/5eg/ D&D Fifth Edition General: Bard Edition

Curse of Strahd is pretty cool, but I wish it came with a Ravenloft setting primer for 5e, even if it was just the core.

Speaking personally, I don't like that HotDQ has the party immediately encounter a dragon, so that they have no practical option but to try and tiptoe their way around to get where they're going. I'm not saying fighting a dragon at level one should be practical, but having no true choice of action in an RPG blows as it is without the only real course being 'be afraid of this or die'. It's also a pretty shitty situation to put new players in.

What beginner map maker do you guys recommend.

is it hiding in the OP? I'm fucking searching.

>Warlock gains a third spell slot at seventh level, a fourth spell slot at thirteenth level, and a fifth spell slot at nineteenth level
>Gains Eldritch Blast as a class feature; is no longer a spell, does not count against cantrips known
>Pact boon invocations are simply features of the pact, invocations without a level prerequisite are gained at 5th level
>Invocations no longer use a spell slot

Just off the top of my head. Thoughts?

> doesn'tfixbladelock.gif
Maybe make them auto gain EB or a pact weapon and scrap Bladelock as a book choice?

All of that at once sounds like overkill to me

Are Warlocks really that bad?

Not THAT heavier. rapiers and longswords are mostly the same weight, not going pass the 4 pounds/1.8 kilos mark most of the times.

Would it be game breaking to make an estoc with the same stats as a longsword but with finesse? The rogue wouldn't be able to use TWF without the feat, and even then he would still have something similar to the rapier (d8).

Are you asking out of curiosity, or are you considering which one to run? Because I would run LMoP for new players every time. SKT is my favorite 5e adventure, but it can be led into from LMoP with ease.

I'm running LMoP already, so just out of curiosity.

>Same stats as a longsword but with finesse
Rapier is already a d8, does it really need to have versatile, too?

Is a 1st level dip in Cleric overpowered if I'm going Wizard the rest of the way?

A one pound difference on a sword is a huge, noticeable deal.

As long as you don't pick Forge Domain it's fine

I was thinking Arcana or Knowledge.

Honestly it's mostly because the Theurge subclass is all wonky, and I can't get my re-write to... work.

cover your dick and roll it across the paper seems to be the agreed upon way to do it.
The veins are the rivers, just fyi

>post here about 2 weeks ago about dieing to a shambling mound while playing Horde of the Dragon Queen
>make a new character, an artificer
>tonight's session, inspect some muck pile, a Otyugh grabs my new characters ankle
>kills him in two turns

Am I a complete retard, is the DM a dickhead, or is this campaign hard?

Yes, but rapiers and longsword aren't that different in weight, one is just a specialized version of the other, and a lot of the weight goes to the hilt to slide the center of mass closer to the handle and make it better for thrusting.

If we're talking about a smallsword then yes, they're lighter than a longsword, but they're also lighter and smaller than rapiers.

You wouldn't be able to use with GWM, since it's not heavy. The only problem I see would be with GWF, and it would buff dex fighters and paladins, but versatile weapons aren't that great mechanically to begin with.

...

aight. Meant for hand dungeon crafting. I'm sick of random generating.

get paranoid motherfucker

world is out to kill you

sounds like the campaign is hard
challenge rating 4 is pretty high for low lvl chars
Were you lvl 2? If so that's obscenely high for you

One pound lighter than a longsword isn't a smallsword, smallswords are barely one pound to begin with. A one and half sword, which is 5e's longsword (not the old oakeshot) is absolutely going to be heavier than a rapier by easily a pound.

What are the chances Wiztards releases a revised Sorc on monday?

What are the chances Wizards releases a UA on monday?

If you're talking about world maps - or at least mapping out sections of your world map at a time - the one I've used is called hexographer. It's free with an option to pay for some more features, but it lets you make maps on a hex grid and be just descriptive enough that it gets you a solid idea for how your world looks.

As for dungeon maps, basically grid paper, pencils, and erasers.

I was a level 5 against the thing, once I was grappled it was over, basically because of the room it was in was so small
we've gone through 3 iterations of the party trying to slog through this, and I've died the most. Including npcs the DM has started putting into the party to help us.

aight. already got a DM book full of notes, guess it's time to get a dungeon book.

He basically just wants to play a wizard

>It's free with an option to pay for some more features
An user posted cracks for it, Dungeonographer, and Cityographer a while ago. Lemme dig them up.

They might be.

Until 11th level, Warlocks have just 2 spells slots to work with. Unless you're taking a short rest after every encounter, the other casters can easily beat you in a game of endurance on just their daily allotment of spells. Heck, both Wizards and Sorcerers have their own spell slot recovery mechanics as well. While Warlocks do have an advantage in casting spells at an elevated spell slot, if combat lags on, you'll fizzle out fast.

Tax invocations for Eldritch Blast and your pact boon will eat away most of your invocations until 12th level, and while the at-will options are neat, half of your invocations require a spell slot to cast in addition to a 1/day limitation, making them almost always a terrible choice. If you want to balance for Tomelock's supreme utility, Warlocks could gain one less invocation total and still come out at a net positive as a chain or blade pact Warlock, which they could use more than Tomelock.

>tfw you force the annoying always-a-wizard-since 3e player to actually pay his scribing costs

>Curse of Strahd
It's good. 7/10
>Lost Mine of Phandelver
Personal favorite, 10/10
>Storm King's Thunder
Fun, can be a tad confusing sometimes 7/10
>Princes of the Apocalypse
Fun but awkward, can't really explain why though. 6/10
>Out of the Abyss
Had loads of fun 9/10
>Hoard of the Dragon Queen/Rise of Tiamat
Avoided it, don't even own it so I won't give it a score

What are the odds I know the answers to any of your questions? I'm just a guy

Every time I look into rolling a character or playing an adventure, I feel like the magic system still bugs me the most. I probably tried a dozen alternatives (including spell points, blood magic, replacing all magic with psionics), but I always feel a bit sad that the system used in dragonlance 5th age never made it as an alternative in d&d (the system itself was barebones and the setting, being post apocalyptic dragonlance, was basically trying to improve on total shit), I think it's the closest D&D ever came to a workable (although pale) imitation of ars magica's magic.

How2 get whip proficiency as a Rogue without multiclass?

Im vhuman so thats a no go.

How much am I fucking myself over by using one without proficiency anyways?

I really want to play a Viking-ish Cleric. Like, that crazed warrior that carves runes into his gear and throws himself headlong towards either an early grave, or Valhalla.

I was thinking Dex-based, medium armor Cleric, but was torn on whether War or Tempest would be a better fit. Forge seems pretty cool, and my DM doesn't have an issue with it, but I keep hearing people talk shit on it. Is it really broken? Also, can't decide between Warcaster or Medium Armor Master.

Advice?

1 stick together. Your DM is throwing things at you that you have no chance to solo kill
2 Keep your hp up at all times. If you are out of healing spells/potions, you need to stop and go back to rest
3 Buy lots of healing pots. They are expensive and worth every penny
4 Maybe make a class with higher AC/ survivability?
5 Expect bullshit to happen at every turn
6 Use a lot of items. Sometimes a bag of 1,000 ball bearings or a hunter's trap can make all the difference
7 Even if you're not a stealth class, at least try to sneak everywhere you go. You might not succeed but it might give you a tactical advantage some of the time, or let you prepare/make use of your surroundings, and for that it's worth it
8 Try to make use of bottlenecks and if necessary, use a distraction to make your enemies come to you. There's lots of room for tactics that many players overlook

Weapon Master feat. Talk to your DM about trading a proficiency for one or finding someone to train you with it.

Feat (a huge waste)
Ask your dm to make a common sense house rule (imo as a dm, rogue and bard should have all finesse martials and lose longsword)

Im vhuman so a race with weapon profs is a no go*

Remember to proofread kids.

War, imo, fits more as a cleric skald than tempest, but both fit the viking theme.

>Like, that crazed warrior that carves runes into his gear and throws himself headlong towards either an early grave, or Valhalla.
Sounds like one of the UA Barbarian options, forget what it was called tho

Alright, cool. Any advice on feat selection or other ways I can build on the roleplay aspect? I was planning on Sailor (Pirate) for the Viking experience.

Yeah, I think people might miss the forest for the trees. Bladelock is an archetype with problems, in a class with serious problems of its own. If Warlock were made better, Bladelock would also be better by extension, which helps when discussing just what to do about Bladelock.

Of course, at the end of the day, a d8 full-casting class just has no business in melee combat, unless they have ways to seriously augment their durability, and actually have interesting options in melee.

I mean, if Sorcerers get shit on for being bad Wizards, I think Warlocks probably deserve more shit for being bad Sorcerers.

>Wizards go adventuring to pay their crushing tuition loans.

How well do Barbarian levels sit on a Cleric?

The Zealot one gives you a revolving door in the afterlife as a class feature

>in a class with serious problems of its own
Such as? The Tomelock in my current party does just fine. Genuinely curious about this.

Not well, Barbarian relies a lot on Rage which means no spellcasting4u

Also, I don't know why everyone thinks runes always imply magic instead of just a kind of fluff

I'm still lurking if you end up finding it. If not I appreciate the effort either way.

I've always considered myself a rather mediocre GM and with this campaign I really want to challenge myself. Especially since I'm new to 5E and have a guy new to D&D.

Any longtime players who've never tried DMing I really recommend it. It's a great experience especially when you put in all the effort and watch your players fucking ruin everything.

Nothing makes my smile bigger.

>I don't know why everyone thinks runes always imply magic
Since historically runes were used for religious reasons and were associated with Odin "Basis-For-All-Modern-Wizards" All-Father, it seems like an easy sell.

I mean, I'm not saying you HAVE to make them magic, but that's just how some people like it.

Anyone got some viking character art or character art using runes?

I found it a while ago, I was just waiting to see if anybody cared.
Weirdly, Hexographer's key is the simplest to generate.

Ultimately boring and inflexible. Most of the time you're just sitting their firing Eldritch Blast at things, with one spell slot permanently dedicated to Hex which only leaves you with one left to do with as you please. Many of the invocations are awkward or usless, including most that rely on using your spell slots which are already stretched thin for reasons above. Bladelock is more or less useless, because while you could be taking a pact boon that grants utility like a familiar or a book of rituals, you chose a new source of damage that's actually worse than the options you currently had (that being Eldritch Blast) and requires more invocations than EB does just to barely keep up. Tomelock is definitely the best of the three, but Warlock could definitely benefit from a few upgrades, namely gaining more spell slots earlier to better handle the flexibility issue, finding a fix to the blade pact (which may involve removing it from the boon list entirely and putting it somewhere else as an alternative to EB), and introducing changes to the way many of the invocations work, particularly the ones that require spell slots.

Although, considering the plan would be to increase the number of spell slots a Warlock has access to, many of the invocations that require the use of a spell slot may in fact be more viable once that change would be implemented.

thanks, user.

I've played several Warlocks so far, and I can say that I very strongly disagree with everything here. Warlock is probably one of the best classes, both mechanically and in flavor. You're welcome to your opinion, but I thought it needed to be said.

You sound like the kind of power wanker who ends up having the DM declare that your spellbook has burned down.

user you responded to here, thanks for sharing your opinion. I might have a chat with our tomelock and see what he thinks too

Oh, I agree with flavour that it's fantastic, and I probably have more character ideas for a Warlock than any other class because of how interesting patrons can be and how fun that dynamic can be to play. I'm talking exclusively in combat, where almost every Warlock falls into the routine of "I Hex and Eldritch Blast", because they don't have the spell slots or abilities to mess around with many control-style spells and EB is a steady, reliable source of damage in the same way a Fighter with a Greatsword is. I've played one Warlock (Blade), and had one in my games (Chain), and while we both enjoyed playing it neither of us could say combat as a Warlock was particularly exciting. There's no accounting for taste, and personal experience is bound to play a big part in both of our cases to skew our views, but I couldn't help but come away feeling like I wish Warlock had been handled a little better.

Eh, not really. I'm happy to play Warlock as is, but I'm aware it has problems. I don't implement any of these changes in games I run, nor do I pester DMs I play with to let me have access to these changes, but they're just some things I feel like would improve the experience as a whole. Besides, any DM that solves problems with players with in-game punishment kind of deserves it.

>tfw you would kill for a ranger with song of rest
>or maybe be willing to blow a feat like exists for level 1 casting and martial die

>There's no accounting for taste, and personal experience is bound to play a big part in both of our cases to skew our views, but I couldn't help but come away feeling like I wish Warlock had been handled a little better.
I'm sorry you had a bad time of it, and I agree that ALL the classes could use tweaking for personal taste.

What in particular do you think the Warlock needs changing?

Is artificer a good class, what are it's flaws? How is it in game compared to others? Most importantly, is it fun?

Looking to make one.

Mentioned it right here I don't really think I'm skilled enough to properly make a Warlock rewrite that's balanced, but they're just some issues I noticed while playing and while watching others play.

No need to feel sorry for me, though. As I said, just because I felt the Warlock needed changes doesn't mean I didn't enjoy playing one, and in fact I loved the idea of being a heavily armoured dwarven fiendlock wading into battle spewing fire on everything I saw. I just know an EK or even an Evocation Wizard with the flavour of a Warlock would have probably done what I wanted but better.

Different user here, but I think the biggest thing the Warlock needs is that bladelock needs to be a viable option. Personally I'd like to see an Invocation along the lines of:

> Eldritch Enchantment
Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade feature, know the Eldritch Blast cantrip

Benefit: You magically carve mystic symbols into your pact weapon, granting it a boon while in battle. Your weapon now ignores resistances for the purposes of nonmagical damage. In addition, when you hit a foe with your pact weapon, deal an extra 1d6 force damage. This bonus increases to 2d6 at 11th level.

And give them another Invocation that keys off the above one to increase the damage die by one size (so d8 force damage) with a 11th level requirement.

But Pact Weapon already counts as magical for overcoming resistance.

My bad, thought it didn't for some reason. Cut that part out then and just have it be the whole, "get a d6 force damage on weapon hit" as a trade-off for going into melee with a freaking Warlock.

Ultimately I think the biggest problem with Bladelock isn't damage; the biggest problem is that Warlock already has a reliable, stronger source of damage, and while Tome and Chain both give interesting and useful utility options, Blade is just another source of damage. It's why above I suggested maybe giving the option of EB or a pact blade, both as roughly equal but specialised sources of damage, and then give you the choice of a tome or a familiar later on.

Although the pact weapon is already considered a magical weapon just by being a pact weapon so it already bypasses those resistances, making half of that invocation redundant.

I went into it, for the most part, in this post . But to add to that, because of spell slot limitations, in general, Warlocks will have to be more conservative in expending their spell slots than any other full caster, though their patron abilities and invocation at-wills can certainly support that. That's why Pact of the Tome is such a strong option; not only does it provide tremendous out-of-combat utility, but it gives the warlock a sizeable suite of spells that they can cast without worrying about their spell slots, both from the rituals from the Book of Ancient Secrets invocation, and the bonus cantrips from the Book of Shadows.

>Making typical sneaky nigger Rogue
>Don't want to have the usual "cloak and hood" because all my damn characters do
How do you feel about the "coat-as-cloak" look?

Added bonus of having pockets!

One level in fighter and the dueling fighting style.
Then find a way to grab booming blade and spell sniper.

>While raging, having 0 hit points doesn’t knock
you unconscious. You still must make death saving throws, and you suffer the normal effects of taking damage while at 0 hit points. However, if you would die due to failing death saving throws, you don’t die until your rage ends.

Conveniently enough you can grab booming blade WITH spell sniper.

Still leaves getting Whip proficiency somehow.

Training is always an option, however most campaigns don't have enough downtime for it.

See The potential damage from this new Invocation (along with grabbing the other one I suggested at 11th level to increase the damage die one size) means a Bladelock can, in theory, shoot stuff with EB while moving into melee (probably firing off a Hex along the way), and then once they do deal potentially up to 4d8 force + 2* weapon die + 2d6 necrotic + 2*Stat damage at 11th level.

To assign actual numbers to the stat, let's assume it's a plain old Greatsword with a 20 STR Warlock. That's 4d8 force + 4d6 slashing + 2d6 necrotic + 10, averaging out to be roughly 54 damage. That's a pretty beefy, but then the Warlock's in melee and just dealt a nice chunk of damage, so they're probably going to get squished by whatever they hit if it's still alive.

Can I ask HOW you figure that the warlock is powerful? For high level spell slots, they're just a gimpier wizard.

Also, how many rests did you average per day?

I don't have my books with me. Is there a separate feature for "advantage on spell saving throws" vs "resistance to spell damage?"

>what is booming blade

On one hand booming blade really does feel like an attempt to give something to blade pact (and I feel it's a missed chance to not put it on the bard list). On the other hand, it's a lot more valuable for other lock pacts because it fucks you out of your second attack.

You can always take pic related and refluff it slightly.

Slightly related, I've been wanting to do something similar to pic related (but expanded) as either a feat or bard subclass focused on buffing song of rest, but im not sure which.

If feat, it would be changed to taking the duration of a short rest playing a song, and at the end your party has temp hp OR bonus damage on their next weapon attack OR bonus to perception and/or stealth checks OR the next save they make... etc.

I guess to make it that powerful and versatile it'd have to be a subclass.

How do you guys rate the various aasimar?

What are the best companions for the new Beastmaster?

Some monsters have the Magic Resistance feature which gives advantage on spell saves. I can't recall anything that gives resistance to all spell damage specifically though, as resistances are usually by damage type.

Not a patch on 2e's Warriors of Heaven table-generated ones/10

Best way to Lore Bard?

Kinda want to make a Bard but there's so many options for it that I can't decide on a set one.

Some kind of Archer might be neat since you can steal Swift Quiver.

I fucked around the other day with a build for an user, and realized that a 5 level dip into bladelock mixed with some arcane trickster actually sounded pretty fucking neato. You got 2 attacks plus sneak attack damage, a lot of proficiencies (start as a rogue obviously), access to a ton of spells plus more spell slots. Definitely not minmaxed but it looked viable and had great flavor. Thing is, the more I looked the more I realized that multiclassing into rogue was probably better than continuing into warlock if you really were trying to go more the martial route.

Steal Counterspell and another offensive spell at 6th level. After that so long as you steal spells from as high a spell level that you can get for your other Magical Secrets is fine.

Misty step is godly to keep your distance (and one of the few druid spells I wish was on the ranger list but isn't; faerie fire is the other one). Stealing Hunter's Mark and Swift Quiver isn't really bad but I feel like it might not be quite amazing on a Lore Bard compared to Valor.

Alternately grab a paladin aura or elemental weapons (paladin attack spell, in some contexts it's more powerful than Swift Quiver). Blur, maybe.

In general the bard's own list is already brimming with utility so it's less of an issue.

I am playing a fiend bladelock atm, and I'm finding I have no problems with hanging with martials in melee. You just need to realize that a good chunk of your damage can come in your off turn, with spells like armour of agathys and fire shield cast before/at the start of the fight and reactions like hellish rebuke. Otherwise, the darkness/devils sight combo is awesome for surviveability and reliable advantage, booming blade and green flame blade are better than my paltry extra attack, and I can fly. You have to depend more on temporary hit points (from fiend pact and agathys), but with mage armour and a good dex you won't be too squishy even.

I think you're overestimating the tomelock. whether or not you get any useful rituals depends entirely on loot, and even then you're probably not the only guy in your party who can cast them. the bonus cantrips amount to fuck all. you will hardly ever want to spend your single action per round of combat to do anything other than blasting, if you're out of spell-slots, which you probably are.

this right here.

Warlocks do need a rework. They have great flavor and tons of potential, but right now you have to be asking yourself what exactly that guy in your party traded his soul for. Anything he can do, some other guy in your party can do better.

Rage during fights, heal when not fighting. Could be some issues if you're the only healer maybe but probably works well with another partial healer in the group.

>tfw lawful good wizard.
>Divination Specialist

>table-generated

What is this? I've read WoH but don't remember what you reference

Problems only exist on the theorycrafting level.
None of these posts take actual play into consideration.
This is a tradition that goes back to the days when not everyone was banned from rpg.net.

Like with Tieflings in the Planewalker's Handbook. Table's on page 88, rules for using it on page 83. Doesn't seem to tell you how many times to roll on the appearance table, though, and since you only get one roll in exchange for losing half-damage from both heat and cold, and each of those appears separately in the table, it's possible to just fuck yourself out of a special power by rolling on the tables.

I can't remember if the tiefling tables by default give you fewer powers than you lose for rolling on them if you don't hit the roll twice/thrice entries.