/5eg/ - Fifth Edition General

What they really need is clear, concise bullet points of things about the system that people may not realize. Define bounded accuracy, simply. Maybe breakdowns of each class- "at this level, the class gets a defensive feature". Other good hints. In fact, I think they've put out similar things before, but they should do it again.

What happened? As a DM I try to give my players a reasonable number of big and small consequential choices in the world, but they usually just debate among themselves and then ask me to give them another quest or dungeon to go to. I don't want to railroad them but they seem to like it.

Okay, is it actually? Or did you fuck off and try to do stupid shit for an entire session?

It's like how you have no clue what the fuck you're spewing about. Funny how that's painfully true.

The DMsGuild people and guild adept generally have free reign with what they create, within what is able to be created for, ie FR at this stage. This is why there's so much shit, so very much, on there.

this. fuck wild magic sorcerers, what a waste

Yes, definitely this. They need to give design guideline packets to content creators.

Because I did a Fighter 1/Wild Sorc 1/ Arcane Trickster 5 for a while as a naive Tabaxi who exploded (literally) when she found out (intimately) that her hometown Tabaxi boyfriend had spines on his dick (Like a cat). She would constantly morn over her "Lost Tabaxi love" in an Elder Scrolls accent and ended up leaving the party to stalk a hot men's rights drow activist in the Underdark. One of my favorite characters, and I just don't feel any other Wild magic person I make will ever live up to her lol.

>tfw you have to railroad because the few times you just gave them a list of stuff to do and sat back they sat there confused and didn’t know what to do

Thing about 5e homebrew, people either know how the system works and can just make their own homebrew shit if they want it and don't need it from anybody else. Or else, people don't know how the system works, in which case it doesn't matter what they do in their own games and the only harm is when people who do know how the system works bitch about it.

Best part about that method, you just give them the same dungeon and maybe different monsters.

>That player who excitedly brings in some crazy bullshit class on DandyWiki and thinks it's legit, not realizing its a fan wiki full of garbage.

Why would a cat be upset about cat physiology?

It’s not just like her Kara-Turish animes

The barbs aren't sharp and actually stimulate the inside of the vagina to promote ovulation.

That may happen. In which case, you inform the player that the source is not reputable and maybe try to find something similar in official works. Hopefully you're in a position of authority, otherwise I guess you have to deal with the fact that you're in one of those games where people don't really care about the rules, or maybe politely decline participating if you don't want to deal with it.

But isn't it a little odd that anyone with half a brain can create decent homebrew content for Fate and OSR games... but 5E is so difficult?

Free reign isn't the same as ease of use. 5E is very tricky to homebrew stuff for, I agree, but it's like it was built to be tricky, to require a team of experts.

Lol

>the only harm is when people who do know how the system works bitch about it.
Or how people think the shit homebrew we have to wallow in is actually decent and want to keep plugging it and spamming it. Always.

And the Blood Hunter!

She was kept in the dark by her conservative family about sex, so the sharp surprise triggered her wild magic, which fireballed her, her boyfriend, and her parent's house.
She got kicked out after that and joined a bunch of caravan guards, where she got a magic crossbow she named after her deceased ex.

But people were thinking of replacing all intimidation checks with strength.

Fortunately I had the credibility as the older experienced DM to gently steer the younger inexperienced player away from that wiki, revealing that anything there has no guarantee of being balanced and there are plenty of options in the actual published 5e books to help them realize their concept. I just sighed internally at the premise that they couldn't just go with the official book material as I already outlined and instead looked elsewhere. When you give people a dozen options, why do they always turn up their noses and want a 13th one scratch-built just for them?

Also, I gotta be honest with ya user. Why not at the minimum post the original PDF and explain your reasons for disagreeing with it?

"OC" setting advice

So after years of magical war magic got angry and unleashed lots of monsters into the world and magical disasters

Any idea on how to make this more interesting/make sense?

Are you insane or retarded?
People create shit content for 5e because they think the edition is like 3xe, PF or 4e without realizing how 5e works or what the designers are going for. The system isn't tricky. It's homebrew designers having baseless assumptions and generally being shit, and without playtesting.

It doesn't need a team of experts, that's disingenuous and also blatantly a lie but it does need an idea of how 5e works and about its own assumptions and does need playtesting.

My main issue with this rework is that it is simply too much. 2 1/2 pages for a single subclass and it's still a ki hog with a lot of subchoices but not much in the way of real flavorful progression.

Are the osr/fate homebrews actually decent? Maybe it's because the people who would willingly go for older/more obscure systems will typically be more inclined to fully understand the systems before creating their own content?

I agree 5e is a little bit tricky, whether that's because the system is more restrictive than most or because people aren't approaching it with the right mindset (used to 3.5 maybe?) I don't know.

You mean in these threads? Mostly I see people asking for advice in stuff they've created, or else maybe misunderstanding that the third-party files they're getting from the dm's guild aren't official content.

> when she found out (intimately) that her hometown Tabaxi boyfriend had spines on his dick (Like a cat).
This does explain why female Tabaxi won't put out for any Tom dickin' hairy.

If you give players the choice of A or B and both lead to the same destination, it's the same as no choice at all because they never knew what the choice meant anyway.

I don't disagree with it, it is great
In fact, I used it to make this homebrew here

Sections of the world that cause spellcasters to cast random spells when they go to cast them. Like if you go to cast a magic missile, instead a detect magic flies out

Dunno. Personally, when I say, go to play an older video game, I want all the expansion packs and patches to get the most out of the experience that I can. Maybe your player had a similar approach, not realizing that the "expansion packs" they found online weren't actually expansion packs.

I had the idea of reigning in the spellcasting in 5e, limiting fullcasters to 5th level spells, and giving more spell slots to compensate. Higher level spells might still be possible, but would require research, longer casting times, more components, and teams of casters. The sort of thing that organisations might be capable of, but not the wizard on the fly. Would that help Fighters feel better?

Playing SKT and our group was made with the express purpose of being anti-Giant mercenaries hired to hunt down and kill giants.

A plot-critical giant NPC appeared during a fight against another giant and tried to approach us fighting, we had our caster CC him and we killed the plot-critical NPC without knowing he was plot critical.

When we went to get payment the DM got us arrested and executed by the Lord's Alliance because apparently that giant was one of their contacts.

>Are the osr/fate homebrews actually decent?
On average, I'd say they're more usable than the 5E homebrews that are posted.

Could be a popularity effect (more content = more shit content), but I think the system has something to do with it.

>Are you insane or retarded?
Please, that's not an "or" statement.
>without realizing how 5e works or what the designers are going for.
If only there was some sort of Guide Veeky Forums, particularly wise sages like you, could write to help them. Some sort of unified design document...
>The system isn't tricky.
It has a lot of moving interconnected parts. You do need to be very familiar with the system to make passable 5E homebrew content. The barrier to entry is high, possibly by design.

Uh, I see enough things I'm interested in that it's probably simpler for you to just zip and upload all of it somewhere, if that's okay?

Sounds like the background justification for magic and monsters, and not necessarily something your players will actively interact with/explore and thus, not something you need to fully explain. Unless you plan on taking the campaign in a direction where the players need to figure out "the source of all monsters" or something.

Either way, "magic got mad" makes it sound like perhaps a being with sapience, or else that natural forces in your world in general have the capacity for emotions and decisions, either of which could be interesting.

I've had thoughts of this as well, but changing spell slot progression goes a bit far. You end up losing out on the important power jump expected at 5th level.

I would suggest giving them normal progression, but simply say that they can't learn spells higher than 5th level. This way they have a ton of low-level spells they can cast at higher level spells, but the world-changing spells of 6th level or higher are simply unavailable.

If 5e needed a team of experts and Wizards was controlling and sanitizing what was put out, there wouldn't so much, so very much excruciably shit homebrew.

Magic elementals based off the various schools of magic

>don't give driveby critique
Maybe I would put more effort into critiquing homebrew if literally every homebrewer didn't say "No it's fine, it's supposed to be like that" when I have the nerve to insinuate that Antimagic Field shouldn't be a per-short-rest class ability at level 5.

Alrighty, lemme see what I can do

I think its just fine! Its got some free options and the KI consumption is cheaper which makes it usable. 2 and a half pages of options is good for a class like this.

Honestly, this brew is fine. It's not overpowered or anything the 40-foot movement speed is the only thing someone might raise an eyebrow to, but then they remember the Aarakocra have a 50-foot flying speed. So its cool.

Another good brew I like.

Yeah, sure. I mean make the end goal artifact at the end of the dungeon relevant to the choice they made, as well as general theming, but when I say that I just mean it as a method of saving your resources. It takes effort to create or find a dungeon, and time on your part. Don't waste the time and effort just because the players don't go where you think- re-use it. Then later if they wanna go to the other dungeon, create or fund another one. Maybe put in the effort while they're exploring the first one.

A simpler approach is just to treat high level spells the same as magic items, something the player can't obtain for free but has to earn somehow through adventuring. I have a vague feeling this is even mentioned as an option somewhere. Then just give casters new spells in place of items where appropriate.

>the new player thinks that chaotic neutral means lol so randumb

For you, it must be both.

Wizards has put out guidelines for creating homebrew, which another user has also said.
And this is my point, Wizards needs to give content creators guidelines to 5e.

Again, 5e isn't tricky but it does require a rework and relook at 5e's design assumptions and people's own presumptions.

Also your points are at odds and you're confused. The system isn't controlled and it isn't sanitized.

As long as we're (re) posting homebrew.

Spoilers, I'm fairly certain that plot important NPC is built in and his appearance is written into the adventure. In this instance, railroading would actually be bulls hitting reasons for the NPC to stay alive despite your party killing him. Getting put into prison isn't railroading, it's probably the dM's way of stopping you guys from progressing while he figures out how to progress in the world you guys have created. I understand you may be a bit grumpy that your character is in jail, but your DM actually gave you so much freedom that you broke the adventure. Maybe give him the benefit of the doubt and see where he takes you.

That's when you use the direct comparison approach, tell them

>"Hey this class gets an anti-magic field at level 5, Antimagic field is an 8th level spell that the Wizard can pick up at level 15. You CANNOT justify your class having it at level 5."

Use exact examples from official material to explain to the brewer that no matter what they are making there is NO POSSIBLE way that will work or be balanced with what the game has.

Ok!

Sounds like a fantasy version of nuclear winter. Maybe magical "background radiation" (don't call it that) has corrupted people and animals to turn the into monsters. Maybe the monsters have always been there, but the huge amount of magical war has drained the world of the free magical energy that spellcasters use, so now the civilized world isn't able to hold them back effectively.

Go read that guy's guide on Homebrew!
Go!

>You mean in these threads? Mostly I see people asking for advice in stuff they've created, or else maybe misunderstanding that the third-party files they're getting from the dm's guild aren't official content.
I mostly see people "asking" for advice and then get defensive about their terrible brew and refuse to change anything because "In MY game we don't use that rule" or "But we also use THIS homebrew rule to counteract what you just said even though this is the first time I ever bothered to mention it."

It's still not much of a choice.
'You're going to go into a dungeon you don't know. It's either called X or Y, you can choose what it's called. But it will have Q or P in it depending on your choice'.

What you want to do is to have the players commit to going to one place and end up there by the end of a session so you can then work on that dungeon. They want to go to an egyptian pyramid themed dungeon and read up books in game about the enemies they'll face, you make that. They want a greek mythological dungeon, you make that.

But of course I admit the players probably don't care much, what they would care more about is what happens by their choice. They might have to choose between saving two different NPCs and go through the consequenecs of losing the other, and you can run the same scenario with the same dungeon on each route. So you're not really wrong in your method.

We're dead, we've been executed.

>Use exact examples from official material to explain to the brewer that no matter what they are making there is NO POSSIBLE way that will work or be balanced with what the game has.
You assume that a majority of homebrewers give a shit about justifying anything further than "but I want it to be this way."

You are new here arn't you

This is also the reason why 5e homebrew is such literal shit. People thinking their content is golden and not wanting to change it at all even if other are giving legitimate reasons why and how it's crap.
Frankly, fuck those "designers". Listening to actual critique is something you should do and accept.

5e in general is unbalanced
adding your unbalanced homerbew doesn't make it better.

It actually got to the point where I created "trollbrew" just to fuck with people
pic related

I have and I feel like I'm decently in-line with it. Is there anything particular you'd like to point out?

Oh, shit. Well, sounds like your DM couldn't figure out how to fix the situation. Is he new? Is he gonna let you guys try again?

So outside of the mage slayer feat, how can I go about making a character that’s all about killing spellcasters? Preferably martial or at least not a full caster

>We're dead, we've been executed.
/How/ dead?

What certain people would respond to this with is 'this is why premade modules suck' but really it just shows that the DM sucks, not that the premade modules suck.

Mmm maybe now everyone uses the wild magic table

Best way to fight fire is with fire. War Mage that focuses on counter spells. There are also fighter maneuvers (forget which exact subclass) that does basically the same thing as Mage Slayer.

counterspell
so eldrich knight, arcane trickster, redemption paladin, sorcerer, warlock, wizard

If you tell the party that's what you're doing, no its not. I wouldn't fault you for telling them, I also have a habit of telling my players how I expected things to have gone, or where they could have ended up, etc. I'm open with that kind of stuff.

In general, though, they are fine going through my dungeons however they arrive at them. If your players aren't, and you don't mind making extra dungeons that they might not go to, it's not a bad thing. Maybe you like making dungeons in your free time and have a pool to draw from. Or if it's a matter of principal, and you feel like you're bullshitting your players if you re-use assets, thatd up to you. Just offering a suggestion to save time.

I'm also worried that this post sounds like I'm being shitty or snarky, just want you to know I'm being genuine.

>unbalanced
Worried this is a troll, but how so? You mean casters vs martials?

The hope is to one day hit the MvC2-Equilibrium, where there are enough unbalanced things that they start to counter the other unbalanced things.

Tbh I stopped reading at Sneak attack with heavy weapons. That's fucked because of things like GWF, Polearm Master, and a 2 dip into Barb for Reckless attack breaking game balance damage maths. Finesse Greatsword has come up before, many times, and I've watched math nerds make the calculations with optimized characters, it snaps the game like a twig. Throw in polearm master with sneak attack or tunnel fighting or whatever behind his buddy, you now have a friendly in 5ft and two suped sneak attacks a round. That is just off the top of my head bro, I'm sure other guys could give all kinds of reasons why. Basically you are making huge damage cheap at low levels... and it continues to scale higher then everyone else as they level.

I have been here for about 2 years? So kinda, I know about the Catgirl meme if that's what you are referring to.

Yes, there are brewers who will be adamant about not change their content, I still say give them some good well-mannered criticism and be on your way. No need to dwell or get angry, just give them what you can and they will eventually understand what's wrong with the material and will possibly make some changes.

I always try to give good constructive criticism even if the brewer does not want to change it, it can help them in future.

So you were just pretending to be retarded!

Abjuration wizard. Oath of Ancients paladin.

>If you tell the party that's what you're doing, no its not.
It depends on the players, but even if you don't tell them, it doesn't really impact them that they've made a choice.
Think of it like this: You're going down the road without any real goal in mind. You see two paths. You know both of them will lead to something, but you don't know what. You also believe each will lead to something different, because you have no reason to believe they'd lead to the same place.
You go down path A and get experience A. You go down path B and get experience B. But at what point did that choice make you happy? The only real thing is does is 'Oh, you can go down path B after going down path A if you don't like path A'.

Now, instead, let's say you reach a brochure. The brochure tells you about what you'd find on path A and the notable features and how to maek the best of them. It also details path B. You choose path A because you like the sound of what's in there and you happen to have bread to feed the swans, which aren't on path B. You then get hyped up about what you might encounter and make plans in your head on how you're going to deal with that rockclimbing wall in the way with your friends, since you're going to have to haul that guy ina wheelchair up it. Of course, there will be some unexpected things too.

You give information to the players and the players make choices from that. That's probably the best way, I think.

No? The Catgirl brew is just fine? I would like it if it had a little more lore (Like this one) but, the mechanics of it are just fine.

What tips do you nerds have for someone who has only played for 2 hours and wants to try DMing for people?

I bought the starter box.

Be more familiar with the core rules than any of the players. Think on your feet. Start small (the starter set is a good place to start).

What are some interesting magical items for a 5th level 4 Elements monk and moon Druid? I’m really not sure what to add in for them

As other said, better rules knowledge than players. Act confident as if you know the rules, though we all know you absolutely won't know all the rules, 5e gets deeper than you think and everyone here constantly make rule mistakes.

Get a premade module like lost mines of phandelver.

Give the monk a circlet that gives him an extra ki, who gives a shit. Give the druid a cloak with +1 AC they can keep while in beast form.

>4 elements monk
An item that lets you respec your class to something that actually works
>moon druid
An item that lets you respec your class to something less obnoxious

Counterspell would be really nice to have. Bladelock would be the only decent way to get it, because non-caster classes don't get it until 9th or 13th level, and by then the mages you fight will be using higher than 3rd level spells. You might consider asking the DM for a feat or magic item that lets you cast counterspell once per long rest, or something.
There are 7 types of defense in the game: AC, each of the ability scores, and speed. Take advantage of the fact that casters generally don't have high strength or constitution. So fighting techniques like shoving and grappling will be very effective. Poison will probably be effective too, since they won't pass the saves.
The other important thing to consider is range. Mages are best when they're far away from you, and if you're slow, they get a bunch of free attacks before you can hit them. You either need to be able to attack from a greater range than they can, or you need to have high speed so you can get to them quickly.
Monk might be a good class because of the high speed and good saving throws. And more attacks mean more opportunities to break concentration.

>Boosting moon druid AC in beast form
>When it's their one weakness when it comes to doing raw damage to them
It's like you think HP bloat is fun

Open Hand Monk. FoB them, lock them down with Stunning Strike, and keep them knocked prone. Then wail on them with advantage and FoB until they are a soft paste. Counterspell is good, but chances are someone else on your team will have that.
Unfortunately since Mage Slayer got confirmed nerfed, there's not really a way to stop a caster with Dimension Door from getting away short of Counterspelling with a Sorcerer (Distant Spell/Subtle Spell) or multiple people, but you can prevent them from casting at all if you can stun them.

mega.nz/#!IyJGXQwY!GVp1yxxMCapltlRr6StK-7LATjCsqxvh0XIiosBozlE

hope this works for you bro

I am taking this for myself, and I thank you obtuse and oblivious person

>For you, it must be both.
Man this self-effacing humor is really going over your head, isn't it? Oh well, you've got time.
>And this is my point, Wizards needs to give content creators guidelines to 5e.
Sure... but consider this. What if they don't want to because it would cut into their monopoly on balance?

If Wizards put its out, it's... mechanically canon. If they say that these are the rules for Catgirls, your Catgirl Homebrew is going to take second place, or more likely disappear. Encouraging really good homebrew content cuts into their potential sales. If I write a catgirl class, and
1. homebrew content is widely accepted and celebrated
2. homebrew content is easy to make and adapt to the system

Then the publishers have to fight uphill to sell their new content. But if homebrew is widely denigrated and mocked, and if it's tricky to get it working well because the design goals are hidden and complex... then the publishers only stand to profit.
>Again, 5e isn't tricky but it does require a rework and relook at 5e's design assumptions and people's own presumptions.
It's as if a large document that lists those and discusses them in a non-hostile way could be useful, and criticism that's more detailed than "unbalanced" and "shit" might be helpful to people.

Adding onto this, also recognize that adhering to the rules doesn't really matter. They're guidelines and tools but cleaning to them strictly isn't necessary.
As long as your rulings are consistent.

>If you multiclass shit is bonkers.
Hasn't the thread been majorly vocal about not allowing multiclass even with "official" material like UA?

I also believe I said last thread that you cannot make the assumption of or balance around the idea that there will always be an ally (or an enemy of your enemy) within 5ft to turn on sneak attack. Also, applying sneak attack with a heavy weapon and finesse greatswords are different.

The way it is now, if you want to sneak attack with a greatsword, you're making yourself MAD for at least 3 attributes and either making your defenses poor, or your health pool small.

But, I appreciate your feedback, and I'll look into changing it if I feel like I can find a more satisfying option.

Attack them with saves. It doesn't have to actually be a useful gift. Aren't moon druids the spellcaster ones anyway?