/5eg/ - Fifth Edition General:

Wisdom represents a character's insight, gut instinct and spirituality, as well as general awareness of their surroundings. A character with a high Wisdom score is sensitive to subtle presences and in-tune with the world around them, which allows them to communicate with divine beings more lucidly.

Makes sense, I'm just a bit weirded out by the distinction between Cleric and Wizard. Especially since Wizard literally means Wise Old Person.
I can see that.

Because they don't really need a reason for commiting evil passed "our god say so and s/he know all".
Because WIS is the catch-all skill that encompasses all the loose ends.
No other ability score is difinitivly connected to faith, so Wisdom takes it.

Bought some dice last week and am going to a game shop for my first campaign. I don’t have a character sheet because I heard people sometimes make them for you for oneshots or I can just roll on the spot.

What am I in for?
What should I expect?
Any tips?

You just assumed that somebody else is going to write your character for you, without even asking about it?

Best class for an all class party go.

[spoilers it's warlock where everyone has a different patron with shifting goals and nobody knows the others are warlocks[/spoiler]

>his party doesn't consist of a standard human champion, high elf evoker, hill dwarf life cleric and lightfoot halfling thief

What's your excuse?

Because I don't decide what my party is, I decide what my character is. Part of not being a control freak and having social skills.

I'm not boring

>Warlock
>Not paladin
Given your inability to handle spoilers, I forgive you for being wrong on account of not knowing any better.

Is Battlemaster fighter gimped if we don't play on a grid with minis/tokens for combat?

Paladin parties are okay for bromance but I get enough of that in a normal campaign. Intrigue is where it is at.

>Ok for bromance
>Not for dispensing justice and the discussion on what form is best for all

Alright, a question for the DMs in the room from a rookie. How do you handle player characters that do clearly taboo things (necromancy, witchcraft, etc.) but aren't actually bad people themselves?

I have a player that wants to play a genuinely good-hearted, if a bit clumsy and awkward individual that practices necromancy and curses because they're about the only thing he doesn't fuck up at. My sticking point is the issue of much of necromancy being explicitly evil. Raising the dead is something that his character would resort to only in appropriately needful circumstances, but beyond the alignment issue itself I need to know to what degree I should be going after his character and under what pretense. I have no issues with the characters himself per se, but I want there to be appropriate consequences so that he knows that while he can use these powers, it won't be without a cost. But at the same time I want to find a way to do it that makes this clear without it feeling like I'm deliberately targetted him for his character choice. What do you guys think?

My advice is to not play with alignment or in the forgettable realms. Both are retarded.

same as real life, some nosy cunt get's all up in their business and tells the authorities.

I think they wanted to be able to do a "mad scientist" vibe with Wizards, which is pretty much Intelligence devoid of Wisdom.

I explain to them theat what their characters are doing is evil (if it is), and why it is the case. Their character may be misguided or deluded, but this doesn't change the fact that the act of physically bringing more evil into the world every time they animate dead.

>All bard party
>traveling band going around the land solving mysteries

Have it cause trouble for him if anyone sees him doing it.
If he earns a reputation as a good guy then religious organizations might step down from "kill on sight" to "treat with caution".

Any undead he makes if any are mindless and attack the nearest living thing if they escape his control. Dangerous, but not necessarily used for evil.

Don't worry about alignment, it's a non-entity at this point.

So i'm running HoTDQ with my group for our first time playing, it's going pretty well considering how bad the adventure is and the fixes that I've had to put it in.

One thing I'm not sure on, is dungeons. In the books there are maps of them, are the players meant to see this? So far I have been downloading the maps and photoshoping out numbers/secret doors etc then using black cards to act as the fog of war/shroud.

How do DMs here get around this?

just for the sake of argument, what's wrong with bringing a good-aligned, willing creature back into a skeletal form? At what point does evil enter into the equation?

>not an all bard party devoid of intelligence and wisdom fighting supernatural monsters and a behind the scene illuminati-esque group of super villains

Separate him from his minions for 24 hours and watch them eat the next village over.

The whole "Necromancy is evil" shtick is horseshit
A skeleton is just a cheaper golem.
>reacting to the image
show us where the "create golem" spell is

>not an all bard party out to save christmas

Most DM's do exactly what you're doing.

That isn't something that happens if you follow the stated flavor of necromancy spells. The only not mindless and murderous undead are liches and shit that have done unspeakable evil.

There have been exceptions to this, but I don't think any have been introduced into 5e yet.

>The easy way to power also happens to be seen as evil
Huh, it's almost like there is a message in there somewhere.

You need corpses to animate them. That means digging some up from the town crypts, or making fresh bodies yourself. Either of those things is a crime in most settlements. He digs up the bodies, somebody notices the open graves, calls the watch. He kills people or monsters and animates their bodies, maybe they had family that go looking for them.

If you're feeling particularly devilish, have the more honorable members of the party get wind that there's a reward out for information on the graverobber or the recent murders.

And a necromancer definitely won't be able to just walk into a typical town with a zombie entourage without a fight.

How do you guys build dungeons or hidden temples? How do you devise challenges? Running my first dungeon crawl and i need help filling the place with challenges

>Necromancers get shit on for creating undead
>Druids get ignored for summoning badgers

>if you don't recast animate dead every 24 hours your zombie slaves start indiscriminately attacking anything that lives

not evil
nope

>willing creature back into a skeletal form?
Animate Dead doesn't bring anything back, it channels the negative plane into a pile of bones, in previous versions skellies just being around would cause a detrimental ecological effect because they're basically negative energy furnaces.

>At what point does evil enter into the equation?
If your Ignoring all cultural and sociological shit and solely asking for the metaphysical evil then that depends on the setting.

Fortunately for 5e-only newfriends they aren't aware that campaign settings usually have extremely understandable explanations of why Necromancy is objectively bad.

There are player maps available without the numbers and notes. If I need to show players something I usually cut out the relevant part and show them that.

truly the most evil of creatures

>in previous versions skellies just being around would cause a detrimental ecological effect because they're basically negative energy furnaces
Why do they not channel negative energy while encased in flesh? Why are major cities not larger hotspots than cemetaries?

Alright thanks for the guidance, seems like I'll just have to do with natural consequences as the situation dictates. I honestly don't think I'll run into an issue with animating dead unless there's a genuinely threat of TPK if he stays true to his character, who is continuing his late master's endeavors. He believes that modern necromancy is but a perversion of now lost arts aimed at allowing one to escape the cycle of life and death. Still debating whether to let that one remain a flight of fancy or make it part of the setting I'm running.

Honey badger or owlbear, who gives less of a shit?

Has anyone tried spell-less ranger?

Almost as if someone wanted to hoard all the power for themselves

To be honest, I'd make a character just in case unless you know for sure it's just a one-shot and there are pre-made characters.
Not to mention that if you're not familiar with the rules, making a character really helps with that.

Honey badger, always. Owlbear has no qualms fighting something smaller but put it up against a giant or dragon n it'll run. Honey badger will straight up take on a Tarrasque like it doesnt matter

That is why you tell them to go to the woods and wrestle the nearest bear once you no longer need them
DUH
brainlets

Why does it feel like the only good archetype for Rogue is Swashbuckler? I was considering Scout for my character, but it just seems so lame.

You are not wrong. Warlocks have melee, ranged, spells, heals, and a shit-ton of utility.

Every character should have a secret, vice, or taboo element which could get them in trouble. That's how you tell a dramatic story, and it's why there's a "Flaws" box on the character sheet.

It's reasonable that a good number of peasants and simple folk should be prejudiced and wary of unusual strangers. Superstitious merchants might refuse service to Tieflings, a hot-tempered Barbarian might catch the blame for a local murder, and a Fiend-allied Warlock would be wise to hide evidence of their patron from honest folk. Don't feel like you're mistreating your player—who willingly chose to play a necromancer in a setting that frowns on that sort of thing—by making a plot point out of in-character controversy.

I would advise against forcing an alignment on your player. A "good" necromancer can raise some zombies to fight bad guys, just like a "good" fighter can go around murdering people to protect the innocent. Deeds which are typically evil can be good in the right context. Besides, alignment doesn't mean much at all in 5e.

>I need to know to what degree I should be going after his character and under what pretense
Assuming the player's character is a School of Necromancy Wizard, he shouldn't look too different from any other Wizard unless he chooses to. So, just make it clear to him that some NPCs won't like him if they catch him in the act of raising the dead or blatantly cursing someone, just like they'd kick the rogue out of town if they caught him pickpocketing.

Because you don't know the joy of playing an Arcane Trickster with Booming Blade and Mobile Feat.

Inquisitive seems alright to me, though it does stretch your stats a bit thin.

"Rakish Audacity" is a great fucking name.

Why doesn't every class feature have a name that good?

Depending on how you build your character, Mastermind can be absolutely amazing

>implying "Additional Maneuvers" isn't the most boss feature name you've ever seen

Edgy

>GM doesn't allow Halflings

The most obvious red flag of a GM who takes his games way too seriously and is a big bore.

>a DM who bans halflings
get out now, he wants to meme you with nat 1 fumbles

I don't mind Halflings.
Just get that 5e version the fuck away from me. Wtf were they thinking?

But guys, what if my gm hates elves dwarves and normal fantasy races and only wants humies?

Unrelated question: If I go a dex stealth pally can I turn on aura of vitality and next turn use the hide action, does the aura hinder that at all? or can I become somewhat "untargetable" for a bit

>All-Artificer Party
>Fighting monsters sent by an old hag using their Mechanical Servants in the shape of ancient beasts

Say... Halflings would like puns right?

I have never come across anyone ever doing this or even mentioning this.
Why? Because of Lucky? I mean, I use critfails, so it kind of puts a wrench in that, but I just alter the trait, rather than disallow the race.

I wouldn't try it. Your comedy might come up a little short.

...

How do you guys deal with a player who hogs the spotlight and gives other players the chance to roleplay and other stuff only on their terms and a GM that doesn't want to jump in to keep said player in check (or worse: throw them out of the group) because he's afraid of confrontation?

Of course, some players (myself included) have already tried asking politely for her to keep it down and give others some time to shine. She says she's trying to, but we haven't really noticed so far.

Our GM believes the players should settle differences themselves and he's only there to provide a story and think up dungeons. I'm a GM myself, and I certainly believe that a GM's role goes beyond the storyteller and encounter builder. So a referee of sorts, to make sure everyone is having fun and gets to roleplay stuff they want.

I've already had to repeat myself like 5 times more than once because she always finds a way to butt in. Some of us are seriously considering quitting atm, but even after mentioning that our GM still doesn't want to jump in.

I kind of feel like making my paladin dark angels inspired with native american influences. Wearing heavy armor but with feathers and other more tribal totems as ornaments. Maybe a great hawk deity as his god. Any ideas for this? Is it just a bad idea?

She looks like she could fit her arm in her mouth up to the elbow

Escaping the cycle of life and death will attract the attention of the Raven Queen (the god of death).

>I've already had to repeat myself like 5 times more than once because she always finds a way to butt in. Some of us are seriously considering quitting atm, but even after mentioning that our GM still doesn't want to jump in.
I don't know, sounds like ultimatum time.

Kill their fucking character
If they keep pissing off your characters in the campaign by being obnoxious there's no reason they wouldn't be threatened by violence.

Just don't call him "Chief" and you are good.

Barbarian has some good ones. "Primal Champion" is rad.

Definitely not. It's the best fighter archetype at low levels and still probably the best for everything except tanking at mid-high levels .

>Stillness of Mind
>Purity of Body
>Tongue of the Sun and Moon
>Diamond Soul
>Timeless Body
>Empty Body
>Perfect Soul

Monks have great ability names.

Could go Ancients paladin, but I'd think about medium or light armor over heavy, just because of how much metal is involved.
I'm sure your DM would allow you to use druidic foci instead of holy foci.
I don't dabble in paladins enough to say that iId be viable, but if you're just worried about theme, it should be do-able.

It still kills me that they didn't get a proper finale.

It's not "hoarding" if you worked for it and other people can't get it because they didn't work as hard.
If you create a golem you're not stopping anyone else from also creating golems.

Adult Swim kills everything good they ever touch.
I'm still mad about both Korgoth of Barbaria and Big O

Paladin's got a few good ones.
"Turn the Tide" makes me laugh every time I see it.

>future DnD campaigns are the only thing I have left to look forward to

anyone else know this feel

At least its something user

The future is as bright as you are willing to make it.

Go to the gym, barring that start doing pushups (try for a few sets of 10 to start with, not a magic number, just set a goal) and get some dumbbells for at home. Start with knee pushups if you have too but its not advisable.

My weekly sessions are the only things I look forward to. Not quite the same feeling, but similar (assuming you're talking about having an empty life, and not about disliking your current campaign).

I already go to the gym multiple days per week. I'm not Veeky Forums but I've certainly improved over the last year. I just don't look forward to going to the gym

I wish I could find a grouo that I click with.
Either the playstyle, the players, the DM or the setting end up turning me off.

Alright now about if I use a pregenerated one from WoC? I’m going to do the wizard since I’m familiar with it and I’ve also read the PHB.

That better?

My boys are doing an all-monk party and it’s fun so far, Kung-Fu nonsense and punching shenanigans

I'm thinking maybe he is originally from a primitive tribe, said tribe got conquered by larger empire. Character takes up service in military and ends up a paladin but incorporates elements from his native faith and tradition.

Seems like it'd be sensible to have a character sheet handy in case it turns out you're supposed to bring one. You can always choose not to use it, if that's not the case.

sorry to here this. i have to ask, what about a setting in particular usually turns you off?

That's pretty common with online games. I've gone through more than a dozen (only because I stopped looking last year after finding a few irl friends to play with) games where I play for a few sessions but just end up disliking one of the factors you mentioned, and I've gone through countless game overviews that describe a game that does not interest me.

>Why are evil cults and secret societies so perfect as villains?
See Not only are you not sure who is a member of the organization sometimes there exists within such shadowy cabals different factions to be evaluated and potentially exploited.