/5eg/ - Fifth Edition General

Good dms work with player ideas and character concepts to fit the game, bad ones fly into an autistic rage when you try to do something that isn't RAW, even if it results in nerfing yourself overall.

I've always been happy that my DM works with us. Want to play a heavy armored barbarian? Give up unarmored defense and you lose shield proficiency. Want to play an unarmored bard? You can take one of your magical secrets early, using it for Mage Armor.

I suppose you're locked in as a Shadow Monk, too

Can anyone tell me which is more powerful
Swords Bard or Lore Bard?

& what is the best multiclass options?

Lore Bard has the highest upside potential, Sword Bard is probably the "stronger" choice on average.

>minmax my character for me
Nah

Locked in as Monk I just haven't chosen which path and shadow seems interesting

>griggity griggity Grognard
>wanting to be effective is for munchkins
>ackity ackity autist
>this is nothing like my magical realm

It's 5e, unless you intentionally fuck yourself, every character is effective enough. Even PHB BM Ranger and Wot4E are "effective", despite being the worst things printed. The next two worst, PHB Blade Pact and Berserker aren't even bad enough to be noticeable in regular play, they just suffer from less obvious mechanic deficiencies.

AA 3/Scout X feral tiefling
Long Death hill dwarf monk
Zealot half-orc barbarian
Trying to think about about characters than an HexBladelock Half-elf.

>every character is effective enough
My sorcerer with dancing lights, friends, light, and true strike for cantrips and comprehend languages and expeditious retreat as 1st level spells would beg to differ.

>unless you intentionally fuck yourself
You can ignore stat recommendations, choose not to use a weapon or armor, or use all spell slots casting grease on hills for children, but those all count as fucking yourself intentionally.

I don't have any first hand experience with the new subclass asshat. This is literally no different than asking a foodie what food you might enjoy. Or a recommendation for which car to drive.

Thank you. Is it better to dueling style or dual wield? Cause i dont want to pigeon hole myself by taking Swords & then taking a trap option. I personally dont picture my character as dual wielding so I'd rather not go that route if it's the only viable way

You didn't ask for effective. You asked for more powerful. And then you asked for the best multiclasses.
And now you appear to be... I don't know, rapping or something?

>unless you intentionally fuck yourself
Holy fuck user it was literally right in front of the words you quoted

People do things like that unintentionally.
But you really shouldn't be salty that other people want to make their characters effective at what their characters do and ask for help in doing so.

>you
I ain't that guy, senpai.

How do you handle someone with max CHA/insane persuasion skill trying to lead the party/persuade members within the group to do things?
My group doesn't let stuff like Persuade affect party to party dialogue anyway, but is it "good roleplaying" to occasionally concede something to the high CHA+Persuade player? Is it bad to disagree with them at every turn?

Persuasion is not mind control

Don't you dare ever have fucking social checks in PC-PC interactions.

No reason to dual wield in particular, although if you did want to it's one of the more viable places to do so. Personally, picking up shield proficiency from somewhere and going dueling is probably your best option. 2 in fighter is never a bad call, and fighter2/sword bardX lets you pick up protection and dueling.
If you prefer sticking with the single class, Bards in general have quite a bit they can do with their bonus action already. Dueling is better imo.

It's not like asking which food you might like, it's like asking which options in a cooperative roleplaying game make you better than your friends because you can't read abilities and think for yourself. You'd have a point if you asked which was more fun, but you specifically asked for more powerful.

No, they don't. Suboptimal choices? Yes. DURRR I NO CAN DO THING IN FIGHT? No.
Seriously, what brand new player thinks of light at all unless it's brought up, let alone thinking they need 2 of their spells for light. Most i've met would take all damaging cantrips.

>no, they don't
Reality would beg to differ.

Not sure if this is 5e related but I want to homebrew a fallout based setting, I found some resources but they're not perfect so i'll have to edit a bit. d20 system is the best way to go right? I'm just doing this because I play with my friends and they all like fallout and want to play a tabletop version after I introduced them to DnD, what's the best way to go about this without fucking it up?

I've said, we don't allow any of that shit in PC-PC dialogue, but is it good as a player to lean towards the player with 20 CHAs opinion on matters that divide the group?

Hour of Reaping affects friendlies as well, right?

>first time DM
>setting is half complete because he wanted to "give us some wriggle room" in our characters
>be chaotic good kenku cleric with light domain
>have to make up my own religion
>decide he was raised in the church and forgery skills are the result of faithfully copying texts for years
>can recite sermons verbatim
>DM jokes he's out on some holy rumspringa
>why the fuck not

I have a rough idea of a god of sunlight and redemption, with the character being an attempt to save a member of a "fallen race". I'm sketching possible holy symbols, but everything else is up in the air.

Your character should be fairly receptive to their ideas, even if they end up disagreeing with them. Having a high Cha, especially with a high persuasion, would be roleplayed well by having the other PCs always giving them their ear, or letting them talk, but it isn't going to force anyone to change their minds.

>is it good as a player to lean towards the player with 20 CHAs opinion on matters that divide the group?
No.

>s it "good roleplaying" to occasionally concede something to the high CHA+Persuade player
The argument could be made that yes, it would be in-character to listen to the guy who's really good at talking, especially if his ideas haven't bitten you in the ass before. However, ignoring said character is not bad roleplaying by any metric. Just as a DM can rule that diplomacy has no effect on an NPC that just won't listen, you can rule that a character's words mean fuck all to you, ESPECIALLY if that dick ass bard got you all thrown in jail because "the baron has buttloads of gold, why would he miss a few silver forks?"

So yeah, it's up to you. Just try to separate what you think out of character and what your character would think, and use some abstraction if the player roleplaying the charisma savant isn't actually all that charimatic.

Why? The strong party member is stronger in game, the dexterous one is notable for their fine movements and deft hands, why wouldn't the charismatic one be able to more eloquently and persuasively present their ideas?

I've got anecdotes, you've got made up anecdotes, let's agree you're an idiot and move on.

Because people are not compelled to care about or value another person's opinion because they have a pleasant personality. People are often swayed by that, but it's not a law of nature and players are the ones who make the judgments about how their characters think and behave.

I've got anecdotes, and you've got made up anecdotes.
Woah.

isnt 5e shit for modern settings?

Nigga, i never said that you are forced to agree with them, only that you are more willing to listen. If a low charisma character tries to sway your opinion, you may be polite but not really take in their viewpoint at all. Smile and nod. If a high charisma character tried the same, it won't change your mind, but you actually digest their points and are less likely to disregard them entirely.

Whether someone is more or less willing to listen to someone else is up to that someone.

If you disregard the methods, personalities, and behavior of your fellow PCs, you are a poor roleplayer.
If those things aren't informed by the stats, you aren't even playing the game

If you think a stat necessarily corresponds to how someone regards someone else, you're a poor roleplayer.
The red dragon's 23 charisma doesn't magically make your character go
>huh, rely maeks me thnk...
when they're bullshitting you.

The book even has quick start suggestions for new players. There's no other reason to do this except intentionally sucking.

If you think the magnificent dragon is some ugly lizard, you are ignoring the game entirely. They act and appear majestic, even when behaving terribly. They can be menacing, persuasive or, yes, deceptive. They have cultists and minions at their disposal for a reason.
If you have two people arguing, and are indifferent to the arguments themselves, the more persuasive and charismatic person is going to be the one that gets more of your attention. If you ignore a PCs Charisma as a stat, that PC may as well not have stats at all.

>I think player's necessarily read the book when a large portion of the time DM's don't even
lad
wew

Read up on Lathander and Amanautor. I probably misppelled those, but they're the Faerunian gods of the new dawn, and the sun, respectively. Borrow as much as you can.

>I am Jedi mind-tricked by someone's charisma score
Jesus Christ.

So how did they get a class, race, or spell list in the first place? Did they google
>least useful caster 5e
and print it out?

Why the fuck would you try to do that??

>words are hard
>pop culture reference!

Their friend told them about some things, they ran out of time, and the friend pointed them to the spell list to finish their character. ~40% of the playerbase is Grognards, so the advice he received was
>pick the spells you really like

Someone is incredibly attractive and articulate.
They speak words to you.
Are you more inclined to listen to this person over another person as a necessary fact/law of the universe?

Yes? That's biology and sociology in a nutshell.

why do I share a hobby with logically impaired retards

Not sure if you are trolling, but no. DnD is not the right starting point. It will not emulate the mechanics nor the feeling of fallout.

Thank you, I love stealing shit.

Birds of a feather?

I wouldn't feel visceral pain listening to you if you had any similarities to me.

>Can't stop drafting up sheets for character concepts
Help

I wish my players got as into this stuff as you do.

So leave?

Are there rules somewhere for statting mounted monsters? I want the party to deal with cavalry.

Is it really as simple as using the warhorse and appropriate humanoid's statblocks in the same space?

Also, what's a good "competent, but not more powerful than a level 3 or 4 PC" humanoid block I should adapt for my own needs? Alternatively, how many hit dice should they have? I can do the rest of the calculations from there.

No - I relish the feeling of superiority more than I disvalue the pain.
I just question why you exist. You're like a martial.

So I'm planning to ask my DM to work with me on this, but I'm planning to play a UA Primeval Guardian converted into more of a Werewolf form style thing. Just wondering what people think of my ideas changes.

>Guardian Magic
Redo the spells completely later

>Guardian Soul
Remove the reach bonus, but also remove the speed penalty.

>Piercing Thorns
Change into a natural weapon. Currently it adds +1d6 to a Dueling Rangers 2d8+4+2xDEX damage. So the average total damage currently is 16.5+2xDEX.

I figured changing it to a Natural Attack that deals d12 damage and can use STR or DEX would balance about the same. Goes to 13+2xDEX but frees up the Fighting Style for a different pick.

>Ancient Fortatude
Keep as is, after they added in the once per short/long rest it seems fairly balanced.

>Rooted Defense
Not sure about this one, most Rangers get a damage boost here but Monster Hunter and Primeval Guardian get more control features. Open to any ideas.

>Guardian Aura
Seems fine.

>how many hit dice should they have?
as many as it takes to reach the desired number of hit points. afaik there isn't a single creature aside from PCs that actually use their hit dice for anything, so unless you're making your enemy creatures take short rests number of hit dice or size literally do not matter in the slightest.

Just figure out how much average damage your PCs do and give your creatures an amount of HP that will allow them to tank however many hits you want them to be able to tank.

>haha youre enjoying things and I am not
Uhh kay?

Heh, fair enough. I was just trying to use HD as a starting point, because I already know their AC, movement, and damage. Speaking of which, is a d6/d8 versatile polearm that gives reach when 2-handed going to be unbalanced? I don't want a PC to pick one up and kick more ass than necessary with it.

Any DMs or players have experience with Yuan-Ti?

For Rooted Defence maybe some sort of pounce ability? Where if you move more then 20ft. before attacking an enemy you can make another attack which has a chance to prone them.

My friend is playing a berserker barbarian while my other friends are a divination wizard, hexblade warlock, avatar mystic and oath of devotion paladin. He's one of the most effective ones there.

I think humanoid spellcaster NPCs are built according to rules where their hit dice number is their "level". A lvl 12 spellcaster has 12d8+12xCON. So if you wanted to tweak their total HP you'd have to tweak CON.

Okay, let's say, hypothetically, I pitted my players against a wumpus.
Should it detect as magical or not?

What invocations are the best bang for a warlock's figurative buck? Other than agonizing blast, book of ancient secrets, and every bladelock specific invocation.

No such design in 5e. Number of hit dice (and final HP count) is arbitrary to fit CR.

Nah, NPCs caster level is entirely dependent on their spell casting feature.
>Archdruid 24d8
>18th level spell caster

Has anyone had any experience with Play by Post RPGs using D&D 5e? I want to DM my own game but it's near impossible for me to find a solid block of time I am free each week that I can - that is consistent I mean. My free time is simply too inconsistent to reliably run a once a week game, or even biweekly.

If you have, have any advice? If not, think it could work?

>Be playing friend's homebrew
>Looking for some cultists in a lakeside village
>We get tipped off that the local Apothecary was visited by some shady figures before we arrived
>Rogue fucks off to do whatever
>Fine whatever
>Interaction with shopkeeper goes alright, she didn't have much information for us
>As we discuss what to do next, our dragonborn fighter asks about some herbs
>Shopkeep just got in a fresh batch of herbs meant to treat joint pain
>Supposed to break off a small piece and chew it
>He takes the whole thing at once
>Tastes terrible
>I ask what side effects it might have if you take that much at once
>Headaches and violent diarrhea
>Disgonbegood.jpg
>Fighter seems fine at first
>DM looks at him and says "Make me a Con save"
>Succeeds the save, but his stomach begins to roll, as he makes a dash for the bathroom
>Needs to make another save
>Rolls a 2
>Proceeds to explode diarrhea all over his armor
>Whole party comes out just in time to laugh at him
>Finishes taking off his now thoroughly soiled armor and wades into lake to wash off
>Makes another Con save
>Fails
>Water around him runs brown as the last of his stomach contents are ejcted
>Something under the water grabs him and drags him under
>He is now struggling against some underwater monster surrounded by his own shit
>He never resurfaces
>Party assumes he died of complications arising from explosive diarrhea
>We refer to him as Dovakiin, Shitborn from then on

I've had some pretty autistic shit happen in the play group but this beats whatever bullshit we may have gotten up to in our ~1.5 years as a group.

Mask of Many Faces and Eldritch Sight

Oh, okay. It guess it was only thw case for the few I looked at.

>3 con saves for one poison when the first was already a success
Your dm sounds like a faggot.

Maddening Hex looks pretty good and I'm a fan of Gift of the Everliving One and Chains of Carceri for Pact of Chain warlocks.

I got some serious mileage out of Eyes of the Rune Keeper and Eldritch Sight, but that might just be because of how my DM does his thing. Mask of Many Faces was useful as a tiefling, and Repelling Blast was a personal favorite, too.

Devil's Sight is fucking fantastic, even if you don't plan on abusing it.

With the release of XGtE, eldritch blast got some serious CC options at level 5. Repelling blast and lance of lethargy let you effectively push someone 30 feet. Grasp of hadar and repelling blast can separate two creatures by 20 feet, forcing enemies to dash to catch up to their allies.

mask of many faces is very useful in social situations but if you are a tomelock, eldritch sight and eyes of the runekeeper can be replaced with book of ancient secrets getting comprehend languages and detect magic.

Aside from "steal Fireball/Destructive Wave", what other ways are there to get some good damage on a Lore bard?

I need help with CC in the fey wilds or I'm going to die at my next session.

>am level 8 drow arcane trickster rogue
>also neutral evil pizza shit
>isn't a problem in normal world (having a bard helps)
>in fey woods everything can like read my soul or some shit
>every fight, if they can, the enemies will only go for me
>strict "DON'T FUCK WITH THE FOREST" warning given by trees upon entry into fey woods so no destruction
>can't just hide like normal because enemies can see and walk out of the trees

So far the fighter has been the most help with trip attack and being able to shove people over, but it's not very effective when fighting actual trees.
Pls help I can't spend 6 hit dice every time we rest

Without any more info than that?
Your DM seems like kind of a dick.
Since when do fey care whether you're evil or not so long as you don't do anything?

Holy Sword is pretty great for adding overall DPR, even if you aren't personally rolling. Spirit Guardians is just as good on you as a cleric. Spiritual Weapon is a bonus action damage dealer. Summons are great for theoretical fight efficiency, terrible for actually playing the game. Paralysis increases team damage output significantly, Hold X is pretty great. Find Greater Steed gives you a permanent body to throw at people. Dragon Breath is good damage for spell economy, and is cheesable with find familiar or find steed of either variety.

I'm this user any ideas for a good name

Dar'knis Ne'erlit

I may have gone through the belongings of a bunch of hippy satyrs while they were distracted by the shamisen duel between their leader and our bard. Nobody saw me and there was nothing to take, but I may have started it.
I don't really know though this is the first time I've been in the fey wilds and I just assumed the forest has eyes or some shit.

Nondetection or Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location or any Divination blocking abilities should keep that "soul" reading shit from happening, unless your DM has just decided fuck you. (Which if you aren't getting saves for this shit, it sounds like we've already burned that bridge)
So yeah, you're fucked m8. Ask your DM why he let you play a NE character if he was just going to shit on you with no saves for no real reason when you aren't even acting evil.

Na'ru-to

>Dragon Breath on familiars/steeds.
Hot shit, why I didn't I think of that. Thanks.
If only I wasn't dead set on picking Counterspell at 6, I'd take Find Steed+Dragon's Breath just for the novelty of it.