casters.

The 5e stat blocks are better than 3.5e's by a mile, but spellcasters can be a bit of a pain still. Just be sure to have a spell list site like dndmagic.com or similar on-hand.

Download PDFs, and probably get the starter set for like $30 which comes with an adventure for new folks. Otherwise look into the Adventure League modules which are short adventures designed to be tackled in an hour or two. 2-3 of those form a single 'story arc' in an overarching season.

she got it as a quest reward

Skills being easier to obtain without gimping yourself is another thing helping out martials a good bit

What's the difference between the two megas?

They do retain the main flaw of the 3e fighter, however: an inability to make saving throws, which is unfortunate for the class that used to have the best saving throws around (second only to the paladin).

Note: All of this has fuck all to do with melee vs caster balance.

>melee vs caster balance

How is it in 5E?

good in combat, sort of
bad out of combat, mostly

casters for PvP
martials for PvE

> 5e
> PvP
Get out

First one is the core 5E stuff - Monster manual, DMG, the hardcover adventures and so on. Second one is stuff from the 'DMsguild' which is sort of adventures and stuff for DMs. Some paid, some not, some official, most not.

Pretty fine.

let me reword this in a way that wont trigger autists such as yourself
casters for 1v1 situations or extremely small groups
martials for multiple enemies/larger groups of enemies
can you live your life now?

not him

also no

>no gamefinder thread

Anyone happen to be DMing a small game, even looking to start a solo game, that is text only and preferably play by post?

>good in combat, sort of
>bad out of combat, mostly

What might even it up a little out of combat? In-combat is good, but it sucks to be the fighter standing around waiting to kill stuff while the wizard has fun for an hour.

Also, how is mounted combat in 5E? Can I have my paladin gloriously charging the dragon?

If Paladins aren't awesome in 5E, it's a big score in 4E's favor.

all wrong

>What might even it up a little out of combat?
Leniency with what martials can accomplish with skill checks, and strict adjudication about what spells can accomplish.

As for paladins: they are one of the best classes in 5e. They can heal, cast spells, hit extremely hard, and have extremely good defense.

Contradiction: The Ultimate Counterpoint
wew lad

>As for paladins: they are one of the best classes in 5e. They can heal, cast spells, hit extremely hard, and have extremely good defense.

muh dick

> Druid polymorph into a half-silver dragon mammoth.

> DC 16 30-foot cone Paralysis breath weapon

If I make this happen? Will my DM hate me for it?

your DM wouldnt let you "make" it happen if he hated the idea of you doing it

ask him, dingus

i don't think its fixable in the confines of 5e. with a good dm its a non issue. the issue is that combat is super codified, and mostly okay. out of combat the only things with hard rules are "ask your dms about skill checks" and "this spell does X, which often isn't something its possible to do through skill checks without a lot of time".
i think monk is a good start towards bridging the gap, because they get a few discrete tricks that they can use in and out of combat which aren't like... normally possible.
THAT SAID backgrounds CAN do a lot to bridge the gap, by giving each character some sort of out of combat trick they can pull. just, again, they're reliant on dm fiat for the most part. thats not BAD it just means its hard to fairly judge these things because there isn't really a very specific system they operate in like in combat.
paladins kick ass in 5e. there aren't tiers in 5e though in a classical sense. even then, paladins are really, really good in 5e.
haven't done much mounted combat to tell the truth so i won't comment.

>they are one of the best classes in 5e
sure but most people who play them play them like lawful autistic assholes

> caster
> not better vs group
You are so wrong mate. At least learn what fireball do. This is not even counting stuff like a Fear, Confusion and Cloudkill.

Hell even at level 1, they could cast sleep and incapacitated a group of goblins.

Casters are by FAR weaker than in any prior edition, melee dudes are decent, certainly superior to most AD&D/BECMI types.

Any way to carry multiple concentration spells?

not by RAW
only by some homebrew magic item

if the wizard wants to spew his spell slots at noncombat situations, let him
the rogue and bard are superior in and out of combat to either anyway

if you wanna be the most broadly effective char, instead of fighter, go for a rogue, instead of wizard, go for a bard

Become an alchemist. Turn them into potions that do the same thing.

Consult encumbrance rules to determine how many you can carry.

>If Paladins aren't awesome in 5E

They're easily one of the best mechanically and most fun to play. Great multiclassing options too

Only through using metamagic to twin the same spell as far as I know. Maybe a legendary tier magic item.

>big groups of enemies will always be in one giant convenient death ball for me to cast into
you couldve just said your DM was retarded mate
if your DM puts your caster into situations where you can sit in the back completely safe from all danger at all times, then yeah, your retarded opinion might hold some weight
but no decent DM would allow that on the reg

Ritual magic
i
t
u
a
l

m
a
g
i
c

5e paladins are one of the best classes around.

Simply put, you aren't going to be able to make saving throws in 5e reliably enough for my tastes without a paladin.

Things like a vampire or aboleth are much, MUCH more powerful than what, say, a caster is going to pull off; they simply flip PCs into enemies with their mind control until they have done so three times.

They are also one of the best implementations of a gish around.

Paladins are the one class every party should have, and they come in all flavors so there shouldn't be a problem.

let me word this in a way that wont trigger autists such as yourself
martials for guts and glory
casters for carrying the treasure and mopping up
can you live your life now?

I am currently a level 4 vengeance paladin

paladin is awesome and next level will be a huge jump in power.

I took PAM so I'm shitting damage, works great with Bless or Divine favor

>At least learn what fireball do.

Be a weak fucking waste of a spell?
Fireball gets more weak and pathetic every edition. It was essentially certain death in LBB, was demoted to massively deadly in BECMI/AD&D, became meh except at clearing weaklings in 3e, became a joke in 4e and a liability in 5e. You need to use a level 5 spell for it to simply kill CR 1/2 foes.

Sleep is also pretty fucking weak in 5e, easily its weakest incarnation.

that was a real cute attempt there mate
but you never countered my point so
buh-bye (^:,'

if Martials are so great, I think we need to buff the humble Wizard

> damn I don't know how spell actually work
> better call him a retard and change goal post

I can do that too. I bet you DM is a retard who think combat only happen in a large empty field. Instead of a dungeon like the game name-sake. And even then caster still win, they got a few control spell that cover 100+ feet cube.

I want to make a potential quest for the party where a village suffers from diseases and poisoning. As it turns out the rivers got poisoned by Yuan-Ti, the players can track them down and find a NPC who can help them cure the villagers.

But why would Yuan-Ti target a small village? And how would they do this? Maybe they got an innocent person to help them poisen the water? Any ideas?

reread the post
you have little to no reading comprehension and im assuming that has something to do with your blatantly poor grasp on the english language
shoo

THINK ABOUT WHAT I SAID NIGGER I DID COUNTER YOUR POINT
MARTIALS ARE FOR KILLING STUFF
CASTERS ARE FOR FUCKING UTILITY AND HEALING
if you want to, yes in some instances if the dm puts 30 goblins in a circle casters can clean house, but mostly they'll be saving slots for important stuff and casting 2d8 ray of frosts that miss 60% of the time.
thats my experience thus far.

fighter is genetically engineered to be played in campaigns that do stuff like Hoard of the Dragon Queen, in which you find a +2d6 damage sword VERY early on, and in which there is a paladin (to cover for their total inability to make saving throws)

you don't wanna bother with them outside of those circumstances

Yeah, martials, esp rogue or fighter with a niec magic sword, are there for dealing oodles of damage. Full casters, even war clerics, are Absolutely Abhorrent with damage.