>Xanathar's Guide to Everything — Table of Contents
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>Xanathar's Guide to Everything — New Player Options and Spells
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>Unearthed Arcana: Fiendish Options
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>Trove
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>5etools
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>Resources
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Before,
Illusory Dragon, campaign to stop it from coming to false life.
Hello, I want to join a Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition campaign, where do I do this?
To any struggling DMs so far, how have you been improving? Did you take the advice from others and use it in your campaign? Has it improved your playtime to be worthwhile or has it taken a huge nosedive? Share your story.
Anons? Two quick questions that hopefully are relevant to this thread...
Can anyone suggest how I can convert the forgotten Dragonets to AD&D?
lomion.de
lomion.de
lomion.de
lomion.de
lomion.de
Also, in a setting that includes Catastrophic Dragons, which makes more sense? Catastrophic Kobolds as a variant race, Catastrophic Dragon Ancestry for Dragonborn, or both?
Thoughts,opinions, advice etc on 3D terrain/set pieces?
>online
roll20
gamefinder thread on tg
>real life
go to FLGS look for a flyer/put one up
Adventure League
ask friends to play with you, the starter set is like $20 at most assuming you don't pirate it
>Party is hired to protect caravan
>wizard uses telekinesis on a cart to hit bandits with
So I'm about to start a big campaign with a lot of thingies.
One thing I wanted to add was a recurring DMPC that occasionally aids the party. Although more on the utility side, he wouldn't be super good at combat. The party is a Monk, a Fighter and a Sorcerer, so the idea I had was a Rogue Thief who's a Treasure Hunter/Archaeologist. Kinda actively trying to keep myself from just making Indiana Jones here.
But anyways what would the best way to go about this? The setting is in a mostly developed land, there's still wild beasts but no roving bands of orcs or goblins (aside from the orc or goblin mercenaries employed by the noble houses) to deal with, so he wouldn't need a big entourage or be in too much danger traveling by himself.
At the same time if he just shows up to pick the locks and stuff that'd be a tad lame. But does anyone have suggestions for how to include my DMPC where necessary without being >that DM type deal or having him show up too much?
Nets are all about action economy. They eat up either an enemies action, or give them indefinite restrained condition. It's not worth using on weak enemies, but restraining important enemies can be a big deal. It's also fun in that, since it doesn't require a saving throw, bosses can't use legendary resistances on it, meaning its a powerful debuff or waste of an action, all by targeting AC. It's not that difficult to get bonuses or advantage on attack rolls if you are trying.
It's also a hilarious option on clerics with divine strike, throw net, deal damage+restrain, have spirit guardians up. It's like dodging, but fucks them up instead.
Also, sharpshooter lets you ignore disadvantage for long range.
I still feel like I still am being a railroad agency stealing DM
>give players mission to go to a town and solve serial killings in a generally quiet and safe town
>give them situations, players go on their ways to investigate the crimes
>give them clues and suggestions
>chaotic good ranger suddenly decides to mug someone for no reason
>he then goes up and creates a wall of thorns in the middle of a crowded street, killing and injuring random civilians
>town guard loses their cool at their point
>try to steer story back into the quest
>finally just give them a bone and lead them to the dungeon
>most players lose interest at this point
>eventually all but one/two are interested while everyone is on their computers, snapchatting, making out, or generally on their phones
The ranger was detained, the enraged lord barely on the cusp of executing him. But at this point I just plan on releasing the army of wights the serial killers have created on the town because the ranger's event was a good scapegoat.
Whats the point of DMing the games if it just get worse and worse? I understand that I can't have everyone's attention at all times but I want to save this campaign for everyone's fun. Its one of the few things I really look forward on the weekend and I don't want to waste anymore time.
>Party has the means to do stuff without him in a different way
>Party can decided to kill DMPC without them magically vanishing
>DMPC acts like a summoned creature, will only defend themselves, will only act on command (but perhaps with persuasion etc)
>DMPC will never interact with other NPC's on PC's behalf. this includes 'sneaky background stuff' the party doesn't know about
>Only runs into the party when it makes sense, aka not in a dungeon
Pick all and you'll be alright
Despite my party hating my rogue dmpc for being passive and generally just trying to steal shit (havent killed them yet for some reason). I haven't had shit flung my way for playing with an obviously recurring character.
another personal example was an orc who might as well have been a mule if he didn't throw the Halfling now and then.
Well I had an idea he'd just be a friendly dude on the coin of another noble to find some things. And that he would occasionally subcontract the party to help him if he thought the ancient tomb would be too dangerous for him to handle on his own.
He'd get the mcguffin, the party would get money, and if they're paying attention subtle hints about what's gonna happen next and possibly a chance for them to stop it.
No. That's lame. Add NPCs, and if the players enjoy them and interact with them, then they naturally become recurring.
Anyone played a grave cleric yet? How did you rock it?
Help me make a character, /5eg/. So far I have that he's an archeologist that found a fragment of a powerful sentient weapon. It embedded itself in his arm and granted him power, making him into a hexblade warlock. He's not exactly aware of this relationship, and he's being drawn to other excavation sites to find more fragments of his patron. Of course he thinks he's just excavating more ruins and finding more artifacts. Little does he know he's being used by his patron.
That's all I got though. Don't know how to actually play him or what kind of personality I want to go with.
How important is it to you as a player that your GMs miniatures are painted?
I just acquired a big lot of Reaper Bones miniatures for use at the table but I'll honestly never find the time to prime and paint all of these. If your GM puts down an unpainted mini, does that read as a sign of laziness or do people not actually care about that stuff? I get overly paranoid about giving my players the best experience I'm able to.
...
Personally I'd just paint them plain to make them look slightly nicer and help them standout. Spellcaster miniatures blue, animals brown, undead a gray or black and etc.
only the John Rogers run though
It's certainly nicer than unpainted, but most groups don't really care. It's a potential positive, but hardly a negative. Hell, we use parcheesi pieces for our wildshapes/animal companions/familiars.
These are just rules I live by, I guess acting as a questgiver ain't a bad idea at all!
I've had plenty of games where they either needed to escort a guy or help them with tasks. They never were recurring characters but it would make sense to hire your adventurers again after they completed a job.
the 'subtle hints' sets off a red flag for me though. Not saying that you shouldn't but turning a dmpc into (or related to) the bbeg is a pretty bad powertrip.
I used to Starburst pieces as enemy minis and when a player killed it they got to eat the starburst
I personally don't really care. Whatever the DM uses is fine, usually. As long as it fits whatever size they're going for (less important if we're not using a grid) I'm happy.
Why is Bane so much shitter than Bless?
Give me a quick rundown on his personality.
Well he's not a bad guy, and neither is the guy he's working for, but his employer is being manipulated by a Lich and eventually the campaign is going to take a turn from "petty noble houses squabbling" to "holy shit it's an undead invasion and the Lich is gonna want the things the party has been retrieving. I was actually planning on killing the dude off if the party doesn't actively try to save him.
Although this is all just like, months from now in the planning. I do hope my campaign lasts that long.
AM I WRONG IN THIS CONTEXT?
>My old DM has been DM for 6 years
>DM finds out I run a sci-fi campaign
>Asks me if I want to DM now, but for a fantasy setting
>I say sure and decide to put some gonzo
>I decide to run Barrowmaze(Since its Ez to Prep For) and get some wierd roll tables for strange encounters (Dildo Goblins ect...)
>Everyone at the table likes it and now im permanent DM
>Since the first session the Ex DM decides to peer over my screen and trys backseat DM
>Polietly, Ask him not to look over my screen and to stop backseat DM
>He takes offense
>Ever since, he points out all of the secret rooms and hidden loot without hesitations
>Now I'm Stuck and don't know what to do....
A goofy but well-meaning teenager who wants to do right and live up to the legacy he's inherited, while also juggling all the doubts and fears a guy his age has. Oh, and he's physically bonded to a weapon of mass destruction.
It can be "better" when used on a non-caster, especially if you have allied casters planning to take advantage of the saving throw deficiency.
The only real reason it's "worse" is that it allows a saving throw, but of course it does, it's a debuff.
Because you're almost always going to be outnumbered, so the targeting works against you, plus it gives a saving throw instead of being automatic. Plus an individual enemy isn't likely to live as long as a PC.
If Bane was automatic in an area, no saving throw, but only gave a 1-point penalty, I'd use it. As is, nah, anytime it's worth casting it, you're better off casting something else that actually does something.
Seems like he wanted the powertrip DMing can give, but prefers not to have to put in the effort anymore. Tell him to fuck off, if he wants to DM he can run another game.
DESU, if you have $, but no time to paint your minis. Buy the Pathfinder Pawns Monster Codex Box Set or go buy Arcknight Minis
I had the same problem and decided my time is more important than stressing over painting...
Also
is right and maybe try using m&m's or some sort of candy for minis temporarily... (Defeat to EAT!!!!!)
DESU, when he was DM... He never prep'd more than 30 minutes the day b4....
>can't use Shadow Blade effectively as a hexblade warlock
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Not important at all. In fact I prefer abstract tokens to minis cause they're less visually distracting and I can visualize the scene in my head.
Confirms it, he wanted to attention and to be the one in control of the game, but he can't be bothered to actually put in the effort for a good game.
He thought that, as a new DM, you would basically put in the work, while he still ran things, and he got pissy when it didn't work out that way.
>Ever since, he points out all of the secret rooms and hidden loot without hesitations
This is called metagaming. And that guy sounds like a dick. Calmly tell him he's being a dick and kindly ask him to stop.
>Party decides to purify and free a vampire spawn
>Plan on letting them succeed
>Only to reveal that she would be evil even without the corrupting influence of undeath and her master's mind control
>Which she immediately demonstrates by killing one of their allies
>"If I could do everything the same... I just did."
How mad would you be
Tell him petulance isn't acceptable and that if he doesn't want to stop he should step away from the group until he's prepared to stop shitting in everyone's corn flakes.
Or if you don't want to be an adult about it, you can always change the module, move rooms and secret doors around, make the secret treasure trapped, etc.
>"If I could do everything the same... I just did."
Sorry you had a shitty player derail a campaign. Can't win 'em all, but if you keep on keeping on, you'll eventually find a good one. And believe me, that one good campaign in 10 is well worth it.
Incandescent, followed by Smite Evil.
You can, and should, do both of these things. If he's memorizing the module then he knows where those things are even if he's not pointing them out to the other players OOC. Even if he agrees to stop being a total douchenozzle, he's still gonna know that stuff.
If you don't set down your boundaries early, players will walk all over you. This is both to your detriment and theirs. Be fair, but firm. It's not his game anymore.
I'd be kekking too hard at that one liner to be mad, go for it user!
Killing as in, off screen? Sounds good, especially if she doesn't cop to it immediately. Turning on the party with them present seems like a bad option, and if you didn't let the party interfere despite being able i'd call shit dm.
Pretty sure my party ran into this once anyway
>come across ancient undead in an abandoned prison
>talks to us, asks for help
>doesn't realize its dead, can't be convinced, even when i shove my hand through its chest
>leave it
>eventually run into entire town, near where we were headed, filled with similar undead
>similar conversation/confrontation
>town guard comes to stop us, as apparently they think we murdered the guy we were talking to
>cause hand in chest
>end up burning down entire village, and fight their tentacle-writhing "god"
Nigga that shit was evil as fuck, DM got so sad we just circumvented the entire hub he had set up, and revealed the twist immidiately.
Can ypu be my DM instead please?
At this point, I think I'm going to Space Shift Them to Death Frost Doom and let the dice start a table war.... I usually like the passive-aggressive route...
Luckily, I have another group that I like more, so if it totally derails in the next 3 sessions I can just say fuck it....
But First I need to get my copy of collector's copy of Dune back from his kid.... Then I can burn a bridge
So the ranger's player was definitely an ass, but you need to ask yourself why he did that. Well-adjusted players usually don't torpedo a session.
Was he just being a lolrandumb moron?
Was he bored and just didn't care anymore?
Was everyone else bored? They were on their phones and junk.
Either he's a cancerous ass who you need to boot from the game, or you need to find out how to make your game more engaging for your players. Or, potentially, both. Not every group enjoys the same type of game.
Homebrew race feedback part 3: now with updated fluff.
May your passing cleanse the game user, may you keep the game safe for your people
You could always TPK and change the theme to something more Focused that's more compatible to combat addicts... I recommend Barrowmaze or Greyhawk Ruins....
Once, just once, I want to find a homebrew race that doesn't have darkvision.
Plz stop with the ellipses already, I'm reading your posts in the voice of that black kid from Malcom in the Middle
>No darkvision
What are you, gay?
DESU, the only reason why I haven't socked the guy was that his kid is cool as shit... When I babysit his 12 y/o she will sit in my office study and read my Hellboy collection or my sci-fi books....
>I usually like the passive-aggressive route...
Yeah, that's the adolescent's way to deal with things. Judging by your posts, you're a kid too. Hope you'll eventually have some good fulfilling campaigns once everyone matures and stops fighting over games.
But..... I..... NEED.... My..... INHALER.....
STOP WITH THE ELLIPSES REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
STAY OUT OF THIS STEVIE
You really need to lurk. When your posts were relevant I answered them, but now it's just obnoxious. Ellipses, and using long replaced terms make your posts obvious and irritating.
There's plenty of decent official races that don't have darkvision. But every single fucking homebrew race has darkvision. My jimmies are not eternal; they shift and stir.
Mine only has lowlight vision.
I mean the only surface race I have dark vision was Dwarves though. At 30ft. Orcs have 60ft, Kobolds and Goblins do too but they also have sunlight sensitivity unless they're a surface goblinoid in which case they only have low light vision.
>lowlight vision.
That isn't a thing in 5e.
I am still curious if anyone has any Hexblade concepts brewing with XGtE's lore, what's your Hexblade's backstory?
deal Xd4 psychic / radiant damage every time a PC metagames. Where the X is replaced by player level. If they're repeat offenders increase die size until they stop.
>b-but thats heresy...
SHE STOPS METAGAMING OR ELSE SHE GETS THE SMITE AGAIN
Why would the race who are god-crafted sentries not have darkvision?
Which is more fun, Lore Bard or Valor Bard? Swords looks boring, Glamour feels weird, and Whispers looks neat but doesn't jive with my Bard.
It's just Soul Nomad and the World Eaters, but in the story path where the main character decides to fuck off with the magic sword with a demon inside and do whatever they want instead of actually kill the big monsters
And? Do you autistically follow all the rules of 5e to the letter or think you can't change mechanics if you don't like them?
This isn't a video game kid. It's pen and paper. This is a bad post and you should feel like a fucking idiot for having made it.
Gods would create sentries that are immortal and don't quit their jobs to go adventuring. This is just faggy furshit.
Go be a furry somewhere else.
>MY homebrew is the best, it ignores the mechanics of the game!
Homebrew is shit, your homebrew is shit, and your shit at making homebrew.
The only thing I changed was low light vision so you still have to take a light source into dark holes you goddamn mongoloid fuck off retard.
How do you balance adjusted exp with the three pillars unearthed arcana ?
Since the number of ennemies makes for a much tougher challenge, but the UA only mentions the level of the monster
Sword looked really fun when I read the subclass. Then I re-read the main bard class and realized you'd only get like three-four blade flourishes per day max. So... fighting style and weapon as a focus is pretty much all you get.
I feel that too, dude. Its tough having a lot of campaigns to sift through.
Sorry, I don't do online anymore. US Time-zones are screwed for me since my college is miles away from my homestate. Also college homework eats everything.
>Was he just being a lolrandumb moron?
>Was he bored and just didn't care anymore?
A little bit of both. Its gotten worse over the past three sessions. I don't know what can appease him right now but I'm betting its combat.
He and two other players have trouble RPing. They really don't know what to do in a social aspect of the game. I try to give them attention than the experienced players, but they don't know how to act. In their defense, they are playing for the first time ever with characters and classes they don't really understand. Aside from the detained ranger, the other two have trouble understanding that D20s are used for most rolls.
>Was everyone else bored? They were on their phones and junk.
Yeah, everyone else was pretty bored. A couple sits in on a session whenever we play, as does one of the roommates who just observes.
It could be the general atmosphere of the place we play in. In the player's apartment, I sit on the floor while they sit on the couch because of how cramped it is. When we play at my apartment, there's a study room where we sit equally and its not as comfy.
>Either he's a cancerous ass who you need to boot from the game, or you need to find out how to make your game more engaging for your players. Or, potentially, both. Not every group enjoys the same type of game.
Good point, I'll change it up then. Its fortunate that we left off on entering a dungeon, so now there'll be more of a combat focus than social this upcoming session.
>TPK
Should they fail this mission or the next pretty hard, that is not out of the question. I kind of want to give some of the players the Basic Rules document and teach them how to play the classic four classes.
Wowzer; are you ok, user?
You already do, unless you want to be ambushed constantly, and never manage to find anything. It's even more important with a human or other non-dark vision race, but light sources are still essential for actually exploring in darkness.
Or have you not bothered to read the PHB and fail to understand how dim light works?
I'm not very well versed in the lore, but how could elementals reproduce or create kobolds/dragonborn ?
It's your setting though do as you please
Don't force your shit homerules into the conversion when someone asks a generic question.
>new book that elaborates on a lot of things that were ambiguous or missing depth
>a lot of rules regarding magic were further expanded and explained
>still no real mention of familiars and how one might gain a familiar via means other than the find familiar spell as hinted at in the Monster Manual
I'm stuck with a DM who only allows exactly what's written in the spell block. It would be nice to have an official of explanation of how one might procure a familiar by other means.
I understand fully, I still don't like dark vision so I changed it so going around in the dark is even more dangerous or even outright impossible.
>someone asks about homebrew
>mention homebrew
Are YOU retarded?
...
The Xanathars guide has a line that taunts rogues because "you are aware everything but humans can see in the dark ?"
>It would be nice to have an official of explanation of how one might procure a familiar by other means.
It's literally in the book.
Saved.
Familiars are pretty special. Depending on the edition, they're either made out of magic and formed by the spell, or they're animals attracted by the spell and infused with power via the bond you share. AFAIK there isn't any real way to get a true familiar except via the spell.
However, there's nothing stopping you from having a pet, even a particularly smart one. Any of the animals that are valid options for familiars are also valid targets for an Awaken spell, which could be even better. You won't get the whole shared-senses or telepathy thing, but Awaken gives them human-level intelligence, which can be a great thing to have in an animal companion.
Did you realize that they get inspiration back every short rest after level 5?
Valor is literally thr boring one. Unless you are one of the magical people who start at level 11+.
Very nice
And Halflings.
And Lizardmen.
And Aarakocra.
And Warforged.
And Tortles.
And 50% of the Genasi.
And Kenku.
And Goliaths.
And Gith.
And Dragonborn.
There's probably a few others.
Can someone please shop a PHB in this image?
>in the story path where the main character decides to fuck off with the magic sword with a demon inside
I don't think this is how Hexblades work now? You don't have a magic sword with something inside of it. So no Gig...
Alright /5eg/ rip apart a concept backstory I made up in the last hour for a Shadow Sorcerer / Warlock. Posting in a quick, bullet-point style format for you guys.
Asher is born and grows up in a house accidentally built on a mass-grave of gnomes who were slaughtered in a war ages ago.
Grows up surrounded by spookiness but his father is too stubborn to move after building the house and starting the family there.
The presence of the mass grave and the past violent slaughter made the boundary between the prime material and the Shadowfell weak, surrounding Asher with negative energy from birth and through childhood.
Develops some odd quirks and abilities both due to this, and due to being tutored by the ghost of a gnomish wizard called Glouphrie who was part of the slaughter. Glouphrie expresses that, were Asher to strengthen his spirit and develop a stronger bond with the Shadowfell (AKA level up), Glouphrie might be able to "hitch a ride" with Asher and travel the world again.
What do you guys think? What could be changed?
...
Indeed. The joke made me chuckle anyway.
...you know, I was gonna say "Yeah, but you can't have decent ranged weapons as a fallback for Swords bards." Then I realized Swords bards get two handed fighting, and all bards have proficiency in hand crossbows. Hmm...
I like it, kind of okay in my book.
No idea where to change it though
>Did you realize that they get inspiration back every short rest after level 5?
No, I did not! Guess this is what I get for not reading that far. I'll have to re-evaluate.
Slowpoke here
Nice job senpai
In this edition they seem to be both. The find familiar spell draws a spirit and binds them to you as your familiar in a shape you choose out of a set of options. The Monster Manual however makes note of certain creatures often times being familiars. In these instances they all seem to be the actual creatures (pseudodragons, imps, quasits, etc.) and not spirits shaped into certain forms. Other creatures also seem to have stats that would imply they can act as familiars, such as Pixies. The book doesn't outline how exactly this bond is formed and on what conditions and restrictions. The most we get is this: But that's not much of an explanation and is only relevant if you're trying to get a pseudodragon familiar. I'd like official rules clarifications and restrictions beyond "sometimes these specific creatures can be familiars."