/5eg/ Fifth Edition General:

Depends on the spells.
Sorcerers aren't meant to be the versatility masters that Wizards are. Sorcerers are usually meant to be blasters.

I need help working out what to do with the session for today.

The group is going to an orc camp (their faction is working with the orcs). The Orcs are trying to design a ritual that will let them enter the Feywild through a Ley Line crossing.

I want this session to involve some mystery and social roleplay. I was considering designing a mystery about some Unseelie Fey who had infiltrated the camp to mess with the ritual, but I'm not that good at designing mysteries. Can I get some help with this? Or if you have another idea to have the players help the Orcs with the ritual I'm open to suggestions.

Unlike PHB races, /5eg/ is not a monolith.

But you only have to summon it once? Like, you do realize you don't have to summon the blade each time you have combat right?

I've come up with a couple examples but I'm also leaning on the "Book of Lost Spells" from Necromancer Games for some filler.
I've set a different goal for each one but in general its giving spells that are pretty blasty that we know the sorc is going to take anyways so they can get some more freedom to choose like fire dragon sorc naturally getting fireball with a few for more flavor and utility.
Example
>Fire Dragon (still deciding on making it different between red and gold)
>1
Command, Dragon's Gauntlet
>2
Pyrotechnics, Aganazzar's Scorcher
>3
Fireball, Air of Nobility
>4
Fireshield, Firewall
>5
Flame Strike, Immolation
Its why I asked the question in general for any feedback at all.

You only have to summon it once, and then it's a regular weapon.

Congratulations, you've saved yourself 10 gold not buying a maul or something.

Right, and if you ever find yourself in a situation where everyone's weapons are gone, you have yours still? It's not the worst option in the game, and if you're not going for optimization, it's a cool character concept.

Best Dragonborn type?

You can then at best give the weapon to the fighter when they could likely use an improvized weapon or something similar to their weapon. And then you can switch back to eldritch blasting like you should.

It honestly might just be the worst option in the game. The only reason it's not as bad as four elements monk is because four elements is a bigger decision to make and pact of the blade has some really niche applications if you use it with rogue or if you really desperately need a full-caster and have a wolf barbarian or someone who constantly prones targets and you don't want a bladesinger or favoured soul sorcerer or paladin or anything instead.

The one you like more.

But I don't want to be stuck with just casting Eldritch Blasting. That's boring. I want to Play a semi decent gish with an interesting class concept.

Probably lightning
Fire is resisted by a lot of shit and somewhat the same for cold
Poison is utterly useless as everything has immunity
Acid is the only other one I could see keeping up.

Also, any ideas for fun side quests that involve Orcs?

If you want to play as a semi-decent gish you can just go Polearm Mastery Eldritch Knight and utilize the SCAG cantrips.

Tons of shit immune to lightning aswell.
Acid is probably your best bet to avoid immunities and resistances.

Then you can play a Paladin, Bladesinger, Favoured Soul Warlock, Sorcadin, tomelock, EK, ranger, artificer, AT or that revised four elements monk that isn't really official but it's better than bladelock anyway. .. Or Cleric, even. Or I suppose Druids can get into a bit of gish, if not much.
Or pallock. Or Valor Bard. Or Bardadin. Or whatever.

In a game where everybody's fucking about, sure, do whatever. I've seen people play fighters without even a +1 in strength and dex. Those sorts of games you can nerf yourself for no reason other than for 'fun'.
If you want to play a semi-serious game, you might as well pick semi-serious options, which is literally everything aside from PHB four elements monk, PHB beastmaster ranger and bladelock.

>encounter a bunch of flameskulls
>kill them
>collect the dust in two piles
>put one pile in bag of holding, the other pile in a sack
We thought separating the dust would keep them from reforming. DM decided that they can reform anyway, so two reformed in the extradimensional space and the other one in the sack.
>charm the one in the sack
>claim its friends are in the bag of holding and it needs to go in there to convince them to leave, because they like it too much in there and refuse to leave
>roll a 6 on deception
>it crit fails
>goes into the bag of holding
I now have three Flameskulls in my bag of holding.

The way indefinite madness works in the DMG actually does leave the player a lot of autonomy. You can choose not to ropleplay the madness, you just won't get inspiration for it.

Alright I've got a general question, going to play SKT as a wizard, and I've narrowed it down between Drow and High Elf race wise.

Just can't seem to decide between them. Drow is nice due to 120feet darkvision and more spells.. though High Elf gets longbow proficiency and another cantrip.

>What are you going to do with three flameskulls?
>When the time is right, I'll know.

Drow gets disadvantage in direct sunlight, if they or their target are in the sunlight.
So, you know, pretty much all the time unless your group only fights in dungeons, the underdark, or at night.
Pretty much. My plan is that, when I need a massive distraction, I'll cast Invisibility on myself, and start tossing flameskulls .They're free-minded (since they've been removed from the area they were guarding), neutral evil, quite mad, and can cast Fireball. So, for instance, cast invisibility on the whole party, sneak into the drow city, release a bunch of flameskulls, and have everyone sneaking through while the drow are distracted.

30th for Kobold Dragon-Hunting Party

>Elf or an Elf
Either way, you can't win

A scrawny orc wanders into town alone and is taken into custody. He says that if the PCs can help him kill the leader of his clan, he'll take over and direct the clan toward raiding hobgoblins and other orcs instead of humans.

He can just use spells that force saves and have no problems with sunlight at all.

Be a high elf and don't worry about sunlight. Assumibg SKT happens in Icewind Dale and other areas in the far north, your drow may find himself in a situation where the sun doesn't set for a month or more.

Would changing Alchemical acid or fire to Alchemical Plague (Necrotic) be fine in terms of balance?

Pretty much . Most of the time I won't be using spells that you have to roll a to hit on.

I've mostly been playing either dwarf or half orc for 14 years now. Figured I'd try something new.

Fire is most commonly resisted damage type, which is balanced out by it's high damage.

Wouldn't really have to worry much about sunlight either way, which is why I have a tough time choosing.
Since and all that, wizards have a lot of choice.

How about acid compared to necrotic?

I think necrotic is more commonly resisted than acid. So I'd let you change it.

How does magic work. Fluff wise, where does it come from, what is controlling it actually like, and how do spellcasters view game terms like Slots and Spells Per Day.

>playing game with DM I meet for the first time
>want to knock someone out with electric damage
>"You can't do that the PHB says only melee weapons can do non-lethal"
>Say "Uh, no it says in the PHB its up to the DM, so are you just going to play it that way?"
>"No it says it in the book, you're wrong."
>Say "Whatever you say."
>Banned
>go to pg197
>I'm right

Fucking know-it-all DMs

he banned you for that pissy shit? jesus christ

Yeah and the thing is I defended him when other players were walking all over him with his storycrafting, but when I corrected him on a rule he got butthurt AF.

You're complaining about being banned after defying your DM? jesus christ

Probably decided you were going to be the sort of person who would argue with him over every minor thing. It was silly of him to go straight to kicking you but at the end of the day the GM is the one in power so if he doesn't want you in his game then that's that.

end of a year long campaign
>level 16 party of 5
>they are chaotic neutral/evil, a band of mercenaries
>they were hired to kill an underking who was turning the ocean into sand
>a powerful archfiend is the king, they barely BARELY manage to kill it after months IRL
>the final battle takes place on a great tower risen from the sand and overlooks the destroyed neverwinter
>due to some selfish mistakes throughout the campaign the world is brought to ruination by the archfiends mechanizations - there is hardly any more water left and most life on the planet will die soon.
>the entire party but the bard and warlock (the leader) dies in the fight
>the bard is really fucked up, the warlock is looking through the archfiends chamber to find something to fix the world, somehow
>he finds a ring, identifies it as the ring of three wishes, with only one stone lit up.
>he tries to use the wish to change the world back, but it fails, it is beyond the power of the ring.
>he makes several wishes in any way to fix the world
>as one of those, he wished to be god
>as he is about to hand the ring to the bard - the rings last stone dulls
>a voice calls out to him, even more alien than his patron, but also familiar.
>the voice tells him that becoming the god is more than what he thinks, and bears an even greater great responsibility than what he can understand, and that although being all powerful does not mean that you can create and shape the world, you can only guide, not command the living, and that this god's time is soon to be up.
>the warlock reaffirms his commitment, anything to repair the world that he helped destroy
>everything begins to shift into different colors and blend in together and swirl - the world - all of the planes bend and contort into a single point
>his dead companions are silhouettes and gives him some final words
>the warlocks consciousness fades to black - then awakens to be god, an entire reality to shape in his image
>make him DM and start new campaign

Skimming over page 197, I don't see anything that proves you right (though I may have missed it). Page 198, however, has the section for knocking a creature out, and it confirms what the DM was telling you. So if you could show me what you're referring to, that'd help with my confusion.

>being banned after defying your DM
I wasn't defying the DM, I told him it was not in the rulebook (which he insisted it was) and asked him if thats just a house rule, and he told me I'm wrong and that its in the book. So I told him I'd do it if thats how he wanted to play it and he banned me.

If you can't handle people correcting you on rules when you're objectively wrong you shouldn't be DMing

Same passage your reading says

>Most DMs have creatures die immediately when they hit 0 hit points
>Most DMs

That means its at DM discretion. It says nothing about only melee weapons being able to do it.

Needs to be a melee attack, not a melee weapon attack. Could work with shocking grasp.

Depends on the setting.
>Forgotten Realms
It's pulled from the Weave. Read the book to know more.

how would you guys balance out true strike if i wanted to use it as a primary cantrip? im looking to create a wizard who stays in the support role and would like to use it as a buff for allies on my turn

Depends on setting tbqh famalam

$69 says you're not portraying the situation objectively

That's a different rule, that's for skipping death saving throws for monsters.

That's kind of weak justification.

This makes sense though. Shocking Grasp was not specifically stated, but I agree that it should be capable of non-lethal damage.

It was with shocking grasp actually lmao so even if he was "right" hes still wrong

That is talking about whether monsters get a chance to stabilize or just die instantly, it has nothing to do with non-lethal damage.

But the DM decides that rule, not you, so why would you bring it up? You only get to decide if you want to knock them out with a melee attack.
It's like complaining that you are flanking so you should get advantage when the DM has never once said you are using the flanking rule

>lmao
Well, I know why I would ban you now at least.

So a while back (maybe a week or so now) there was talk about how to make a Swordsage (a class from 3.5) ported over to 5th edition, and after some discussions it was determined that the best option would be to make it an archetype of the Monk.

After a bit of work on it I've gotten it to the point where I think it's worth getting feedback on. My current worries/issues are:

- Ki cost of techniques relative to the level you can get them.

- Too many techniques that might not be worth taking, or ones that overshadow the other Monk moves.

- Not entirely sure on the damage die sizes for some of the skills, either too high or too low.

>But the DM decides that rule, not you, so why would you bring it up?
Because he told me to read the book and I told him it was not there?

Im debt free now which means that i have tons of disposable income. Im looking at buying miniature booster packs but i dont know which line is the best for general use or if different lines have better minis. They have a line for each of the published adventure paths plus two "Monster Menagerie" lines. Which is best? Does anyone have any experience?

Okay, we get it, you have lots of money. Will you stop spamming this?

Honestly would recommend becoming an ascetic monk. It's much more fulfilling in the end.

Well you were wrong.
>Sometimes an attacker wants to incapacitate a foe, rather than deal a killing blow. When an attacker reduces a creature to 0 hit points with a MELEE ATTACK, the attacker can knock the creature out. The attacker can make this choice the instant the damage is dealt. The creature falls unconscious and is stable.
Page 198 in the player's handbook under knocking a creature out.

>So, you know, pretty much all the time unless your group only fights in dungeons, the underdark, or at night.
or in buildings, or caves, or forests...

in the past year, i think i have had maybe three encounters that took place outside during daylight hours.

Why does sense magic make any sense, thematically?
Regaining ki that quickly is pretty broken, and makes Perfect Self completely worthless.
What does "reflect an attack" mean? Because that ain't D&D terminology.
Some of the techniques are laughably OP.

Overall, 7/10 because it's surprisingly not too bad if you get rid of Weapon and Body.

"Who is truly rich? He who desires little."

The rule for knocking a creature out is on 198, and it has to be a melee attack, not determined by the DM. You're referencing the rule where DMs can choose to skip death saving throws for monsters and have them die instantly on hitting 0 HP. Shocking Grasp works, but you cited the wrong rule and don't actually understand what you're talking about.

I'd recommend you to send me some money instead. I really need it.

Probably varies by the DM. The past year for me has had about half our battles taking place in direct sunlight, and about half of those with no real shadow to hide in either.

>MELEE ATTACK
Shocking Grasp is a melee attack, he said "melee weapon attack"

Shocking grasp is a melee attack. It is you that is wrong.

The DM wasn't wrong, just confused. They probably just assumed you meant this rule (like everyone replying to you does), because you trying to make the DM use optional rules you want at the time is just stupid

Should l use Grungs or Bullywugs as a random encounter in my adventure?

>how would you guys balance out true strike if i wanted to use it as a primary cantrip? im looking to create a wizard who stays in the support role and would like to use it as a buff for allies on my turn
Bonus action. But it may be too good, then.

What the hell is he talking about if not that?

Good GM - "Roll to see if you can do that"
Bad GM - "No, you can't do that"
Horrible GM - "It says right here you can't do that"
/5eggs/ - "PHB 393 SAYS UR A FAG"

>because you trying to make the DM use optional rules you want at the time is just stupid
It wasn't optional rules, he said only melee weapon attacks can cause knockout, and he was wrong. Its not special rules, its the rules.

I think you got banned because you didn't take proficiency in persuasion.

You could have asked to talk about it afterwards in a more friendly manner and just let it slide for now. It's better than starting a fight while all the other players groan.

And anyway, the 'incapacitating a foe' rules are very DM dependent as some DMs dislike the 'you just automatically knock them out instead of killing them' idea. You can do fucktonnes of damage going all out of them and still leave them only unconscious whereas a rock would've killed them.

this

where would you guys wtart when making an underwater dungeon?

THERE'S NO PAGE 393 IN THE PHB YOU GOD DAMN QUINTUPLE NIGGRO!

Horseshit

Good GM - "this shit makes no sense, rolling won't make a lick of difference"
Decent GM - "roll to see if you can do that, and also I'm setting the DC really high"
Bad GM - "you can't do that because of page 42"
Horrible GM - "you can't say that because I'm a fuckboy who needs to change his tampon"
/5eg/ GM - "depends on setting"

Sure, but you're wrong too. Your argument hinged on the wrong rules entirely.

The rules are restrictive in 5e at all, if you make them intentionally restrictive that isn't fun. Why have a PHB at all if you're just going to wing it on all the rules and you decide what does and doesn't happen.

If I said "the PHB says you can't move and attack on the same turn" you're just going to let me?

Under da sea

I would probably replay Ocarina of Time and then kill myself

Those DMs are idiots who think hit points are meat points.

The justification was wrong yes, but my central point being "other things besides melee strikes can knock people out" was right.

But he was asking about knocking a creature out, thus why everyone is talking about the rules for knocking a creature out. I still don't understand why the monsters and death section is relevant, that is a different matter to wanting to knock a creature out.

I was a drab little crab once

Fishermen ore privateer expedition, you could even start an a privateers sanctuary island like Tortuga or something like that, theres a map of Islands on the sword coast map.

The nature of the dungeon. An "underwater dungeon" can be a flooded mine, a kuo toa city, a lost palace at the bottom of a well, etc.

It has Sense Magic because that's what the class gained as part of it's class back in 3.5 days, and it seemed like such a harmless thing to give it that I was fine with it.

I wasn't entirely sure what to give them for a 17th level feature because everything else I was thinking of seemed worthless or blatantly OP. Maybe just make it so that if you go down to 0 Ki during a fight, and succeed on hitting a foe with a melee weapon attack, you regain 1 Ki point, just so that they can continue to do stuff.

I grossly over-simplified the wording for Fool's Strike. The 5th edition wording would probably be, "As a reaction to a foe's melee attack hitting you, you may spend 3 Ki to deflect the blow back at the opponent. If the foe's melee attack would hit their AC, they roll damage on themselves. Otherwise the hit is negated on you and them."

What techniques strike you as being grossly OP? The ones I weren't sure on making them are: Vampiric Touch, Bonecrusher, Mind over Body, Overwhelming Mountain Strike, Iron Bones, Dragon's Flame, and Wolf Pack Tactics.

So you're both dicks, and no, only melee strikes can knock a person out.

Nah it's not meant to say the rules don't matter.

Obvious rules are easy to follow. In places where the rules are ambiguous, sometimes it's best decided by the dice.

Shouldn't the saving throws be Wis based?
Specify whether or not you can use multiple powers on each attack.

Feigned Opening needs a saving throw, n automatically successful wasting of an opponent's reaction.

Sonic Boom sucks compared to attacking with a shortbow.

Radiant Heat needs a save for half. Even so it's quite powerful for a concentration free effect.

Fool's Strike needs a saving throw

Inferno Blast needs to specify action type

In the monster manual, it even gives rules in the case of a troll for cutting off its limbs if you deal enough damage with a slashing weapon.

For monsters, hit points are much more in the way of meat points. You can often delimb or fuck up a monster in combat, and that's how it's intended to be as the gore of combat makes it more dynamic. A swarm of monsters may have weaker attacks at half health - you've literally killed half of the creatures.

The HP and meatpoints thing comes into question when you're dealing with players, howevevr.

>and no, only melee strikes can knock a person out
Melee spells can as well