/5eg/ - Fifth Edition General

Rushing for what purpose. None of us are gonna die waiting.

if you die with the thread you die in real life

Studded leather is really a brigandine, I think either the armour the northerners were wearing in the last series of game of thrones or just lamellar suits splint the best.

Has yet to happen.

...

Just need to open the mind to see the originalfags .

Building an NPC for my campaign. I want him to be a larger than life brute who wields a greatsword in one hand. Are there any rules for this or do I just fiat it?

Lads how dangerous is a Level 10+ wizard with just illusion spells?

I'm trying to create a dangerous enemy who doesn't use any evocation, necromancy or conjuration.

I've done that. Having established it was a wandering house, I added another hook in that the Bonegrinder hags are interested in locating the house so they can bind it to them, so that fresh souls are delivered directly to them.
If the game had continued, the players would have had the opportunity to work with the house to defeat the coven.

Don't build NPCs as PCs. Give him a big ass sword, make it magical if you want, and give no explanation. It's a monster stat block, they can do things PCs can't.
Nothing says you can't use a 2 handed weapon as an improvised 1 handed weapon, you would just lack proficiency and couldn't utilize heavy/reach

>Don't build NPCs as PCs.
Why not?

The same reason it is advisable to avoid PVP. The game is not balanced for you to have PCs fighting PCs or things that resemble PCs.

PCs have better offenses but worse defenses than NPCs generally.

PvP and combat with NPCs that have the stats of PCs is very dangerous and ends really quickly.

>Wizard Tower
>Got sent here by the King so we can get some divination guidance on hunting down a man
>Wizard's Assistant greets us. Tells us wizard doesn't want to be seen under any circumstances. Can't go up the stairs, there's a curtain of death.
>We insist. Assistant seems shady.
>Assistant says he can go up and ask, but magic curtain of death will kill us so don't follow.
>I run through the curtain right behind him. It was just an Illusion.
>Assistant gets invisible and the front doors slam shut.
>We ascend the tower. We find the Wizard in the library. He tells us to go away.
>We poke it, it's an illusion.
>Illusion traps. Barbarian fights the illusions.
>We get to a laboratory. We are spoken to from something in the shadows with large green eyeballs. It gives us hints on what happened to the Wizard.
>It seems conflicted, arguing with itself on if it should let us go upstairs or not.
>Ranger shoots an arrow into each Eyeball. It's actually two Nothic's.
>Aasimar has his flesh necrotised off his bones. Wait! Aasimar have resistance and he's still alive.
>We find the Assistant(Illusionist) upstairs. He tells us to wait and listen to his explanation. He explains how it isn't his fault what happened to the Wizard.
>Ranger shoots him mid exposition, Illusionist beats us in initiative and uses invisibility to escape.
>In a chase, we see the Wizard- or what's left of him. He accidentally into a Gibbering Mouther.
>Sorcerer prevents the Mouther from moving with Ray of Frost. Barbarian runs up to melee and gets devoured.
>Ranger says to press on, Hunter's Mark doesn't last forever.
>It's the tower pinnacle. We hear the grind of rusty metal plates. Kick open the door. A Rusty Gorgon.
>Ranger fails all DC 10 Con saves even with Bless and is petrified. Party throws Ranger off the tower(he survives), we run away.
>We break a window and jump out just before the Gorgon catches us. Fighter dies in the fall(negative max hp).

how do?

He is medium, count as large. Can one hand a two handed sword. What is he going to use his free hand for? Just iron golem with humanoid racial trait and stats of a warlord.

The fuck do I do with werebears

Do people not like Orcish Aggression? Seems like it'd be fun to use for a War Cleric or something, but whenever I looked online for folks' opinions they would trash-talk it.

It's 1/3 of Cunning Action, except worse, with no stat increases. It was cut from racial feats for a reason.

>It's 1/3 of Cunning Action, except worse, with no stat increases.
That just seems like a good reason for Rogues not to take it.

I like it. Can get a lot of movement out of it as a barb, gonna couple it with mobile and start shreking people in duels

Put the fear of god into your party

Grin and bear 'em.

Bring salmon.

It seems like a good reason for no one to take it.

Cursed huntress werebear berserker amazons?

What, just because it doesn't give a stat increase? Aren't you usually taking feats in lieu of that anyhow? I mean sure, some feats give stat increases anyway, but still.

Sounds like you need a cleric

it's shit compared to other options like the Tabaxi
>your full movement speed ( a dash) for free
the only limitation is that you need to spend 1 round at some point in the future before you can use it again, so you can instantly dash up to some guy in the backline without any cost and then spend a round beating on his ass ideally your a monk and the guy is already stunned

I said fear, not erections

It's a bonus action, a feat, AND worse than most other things you can do with a bonus action in general. Honestly I'd probably put it on par with the Orc racial and put a con or str +1 on it

Are there really that many things you can do with a bonus action though? I suppose there's spells and other class features, but surely there'll be moments when you can't pull those off and would benefit from it, right?

I am going to have the wizard use true polymorph on me to get permanent alter self aquatic adeptation and natural weapon.

If you're playing barb, and you're playing a half-orc so you should be a barb maybe a pally, you have your bonus action covered ninety percent of the time. Especially with shit like GWM and PAM, fuck even Shield Master gives you a pretty slick bonus action every turn. But I'm not arguing that idea isn't good, cunning action and the tabaxi thing are fucking great, but the UA feat as written is fucking bad.

Lots of characters have something better to do with their bonus action, either from class abilities or from a feat. Orcish aggression is a neat idea but its pretty underpowered.

I get what you mean. I suppose I could maybe see it working for a War Cleric, after all you can only use that bonus attack so many time, not to mention you may not always be in range to use it. Then again Cleric have a small handful of spells they could cast instead, so I dunno.

>Aquarius' Skin of Deciet
>Wonderous item
>Attunement: Rogue
>This seemingly mastercrafted waterskin holds more than just water. It can contain enough water to supply up to 3 days worth of water. As long as it has at least a full days worth of water remaining, however, an attuned bearer can will the water to form a blade. This is wielded as a dagger.
>Blade of Aquarius
>Dagger +1
>This dagger deals +1d4 slashing damage on hit, and has advantage on attack rolls when used during heavy rain or under water.
>You gain swimming speed equal to your movement speed, unless you already have a better swimming speed.
>While wielding this dagger, you have resistance to fire, as the waters flow out and cover you with a thin layer of the elemental waters.

Party just dealt with a bunch of elementals, and the AT decides to be a surprisingly nice guy and go way beyond what he should have to help the water elementals. I thought of giving this to him. Thoughts? They are level 8, and he insists on using a dagger. It has a lot of features, but most of them are more fluff and flavour, I have no real plans of a lot of underwater fighting, and they are mostly indoors.

For a feat to be good, it either needs to be worth at least a +2 bonus in something, or a +1 and give you another +1, otherwise simply getting +1 into a modifier somewhere is going to be better the majority of the time. Sure, there are cases where you run out of stats to increase, but even then, you have better things to do with your bonus action or feat.

As a cleric, ESPECIALLY a war cleric, you never have a spare bonus action. You are attacking, casting healing word/sanctuary, or using a spiritual weapon 100% of the time.
I played a war cleric from 1-14, you always have something better to do than run into the enemy

It doesn't need to have a +1 to attack and damage, the rest of it is fine. It's slightly worse than flametoungue, but has utility.

You may want to decide what happens when he throws it. Does it use up a days worth of water? Does it come back? Does the act of throwing it simply turn it into a splash of water, instead of a blade?

Only things that don't really are Champ fighters and Barbs after raging

I have a Paladin with Oath of Ancients, level 7. I am going to dip 2 levels into Cleric for a Channel Divinity that isnt shit (Literally never use them currently) and for some bonus goodies.

Which Cleric is a good option here? If all else fails, Life or Knowledge seems like solid choices to either heavily buff my healing abilities, or to make me far better at out of combat shit.

Seems extremely good, and if he's actually a cool guy and deserves it, seems like a really cool signature item for somebody to get. And like said, most elemental weapons don't have a +1 but have good stuff added on. Besides, making it +1 and up can be a reward for future adventures.

He can't throw it. I'll add that the blade disappears if he let's go of the item.

The +1 is to bring him in line with everybody else who also has +1 items. His has the +d4 as well, but it is a dagger, compared to the Greatsword and Longbow, so it seems reasonable, no?

>You are attacking, casting healing word/sanctuary, or using a spiritual weapon 100% of the time.
I guess I just keep expecting to run out of spells or X/day abilities sooner than it actually takes. Granted that could just be the fault of one of the DMs I played 5e with, whole thing was homebrew. Then again I've been playing ToA with a different DM and the only thing I ever run out of in one day is spells, and that's because I'm a Warlock.

>Besides, making it +1 and up can be a reward for future adventures.
Alright, I can get behind that. Might be cool to let it evolve after some time. He practically has a pact with the water elementals now, so it might not be farfetched that he gets it upgraded down the line.

I'd actually drop the +1 for the ability to use a day's worth of water to throw the blade and then the water disperses and becomes nonmagical afterwards.

Champion fighters are pretty good candidates for picking up feats that give bonus action attacks, but yeah.

I'm unreasonably excited to get to use my new mounted combatant feat next session, hopefully with a lance
fuck you medium-sized monsters

If you are looking for some extra fluff to throw onto it, you can do things like
>While you are attuned to this item you have the following benefits
>You can speak Aquan
>You can breathe underwater
>You have advantage on Charisma checks against water elementals and other creatures native to the elemental plane of water
>Water elementals and water weirds don't treat you as hostile unless you harm them.

>the only thing I ever run out of in one day is spells, and that's because I'm a Warlock.
So no short rests?

Some GMs are pretty bad at managing that. Had a GM that gave us a short rest per day, and far too few encounters. By level 5 I literally couldn't exhaust my spell slots without actively trying, to the point where I could end up summoning a servant JUST to have someone carry a tea tray for my very British wizard. I had absolutely nothing worthwhile to spend my spell slots ok due to the very low amount of encounters, which got fucking stupid by the end of the campaign at level 17.

I did that with mine
> Sentinel
> Blade Master
Paired it with Tunnel Fighter to be a real double nigger. Probably start jacking up my hp now

>Be adventurers
>Wander blindly into an enemy-occupied monestary
>Because we're retarded
>Immediately greeted by two archers on plinths
>Martials start shooting, archers start shooting
Howoriginal.jpg
>Cast Suggestion on the archer who hasn't been hit yet
>Tell him this is in fact a combat drill and I need to see his weapons for Weapon Inspection Day
>He passes down his bow, shortsword and all his arrows
Being a Wizard is the most fun I've ever had in this game I think

As for powering it up, one option would be to staple 7 charges on it, 1d6+1 recharge at dawn, and just take everything from the Mastery of Water discipline and replace PP with charges. I find that the mystic disciplines are great for making custom items, built in costs and a passive benefit.

What do Paladins do with their bonus actions, anyway? There's smite spells, but I'm already casting Bless with my concentration.

>You can speak Aquan
He already can.

>You can breathe underwater
I have no idea how I forgot this. He uses water breathing too often I guess. Definitely adding that.

>
You have advantage on Charisma checks against water elementals and other creatures native to the elemental plane of water
I am giving him that anyway, either because they already know him as a very good ally, or because they will recognize the magic item.

>Water elementals and water weirds don't treat you as hostile unless you harm them.
Hmm, maybe make it a sanctuary effect towards water elementals? I am heavily using elementals, and Id rather not let him have something where a Druid taking a water elemental shape, or an evil wizard controlling a water elemental outright cannot attack him, but at the same time, it would be a neat little bonus to get. Sanctuary DC15 for water elementals would be a cool little flavour bonus.

Honestly I'd forgotten Warlocks replenish slots on a short rest. We've been doing short rests whenever we get real battered, but beyond that we usually make it through the day well enough.

Be careful not to overload this thing, I don't know what the rest of the party has, but a normal Flametongue or Frost Brand are extremely strong items for characters lower than 8 already

>1d6+1 recharge at dawn,
I very specifically did not allow it to recharge. I could increase the "charges", but I wont let it recharge by itself.

I'll check what the mastery of water discipline is, not really familiar with the Mystic other than Veeky Forumss screeching and my players' vehement disgust of initial drafts we've had, so I haven't bothered looking it up yet.

>tfw you rolled a shitty rogue instead of a wizard
Is it bad if I look for ways to kill my character?

How would you stat a character with a missing hand, replaced with a pirate hook?

>Not taking Arcane Trickster
What are you doing man.

Dagger stats, can't throw it, can't be disarmed. Can't use one of his hands.

I told you I rolled a shitty one!

Not becoming a spell thief1d4 piecing melee weapon and a free hand. Is it your off-hand or main-hand?

How do all of the martial classes match up when each one goes all out?
Are they relatively evenly balanced with one another?

Fighter is the best in a sustained fight or campaign, paladin has the best burst, barbarian is the best at not dying.
Rogue and monk are both fine, but more niche, while ranger is either terrible, amazing, or ok.

Contrary to what people will say, yes for the most part the martial classes are quite equally balanced, there's some minor discrepancy between subclass viability but even then the 1- .5 damage difference is negligable.

Paladins have incredible burst, Fighters have good sustained damage, Barbarians are like Fighters that can go even more all out at the cost of not getting four fucking attacks, Rogues are generally worse fighters than those two, Monks are more supporty and lockdown based, Rangers kinda suck
So I guess the "tiers" of martials would be (in no order within tiers)

Tier 1: Fighters, Paladins
Tier 2: Barbarians that aren't Berserker
Tier 3: Monk, Rogue
Tier 4: Rangers that aren't Beastmaster
Tier 4: Berserkers, Beastmasters

I might be overrating Barbarians and underrating Rangers though

Do they have racial feats for Aasimar or any of Volos guide?

Rangers have good damage and once you get a couple choice spells they're pretty okay. It's just that Hunter is lame because each of it's features have a clear choice as to what's better 90% of the time and they are completely locked out of the other option for all time, actually, that's pretty much the problem with Rangers in general is that they're supposed to be highly versatile and able to change things up but stuff like favored enemy and favored terrain are static for way too fucking long for way too little.

Ranger, as mentioned, is the most volatile because either they are useless (phb beastmaster who has a shit pet or actually cares about it enough to keep it safe) or terrifying (revised ranger woth favored enemy humanoids and a penchant for casting primeval awareness in crowded places).

Rogue poops put damage and has the most freedom for to, they never feel bad. Fighter is stable. Battlemaster is strongest but suffers from the worst case of diminishing returns of fun I've ever seen.

Paladin crit fishes for days because of how smite works and I hate barbs because they always brag about taking no damage.

Rogues can math Barbarians though. There is a reason Barbarogues are popular.

Rogues just suffer from being circumstantial. A not-shit GM will give your opportunity to sneak attack every turn, so assuming your party isn't completely fucking retarded, you should always have a sneak attack every turn. With CBE they will easily compete with Barbarians.

Rangers are definitely above Monks. Monks are good because of their utility, they are not a damage based martial. They will not compete with a Hunter Ranger using Sharpshooter. Yeah, PHB ranger is bad, but not because of their damage output - Sharpshooter+Archery fighting style makes sure of that.

P.. please respond

Depending on what you want, war is always useful as is trickery, but depending on what you want out of your paladin ,life makes sense for straight healing

Honestly the idea seems kinda dumb. You're giving up being a much better Paladin for 1 extra spellcasting level and what is basically a short rest ability that uses up your Paladin short rest ability. Plus the best channel divinities scale with level most the time.

Really I would stay Paladin. Turn the Faithless is okay and Nature's Wrath isn't bad.

You should get your second ASI, paladins need stats and benefit greatly from feats too.

>taking a dip instead of an ASI

>throw a petrified ally off a tower
Are you fucking idiots? He should have shattered all over the ground.

Sounds like a fun dungeon though.

Like the others, I suggest just staying paladin. Yeah, OotA's channel divinities suck. But you just got the ability to half all fucking magic damage everyone in your auras takes. Better to just put more points into Paladin because third level spells give you revivify, and that's really great if you don't have a cleric. If you DO have a cleric, then why are you bothering to dip into it?

Okay. Will probably stick to Paladin then. My main irk has just been the very annoying channel divinities which are never useful, because Turn theFaithless has come up exactly once, where it failed, and Natures Wrath is terrible.

True, currently sitting at 16str/18Cha, and could use another one. I have jist not been very happy about my channels so far.

I just felt a bit more utility or diversity would help.

Good catch about the spell levels, didn't consider that fully. I would get cantrips (which I still think is weird to not have on a spellcaster), but I didn't fully consider the spells I would get. We haven't needed revives yet, but we have no one else with ressurection abilities right now. Would suck to lose someone because I decided to dip instead of just continuing down the Paladin path.

It is a God worshipping Paladin, so a dip isnt exactly weird from an RP point of view.

I dunno if your DM would allow it, but if you want diversity, you could get your ASI or level 3 spells, then go for a level in SORCERER, probably Favored Soul, so you can use your Cha to cast. Then you get cantrips, a few sorcerer spells, and a really useful "Favored by the Gods" feature

>>It's actually two Nothic's.
Ha! I like that one, that's cheeky.
Sounds like quite the adventure, and reminds me a bit of a couple of different Conan stories. Seems like you're group's a fun time.

So I'm thinking of making a Ranger. Really I like the fluff and abilities of Hunter but does it hold up to all the stuff the new Ranger's get?

Is 142 HP and 15 AC alright for a huge sized boss monster going solo against 5 PC's at level 6?

Are you using Revised Ranger, or the PHB?

Don't use PHB

I'm going Revised Ranger. Looking over it Hunter gets me colossus slayer which is the extra d8, while Horizon Walker gives the same thing as a bonus action and a bunch of other shit.

I was going to pick Horde Breaker and go for a crowd fighting type of theme, but then Gloom Stalker gets a better attack on the first round of combat anyway plus all the spells, darkvision and invisibility shit.

Really seems very powercreeped in Xanathers for the Ranger subclasses. Is it too much to ask to play a standard Ranger with two-shortswords and not be complete shit?

I am currently a level 4 half-orc battlemaster, and I totally kick ass. But my orc is also a driven follower of Gruumsh, and my charisma is sufficient to become a paladin. What Paladin oath would be the most fitting? And how do I best go about being a Battlemaster Paladin with GWM and 13 charisma

>going solo against 5 PC's
Consider giving it a couple lair or legendary actions if it doesn't have any already, and perhaps have some sort of on-hit status effect for its primary attack. Being outnumbered is a very big deal unless it has those sorts of assets, and even then you might want to have a couple one-hit-KO goons just to split their attention for a round.

Dual wielding is a complete trap. Not just for rangers, but for everyone. I strongly advise against trying it; you'll just end up disappointed. Also, powercreep for rangers is a good thing. PHB ranger is impossibly weak and it desperately needed the buffs. Hunter, Horizon Walker, and Gloom Stalker are all very solid depending on what you're going for. You aren't going to outshine the paladin or the casters even if you choose the strongest subclass, so just choose what you like best.