/5eg/ - Fifth Edition General

Now that we have ToA is Curse of Strahd still the best 5e adventure so far?

I ran a game once where I banned full casters, but not half or third casters.

It... didn't make much of a difference to be honest. Pretty much any PC get tools to solve most problems very quickly, unless your GM is retarded and sets unreasonable DCs for skill checks and similar options that requires a roll.

What exactly is magic "auto solving" that a Rogue or Ranger couldn't do just as easily, and without spending a limited resources?

Fiendlock? Sustained ranged damage via Eldritch Blast with some hellish AoEs to supplement what druid and bard have.

Arrow guys seems cool idea as well.

But seems like others increasingly want the modules to focus on more of a breadth of level, some have said the 1-11th level distribution of ToA was too low and would've liked the spread to have progressed to 20th.

>What exactly is magic "auto solving" that a Rogue or Ranger couldn't do just as easily, and without spending a limited resources?
Let's say the party is adventuring through a deadly desert or something. They need to rest for the night. The ranger can do their thing and make a little shelter, get food, etc.
The wizard can just cast Magnificent Mansion. Problem solved.
This is assuming, of course, they can't just Teleport to their destination for some reason.

The problem with DnD as a loosely implied "setting" is that magic is literally just as you described, a deus ex. Magic doesn't follow any rules or internal logic, let alone limits. Limits push creativity and make good choices feel more important.

If teleporting exists, for example? Why doesn't everyone use it? "It's rare" is a shit excuse when you could literally revolutionize the world with it. Frequent use of teleportation spells in populated areas giving the surrounding people "teleportation sickness" makes alot more sense, and implies that teleportation magic is inherently at least a little harmful to living things and thus you've got a good base to build limits into it.

Do similar things with all the schools of magic, dictate rules for what they can do or produce, and then start to weave an internal logic the holds true throughout all the spells. It might mean culling some of the more retarded/OP spells, but it will make casters in general feel alot less like characters with "cheat codes" who gets to ignore the laws of reality, because they have a set of laws they must abide by.

I prefer that too honestly. My favourite campaign as a PC was a really comfy "sandbox" game. We had a few things we should take care of (4 towers and a cursed castle which had demons pouring out of it), but we weren't on the clock.

I can't name the amount of villages were we ran around helping villagers doing fairly mundane shit, or helping a nice and awkward noble get the village girl he had his eye on, who didn't particularly like him at first, etc.

Despitr being level 13+, it just felt fun to do it normally. Like, maybe magic could force something, but that wasn't desired. We used a bit of tricks to help it along, but we barely ever worried about our resources because of how mundane these things were.

It was just chill and comfy, and a lot of fun. Even if we were never in any danger of dying.

Throwing you wildly off course a fourth of the time means maybe you don't want to teleport to commute every day with it.

>Be new DM
>Have level 4 druid in the party
>Rushed so don't check the ins and outs of each class
>He chooses meme spells, none of which are level 2
>"Haha I'm a moon druid so I can turn into any 1CR animal! Only for an hour tho :'("
>"What's a focus? I just roll my spells"
>"I can talk to animals with druidic, I'm like Doctor Doolittle haha"
>Go home
>Actually READ THE BOOK
>Mon visage

Why must it be like this? I assumed the players would at least read up on their OWN characters?

GM here. I like running dark adventures with many horror elements disguised under a seemingly traditional fantasy setting. I guess the heroes are like Conan. I like my monsters weird and creepy and my villains violent and fanatic.

Does anyone roughly have any idea how long a ship would take going from Baldur's Gate to Port Nyanzeru?

Cool, you teleported off target. Not like you can't just eat another spell slot and try again?

Don't even get me started on stupid shit like "LOL I MISTY STEP OUT OF THE SHACKLES AND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE OF THE CELL DOOR" (I always rule that short-range teleportation doesn't take you fully out of the plane and thus can't get you through areas that are obstructed on that plane) and the autists who screech that some universal "anti-magic" exists everywhere and is super easy to work into every encounter ever to shut down the casters.

Two things:

1) I don't like dual-rapier rogues (but they still seem to pop up). I also think it's preposterous you can't sneak attack with a blackjack (club). Is "any light or ranged weapon" more sensible than "any finesse or ranged weapon" for sneak attack?

2) I'm running a game of CoS, and we have a whole group of paladins. Of Lathander specifically. This was pure coincidence.

I'm dropping them off to Krezk first, how should I proceed? How would Dmitri and other villagers react to a group of 5 paladins of Lathander? How would the Abbot? How would the rest of the damned Barovia?

Vasilka is also their NPC due to my draw, should I actually allow them to take Vasilka with them to present her to Strahd (the final battle is in the Chapel. YES, THIS IS THE DRAW). Fricking wedding theme or something going on over here.

>The ranger can do their thing and make a little shelter, get food, etc.
>The wizard can just cast Magnificent Mansion.
And the difference is that the wizard has to spend a spell slot, where the Ranger pretty much automatically does this for free.

Teleport isnt really a good solution to log range travel to places you havent been to before. And even then, if you can group teleport 4 to 5 people, you really should be trecking around on the highway. You should be diving into other planes and saving the world from Satan who is planning on escaping from Hell.

Match the difficulty of the tasks to the players level. Don't attempt to give a high level party a difficult travel along a highway. You are ruining any immersion if you do that.

Think of it this way: if a party of level 14 characters has any kind of trouble get from city A to city B, then nobody else could do that trip without a fucking army. There would be exactly 0 travel between those two cities. You can justify that once or twice, but that gets stupid really fucking fast.

Might have been your only one.

At least make it a series of teleportation circles, it's expensive but at least it's reliable. Set them up to go from one major city to another.

Guys, how do we fix lycanthropy?

I'm pretty sure there's a spell that satisfies the characters' hunger and thirst. Does anyone know how is it called?

Any good resources for character images to show players as examples of what a person looks like

or should I just base it off of descriptions

>Cool, you teleported off target. Not like you can't just eat another spell slot and try again?
>I have several teleport spell slots
I am beginning to think you dont actually play the game.

And again, what fucking retarded GM has an issue with level 13 group having an easy traveling? Or, as you imply, a level fucking 20 character who has 2 level 7 spell slots.

What's wrong with it, first off? I tend not to read up on Pathfinder player options for my 5e games.

I kid, but seriously, what's wrong with it?

We can't. Lycanthropy is shit

Goodberry.

Level 1 druid spell.

Kill them all

>With silver arrows

There are many many forms of teleportation in the game besides the level 13 teleport spell.

I'm beginning to think you don't actually play the game.

Thanks, but I was talking about making them feel full without actually eating anything.

>Playing 5th Edition

Ring of sustenance

Goodberry or Create Food and Water.

I think there's one called Hero's Feast as well, although it's alot higher level.

Morkainens Magnificent Mansion might also come stocked with food.

>Make teleportation magic a newly discovered technique in my setting
>Faction that discovered it understandably wants to keep that shit under wraps because holy fuck they just invented potentially the greatest strategic asset in history
>Players become privy to this information
Do they sell the info to another faction for epic street cred?
Do they use the threat of leaking the tech to extort faction?
Do they try to use a teleportation circle and end up connecting to an ancient circle built by a fallen empire ages ago?

What about the faction who just invented this?
Do they go full expansionist and build FOBs with tele circles everywhere?
Do they share the knowledge with others to facilitate an economic revolution?
Are multiple high-standing officials split about what to do with this tech? Does this create division among the upper echelon?
Does it spark a civil war/revolution?

The possibilities are ENDLESS

How does ToA compare to the other adventures released so far?

Thanks

It's shit. There's no non-nonsensical way to work in the danger of "getting bit" to the point where some people would rather cut off their limb than become one.

Like, the werewolf is all about the jekyll and Hyde and shit, and the fear of it, and the fear of what the unknown darkness and danger of the woods represent but how do we put that to work in a DnD game on the modern days?

Rapier is finesse, but not light. They can't be dual wielded unless you take a feat. At which point you kinda deserve it.

If you rule that blackjack does qualify for sneak attack, by all means, make it so at your game. It probably won't break anything.

Don't you only get thrown off course if you're going somewhere you're unfamiliar with? I'd assume wizards would be able to teleport to and from their homes fairly easily.

>And the difference is that the wizard has to spend a spell slot, where the Ranger pretty much automatically does this for free.
A spell slot they get back on a long rest, which they can take in the Mansion.
>You should be diving into other planes and saving the world from Satan who is planning on escaping from Hell.
>Match the difficulty of the tasks to the players level. Don't attempt to give a high level party a difficult travel along a highway.
The desert example was just the first thing that came to mind. The Mansion solution applies if the party wants to take cover from, say, devils in the nine hells or a bunch of pissed off fey.

>Just teleport hurr
>You risk going off course though
>s...so what, just cast it again
>It is a 7th level spell, which you can't cast twice until level 20
>t...there are other spells...
Stop running with the goalposts mate.

And no, there are no early level teleport spells for easy travel across the world. Sure, you can use teleport circle, but that is limited as all hell, and is still a 5th level spell.

And honestly, I will just reiterate my former statement: You are a terribly bad GM, if you still try to provide a challenge when PCs are just travelling through ordinary highways. Just let them get to their destination and grt the challenge there. Dont make it seem like your average commoner has an approximately 100% chance of getting killed when trying to travel from city to city.

You mean like character art thread? Or more like character creator for videogames, except the videogame? I'd pay price of A tier game for that one, but know about none.

Please respond.

>A spell slot they get back on a long rest, which they can take in the Mansion.
Not if you already used that spell slot. It is a 7th level spell. I'd image that would be more useful elsewhere, especially if you are in the nine hells, and are trying not to get eaten by demons.

And again, what's the difference? Why are you complaining about this? A 13th level party shouldn't be challenged by a trip through a desert.

Travel utility aside, the real problem with teleportation is that it's a free "get out of consequences" card. Even short ranged teleportation spells facilitate this to some degree. The first example of teleporting out of shackles or through a crack in a door is a good example.

Most caster spells in general aren't game breaking on their own, but taken as a whole they allow so many hacks of reality that playing a mundane martial character feels like you're playing some stone-age troglodyte trying to keep up with characters with super-science.

Nope, sorry. Have a (You) though.

Read the book, dumb frogposter.

Would a ring of sustenance work on the undead? Specifically ghouls, they eat flesh which is something the spell imbued on the ring creates, so could it work on them?

Yous are useless, I'd rather like some help.

I dont know about that. I feel like a lot of martials can easily compete. Especially when you remember that pretty much everyone gets access to magic if they want it.

Fuck, the Bard often accomplished more as a skill monkey than he did as a Caster. That should tell you something about the level of impact magic has.

Yeah, it has some nifty things, but a good GM that properly limits and punishes poor use of resources, will find that Wizards aren't anywhere near as good as some people think they are.

Also, if you really hate it that much, just use longer rests. Short rest is 8 hours, long rest is a week. Problem solved, except now most martials are significantly better than pretty much any caster except the Warlock.

Guys.

I made a support Warlock to a group. Unfortunately... I am no longer with the group. OoC I had to leave the group (some personal issues that will hopefully be worked out soon), and I am apparently going for a solo campaign with my GM now.

I started at level 3, picked tome, a few support rituals with the invocation, and Eldritch Sight, as well as the spells Darkness, Hold Person, Protection from good and evil, and misty step.

How do I properly work as a solo character now? Ask my GM to make a GMPC or something? I am struggling to see how I can stand up to anything, even things intended for 1 level 3 character.

I am looking forward to playing, but I feel like my choices has been less than optimal when I am suddenly on my own. I know I at least have the Darkness combo going for me, but that is still of limited use.

I also rolled terrible for my HD, so my health pool is terrible. I can probably get 1 shot by two lucky goblins without much issue, and with AC13, I dont really have the best of chances on my own. I might be able to convince my GM to let me redo some of my choices, he seems nice enough, but I worst case scenario, what are my options here?

So I wanted to put Sunless Citadel and Tamoachan in my Chult game, does anyone have suggestions for where to put them? I was going to put Sunless Northwest of Camp Vengeance to leave a plot hook there, and hooks in Yellyark, I figure it'll be close to Vorn. And for Tamoachan since its higher level to place it near Lake Luo, since an ashen lake and blasted land would help push the abandoned city vibe. But I was wondering what other anons thought about where to place extras.

>how do I solo Warlock
>I use all of my movement to walk away from the largest group of enemies, then Eldritch Blast the nearest enemy
Every round

Look at the map of cult
Find some reasonably empty space
There

recruit some guy in a bar, ask your DM to let you roll another character, pick something that compliments you

later ask him to roll up a GMPC to round out the party with a third member

now you've got a trio which is workable, considering most things can be whittled down to fighter/wizman/healer or fighter/wizman/rogue in a pinch

>13 AC as a Warlock
Buy armor. Studded leather is 12+Dex. You could be sitting at 15 just fine. Don't tell us you have no Dex.

>use all movement to get away
>enemies use their action to dash and get into melee range
Good luck with that d8 HD AC13 against a bunch of opportunity attacks.

Sounds like a good idea. I'll try asking for that. I am not sure if I want to handle two characters, but it might be at least able to carry me for a few levels

My Dex is 13.

Yeah I know, I messed up, but in my defence, I expected to have allies.

Yeah I also have a feeling this wont work out well for me.

>I'd image that would be more useful elsewhere, especially if you are in the nine hells, and are trying not to get eaten by demons.
The only other spell I can think that would be useful is plane shift, if you need to escape in an emergency. If you're planning on resting, though, you don't need that insurance anymore so you can blow it on the Mansion.
If you cast any other 7th level spell congratulations, you just trapped your party in the nine hells until you can get your 7th level slot back.
>A 13th level party shouldn't be challenged by a trip through a desert.
Why not? Seems like an arbitrary limitation.

Most GMPCs are terrible. You sure you'd want that?

Just recruit random NPCs or ask for a few non-combat plots.

>every combat starts next to 5 enemies
>can pick up Repelling Blast at level 2 and knock an enemy away before you move
>can Arms of Hadar to strike every creature within 10 feet of you and rob them of their reactions, then walk away
The kit is literally designed for kiting.

>Why not? Seems like an arbitrary limitation.
You are playing the wrong system mate.

>If you cast any other 7th level spell congratulations, you just trapped your party in the nine hells until you can get your 7th level slot back.
>Relying 100% on the wizard
Nigga, what? A Ranger can basically keep the party afloat and safe by himself, and thr party fucked something up if you need a 7th level spell to get in a rest. You should not have gone into hell if your wizard is the only valuable member (and you should consider helping people not be complete monkeys, you seriouspy fucked sonething up if the wizard is the only worthwhile member.)

>lists a bunch of shit OP doesn't have
Jesus.

Random NPCs. That should be more than enough. GMPCs are shit.

GM seems pretty good, so I wouldnt really mind.

Besides, the character was meant as a supportive character, I will be in the spotlight only if someone else is awesome enough to be worth supporting.

I legit wouldnt mind having a GMPC or two be snowflake powerhouses, that could carry my character through the fights pretty much by themselves. I am not fond enough of combat to be bored, if I am not effective in combat.

I just want my roleplaying fix.

Your GM probably wouldnt mind that. Just give him a concept or two you'd like to have in the party, and let them somehow hook up with your character for some reason.

You will probably want to avoid casters that match your supportive abilities.

Probably can't expect to get much of a choice if I ask for GMPCs, but a Battlemaster and an Assassin or a Barbarian would be nice. A dashing Rogue and a smug superior fighter are always great fun.

>You are playing the wrong system mate.
Because I can think of a way to threaten a 13th level party in a desert? Really?
>Relying 100% on the wizard
If the wizard is the only party member with Plane Shift then yes, you do need to rely on them for an emergency escape route. Not every caster has that spell, and not every party will have multiple full casters capable of using it.
>thr party fucked something up if you need a 7th level spell to get in a rest
I didn't say they need it, but if you don't understand why Magnificent Mansion is a better rest option than anything a ranger can do then you might be an idiot.
>You should not have gone into hell if your wizard is the only valuable member
This discussion was never about wizards being the only valuably party members, it was about how spells can outperform nonmagical abilities. Yes, the ranger CAN keep the party afloat and safe. But the Mansion is still an objectively better option for it.

Note that the Assassin will not work well if you cast Darkness.

Hold Person is a pretty good setup for an Assassin though, but those two classes will likely be abke to walk ovsr most encounters if the GM optimises just slightly, at least at the early levels.

>Because I can think of a way to threaten a 13th level party in a desert? Really?
But you can't. You are literally complaining about wizards creating a mansion takes way "finding a good resting spot"

That is not threatening them.

And I have seen tons of parties with no full caster. What the fuck are you doing where you need plane shift?

Oh wait, you are a shitty Wizard and are dragging the party down. Alright, I see why youd need those kinds of safety nets that take up your once per day resource.

Magnificient mansion is a fucking meme that is only useful in a very small amount of situations. Yeah, it is good, but mot 7th level spell slot good. Forcecage is pretty much an auto win against any sort of boss with minions, and is also a 7th level spell.

Well, Dual Wielder, due to +1 AC is a no-brainer for any dual-wielding rogue. After taking Dual Wielder, there's no reason not to use Dual Rapiers. Which just feels so not-rogue-like. Maybe a swashbuckler, but a... Thief or Assassin using 2 rapiers? That's just odd.

Yeah, I'll probably add in a bit where you can use any light weapon for sneak attack too.

>But you can't. You are literally complaining about wizards creating a mansion takes way "finding a good resting spot"
I was using that as an example to demonstrate how casters can do things better than non-casters. Rangers can solve the problem, wizards can solve it better.
The whole "threatening PCs in a desert" shit was because you (or some other user) got pissy about me using the desert for my example instead of hell.
>What the fuck are you doing where you need plane shift?
Adventuring in other planes, what the fuck else.

Sounds vaguely fetishy. Let me guess, your Warlock is a female?

Chick or gay?

>Rangers can solve the problem, wizards can solve it better.
This is called "grasping at straws".

It makes 0 difference if they do it "better", when "better" practically have no real difference.

And you somehow keep forgetting that Rangers just does it, for free, at no real effort, where a Wizard need a a high level, as well as a once per day spell slot. So they should be better. In practice, they are not remotely good enough to warrant the massive cost of Mansion. You are actually retarded if you use that spell while having a Ranger around.

>Adventuring in other planes, what the fuck else.
You gave it as an example of a "get to safety" spell, which is retarded.

Either the GM is braindead and throwing far too difficult encounters at you, if you need to get oyt if dodge on a regular basis, or the Wizard is dragging the party down so hard, that his only use is getting the party out of trouble, because he cant do anything else to be useful.

Not that user, but there's definitely a difference. The Ranger can fail. If there is no safe spot, he can't just create one. The Wizard can.

Also, being able to create multiple long-rest-safe spots a day feels a bit superfluous as an advantage.

It is a chick.

25 posters, and her GM happens to be one of them.

I thought you were working right now Katie?

But again, if a GM somehow has trouble with a 7th level spell slot being used exclusively for free long rests (why is beyond me, but if the Wizard is a retard, it gives me more leeway as a GM, so I would certainly not complain. ), then just change to the longer rests optional rule. 8 hours is a short rest, a week is a long rest.

Done. Solved. No more discussion to be had.

I still don't get why anyone would have a problem with high level PCs being good at solving problems. They have been doing that forever at level 13+, shit like shelter for the might should not be a difficult task for them anymore.

If you are GMing 5e and have a problems with high level PCs of any kind being good at solving pretty much any mundane problem, wizard or not, then you are playing the wrong game.

dual weilding is a cancer garbage feature that destroyed a major portion of creative development for 5th edition because of the way it devoured bonus actions for minimal gain

It's terrible and you should ban it out of principle

But if you must be a wimp about it talk to your dm about getting a rapier and a refluffed rapier that is instead a dagger that deals 2d4 instead of 1d8

>But if you must be a wimp about it talk to your dm about getting a rapier and a refluffed rapier that is instead a dagger that deals 2d4 instead of 1d8
Or just use a short sword or a dagger..

If you are a Rogue, the sneak attack damage is your main damage anyway. I wouldn't worry about the difference between a 1d4 or 1d8.

>Party arrives at top of massive cliff
>They need to get to the bottom, but there doesn't seem to be any path up or down
>Going around would take days, and that's far more time than they have
Martial: "This is my moment to shine! If we gather up everyone's rope and pitons I can scale the cliff with my climbing proficiency and high strength and lay a climbing rope down for everyone to use, and it'll be here when we come back up!"
>everyone turns to the wizard
"So i'm thinking Featherfall on the way down and if we need to get back up we just camp for the night and I cast Fly on everyone. Sound good?"

I know that. Whenever I play a rogue, it's always dagger or shortsword. It's the thing that most players I play with don't really.

Using rapier for attacking from hiding is just silly, because in that case, you could just as well just mordhau the poor target with a Longsword.

Defining sneak attack only for rapier out of these options seems short-sighted.

>But again, if a GM somehow has trouble with a 7th level spell slot being used exclusively for free long rests then just change to the longer rests optional rule. 8 hours is a short rest, a week is a long rest.
I feel like you're focussing too much on the specific example, rather than the broader point being made.
>I still don't get why anyone would have a problem with high level PCs being good at solving problems.
The issue was never about high level PCs being good at solving problems, it was about casters being able to solve problems in superior ways.

Whelp. That'll teach me to not leak too much information.

I am on watch duty for a group of kids drawing. I am sitting in a quiet room with nothing else to do, but read up on rules and lurk around Veeky Forums on my phone.

Speaking if lurking around and reading up on rules, is my familiar (standard find familiar) hampered by Darkness, or can it use the help action without any trouble? What if I try to cast a touch spell through
it?

I actually couldn't find any discussions about that interaction. I have Eldritch Sight, but my pet likely doesn't get the same benefits.

>not just casting Spider Climb on everyone one by one so you use only level 1 spell slots

if you use your action to see through your familiar senses, they will benefit from Eldritch Sight

>Featherfall on the way down
Why not cast Featherfall right now and have the fighter climb dragging up super light party members?

>suggesting a dagger objectively better than a rapier
Did you fail probability and statistics in high school, user?

I don't get why your reading comprehension is this shit.
>it was about casters being able to solve problems in superior ways
Yeah, by expending limited resources. It ought to be better than free shit martials can do as much as they want. That's his they are balanced to begin with - martials can keep doing shit for days, casters run out if they don't get a good night of rest, and they can only get that once every 24 hours. If a GM is too shit at keeping up with the recommended number of encounters per day, that's on him, nit the system. And if thr party is adamant in taking 24 hour long rests after a day of adventuring, there are plenty of solutions for dealing with that kind of faggots too.

And if you have a problem with the "but once a day hurr durr", then
Use.
Longer.
Rests.

You have to be legitimately retarded for this to be a problem for you and your game.

Cool, thanks.

Id prefer not having to run up next to a Fighter during combat, just to cast protection.

>ermargard, a minimum of 2 instead of 1, an average of 5 instead of 4,5 and a significantly lower possibility for max damage

Congratulations, you broke the game.

What are you talking about?

Not even that poster, but you sound high buddy.

I got a lot of lore on my homebrew world written on paper and every sesion some of that lore is discovered by the party. They like it, some like it morre than others. But they all are a little confused with so many shit going on they need to have a written source for all the lore. There is a forum where I put some of the lore but it is not the best option. Any advise? Any other online resource to help the players (and me) to keep track of the lore and the shit going on?

I'm thinking of running Sunless Citadel as my first DM game, but want to shake up the stereotypical level 1 monsters. The Kobolds and giant rats work the setting, but also throwing goblins in there seems a bit cliche. What could I substitute them out for?

I say don't screw with it.

But I did. I set it as a precursor to Curse of Strahd, where the kobolds were remenant shadows of the Terg's empire cult to the Amber Temple's Grave Wyrm, and the goblin were Grendelkin, corrupt caliban fey spawn from nodes of the fallen dusk elf emprie

He's saying that 2d4 is better than 1d8, so asking for a 2d4 dagger is basically asking for something better than what you're allowed.

I already intend to screw with it a bit, not much, but replacing Goblins is one of those things I want to change.