/5eg/ - Fifth Edition General

> New DMs what are your biggest questions or areas that you struggle with?
Creating dungeons. I understand HOW to do it, but I always spend hours doing it. I just get bogged down trying to make awesome encounters, awesome traps or puzzle situations, awesome loot. I know it shouldn't be this way, people say they spend no more time prepping than the time they'll actually spend playing. I'm spending twice the time prepping, sometimes more.
How do I prep quickly and efficiently?

>medieval fantasy
I'd be all for medieval fantasy if more people actually understood what the medieval era is and what that means for the tech level of the world.

As it stands, we get hodgepodges of stereotypes, which is fine because this is fiction, but then people balk at things which defy those stereotypes because "muh medieval fantasy, muh history", even if the things they're complaining about are MORE accurate to the medieval era than common tropes.

Look at this murderhobo

Traps. Roll for attack, or have PCs roll Saving Throws?

What's a cheap way I can automatically stun/petrify a PC for an entire encounter? Player is unknowingly going to control the enemy for that encounter.

You can't be historically accurate and fantastical at the same time. Fuck off with this horse shit.

1) Saving throws, maybe unless the "trap" is a living creature making an attack

2) Maybe some could of Basilisk Gas or whatever gets spewed on em, invent something

Are we getting a Book of Vile Darkness?

Someone stop Mearls already.

Hi, I am a new DM and I have a retarded idea.

I like the idea of having my party fight illusions of themselves. What about a room with a huge mirror that spawns an illusion of anyone who stands in front of the mirror. The illusions are immune to any and all damage, but fight with the strength of the player the illusion is based on.

Obviously attacking the mirror instead would damage the illusion(s).

What do you think? What could I add as defense mechanisms? Maybe a pit in front of the mirror, or some cover that would make the illusions de-spawn until the character(s) are once again in front of it. Stuff like that.

A quick rundown in case anyone is interested in me shilling it again

1) Picks spells from the whole wizard list
2) Increased spells known based on Int modifier
3) Casts Metamagic on spells from magic objects

What level? If just starting, then no defense. If high, then yes.

Have NPCs approach them, could be they just aren't used to the idea yet

Just hit level 5 as a Wild Magic Sorcerer in Lost Mines. We have finished every quest except the dragon and after that, we're going on a boat trip in Wave Echo Cave (once the DM finishes building that area and quests). I'm having trouble choosing my spells. I currently have a very nice dagger of venom +1, an amulet that gives me a nice amount of spell points, and we have a ring of spell storing that I've been putting Shield into for a bit now. Luckily I don't need to refill it much, but even when I do it isn't bad considering my pool of sorcery points and spell points.

Oh and our rogue has a Wand of Fireball that we have deemed our Wand of I Win. I warned the DM how broken it would be to give us that so early on but hey, everyone's having fun and we use it only in dire circumstances.

I think I want Haste for one, as being able to quicken a Booming Blade or Green-Flame Blade, then casting it also as a normal action, then getting another dagger stab in, I'm looking at some nice close quarters combat. Also twinning Haste for the Fighter and I will be beautiful. But that second spell I can swap out, I can't decide on. My spells are currently Shield, Chromatic Orb, Scorching Ray, Misty Step, Suggestion, and of course, Haste.

Pic related, my Sorceress. Except she's currently blue.

>Actually, the Olympian's arrow is on an arrow rest, you just can't see it in that picture. See attached.
From this picture I still can't see it resisting gravity, as it's above the arrow, but I googled some examples and can see what you mean. However, rests are not standard. I don't think you should ever expect one to be present on a simpler wooden bow. Even on more complex bows they're not always standard, nor are they necessarily good. They're great for stuff like Olympic shooting, but can be rather adverse in more rough shooting conditions.

>but if you're a lefty holding the bow tilted to the left, and you put the arrow underneath the bow,
>Have you ever tried to fire a bow with the arrow underneath the bow?
>underneath the bow
What?

I just want high fantasy maximum cheese adventure bullshit

Is this really so awful

Did you even see the picture in question?

>Beginner tips
I wish I had known earlier how much more involved players get when you limit their character creation. People are a lot more creative when you limit their options. I'm currently playing in a game that only allowed barb/fighter/rogue/monk and it's been fantastic. I'm running a game where only the volo's guide races are allowed (it's an evil-aligned campaign) and all the players and characters are wonderful.

I always thought it was better to allow players every official option, but now i'm getting in the habit of limiting one aspect of character creation so the party is more cohesive.

>increasing spells known for sorc
>expanding spell list
>missing the point of sorc so badly

just give them more sorcery points and/or let them use spell points variant. Update metamagic to offer more options.

Yes. You can clearly see that the arrows are placed near the middle of the bow, not underneath them. I'm very confused on what you think you're seeing.

>I still can't see it resisting gravity

this. The added effort of staying within restrictions ties you to the character. It's the reason in-medias-res openings work.

>underneath the bow

he means when the bow is held sideways

You can improve sorcerer a lot by just giving them extra spells as part of their archetype, like how domains and oaths gives clerics and paladins more spells. It helps two of the three problems with sorcerer; low spells known, and spell variety. Even if the spells are kinda shit, it's still just more spells on a class that barely gets any (compared to other full casters).

>What about a room with a huge mirror that spawns an illusion of anyone who stands in front of the mirror.
>Obviously attacking the mirror instead would damage the illusion(s).
Sounds like a fun fight to throw at the party.

As for defense mechanisms, the mirror is already going to have a bunch of damage immunities (poison, psychic, necrotic too I suppose).
Maybe if it takes radiant damage, then anyone within a certain range of it has to make a Dex save or take the same amount of damage on a failed save (half damage on success) because the divine light gets reflected by the mirror.

Additionally, if the mirror gets covered by something (a large sheet, or a darkness spell or similar) then the illusions fade. Also, bludgeoning vulnerability because it's glass.

>Missing the point of Sorc
>By doing for it what Favored Soul does for clerics
>Suggest to instead revise the entire spell casting system the game was built on

It's not that I don't apreciate the feedback, it just doesn't feel persuasive.

I'm running LMoP currently. It's fun, but it has largely been quite easy for my group. I'd like to challenge them a bit more. They'll be doing Cragmaw next.

You're a bit slow, user. He went for $2,500, made four available, and I believe in a day all of them got snatched up. I think he also added a donation option where you could give $250, and he'd update any creature stat block to 5e, and when he finishes all of them, they'd be grouped together and thrown onto DMs Guild.

Some will learn faster than others, if you have any tips for them note it down and talk to hem after the game about it

twinned haste/other buffs is the main reason I play sorcerers instead of a wizard. Not sure why you're running around with a magic dagger when you have a rogue in the party, or why you're hasting yourself before the fighter, but if your rogue has a wand of fireball too then I'm assuming you're being overloaded with magic items.

With this plus the tortle package, I can't wait until their next published adventure is just kickstarted with $10,000 to name an npc after you

>Hey I can totally play a loli gunslinger now, look at my certificate!
>Fuck off loser, not in my game

epic

That's because you're fucking retarded.

Rogue has a dagger that has an increased crit range. 18+ is a crit so he wanted that instead. I said I would Haste myself and the Fighter. Or the Fighter and the Rogue.
Trust me, decides me, my group is pretty clueless about this shit and kind of needs these magic items. The Bard doesn't even use his features or Bardic Inspiration no matter how often I mention it. The rest use their features very, very sparingly. I literally have to remind every player of them every. single. fucking. session.

>Did no one tell him about Snilloc?

>Player is unknowingly going to control the enemy for that encounter.
I need to know more.

Gosh, i almost managed to forget that shit and you remind me...

>I'm currently playing in a game that only allowed barb/fighter/rogue/monk and it's been fantastic
Why run DnD at that point?
But otherwise interesting post. I'll consider it next time i run game.

Maybe healing spells only heal the mirror. Or the illusions.

Nice pay to win game, 5etards. Can't to wait to see arab millionaires designing the game.

...

If they did I wonder how much they'd purge for being haram

Who?

Regardless of what gets suggested, he's balancing them against other subclasses. So even if they're retarded concepts, they won't be more powerful than what's out there already,

>he's balancing them against other subclasses
>he
We are talking about Mearls.

Absolutely not. My issue isn't with people that don't want historically accurate fantasy (because as this guy said, that's impossible, wizards didn't real), it's with people that want medieval fantasy to be limited by real world history without actually really knowing history (and also ignoring the fact that this is fantasy).

Basically, the guy in the previous thread that took issue with rail tracks on a map because medieval fantasy doesn't have railways, that's way too advanced.

>Referring to UA which is notoriously broken
that's really not an argument

Need ideas for magic armor for a 5th level Paladin rewarded after overcoming a rite of the warrior

Mithril or +1

Sorcs don't deserve more than they already have. You want more spells? Fucking learn them like everyone else. You aren't special just because your granny craved magic beastcock.

Players will not give one fuck about accuracy if there's a chance to have a cart battle.

>I said I would Haste myself and the Fighter. Or the Fighter and the Rogue.
Hasting the rogue is technically smarter than hasting yourself, because they can abuse the extra action to attack off their turn and get more sneak attacks (Main Action: Ready Attack, Haste Action: Attack).

>granny craved magic beastcock
What is my new viking punk metal band.

Rate this homebrew. Does anyone else feel like they see these swordmage/magus/duskblade/spellsword type classes every week?

I'm not sure if the DM would allow that but I'll definitely try it.

Weeabos love it.

Something with some flavor though. Thinking about giving the armor the ability to cast heroism once/day. Only attuned by Clerics or Paladins

Is there any way to actually kill a god in 5e? Or is the very idea just a grand and intoxicating innocence?

Armor of the Chivalrous Knight: anytime he saves a maiden he gains a boost to his charisma until his next short/long rest, they still won't sleep with him.

No really find something in the DMG that would be useful or think of something he uses a lot, give it an x times per short or long rest slap it onto the armor you want to give him.

Depends if you decide to stat it or give them a mcguffin to do so

Ahhhh, I see. I was imagining the tilt in a different axis. Let's answer that part of his post again then.

Nobody is obviously rotating their bows to the side in the OP pic from last thread. It looks pretty straight to me. That force from gravity would thus be equally present regardless of whether the arrow is on the left or the right. At most, I'd concede to a 5-15 degree rotation.

>No, but if you're a lefty holding the bow tilted to the left, and you put the arrow underneath the bow, then you have have to push the front of the arrow up towards the bow with your draw hand. This impacts your release, which should be as smooth as possible. If you're pushing the arrow up when you release it, it's not going to go the way you intended it. Have you ever tried to fire a bow with the arrow underneath the bow?
If you're rotating the bow to the right, then yes definitely put the arrow on the left. But, while the cost opportunity for that stance is nice when firing level or angled downwards (shaft & fletching contact with bow vs better sight, more natural bow arm position, less counterforce on arrow from draw arm.) it is not as nice when angling up or when, with a large bow, firing in rank or next to someone.

>New DMs what are your biggest questions or areas that you struggle with?
Basically the fact I have to improv every little thing because it doesn't matter what I prep, my party's gonna go the exact opposite way, or suprise me in a way I didn't expect

Hell, on the very first session they took a goblin captive and party's warlock is working on creating a guide to goblin language so he can teach people their language

It's RAW. The cost opportunity is that you use your reaction to activate the ready action off your turn. This means you can't perform an opportunity attack, something that likewise allows for an extra SA per round.

>modern bow

>5-15 degree rotation.
That's my entire point. That's enough to make that arrow start to fall away from the bow.

...

random tables

>>Referring to UA which is notoriously broken
You mean that UA subclass that has been all but confirmed already, and is even played at major corporate publicity events like Acquisitions Inc?

Sure. I referred to it. But that doesn't mean you're not still wrong about it.

The way I help to manage this is set up vague ideas of what is available and what the party might encounter. Also make a list of random NPCs on note cards with a brief description and make notes as you develop them if they become more important. For monsters I'll grab stats for groups I'd put together, then move them where I need to for what ever situation. That way it doesn't 100% matter where they run off to more likely than not they'll run into one of these groups I've already wrangled together to make my life easier. The only difference will be how they got there

>New DMs what are your biggest questions or areas that you struggle with?
Only ran 2 sessions so far, so.. pretty much everything! I forget stuff in my notes so my players don't get some cool knowledge about the world. My encounters are piss easy and I always just add extra HP on the fly so combat lasts more than 1-2 rounds or else it would be boring. Also my players are noobs as fuck so they don't start talking to people around them, I need to make my NPCs more talkative because right now the PCs have learned next to nothing about the world around them from simply ignoring NPCs or replying with as little words as possible and not engaging much.

Fuck off. There are plenty of melee casters in the fucking PHB.

The encounter building and player shyness will just take practice and time. Engage the players here and there but you don't have to go over board with it.

>B-b-b-but none of them are the true Gish I want!
It's not going to end until Wizards put out an official subclass/class, even then people will piss and moan because it's actually balanced to the system so it's still not what they want.

Each time they crack the mirror the illusions split into multiples, until they can destroy it completely.

You play 4e, or dig into the mechanics of your chosen game enough you see the (hopefully well designed) XP/challenge rating scale.

You get pre-packaged adventures a d modify them lightly or heavily as suits your needs.

>we're two threads away from this picture becoming a meme
God bless

Evil. I like it!

What do I do when my Sorcerer's archetype is Battlemaster

I just pushed them in the direction of how I want the story go
basically went like this
>send them to map where the nearby goblin villages are
>they get to the first village
>instantly try to genocide 30+ goblins despite being 1 fighter, 2 monks and 1 artificer, all level 2
>have them kill 14 goblins before the rest of the village ran away
I have to make up encounters like that on the spot, because they can't pass the opportunity to kill shit, I guess it saves me from doing random encounters on them

Thanks, that's pretty good advice.

Hey that's actually not a terrible way to play, goblins are cowards and after mowing through nearly half it's reasonable for them to scatter. However it means the next village they attack might be stronger, or have roving guards looking for a group of adventurers. Now that they've made contact plan how this will change the next encounter and if the players jump way in over their head but don't run then teach them the hardest lesson of all, even your adventurers are only mortal.

...

The force of gravity is always acting upon the arrow. The counterforce required from your draw arm is the same at 15 degrees (with the arrow "under" the bow) as it is at 0 degrees (arrow on either side).
When placed "above" the bow at a 5-15 degree tilt it only reduces the counterforce required by the draw hand by 5 to 15% plus the force of friction. (Force due to friction should be negligible.) And again, this minor reduction comes with tradeoffs.

With using a very good arrow rest, such as a good dropoff, and limiting yourself to firing positions that work with the arrow rest, the aforementioned tradeoffs are negligible. If you have a bow with an arrow rest though, it's probably a bow with an angle and thus you're not really putting the arrow to either side: it's put in the middle. With that type of setup, there's no benefit in rotating the bow. In fact, rotating can even be purely detrimental if the rest is fixed for a straight shot.
If you're using a simpler bow where it can't go in the middle though, and you rotate the bow, and you put the arrow "above" the bow, the tradeoffs are present after you release and it's relatively harder to remove them with skill. Whereas it's relatively easier to obtain the same accuracy by compensating for the 5-15% more counterforce required with skill.

So I say again: for the OP picture from last thread, the arrows are not on the incorrect side. More precisely, either side would be correct.

What's your favorite non-core race?

Goliath

>Old DMs what tips do you have that you wish you'd known from the beginning? New DMs what are your biggest questions or areas that you struggle with?

Transitioning from scene to scene or place to place. For some reason it just never feels natural to me.

ToA?

>>Unearthed Arcana: Eladrin and Gith
low effort UA

agree good race
simple and easy to grasp and has instant flavor

I dont know why but I keep making Tritons

if you have any martial characters in the party then hasting yourself is kind of a waste since it'll probably always be better on them.

>and then getting another dagger stab in

I'd just disengage at that point.

Is anybody else disappointed at the number of new dinosaurs in ToA?

>revise the entire spell casting system the game was built on
It's probably a bad idea for your argument to imply that using a variant rule is inherently bad while referencing UA content. It's contradictory.