/5eg/ D&D Fifth Edition General

>mace, flail, morningstar, warpick
>a d6 with no traits and three d8's with no traits
What would be a good common trait to place on these to make them more interesting to use mechanically?

Reposting from the previous thread...
>Whenever a character would roll 1d20, they instead roll 3d20 and take the middle result
>When a character has advantage they instead take the highest of 3d20, or the lowest of 3d20 if they have disadvantage
>Weapon attacks inflict a critical hit on a natural 18+, or a natural 16+ for Champion Fighters

There would certainly need to be a little rebalancing for a few options but generally speaking I think this would work quite well. What are your thoughts and suggestions, aside from "Don't do it you fool!"

Is there a particular need or benefit from making advantage crazy go nuts and disadvantage "don't even bother?"

Actually looking at it a bit more, I'm entirely wrong. 3 Dark Stalker(Revised Ranger) and 17 Ass/Scout(don't know why I said skirmisher).

Something that causes the creature hit to become stunned, such as on a critical or if you have advantage on an attack and you would hit with both rolls.

You mean deep stalker, right?

I'm really batting a thousand today huh? Yeah, Deep Stalker. Close enough.

I reworked the weapons a bit, posted it like a hundred threads ago. Try this.

anyone check out the 5e warden on the DM guild? is it any good? or perhaps would it be better represented just being a druid archetype?

As long as you keep on truckin' and fixin' your mistakes, you're gonna be a-okay.

i posted a d10 2 handed spear and a d12 club that is essentially a kanabo en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanabō

what ya think of those?

In 2e wizards couldn't wear armor at all while casting spells. So what's stopping 5e wizards from taking feats to throw fireballs in full plate?

My group uses 3d6 instead of 1d20. Advantage is 5d6 drop lowest two, disadvantage is 5d6 drop highest two. Crit on 17+ naturally. We also did maximum damage dice explosion rules.

That makes some balance alterations. Crits are less common but regular competence is up because most of the time you're hitting between 8-13 on most checks. Class/race options that increase crit chance are exponentially more powerful because it goes from a roughly 1.9% to 4.7% (I think?), regardless of math accuracy it is certainly noticeable.

With dice explosion rolling max damage can be pretty intense, and with the options such as the half-orc where they already roll bonus dice on a crit is hilarious because you can end up rolling obscene amounts of damage with some luck, but it isn't common enough to be game breaking. It certainly makes using things like greataxes (which roll 12 more often than 2d6 does) or whips and daggers (which have a 25% of explosion).

nothing
but you're better off taking a one level dip in stone sorcerer to get an ac calculation of 13+con

Nothing, mages in armor is part of 5E. The only reason most don't is because most, for fluff reasons, don't spend a lot of time learning to wear it effectively.

>stone sorc
>get shield
>start with AC 15+Dex as a full caster
>human+warcaster
>get whatever 1H weapon you think is the bassest-assed
>pick spells that let you reposition allies and enemies or do area control
>spam attack cantrips
I fucking love the stonesorc.

Stone sorcerer's ac is CON-based, not DEX-based
Which makes it meme supreme for casters

Didn't see the thread had moved on

>>Party is traveling with a princess NPC
>>Actual useful princess mind you, she is very smart and gives the party a nice intelligence boost.
>>She is also a necromancer
>>They have not found out.
>>They have accepted her as part of the group, one of them is in love with her (ingame obviously)
>>She has been critically wounded and lost an arm now in a coma state
>>The party is now fighting tooth and nail to bring the Princess back to her kingdom to get her healed.
>>On the edge of her kingdom, a man approaches and tells the party that he is a prince and that SHE is his fiancee and that the party is under arrest
>>The prince is a fucking asshole
>>Top notch cunt, calls the Princess a ugly waste of time now she lost her arm etc
>>One of the party has already tried to ssault him
>>My party is now SERIOUSLY considering murdering this prince just because he is a dick
>I've got a lot of material to work with now and I'm a fairly new DM
>What are some interesting routes I can take with this

if you are using Stone's Durability, you do NOT get to add dex.

>Stone sorcerer's ac is CON-based
How did I not notice that
MY AC IS EVEN HIGHER THAN I THOUGHT
MY DICK IS NOW EVEN HARDER THAN THE REST OF ME

On average 3d20 take highest is almost exactly equivalent to a +5 modifier, whereas 2d20 take highest (traditional Advantage) is about a +3.3 modifier. If you'd succeed 50% of the time with a standard roll, you succeed about 66.5% of the time with standard advantage and about 75% of the time with my recommended advantage. It's not a huge adjustment at all really.

The major change is rolling 3d20 take average for standard rolls. This makes smaller modifiers a little more useful. A character with 16 Str is going to have somewhat better odds at arm-wrestling a Str 10 opponent in 3d20 take mid as opposed to 1d20. It also makes extremely high and low DCs harder to achieve normally. This would be a problem in 3E D&D but much less so in 5E where bounded accuracy is prevalent and DCs only really range up into the 25s and 30s.

I think it's definitely worth trying out. I'm going to experiment with it a bit in my own campaign and see how the players like it. Feel free to give it a shot in your own games as well.

I used to like the 3d6 curve BUT I don't like how it reduces the range from 1-20 to 3-18. It also bunches up the results in the 8-13 range, whereas I prefer them to be bunched up in the 6-15 range. A little more variance feels better IMO.

I like the 8-13 spread being most common, but different strokes for different folks.

15+CON = 20 at best.

The prince is also a paladin who knows her evil necromancer plan and wants to stop her without having to actually fight the party, which frustrates him to the point of being an ass?

Tell us more about the princess. What are your general plans for the character?

My character has higher Con than Dex right now, so that works for me.

Magic shield and armor boosting items can come later if I need them.

20 AC is pretty kino, pal
Magic items, of course, can boost that further up. As can somehow getting Shield of Faith cast on you.
Maybe stone sorcerer is meme supreme dip for a paladin?

Or maybe they're just a great duo.

Is this invocation balanced?

Joined Spirit
prereq: Pact of the Chain, 5th level
Your familiar can now take the Attack action, without you expending an attack, however if a source of damage reduces the familiar to 0 hit points, you take any excess damage.

I want to make the mechanics express the concept of one being in two bodies. It might also be appropriate to limit it to GOO pact, as that's more matched with mental malarkey.

Well, for me it's the fact that 5E uses integers of 5 for its ability check DCs so I feel like a little more variance is a good thing. The AGE system uses 3d6 + stat but its DCs are in integers of 2, so the reduced variance fits like a glove. AGE could actually stand to have its DCs in multiples of 3 now that I think about it, would probably function a little better.

3d6 is a fine dice setup though, if you enjoy it more power to you.

I usually ignore RAW DCs from NPC effects anyway and base it on how likely I want the PC's to be able to resist it, so that probably makes this work more fluidly.

I think a good way to "fix" how incredibly broken lore wizards are, is to have the ability to retool spells, but only during rests, and making it obligatory to prepare the spell variations and experimental spells.

Damage type = Spell variation
Saving throw = Experimental spell

So for spell variations:
You can prepare the original + 1 variation OR 2 variations per preparation slot
You can make wizard level / 2 variations per long rest, or sacrifice arcane recovery equal to spell level to make a new variation of that spell (only once per short rest)

And for experimental spells:
Requires a preparation slot of its own
Can be cast only once per day
You can make one experimental spell during a long rest

I'm playing a Lore Wizard soon, does this sound reasonable yet?

I'm thinking of making similar things for Alchemical casting, so the alchemical spells become their own spell to cast (similar to experimental spells, except they're higher level spells entirely).

I can see the space running out in the spell sheet though.

>Can be cast only once per day
once per long rest* obviously.

>Tell us more about the princess. What are your general plans for the character?

Well, the end game plan was for her to be the BBEG
But the party would be given the choice of joining her

She's a necromancer, everything the party has fought, she has raised back up in secret and will use that as her army in the end.
Her goal is to overthrow her father the king and use her power to finally end the war with their rival kingdom without having to sacrifice any of her subjects in pointless war
The asshole prince is naturally from the rival kingdom
The old king wants the necromancer Princess and asshole prince to marry so a peace can be found even if temporary.

At the end, she reveals her necromancer ways, and asks the party to join her in making a better world
If they refuse, she can't bring herself to harm her best friends, and she'll throw down her weapons
>I know my party, they are going to be conflicted as FUCK, and will most likely join her.

Souns like you've got everything pretty well sorted

Is she actually unconscious at this time, or just faking in order to do her bad juju subconsciously?

>Everything they fought, she raised back up in secret
How exactly is she doing that? DM fiat special magic that lets her raise undead with permanent control over them?

>and she'll throw down her weapons
Why? Even if she refuses to fight them, would she give up all that she worked for because of that? She could simply just look disappointed, give some sad goodbye line and walk away.

Unless they stop and attack her, of course.

Yeah she is actually under

Yeah, I've given her a bullshit necro-spell
Pretty much just a ritual she does and makes them into mindless husks That she can always control
Balance wise it's impossible and I realise that, any players that go necromancer would probably be foaming at the teeth reading that.

This sounds better.

>she'll throw down her weapons
Right here is about where you need the dark powers that she learned from/stole from/pacted with for her forbidden magic to step in and assume direct control of the situation, either by possessing her or physically manifesting. There must always be an epic fight.

Remember kids, don't mess with necromancy, especially when it deals with mysteriously powerful spells that are leagues stronger than other necromancy spells

How viable is the warlock class?

Plenty, you just have to be careful with spell choices. Generally, your focus is going to be blasting and social engagements.

As usual, not nearly as much utility as the wizard.

>pike loses 2 handed
thank god, the stupidest thing in dnd is that historic spear+shield formations simply don't work. it's absolutely bonkers to me that i can't simply have a shield and a reach weapon with piercing. i don't even care if the damage is low, i just want to feel grecco-roman

>shield spell

How often do you actually roll against players? I have discovered that I hate doing it as a DM and hate it as a player. I would rather set difficulty dcs in almost every situation in order to create a better narrative, but I'm curious to what you guys think.

Obv you have to roll for things like attacking and grapple checks, but I mean things like insight to tell if the NPC is lying. Or a persuasion check with a rational argument with someone.

Do crossbows count? If so, I would say variant human crossbow expert revised ranger.

>Even if she refuses to fight them, would she give up all that she worked for because of that? She could simply just look disappointed, give some sad goodbye line and walk away.
Or, in the event the players want to fight her, she could imprison them

You mean the player rolls insight versus the NPC's passive deception and stuff like this? It works, surely, though because of d20 variation having contested checks would mean that a PC could succeed even on a low roll, and on top of that the DC would always change so they wouldn't know if they succeeded or not. Would you also be against rolling stealth?

I've never done that, I've always gone by DC
At least you can fudge a DC

What I really hate:
"Roll for X"
>"Wait DM I have high X skill/profession I WANT TO ROLL TOO!"

mystic when

eventually

PC with crush NEEDS to marry his qt one-armed waifu ASAP

What are the most essential spells for a warlock to grab asides from eldritch blast and hex?

What pact, patron, play-style and sort of campaign?

Should there be some drawback to being able to use a pike one-handed with a shield?
Also were warhammers and battleaxes typically flung at people back in the day?

How's this for a 3rd level build:

>Variant human with Crossbow Master.
>Folk hero background.
>Rogue with Scout variant.

Are there rules for sticking a bayonet on my crossbow? If not I was thinking of handling it as a versatile dagger.

This is a strange question, but how much should you let your players know about the game beforehand? I'm running a module.

Obviously, they need connection to the plot, so session zero stuff is a must. But how much is too much?

frankly i think there needs to be a spear/pike that's d6 one handed reach piercing d8 versatile. i think for balance reasons it needs to have lower damage than a long sword, but maybe a heavy version w the same damage would be good too

which module?

Storm King's Thunder is what I want to run.

i lie to my players sometimes about what we're going to play, i've thought about telling them they're playing a classic noble fantasy adventure and after 1 or 2 sessions chucking them into COS

Just tell them your going to run X module.

If they want to ruin the experience for themselves by reading ahead, that's on them. If they want to ruin the experience for everyone else by fucking with the campaign or dropping spoilers, you kick the player out of your group and move on.

As a DM I can see why someone would do that, but honestly it just feels like unnecessarily fucking with the players.
>be ranger, DM says they're playing classic fantasy adventure
>choose monstrosity or whatever as favored enemy
>thrown into CoS, can't swap for undead
>hfw

I got this idea, obviously inspired by resident evil 7 plus some other horror games:
>PC's wake up at midnight in a big hotel run by hags on the tip of an island closely connected to the feywild
>all the PC's have for armor are normal clothing, some knives for weapons, and 1 candle for light.
>They can still use their spells and natural abilities
>Hallways are patrolled by a flesh golem and some homonculi
>Rooms contain practical loot or weird puzzles but the name of the chambers are misleading
>3 different ways to escape the hotel
I'm new to D&D and I was thinking this might make a cool opening session for level 1 PCs. But I'm thinking it might make more sense to run some conventional dungeon crawls first just to get used to the system.
One way the Hag-Hotel experience could go wrong is if a player makes a character with darkvision then they can abandon the other characters with the candle. Second way is that monks and rogues won't be bothered by the lack of armament.
Could a level one spellcaster one-shot a flesh golem? That's the third way.

how to become dm?

On a scale of 1-meme how retarded is making a build built around using Fabricate in clever ways like some kind of really slow solid matter Green Lantern?

Just go illusion wizard,

>How viable is the warlock class?
it's my favorite class, best thing they did this edition

I like this idea, but you may want to save it for a second campaign

If you and your players are new, I'd do a one-shot or a short campaign of your typical dungeon raid and goblin killing. That way you've figured out the system and can run the more fun campaigns better.

You should count the number of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level slots a wizard will ever have.

Let them burn through all their slots and have to suffer through 5-7 others through an adventuring day.

Nope, casters couldn't one shot a Fles Golem, and a Flesh Golem would easily slaughter multiple parties of unprepared level ones, especially if they have no tactical advantages or even good weapons.

Make it magical darkness or something if darkvision bothers you. Or put in illusions that are dispelled by candle light (a personal favorite).

I see why Monks and Rogues might be a problem, but when casters will still be able to cast, martials need some stuff.

Because it's a waste of feats when you could just cast Mage Armor

Arcane Trickster if you're using crossbows, gets the most damage out of a single shot.
If you're using bows, then fighter. Eldritch Knight and Battlemaster are both good options.

A single level of something that gains armor proficiency would be more efficient than passing up all your ability score improvements and waiting until level 8/16 for the Heavily Armored feat

Also keep in mind that as a DM you can always adjust the CR of the creatures to match your players' level. There's no law that says your level 1 PC's can't fight a dragon, it just takes some adjusting. A level 15 party could even face uber-kobolds.

I think you're overshooting here, especially if the players are inexperienced. The party waking up somewhere with no equipment and having to survive through wits is a cool and usual idea, but you might be in for disappointment in some of your ideas. For instance only 3 out of the 9 races in the PHB don't have darkvision, so chances are that some of the PCs will have it. Most importantly, though:
>Could a level one spellcaster one-shot a flesh golem?
No way in hell. However, a flesh golem WILL oneshot a 1st level character per hit. And it can make 2 attacks with his action, so that's 2 PCs down, or even worse, outright KILLED because of massive damage. To top it off, any martial character will be simply useless against the golem, unless you're planning on dropping some magical or adamantine weapons.

tl, dr: DO NOT use a flesh golem. If you do, prepare for a TPK.

Could you elaborate a bit on how arcane trickster gets the most damage out of a single shot?

Is skilled a good feat for a first level warlock? I have combat covered with eldritch blast, I've got exploration covered with my pact magic, but I feel like warlocks are lacking in the skill department. I was thinking about picking up Arcana, History, Investigation, Stealth, Insight, Perception, Deception, and Persuasion so I can cover my utility bases.

>Make it magical darkness or something if darkvision bothers you. Or put in illusions that are dispelled by candle light (a personal favorite).

I'm stealing that. Thanks for inspiration user.

Funny enough, I thought of using gray trip wires that fuck with darkvision but cast a noticeable shadow with light, but that never occurred to me.

Anyone?

I would tell as much as possible, mainly about the setting and genre. Offering plot hooks might be good idea as well. ("It would be cool to have noble from Waterdeep. There will be dealing with demons. Oh, and its mostly in city, so you might want to reconsider that druid.")

If you want a skill monkey with some casting, why not play a Bard?

Here are your options:

Fighter with CBE + SS
UA Hunter Ranger
Rogue with CBE
Fighter Sorcerer-Warlock with Agonizing Repelling Blast

Fighter sorcererwarlock is probably the strongest in my opinion but isn't technically archery, is a little bit bullshit and your DM might stop you but has the crazy utility of crazy pushback.
Fighter with feats is superb against low AC targets with sharpshooter. Otherwise their gimmick is just they shoot. A lot.
UA Ranger is great for AoE. They could also take up SS at some point, I guess. Maybe CBE.
The rogue is probably not the strongest, but pretty flexible with good skills and all that. I'd probably say it's the most fun.

There are no rules for doing that. What you suggest is reasonable if it can't be put on hand crossbows and it requires martial weapon proficiency, since you're getting the benefit of holding two weapons at once.

Because vicious mockery does shit damage and I want to play a warlock. Next question?

Read the Player's Handbook (PHB), the Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG)

then go to local nerd hangout, put up flyers. Or acquire group of friends who are interested in RP. Or look on the Roll20 forums (never used it myself)

We're talking about a heavy crossbow, of course.

My reasoning is that since the Crossbow Master feat already allows to use the crossbow at close quarters, it might very well be a bayonet, right?

Might as well be a half-elf instead.

You get +1 skill over variant human, +1 language and +1 cha, +1 to another stat, in comparison, along with fey ancestry and darkvision.

>I want good cantrips
Then go sorlock, not warlock, and focus charisma.

It's just a flavor thing, right? Like you're not trying to pull off some shenanigans with Sentinel or Great Weapon Master, are you?

Have you ever played before? What seems to be a problem?

Spell Sniper (240 ft cover ignoring EBs is pretty cool) or War Caster (advantage on concentration and AoO EBs are both good).

Alternatively, you could get Actor. +1 Cha and it synergizes great with Mask of Many Faces if you end up picking that up.

Thanks for the feedback, yeah, I will do the conventional dungeons first and then when I get the hang of it I'll try hag-hotel

As for the flesh-golem, I was thinking it would serve the purpose of being an overpowered monster that the player characters can only run and hide from.