/5eg/ - Fifth Edition General

Welcome to the D&D 5th Ed. General Discussion Thread

>Xanathar's Guide Table of Contents
web.archive.org/web/20171016180500/https://www.dndbeyond.com/members/BadEye/articles

>Forge Cleric - Xanathar's Guide
media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/DnDXL2017_Forge.pdf

>Unearthed Arcana: Fiendish Options
media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/UA_FiendishOptions.pdf

>Trove
rpg.rem.uz/Dungeons & Dragons/D&D 5th Edition/

>5etools
astranauta.github.io/5etools.html

>Resources
pastebin.com/X1TFNxck

Previously, on /5eg/...
What's the best/worse refluff you've ever seen played?

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Casters>martials

REEEEEEEEE WIZARDS ARE FAT THAT'LL SHOW YOU

The best refluff I ever saw in 5e was a Path of the Zealot Barbarian played as a Orlando Furioso knock off, i.e. what happens when a Paladin loses his shit due to a curse but still can gather what remains of his consciousness to fight.

Worst? None so far, most if not all people in our tables are decent players and can design good characters mechanics and roleplay wise. In fact, so far I am the "worst" because I'm a newcomer.

I
WANT
A
PROPER
GISH
CLASS
GOD
DAMN
IT

STOP MAKING ALL THESE SUBOPTIMIZED VARIANTS
EITHER LET PEOPLE PICK THEIR ARCHTYPES AT LEVEL 1 SO THAT YOU AREN'T EVER WASTING RESOURCES OR MAKE ME A PROPER GISH CLASS

Martial>(you)
Wish wizard encourage fighter to continue fighting over long period of time.

Casters

So I just had my first session DMing last week and my second session is coming up. A couple of my players keep joking around about buying an inn, but I am increasingly worried they are completely serious. I'm using the ol' fashioned "an evil force is manipulating a bunch of different actors to destabilize the realm" plot and if my players are busy running an inn.... well my God of Chaos and Destruction is going to have a good time.

Should I just let them? Is there a way to make it difficult to actually run it for in universe reasons as opposed to saying no?

does someone have to post that gish image every fucking thread?

How does War Wizard look? Is EK/War Wizard a decent gish?

If they want to run the inn, let them run the inn and then have BBEG wreck it, making it personal for them.

Hide gish threads, ignore gish posts, do not reply to gish posters.

I guess paladin, bladesinger, EK and valor bard aren't really gishy.

War Wizard is kinda not interesting. Its just not that good at battles and looses all the cool stuff other wizards get.

you should let them, and have that tie in with the plot. Running an inn would let them get many rumors, offer them reliable NPCs to run it when they're gone. Send enemies after the inn, or unpleasant minions from the BBEG, making it a personal affair.

Gish class? It's called Bard holy shit. If you want to be Gish go Bard or Paladin.

>>BBEG is a threat to business AND even the inn itself
>>Problem solved

Curse of Strahd spoiler/advice
When asked about the Mongrelfolk, would the Abbot speak freely of his mistake? I think it'd be in character for him to shamelessly explain what happened, but I'm not sure how badly he'd think he fucked up. 'Cause if I'm reading the story correctly, he did fuck up quite hard.

Thoughts?

Right, like I threatened to do: the dice probabilities for skill checks in 5e.

This might be useful, or might not be. But it's done.

The ranger is tho

He 100% believes what he does is correct. A man walking the path of justice has nothing to hide.

I'm going to be running a game for some close friends at some point and someone has stated their intention to be a were animal. How would one go about balancing something like that for an entire campaign? I'd rather not just say no to the request, but something like that would be game breaking at early levels and useless later on.

How would you use it?

They're useful for codifying exactly how hard a DC-whatever check actually is for your party.

So... How would you use it?

this seems also useful for AC. As a rough estimate, the enemies have a 50% chance to hit ACs 17-18, righto? Huh, suddenly 20 AC seems a lot more powerful.

Now that we know most of the subclass abilities...

Xanathar's subclass tier list?

He doesn't quite get why what he did was wrong
He saw them without souls but he doesn't have one either, he *is one* so all he did was try make the creatures more like himself
You want wings? I got wings, and I'm fine, sure I'll give you some!

His regret is not in the mutation of their flesh but his failure in understanding what is at the heart of them

Conversely it is why Vasilka will never work. She lacks the full measure of a human soul.

When the players gave my abbot this insight he bade them for fetch him a soul. And so they did, from Morgantha bag

>Paladin
Stuck to DIVINE Magic
>EK
Sub optimized. I barely get any magic options.
>Bladesinger
MAD syndrome, sub optimized
>Valor Bard
Barely any magical options, no freedom, have to sing to properly RP

I just want a warrior who can pick one or two schools of magic and get as far as the Wizards in can in those fields without dealing with CAD.

youtube.com/watch?v=t8VwE92HqME

Stat me if I'm wrong

Hexblade Warlock, V.Human for Heavy Armour?

> have to sing to properly RP
Nigga you dun goof'd, also magic secrets for Bards

mfw I get a free pass to be a murderhobo because Half-Orc
>mfw I’d live in squalor regardless of being in an adventurer group
>mfw I wouldn’t bathe regardless of being an adventurer
>mfw I can let my armor rust and it only makes me look intimidating
>mfw I can freely jump into disgusting substances and grapple gross monsters because that shits my jam
>mfw I can just break shit in an autistic rage instead of dicking around with keys and locks
>mfw the party doesn’t take me along for tedious, queer diplomacy missions and I get into solo shenanigans
>mfw sissy Elves don’t even talk to me because I’m too much for their dainty senses
>mfw I can eat raw meat, drink blood and too much ale, pass out, fart, and burp all night and the party shrugs it off
>mfw I just Intimidate anyone without caring about feelings and social skills
>tfw I can ignore Wis, Int and Cha because people just expect me to be stupid as shit
>tfw I can still randomly roll 20s and grab that barmaid for the night from the Bard for a night of loud, disgustingly sticky Chad sex

Holy shit, bros. When did you realize Half-Orcs are the master race?

Glamour Bard
Forge Cleric
Storm Herald Barbarian
War Mage

Every one else

You could endulge them, allowing the Shaper race from Eberron (there's an UA out there for this).
You could also make it a different curse, or a curse so ancient it became something else/genetic. Shiftshaping would be allowed socially in some traditional events, tribal shit, that kind of stuff.
I'd obviously remove the immunity to mundane damage in any case, but you could also just... fluff barbarian rage as some kind of shapeshifting. They'd still get resistance on non-magical damage, which is pretty good - and they'd get the tribal/bestial theme as well if they so choose.

Now that I think on it, Barbarian Rage is probably the closest you can get. You could go Totem, or a mix of Berserker & Battlerager.

Just shut the fuck up and play a Fighter/Wizard or a Paladin, both are fine for a gish.
>Suboptimized variants
Be more specific (and don't say "casting spells through your weapon" or full caster progression)

how good is storm herald barbarian in Xanathar's? Might be interested

It might be useful for a DM when making adventures. However I'll admit I mostly made it in order to win arguments as to whether or not making a check with proficiency is materially better than making a check without it.

(Case and pint, the argument from yesterday as to whether a Rogue with Stealth is better than a wizard with Invisibility)

So my OoV Paladin has 16 in Con, and i'm trying to figure out if it's worth it to pump it +2 with an ASI or get Resilient (CON) and just leave it odd.

He means Shifter race.

Ok, I might subtly drop a hint that the owner of the main inn of the small town they are supposed to pass through is thinking of getting out of the business. And then one day, BOOM!, some minions I haven't thought of yet ransack the place.

While funny, this also scares me.

What are the rest of your stats like?

>get as far as the wizards can in those fields
Fuck off, even being limited to two schools you can't expect level 9 spells. Play an EK/Wizard, take High Elf or Magic Initiate if you have to start at level 1 so you can cast right away, and stop being a whiny baby.
I'm an admitted gishfag myself but goddammit the entitlement of people who want a "proper gish class" is nauseating.

Wouldn't that depend on all kinds of factors though? The wizard can be proficient in stealth, but the rogue can be expertised, but maybe it's a noisy area and no one's going to hear the invisible wizard

Anyone leaked Shadow Sorc yet?

Well, what are the other stats...

I just want clerics to have more high level spell options. Why not?

Let the inn become their base of operations, and from there you can send them questing around anywhere you like. Let them rest for a bit before giving them plot hooks, give them the chance to invest a bit of gold to pimp their shit, maybe carouse in the inn and as they invest gold in it foreigners, nobles, and even fellow adventurers come visit and have fun with them and share stories and send them to adventure.

16 CON is already pretty good for a Pally, I'd instead boost CHA, STR, or get a feat like Polearm master or GWM for your troubles

Have them play a totem Barbarian, Refluffing the animal as the appropriate totem (a wereraven for example would be an Eagle path)
You say their limited number of rages stands on for "control over their rage" and they turn into their hybrid form when they do so
From then on, you can use my Schizophrenics System. every time they run out of rages and have to make Wisdom or Constituition saves, you roll a Moon Die. On a 1,they Polymorph into that animal and can't come back until a long rest.
If they somehow get forcefully pushed back into their humanoid shape somehow (0 hit points / moonbeam) the failure is now a 2 or lower

don't worry, guy's just shitposting

I don't know about good, but it's metal as hell that's what it is.

My bad, my dumbass.

We rolled stats: 18, 15, 15, 13, 11, 8

STR got the 18, CHA got one of the 15's, and CON got the last 15. My other stats are set, only option might be to pump CHA to 20, but I feel like 18 would be solid and OoV gets more out of a few feats.

dude clerics are already monsters and have their domains, don't forget those!

Imo Path of the Zealot is more metal. Reminds me of Orlando Furioso when the Paladin Roland goes batshit insane and still is full of win.

War Wizard is a bit boring on its own (except that they made Power Surge a little more dynamic and interesting) but its shield ability (which restricts you to only casting cantrips on your next turn) pairs really well with an EK since they can use War Magic.
It looks like it would be strong with EK but I still think Abjuration is a better multiclass school since you can soak damage for your party members with your ward, and upcast Shield to heal your ward up quickly since you have "empty" higher level slots from multiclassing.

I like the idea of rage for that. I was also thinking about adding a level of exhaustion whenever they left the form and having some kind of social malus for being afflicted with the curse. Other than that I was thinking about having it start off weak but increase in damage and HP every so many levels as with cantrip rules and possibly a feat to prevent unwilling transformations caused by a full moon because I am absolutely intending on having them roll not to attack the party from time to time.

>The only people who can save the lands are a bunch of peasants in a village somewhere
Some other fuck saves the day while they get their 'Daily Life of an Inn at the End of the World', doing adventures to fund their inn, get new supplies, attract customers and put up more centrepieces around the inn.

Can't go wrong with 20 strength.

So /5eg/, can you enlarge/reduce the earth?

>mfw DM tries to punish my fetid lifestyle with diseases, but my CON is too high
>mfw Team needs me around because I’m the best goddamned tank around
>mfw I use my body odor and vomit of rotting meat and blood as weapons
>mfw I tote corpses around to use and blunt weapons and shields for arrows
>mfw I can fall 4 stories and just get up because of my Racial Ability

I’m a curse on my party, but they all love me for some reason

>and have their domains

Yeah, those domains stop at level 5 spells. Once you get into higher levels. You stop being a cleric of [domain] and start being a generic cleric with only a handful of high level spells to choose from and no flavor beyond holy cleric shit.

If I'm a war cleric I want to get some war-related shit at those levels, same if I'm tempest or nature or whatever the fuck else.

Imo boost CHA and CON then, you'd get a lot of mileage out of that, and max out CHA. All the spells, all the power.

>He's a walking strength check
Can't wait until the wizard learns bigby's hand and completely replaces you

>Domains stop at level 9
>As do all campaigns

Though don't tell that to my Arcana Cleric, who is Symulacrum Contingency Mighty Fortress and Wish

You are overcomplicating it. A lot.

Talk with your player about what he actually wants, and provide him with a character that does just that... by fitting in an already existing class/race combo. Refluff what's already there, don't... add unnecessary bullshit.
A Berserker Barbarian is already what you mentioned. Lots of HP/lvl, damage increasing on levels, resistance on damage, exhaustion after rage.

Everything else, I'd be VERY wary including them as a base. You're free to add magic items that allow the guy more control, but I'd advise strongly against this "you attack your party member" kind of shit unless the party (in its entirety) is willing to have that.

Probably. However it's a frequent complaint I see from 5e detractors; that either having Proficiency makes almost no difference in skill; or that the difference between being Proficient or not Proficient in a skill is essentially nil. For example, I once had to argue with someone as to whether or not an 80% chance of someone passing a DC 10 "Easy" skill check actually meant that the task was "easy".

It's a mathematically ridiculous assertion, of course, but sometimes actually seeing the math can help.

A'ight now that orcpub has been fucked what's our options for online character editors?

Asking again from last thread, what should I do to bring this race into balance? I have removed wisdom from the magic resist.

Ability Score Increase.Your Intelligence score increasesby 2.

Size.Blood elves are between 5 and 6 feet in height. Your size is Medium.

Speed.Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Arcane Acuity.Whenever you roll damage for any spell that deals acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, radiant, or thunder damage, you treat any 1 on a damage die as a 2.

Arcane Resistance.You have advantage on all Intelligence and Charisma saving throws against magic.

Mana Shaping.You know one Cantrip of your choice from the wizard spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting abilily for it.

Make a character the old fashion way, I never used orcpub once

>Rolling for stats
Anyway, if you're vengeance,
PAM >> Inspiring Leader >> Strength > Sentinel > Charisma >> Resilient(Con or Dex) > Con > Dex > Wis >> Int

I still feel like Druid could use another subclass. Moon covers shape-shifting, Dreams covers healing/utility, Shepard covers summoning, and Twilight covers blasting.
We still don't have a druid subclass that benefits battlefield control, plus Land is still bad (possibly even worse now that the Guide is coming out).

>it's a frequent complaint I see from 5e detractors; that either having Proficiency makes almost no difference in skill
I've been thinking a lot on this recently, and I can see that early on that's pretty true. +2 is merely a 10% improvement which doesnt feel right. But then it becomes progressively very wrong, in my opinion.

However, I'm trying to go the "you can't use this skill if you have no expertise in it" for SOME tasks, and having lower DC in general for these rolls - or the roll is not just a success/failure kind of deal, but more of a "how well will you do that thing you are an expert at".

It's interesting, design wise if anything.

It's literally a better high elf.

>No GWM
What in the fuck is this shit?

We could have talked about it but then you revealed your tard power levels too soon

Haha shut up, wizard nerd

I let the background leave the implicit case where non-Belviews became mongrelfolk (as in the Belviews didn’t keep it in the family), and the whole town is reliant on him to keep the mongrelfolk away without killing them. He sees them as his children, and my players found it creepy when I referred to them like a parent and didn’t say anything but explain how their uniqueness made them purposeful and he cared for his children.

This is dumb and you are dumb for making it.

I think you have a different conception of what a big difference and a small difference are than those people. For instance, on your chart, assuming 20 in a stat, a level 12 character who is proficient has a 75% chance of passing a 'moderate' skill check, and someone who isn't has a 55% chance. The difference between being proficient and not is only a 20% chance to succeed, that seems really small to me. At level 19 the difference is only 30%.

What you're basically saying is that a guy who spent years honing a skill, whose skill is second only to a true expert, only has a 30% higher chance at passing a 'moderate' challenge than a guy who is untrained.

Arcana cleric is probably the best counterexample, but the levels from 10 to 16 are still pretty much dead.

>GWM on a paladin
It drops off at level 11 and especially if you get any +damage weapons.

Honestly it's not so bad between levels 1 and 10 especially if you can reliably have advantage quite often from something other than just channel divinity, so I'd probably put it in around sentinel's area, but by the time you hit level 11 all the other feats (inspiring leader, sentinel) are way more appealing.

Also it's the easiest feat to fuck over simply by the DM putting in more high AC enemies.

Have someone related to the bbeg steal something from the players.

You aren't a craftsman, specialist, or lifelong worker, you are an adventurer. I don't know why you think "proficiency" means anything more than able.

okay guys, I wanna make a Goliath Barbarian. pls help.

I wouldn't take Resilient (Con), since you get +Cha to saves anyway. Pump Str or Cha instead I think.

Not having GWM on an OoV Paladin is a complete and utter waste of the Oath. The Vow of Enmity + GWM is a shitload of damage.

Not having that -5 +10 is a waste, i'd argue that GWM is essential to a well built Oath of Vengeance Paladin actually.

So suggest they try Beasthide/Razorclaw Shifter Barb?

fuck off munchkin

The added proficiency would make it nearly impossible for me to lose concentration on shit like Haste, Bless, or even Shield of Faith if I had it up. But the fact that i'm already at 16 is what's souring me off of taking it, it seems like a waste. If I was odd on CON still, it wouldn't even be a question, but that's not the case.

My STR is sitting at 20 right now, and my CHA is at 18, next order of business is GWM (which I feel I should've gotten earlier to be honest) and then I have to decide what to do with that last ASI. It's a ways off to be fair, but I like to plan ahead.

In the interest of fairness, however, you're still comparing two people with 20s, just about the peak of human ability (in D&D). The untrained guy may not have any formal skill at, say, Stealth, but they still have incredible innate if largely untapped potential.

Also, consider the respective difficulties of hitting DCs 25. Our untrained level 12 with a +5 only hits DC 25 when he rolls a natural 20. The trained level 12, with a +9, hits it on a roll of 16-20. In other words, he is five times more likely to succeed at the hardest task either of them can attempt.

And the trained character can actually hit DC 30 eventually. The untrained character can't, no matter how much natural talent he has.

Which Xanathar's subclasses do you think will actually get played and which will never?

Honestly, any barbarian works. Just refluff it as him "shaping" instead of raging.

lol k fag

At level 11, PAM is far more important. GWM is practically redundant on a level 11 oathbreaker paladin.
GWM works best on an oath of devotion paladin with at least a +3 charisma modifier, given that the flat to-hit increase work alongside advantage. The only issue is that it requires an action to use, which requires either anticipation of a fight starting or a turn before melee engagement. Oath of vengeance comes in at a very close second for wanting GWM if you don't include all that shit UA like 'every feature is just another way to get advantage': the paladin.

Before level 11 on most paladins, I'd say that GWM and PAM have similar worths, perhaps ancients being better suited to PAM. So, I'll say this:
Are you a variant human? If so, you can get both PAM and GWM by level 4. That gives you 7 levels of optimal usage.
Are you not a variant human? If so, you 'could' get both PAM and GWM by level 8, but it's not worth it, for 3 levels of optimal usage, just get PAM alone.

So the UAs that deal with battles on a larger scale such as in war seem kinda shitty.

Anyone got any homebrew or recommendations that might help?

>oathbreaker
I've never seen an Oathbreaker that wasn't sword+board, I don't know why.

Any news about shadow sorcerer?

Did they nerf the Strength of the Grave

Serious question: how would you handle loot for a polearm user? There doesn't seem to be much in the way of magical polearms.

Could you make a Holy Avenger, if they every get to that level, a polearm weapon?

By RAW, I want to carry small size wizards and range on my fighter giving them cover, full cover if possible.

Well, you could go for a spear of backbiting, it is cursed and all though
A +x will work too

I have to agree that clerics are already fucking awesome, but at the same time, they do lack a bit in higher level spells. For example, as of now, the only combat-worthy spell they have at 9th level is Mass Heal. Granted it is literally the be-all-and-end-all healing spell, but it'd be nice to have more options.

Well, magic items are the domain of the DM. They do not exist until the DM puts them in, but I think it's lame to rely on DMG resources for magic items considering a lot of the magic items there seem somewhat unfun 'Now you have this you no longer have any reason to use anything else and stick to this one waepon forever' shit. ... But not this is a rant about 5e in general.

Anyway, just think of something yourself, I'd sa. Magic items are one of the easiest things to homebrew.
Polearms should be the most abundant magical weapons, really, considering they're the strongest weapons.