>>97454822
>When you get cool looking armor etc from enemies do you ever update your character artwork? Or is it just kind of assumed people use their imaginations instead?
Kind of up to the individual player, but in our group we seemed to always lean towards the second.
My character always has a jacket. A bit of a personal signature. Maybe there's a breastplate underneath, or just clothes, but there's always a jacket.

>TQ
Usually not. The tokens are often just of the characters face. It would be hard to do without using AI or some slop like that

>BTQ
Not excessively but sometimes I ask the players to describe how they kill things.

>>97454822
>TQ
Closes thing was when I ditched the pajama looking clothes my Wizard was wearing for something more appropriate for a Wizard

>BTQ
I don't but my DM has often described the quick but horrible way I keep killing people using Lightning Bolt

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The optimal 4-player party
>Human fighter (male)
>Human cleric (female)
>Elf wizard (eunuch)
>Halfling rogue (male)

>>97454916
Weird fetish you got there

>>97454916
Wrong
>Straight white male human fighter
>Straight white male dwarf fighter
>Straight white male elf wizard
>Straight white male human bard

They would fuck all the bitches. They would fuck them hard. I only allow my players to play characters of their own gender. Since I don't play with females that means no female characters.

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Alright boys, opinions?
Note: He said draconic sorcerers go in impractical and fighters are actually poggers-sized but their unbreakable fighting spirit gets them one tier higher.

>>97455005
you want to roleplay as getting fucked as a woman.

lol (dm being a gay)

>>97454916
Don't be ridiculous, anon. We all know what the optimal party is.
>Human Fighter (male)
>Half-Elf Ranger (female)
>Dwarf Wizard (male)
>Minotaur Cleric (female)

>>97455057
>Dwarf Wizard
What do you know about dwarves? They aren't exactly arcane.

>>97455084
>Tough enough to offset the frailty innate to a scholarly lifestyle
>Naturally resistant to toxins both mundane and supernatural
>Skilled in the manufacture of tools, the brewing of tinctures, and the construction of towers that can withstand a stray explosion or three
>Have the common sense to bring a decent weapon and wear something heavier than a bathrobe on an adventure
I posit that dwarves' unique qualities make them the best wizards.

>>97455084
Abjuration is perfect for dwarves

>>97454822
>TQ
not to cause a spergout but that would be one of the better cases to use AI

>>97455145
If you say so.
https://youtu.be/SMhwddNQSWQ?si=Uf1ST__YoyDJxw1J

>>97453623
>>97453790
Kek fair enough.


>TQ
The wish for updating the artwork is always there, the time however is more scarce unfortunately.
When those updates were possible, however, it assured very nice moments.
For ex.:
>custom lineage gnome(ish) telepath moon druid (5.0) got himself a juicy Belt of Dwarvenkind
>got the beard on the first 50% chance roll
>gave the Heroforge character his based full beard and, being there, I updated other details with appropriate colors
>made him wear a bag similar to the Bag of Holding, a fancy belt to represent the new belt, a shiny Moon Sickle and the noble Cloak of Protection he had been using
>increased immersion and inspired a few others to update their visuals as well
>DM promptly updated my PC appearance in the VTT (over the last decade we played D&D and other RPGs in person, but life and distances made playing online necessary)

>>97455160
At least you didn't go on a schizo rant about it being a scheme to kill personal computing like some of the retards on this board. Still a Luddite kek

>>97455188
What? You wanted Al, he's right there.

>>97455018
>blood hunter on the list
>psion no where in sight

Opinion discarded.

>>97455022
Triggered femoid detected

Male tiefling warlock
Female tabaxi bard
Male minotaur barbarian
Female fairy wizard

>>97455317
keep your sex fantasies to yourself next time, gay boy

>>97454822
>TQ
I really need to bully my group's artist into doing end-of-game pieces of the party from our last campaign. He did do some alternate outfits partway through, but that was before the final set of boons.

>BTQ
I never really think of what I'm describing as gore, but my players have told me that the loving detail with which I'll describe a dwarf having had his limbs removed, reanimated, and grafted on backwards and used to move him around as a mobile operating table for the necromancer who was experimenting on him as a bit much.

>>97455408
Post some, anon.

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How would you describe the gore? Hit points are an abstraction, remember? And hit points don't actually mean getting hit, even though they have to roll against your armor to subtract hit points (which don't represent hitting you though). So it doesn't make any sense in two ways. Armor class should be only Dex in that case. Or is it actual meat points? Whatever, it doesn't make any sense. A character getting reduced to low hit points then healed over and over doesn't make any sense, imagining it in a movie or book would just ruin it completely.

>>97454916
Wrong
Human male (female) champion fighter
Human male (female) thief rogue
Human male (female) evoker wizard
Human male (female) light cleric

>>97455057
Yuck, a furry.

>>97455611
this anon is the only non-faggot to reply

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>>97455595
>a character getting popcorn healed ruins the story
Sometimes it creates a cool character too. Just like most everything in this game, roleplay helps a lot.

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I asked about it before but it was in the other thread. What would be a good, solid first short campaign to run for new players? Like a small adventure that carries on for multiple sessions.

I ran LMoP already and they liked it but now I 'd like something with some more meat to it instead of something they can run in one session.

>>97456146
Dragon of Icespire Peak is the DLc to LMoP if your party wants to stay there, Tomb of Annihilation offers a bunch of hooks for small adventures, same with the Theros book, and you could always brew something yourself.

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Question about building a Hexblade Warlock (2014).
My character is currently lvl 5 with 20 Cha and 18 Dex.
I took the invocations
-Armor of Shadows (since armor is hard to get in this setting)
-Agonizing Blast
-Thirsting Blade

I'm debating if its better to use Spirit Shroud and take Polearm Master as my lvl 8 feat or to use Shadow of Moil and take Great Weapon Master as my lvl 8 feat?
Or are there any other things that would be better that I may have missed?

What official alternate rules and rule expansions do you play with and enjoy?

Personally I like proper encumbrance, feats obviously, attacking cover, more difficult identify, morale, training to gain experience, slow natural healing

I am thinking about cleaving, -/+5 Dis/Advantage, mixing potions, proficiency die

But unsure what impact they will have

>>97456336
Start thinking about this when you hit level 7 and you get to play your character a bit. Which one do you think makes more sense for it?

>>97456724
Solid options.
Personally I always use the optional rule of calculating in the weight of coins, even if other players ignore it. It's not that impactful, but its simple realism matters to me.
Plus, it adds up.
>100 coins weigh 2lb (1kg)
>10 000 coins weigh 200 lb (100kg)
Makes using Bags of Holding, Portable Holes and the like all the more worhwhile.

>>97456875
>weight of coins
AFAIK thats not an optional rule. Its the default rules that people just ignore or dont know. Like social rules, passive perception, and group checks

>>97456336
Why did tieflings turn into draenei? I mean, okay, they were redesigned to have a more cohesive visual identity, but out of all the ways they might have been redesigned, why draenei?

>>97454916
Max fun
>[Any race] barbarian (any gender)
>[Any race] barbarian (any gender)
>[Any race] barbarian (any gender)
>[Any race] barbarian (any gender)

Max dickishness
>[Any race] warlock (any gender)
>[Any race] warlock (any gender)
>[Any race] warlock (any gender)
>[Any race] warlock (any gender)

What are your favorite third party splats for 5e?

>>97456964
Brancalonia. It's an e6 splat set in Italy turned 90 degrees clockwise, with braggadocious sellswords, fable-esque races, and rules for raucous brawling.

>>97456905
You could be right.
My assumption was based on Dndbeyond's built in character sheet (and many third party or free online sheets) that has the option to ignore coin weight automatically checked AFAIK.

>>97456951
Albeit not that common in published art, tieflings can also be very normal looking with usual skin colors etc., like the druid hottie in D&D Honor Among Thieves.
As an example: one build of mine uses a tiefling with caucasian skin color and angled small horns that can be hidden under a hat. He keeps his slim tail wrapped around his leg under the trousers and keeps casting Thaumaturgy to make his eyes appear normal. When necessary in addition to using his proficiency in intimidation, he can take off his hat revealing the horns, drop the Thaumaturgy thus revealing his outlandish eyes, cast Thaumaturgy to have a booming loud voice and to make small harmless tremors happen for a minute. All of that is mostly flavor, of course.

>>97456997
Seems like a load of fun.

>>97456964
Lost Laboratory of Kwalish

I want to make a gridded dnd online but all the ones I look up either hurt my eyes to look at or are oddly complicated. Does anyone know of 1 thats easier to understand?

>>97457603
What do you mean?
Just a battle map? Use any one of the many programs like roll20 (lol,lmao), foundry (best), talespire (cool 3d maps) or owlbear rodeo (easiest)

>>97456964
Seconding >>97456997, nice new races, and all of the adventures that I got to run and read were pretty good. The Empire wack back campaign is neat too, good variety of challenges and a fun story, though its very much on rail and overloaded with star wars references. I guess my main issue would be the new subclasses, a lot of them are either complete shit, or half-assed copy of existing subclasses.
Otherwise, my personal pick would be Steinhart, good art, some neat weapons and bestiary. its still diet bloodborne though

>>97450509
Shameless repost for responses

>>97455018
Blood hunter straight to the bottom, they're the very definition of tries too hard to overcompensate. Warlock and bard both down one (bards no how to make up for the difference so they're middling in size but top tier in performance). Monks up one.

>>97454822
>TQ
It's probably impractical to do so unless you're either using slop generators or you hand draw all your art digitally so can easily add in new bits and bobs with layers.
>BTQ
All my DMs (and myself when I DM) do the "how do you want to do this?" thing, so it varies by player. How much I describe is entirely dependent on how important the enemy is and how creative I'm feeling in the moment.

>>97456997
I would check it out but its 50 bucks

>>97458502
>Blood hunter straight to the bottom
I mean, it was a homebrew class for CR where the only person who played it got their character killed super early in the campaign.

>>97454822
>The Trove Vault
Is there a way to combine the "update" files with the existing lists or am I just going to have to deal with them being separate?

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>>97454822
In AD&D, and B/X, skeletons either did 1d6 no explanation, or 1d6 with any weapon or even nothing at all, or did 1d6 or the weapon's die if they had one. It says they're often found wielding a rusty spear or scimitar, but Animate Dead doesn't provide one, so if you make your own, presumably it's on the caster to provide those if the body didn't have one.

In 3.5, skeletons had claw attacks, which kind of makes sense, finger bones can be pointy.

In 4e, Animate Dead technically summons, there's no mention of actually consuming or transforming the targeted corpse in any way, it doesn't even appear in the same space as the targeted corpse, which presumably continues laying on the ground. The lore blurb just mentions juicing up their "animus," which would imply its a ghost? Like every other summon it uses your stats with some modifications, and it has a special necrotic attack with no description but is presumably just a melee energy slap a la inflict wounds.

*In 5e though*, when you make a skeleton from a pile of bones, which word of Crawford is ANY pile of bones it doesn't need to be a complete small or medium humanoid like the zombie corpse is, it becomes becomes the skeleton statblock, which is medium size and includes a scimitar and a shortbow.

Questions
1. How does it go from like a Tiny-size bucket of chicken bones to a Medium-size skeleton monster?

2. Even ignoring the word of Crawford reading of the spell, where do the weapons come from? Are they natural weapons that form from part of the skeleton, made of bone and sinew and rejoining necromantic energy? Do they get summoned from elsewhere?

>>97456951
Blame Blizzard, why do Draenei look like Asmodeus?

>>97459475
If any old pile of bones can form a cohesive skeleton then it's well within the bounds of the spell to also twist those bones into serviceable weapons.

>>97459475
Going by what you said alone it sounds like you're summoning a skeleton (weapon included) using the bones as a component.

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>>97459488
WHY DOES ASMODEUS LOOK LIKE SHAGGY?!

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>>97456951
To be fair, everyone just design their Tieflings however the hell they want.

>>97459645
Because he is the highest form of based.

>>97460052
>he
Asmodeus or Shaggy?

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>>97460073
Which do you think, anon?

>>97459645
Like so many other things he does, it's probably in large part a way of trolling Mephistopheles.

>>97460138
You think it'd get less funny after the first few millennia, but it never does.

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How do I get better at role playing? I think what detracts from my roleplaying is that I feel like my characters all have been done before so to speak. In a weird sort of "simpsons did it" fashion, it feels like all my character ideas have been done before. Probably ad nauseum. When roleplaying, what are some things to take into consideration? I also have trouble with I guess actively playing the role. Like I don't change my voice to suite how the character may sound etc. Just not sure how to improve on any of that. The group I play with though plays DnD 5e

Are echo knights worth playing if you're not taking sentinel? I can't find anything about them online that isn't
>their rules are poorly written
or
>BRO TAKE SENTINEL AND MULTICLASS ANCESTRAL GUARDIAN BARBARIAN, BRO THIS VOMBO IS SO STRONG, BRO IT'S BROKEN
Like do they function without this copy paste build? Because it's the only one I ever see brought up. I'm choosing between one and a psi warrior because I'm trying to pick a subclass I haven't played before. It was either these or mercy/dragon/astral monk. I've played mercy in a campaign, and dragon/astral self seem really underwhelming (though very thematic) so I've narrowed my choices.

so, I had an idea for a cleric variant feature but I'm worried it would be too OP

>Channel Divine Emissary
>you can spend a channel divinity to become possessed by a divine emissary, which is a Celestial or Fiend whose CR is no greater than 1/6 your Cleric level, rounded up
>While possessed, you retain control of your character and your game statistics, but you get the emissary's attacks and special abilities (other than its spells)
>you also gain some THP, and resistance to radiant (celestial) or necrotc (fiend) damage
>it lasts for 10 minutes or until you use it again

>>97460242
yes. sentinel is heavily overrated. However, you do need to get some good feats if you don't want to be a burden

>>97460284
So a sort of pseudo-wildshape, where you get temp HP and copy some abilities, limited by CR?

1/6 level is certainly odd progression, as I think that means you're at CR 1/4 for level 2, CR 1/2 for 3, and then you only get more at 6, 12, and 18.

If you exclude spells, then there doesn't seem to be anything to worry about at CR 1/2 or less. Nothing more dangerous than a Moon Druid's wildshapes anyway at similar levels.
CR 1 is where things start to get a bit more interesting, where there are some good options for being able to turn intangible or otherwise scout very effectively. But 10 minutes isn't a lot of time to work with so Find Familiar or just a Druid does the job better. Vargouille is an interesting option if your DM lets you try to assassinate people via a kiss, but might be awkward to pull off.
CR 2 is basically nothing, and the best thing at CR 3 is the ability to freely travel to the Ethereal plane via getting a Nightmare's abilities.

It might cause a headache or two just because Celestials/Fiends tend to be weirder than Beasts in terms of capabilities, but nothing exactly gamebreaking at a glance.
Honestly the most powerful use of it would be if you got the immunities/resistances of the celestial/fiend in question, but your phrasing makes it seem like that's not the case.

>>97460036
Is there any established lore regarding that ghostly floating hand that is holding the cards? Could be:
>Mage Hand cast by the girl holding her tea or by another player
>something else like a Ghost (can Ghosts interact with material objects?)

Fellow to the left holding the knife and scratching the table may be taking the game a bit too seriously. Perhaps he bet too much?

>>97458502
>bard both down one (bards no how to make up for the difference so they're middling in size but top tier in performance).
Nah dude nah, I agree that Bard might not be the absolute biggest, but they still need a hefty one. They don't have to just please the dragon, they have to IMPREGNATE the dragon. Need to get in deep there., else the Sorcerers won't be born. And also, those BSCs must be inherited from somewhere.

>>97460165
Just relax and have fun with it, anon. Don't worry about whether or not every character you do is completely different, just play them in a way you find enjoyable, and that'll make them more memorable than if you're constantly trying to subvert your own expectations.

>>97459645
"Like, zoinks, Scoob, this is only 0.0001% of my infernal power!"

>>97460165
acting your character is optional. You dont need to make voices. You dont need to speak as them. You can just describe what they do.

But what is required in a roleplaying game is to make choices according to your character's moral principles, objectives, flaws, etc, instead of what is optimal from a "winning the game" perspective. Those may align, but often not. In those moments you have to lean towards what the character would do.

>inb4 my character would kill the rest of the party
those characters should not be allowed by the dm
>inb4 my character's only personality is to always do what is optimal in combat
and that's a boring character that shouldnt be allowed either

>>97459440
>Matt Mercer makes a new Class for your character to continue being a gun user after changing games
>Character sucks
>Matt Mercer makes a new Homebrew class, you decide to play as it
>Die

>>97461132
>Its what my character would do

You decide what your character would do. Its you doing it, stop proxy excusing

>>97461188
retard

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Which would be more dangerous in a fight?
Twenty level 1 Fighters or one level 20 Fighter?

>>97461219
depends on who is fighting them and the situation of how they are fighting.

>>97461219
Probably one instance of real life being very different than fiction.

>>97461219
If you mean against each other?
The level 20 fighter takes out 7 or more in a single round.

>>97461214
which part is incorrect anon?

>>97461305
You're fucking retarded

>>97461214
we don't sign our posts here lad

>>97461366
20 lv1 fighters with clubs is less dangerous than 20 lv1 fighters with longbows.

but you knew that, right?

>>97461377
Still not dangerous at all.

But you didn't know that, because you're fucking retarded.

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I got 5 level 4 players and the final boss of an abandoned adamantine forge is going to be a Dwarf Cleric who’s been cursed to forever work the forge. Was thinking of making the boss a little similar to Grym, but I might settle with the dwarf for the sake of not copying BG3 too much. How much health/damage/overall stats should the guy have?

>>97461401
>health
he should die when the fight gets boring after the players have suffered some damage and cleared the minions around turn 3-4
>damage
enough to down a player on turn 2
>overall stats
enough to save 80% on what's his obvious strengths and 30% on one or two weaknesses against the pc's dcs

>>97461423
>he should die when the fight gets boring after the players have suffered some damage and cleared the minions around turn 3-4
jesus christ he's a fudger

>>97461401
>abandoned adamantine forge
Why are they going in there?

>final boss a Dwarf Cleric who’s been cursed
Why is he the "Final boss"?
Does defeating him help the forge?
Or is it just "Big fight at the end of a dungeon" with no narrative cohesion?

>How much health/damage/overall stats should the guy have?
https://5e.tools/crcalculator.html

Come on, RTFM

>>97461428
can't fudge something that doesn't exist

>>97461401
Probably CR 7 if he's alone. The Firefist statblock from the Ravnica book would be a starting point perhaps.

>>97461428
everything is a fudge once you start homebrewing (which you should), retard
you're not telling the players what the monster hp is, therefore deciding how much he has 6months in advance, 5min before, or while the fight is going is a totally arbitrary distinction that only brainlets who dont understand the dm's role as the orchestrator of fun at the table get stuck on

if you wanna leave it up to chance, roll it. If you wanna decide, it doesn't matter when you do it.

>>97461433
But it does exist
"I didnt write it down" doesnt mean it doesnt exist

>>97461452
>you're not telling the players what the monster hp is, therefore deciding how much he has 6months in advance

I cast Power Word X
>It doesn't affect him

*95 damage later*

>He drops, beaten thoroughly

Ex fucking scuse me?

>>97461461
That's exactly what that means, you fucking retard. How many times have you been called a retard in the last hour in this thread alone?

>>97461482
>>97461452
you should keep doing it, its working

>>97461431
The players are on a quest to destroy a Hobgoblin war encampment. Turns out, Hobgoblins have set up shop in an ancient and “abandoned” adamantine forge in hopes of unlocking its secrets. The party managed to pass themselves off as mercenaries in order to infiltrate in, and they’ve found a bunch of Goliaths they’re using as slave labor, as well as a Dwarf historian that’s allied with the hobgoblins purely because he wants to see the forge itself to the point where he’d be willing to ally with hobgoblins for an escort.
The forge itself hasn’t been thoroughly explored since the last band of mercenaries never returned once they went on down. The party has in their possession mythril ore, and thus would want to forge an Adamantine weapon or armor out of it. The dwarf historian can serve as a bit of a hint on the forge’s background, but he suspects something is lurking down in there due to the disappearance of the last band of mercenaries.

Party’s main goal is to kill the hobgoblins and free the Goliath slaves, but they’re really interested in exploring the forge.

>>97461431
>Why are they going in there?
>Why is he the "Final boss"?
>Does defeating him help the forge?
> Why is he the "Final boss"?
Does defeating him help the forge?
>Or is it just "Big fight at the end of a dungeon" with no narrative cohesion?
None of these questions are relevant to what the guy asked for

>>97461527
All of these can help determine what kind of stat block it will have

>>97454822
I just want to say, I really like that art. It's fucking baller.
That's all from me.

>>97458227
Not sure, Something with pacing and stuff, where I can have a village and what not. Add in grounds, I dunno.

>>97461705
wtf are you even saying

>>97454822
Boys I'm going to my first dnd game in february 14
What do i know before getting in, what classes should i choose? i want to go for cleric
are there stereotypes/things i should know

I am remaking Thundertree.
It's a shitty dungeon with no narrative purpose.

What did you do with Thundertree when you ran Phandelver?

>>97461910
Thundertree isn't a dungeon. I just ran it as is, with making g the dragon cultists weapon nerds that the party walks in interrupting a game of Mazes and Minotaurs. It pretty much exists soley to allow new players to fight a dragon.

>>97461918
dragon cultists weaboo nerds*

>>97461796
Cleric is one of the better classes in the game. Maybe go in with a personality you'd like this character to have

>>97461910
For my game, I'm taking Reidoth and the twig blights out of Thundertree and putting them in their own area closer to Phandalin. Reidoth can still tell the party about the young Green Dragon in Thundertree, and there will still be ash zombies and Dragon Cultists there as well. The Dragon Cultists in my setting are mostly working with the Church of Tiamat to bring about the latter's escape from the Nine Hells, so this cell is investigating reports of said dragon and trying to ally it to the cause.

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TQ: I vividly describe Al Gore in all my games!

fuck, I haven't been back here in a decade. Does anyone know a good spot for pdfs. It used to be a lot easier to find everything online before the AI slopification ruined search engines.

>>97462072
share thread or OP?

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>>97461719
Square

Something I can show people, I saw this really cool big table top someone built previously with lakes and rivers and houses. It was pretty cool.

>>97454822
>OP image
Hey, I hear that guy always triumphs

>>97461964
Thanks anon, can you tell me more about the game? Are there communities to learn more about stereotypes/jokes
Idk about the moves part, apparently there are attacks?
Should I tell the DM what I want to do upfront? Idk if they'll tell me about the campaign when we meet up
No idea about character sheets yet

>>97462191
>>97461796
Have you read the PHB yet?

>>97462191
Look at the OP of this thread and click on the 2024 Official Free Rules link and read the 'playing the game' section for information.

>>97462072
Scribd then use a scribd download site so you don’t need to upload a bunch of shit.

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Do you prefer your Eberron brown lolipope in an indigenous outfit or a white dress?

Maybe it's me, but isn't dumb that many Tieflings get drawn to names like "Hope", "Fortune" and stuff like that? Normal names are exactly that already, just fossilized terms from archaic languages that nobody speaks anymore.

>>97462392
>fossilized terms from archaic languages that nobody speaks anymore.
Maybe that's why they prefer to use something in modern language, especially when the name is supposed to represent a virtue they pursue.

How can I play a shrine maiden-esque character without it being blatantly obvious weeb shit (it is)

>>97462264
Right. We would have one hell of a wedding night.

>>97462392
>names like "Hope", "Fortune" and stuff like that?
People get these exact names in real life, why is it weird?

>>97462392
>just fossilized terms from archaic languages that nobody speaks anymore
I don’t know if you know this, anon, but in a lot of languages people’s names ARE still in use as words. “Pierre”, for instance, is just the French word for “rock”.

>>97460284
I think it's fine, not op. I would give additional minor abilities at lv1,2 and so on just like the other cleric subclasses. At lv18 turning into a cr3 for 10 minutes feels bad, compared to a lv18 wizard polymorph. As with all the other cleric subclasses you have to ask yourself if it's a martial or caster theme to determine flavor

>>97462264
Indigenous, it has more character and fits her better. White dress can be for occasions.

>>97460165
The point of roleplaying is not to play a character type that has never been seen before, but to inhabit a character who interacts with the world around them. Even the most basic, done-to-death character can become something new if they engage with other characters' conflicts and carve out a place for themself in the world; conversely, even the most novel of concepts can be dull if the character never cares about anything that wasn't written into their backstory. People sometimes want to conflate this into a single axis, but character novelty and engagement with the campaign are more or less orthogonal--and I'd generally say that engagement is the more important axis.

So long as you have a sense of your character's motivations, moral compass, and foibles, taking the initiative to engage other player characters on their issues and finding reasons to care about what's going on in the game will make your character fun to play and fun to play with--regardless of whether you're Human Fighting-Man #27 or Hope Desire Malepaternus the tiefling paladin who harbors a dark secret about her father.

>I don't change my voice
People often overemphasize the importance of pitch and especially accents. The most important thing is tone. Is your character the sort to speak harshly, with a more gravely intonation? Or is he a bit of a fop, with a lighter, softer mode of speech like he's walking on air? In the first case, clear your throat before you begin speaking but keep it a little constricted instead of returning to normal--you'll eventually get used to the muscle motion and be able to do it without the throat clearing, but it's a good way to learn where to hold your pharynx to get the right sound. In the latter case, take a deep breath before you begin speaking and exhale into the first word, then carry that same lightness through your sentence. Again, you'll learn how to speak in that tone without the exhale pretty quickly, but it's a place to start.

>>97462191
>Are there communities to learn more about stereotypes/jokes
yes you should definitely be someone who has never played but already makes comments about "railroading", typical "wizard/tiefling/bard player", and how wotc has gone woke. you will fit right ITT

does teleporting in place remove grapples? i personally dont think so, but our atificer is super paranoid and wants to use an infusion for winding path just to flicker out of grapples and im trying to convince him its a waste

>>97460165
Did you know that saying "yeah" "yup" etc. instead of "yes" and only "yes" as an affirmative is a relatively modern thing? They drilled the actors for Band of Brothers out of those habits during the pre-production training that they went through for example.

Just think about not talking like a person in 2026 and it will do wonders.

>>97463472
You generally have to teleport to an unoccupied space that you can see. You occupy your own space, so "teleport in place" isn't even an option.

>>97463485
That's kind of a silly metric, given that Modern English didn't even arise in the first place until a century into the Renaissance.

>>97463490
thats a good point thanks, ill pass it along

>>97459539
>>97459566
Definitely not a summon like 4e. The spell expressly says the targeted bones become the undead minion through a flood of bad mojo.

I ask because of that oft-forgotten, secret and forbidden most powerful technique of martialchads, Sundering.

Bone and Wood have way lower material ACs than iron and steel.
Not to mention if they're natural weapons I don't think they can be sundered, that's just attacking the creature.

There's also the matter of loot. If they aren't part of the skeleton, then they can be sold. If they're steel and iron instead of bone, they could be worth selling. At the very least it means raising and killing a skeleton instantly arms you or an NPC. The skeleton kit of scimitar, shortbow, and arrows is basically a full kit for a rogue, monk, or ranger.
In fact, it can be done repeatedly. Skeletons are recyclable. Unlike zombies, which are not reusable because they become an Undead corpse instead of a Humanoid corpse, a dead skeleton, provided it wasn't totally incinerated or pulverized, is still a pile of bones. It doesn't say a complete skeleton, it doesn't say unbroken bones, it just says pile of bones. Depending on DM leniency about the definition of a pile you may not even need more than 2 bones to make it plural. Which means if they have iron equipment appear in their hands when they form, that Animate Dead: Skeleton becomes a weapon printer. Raise skeleton, kill skeleton, take weapons, raise it again.

>>97460165
So these >>97460917 >>97461132 >>97463303 are all good replies, for a general overview
I'm just adding a few random thoughts:

>Don't be afraid to "start" a game with a non-main character
You don't have to have the most special boy from session one. You don't have to rock up with >Sir Atticus "the Lion" Braveheart< on day one, it's okay to have >Rob the Sellsword<
Don't go too boring or generic, think of the level of a recurring character in a TV show or an ally in a movie.
I think it can actually be more interesting to be kinda generic but with a little twist than to have someone super complicated. Like, maybe Rob is actually quite studious when he's nor out on mercenary work, or he's more ruthless than his goofy grin lets on, etc

>Don't be too afraid to steal, and to mix and match.
For example, with the idea that you make a ~Human Male Fighter~ think about stealing the inspirations from some well known characters, especially if that inspiration isn't 1:1.
For a really classic example, imagine how a HMF based on Gimli, Son of Gloin, would be different from one based on Legolas Thranduilion and how they both would be different to one based on Merry or Pippin.
And of course you're not bound to genre, just pick any character you find interesting. I think it could help if you're really worried about ""stealing"" to make sure the source is at least one level removed. So, don't steal Aragorn or Conan for your HMF, take Deckard from Blade Runner or Ripley from Alien.

>Getting into roleplay:
It often a good start if you think of one or two mannerism or oddities to RP around. Don't go for super big gimmicks or catch phrases, but a few consistent "gestures". Something that helps to get in character.
So not going full pseudo-medieval "Hark, for thee speaketh verily the truth, over yonder layeth the wyrm", but maybe your characters default is to address everyone, even his friends, by last name.

[tbc]

>>97463966
[cont]
And one last random thought:
>Play mad-lips with the character
If you're unsure about your character, if he feels too flat, see if you can fill something like this:
>This is [NAME]. He is [ positive attribute ] and [ positive attribute ], but he's also [ negative attribute ]. He cares about [ something imaterial ] .
>What people remember about him is that he [ physical trait] and that he [ personality trait ], but they often overlook that he [ trait ] .

So you'll get
>This is [Rob the Sellsword]. He is [strong] and [quick witted], but he's also [stubborn]. He cares about [being fair] . What people remember about him is that he [is hairy like a bear] and that he [always tells the truth], but they often overlook that he [is slow to trust strangers] .
or
>This is [Rob the Sellsword]. He is [dexterous] and [smart], but he's also [a little sickly]. He cares about [getting out ahead] . What people remember about him is that he [likes to smoke cigars ] and that he [is stingy with his money], but they often overlook that he [shows generosity with his close friends] .
Etc, rinse, repeat
In general, if you are to think of something like that for yourself, it's good to have these sets of 3 with at least one good and one bad thing. Often those aspects can flow from each other, and spelling stuff out is always a good way to format your thoughts.

5e has this already, with Traits/Ideals/Bonds/Flaws, but I have to admit RAW those fall flat for me. Both too generic but also too specific. Dunno, food for thought on that

As a little exercise to myself, my current character
>This is [Selko]. He is [strong] and [charming], but he's also [reckless]. He cares about [being liked] . What people remember about him is that he [is dressed on the extravagant side] and that he [sweet talks almost everyone], but they often overlook that he [doesn't actually cares about other peoples feelings] .

What's a good amount of time to train with a master of something to go from being proficient in something to having expertise in it? I think my Barbarian would appreciate earning expertise in Animal Handling and I have an NPC in mind that can help her, I'm just unsure of what kind of time frame we're talking about. Three weeks worth of an hour or two of training a day? Two? A month?

>>97466236
Training p81 (DMG 2024)

A character might be offered special training. This kind of training isn't widely available and thus is highly desirable.

The character must spend 30 days with the trainer to receive a special benefit. Possible training benefits include the following:

The character gains proficiency in a skill.
The character gains proficiency with a tool.
The character learns a language.

Horny rogues

Does anyone think about what kind of epilogue their character would want?
I understand the dice will tell a different, usually better, story, but I find it interesting to consider.

>>97466299
I'm blind, thanks for pointing out the page.

>>97466299
So about a year of training gets you proficiency in all skills?

>>97466794
if there's someone there who's willing and able?

this is Marks of Prestige section in the DMG, which gives rewards for questing / adventuring. Like land, titles, and other such rewards. I'd assume that they'd probably not be given multiple rewards for a single adventure, but the player might have to do 12 separate adventures and also have the reward for each of those being someone who can train the player.

>>97466834
Theoretically with the money you could do it all

But the point was about the lack of consistency of learning any skill in a month.

It doesn't even set to the starting proficiency bonus. It jumps up to your full level.

>>97466871
theoretically speaking, you could be proficient in stealth and not once roll a check for the hide action and still have a plus 6 to it at lv 17.

hell, you could have expertise in a skill and never once use it and still have a massive score to it.

>Theoretically with the money you could do it all
as a reward for a quest? I guess if your table wants to run it that way and buy training you could do that. I don't recall seeing anywhere outside of the Temp bonus with a limited set in the Bastions for the Training Area.

>>97466942
>At the DM's discretion
Honestly, I like my players being able to learn and grow, but I am not afraid to be called a gate keeper to stop them from doing stupid, overpowered, unrealistic shit.

>>97466942
>not once roll a check
No but you can assume your character is training in it in between the moments you are playing out

>>97467280
true, i'd assume that as well.

but, you could also take prof in like Arcana and never once roll a skill check while playing the game, and have it progress from the +2 bonus through to +6 without ever using that skill.

This is in response to the suggestion that the prof skill lacks consistency and that it jumps to your current level instead of sitting at +2 when you start.

>>97467302
But if you spend 30 days "training" your new skill jumps to +6 despite it

>>97455018
No way Rogue would be all the way down there. We call them dick ass thieves for a reason.

>>97467302
My skill in trigonometry went up when I was in high school, and I never used it out of math class.

>>97467397
did your prof bonus increase now that youre out of school?

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>>97467459
Of course. Only a fool stops learning and growing once they graduate.

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It's impossible to make a good-looking Dragon token without having the creature pop-out from behind the boarder.

Some of the older editions had a rogue beats casters beats warrior beats rogue sort of dynamic. Like a rogue would have an easy time killing mages with traps and ambushing/backstabs, mages would usually fuck up warriors, and warriors destroy rogues. Do you like this dynamic?

>>97467324
No one calls them that.

>>97468085
No newfags*

>>97463433
I thought you guys played the game a lot :(
I don't care about railroading or politislop but the typical wizard thing sounds fun why do you guys stereotype them

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@97468991
Goddamn, this is the bullshit you try to bait with? This is what the general has devolved to? Jesus christ, we use to have arguments about weather patterns or how to properly populated villages and hamlets. Now it's replying to posts from the previous day with stupid fuck posts begging for (You)s. I miss Dave.

>>97467962
I've always been a bit leery of anything that puts too much emphasis on how player options "beat" each other instead of how they contribute to the party. It's not a PvP game, so what matters more is that different character options contribute to the party in meaningfully different--but no less important or significant--ways.

If anyone has run Curse of Strahd, what's the best thing I can do with the tome of strahd? Last session my players got it but not opened it yet.
Is the interactive tome of strahd homebrew cool?

>>97469035
/tg/ is nothing but people asking the same 5 questions over and over. It's like a wasteland where only the meek parasites are left trying to scavenge for what little food there is left after everyone ventured somewhere else

>>97469049
>Is the interactive tome of strahd homebrew cool?
It's alright. I liked the idea, I didn't like what they did with it. I've made my own version that was its own mini-campaign, but I might have gone too far with it.

>Have a premise for a dungeon
>Have a legion of cool monsters to fill it with - drakkoths, disenchanters, manticores, behirs, purple worms, sarrukhs, mummies, you name it.
>LITERALLY no idea what to do with it story-wise
The first session in this dungeon is in two days. God help me.

>>97469049
I did the interactive version. They got annoyed they couldn’t change the past. It’s not a time machine lmao

I’d make it very short. Just the key points and a brief chat.

>>97469260
>There is treasure there
Literally all you usually need. I had my party all start with a big debt for different personal reasons so money is usually the only reason they need.

>>97469288
>They got annoyed they couldn’t change the past.
Oh, shit, actually this reminds me. One of the groups I did it for decided that they hate Sergei and Tatyana. One of the players actually said the line
>Okay, so this adventure really should be called the Curse of Sergei, huh.
Zero fault was assigned to Strahd.

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>>97469322
Based
Strahd is our INCEL KING

>>97469311
It's not this sort of a campaign, at least anymore. They're level 19 now and dealing with gods and archdevils and shit.
I already have the reason they're in this dungeon worked out - they're entering the realm of a god, in order to force him to start attending to his divine duties.
The complication is, their incompetent flunkies actually planeshifted them to the domain of a wrong god, an evil one. But even after they find this information out, their mission would remain relatively the same - make him stop faking his death and start doing his job.

Meanwhile, the cult dedicated to this evil god, unaware that he's actually alive, is also there, doing... Something. I haven't actually worked out why they're there. Plundering the realm for powerful artifacts or extraplanar creatures to dominate and bring to the material plane, maybe. Neither of those sound like terribly compelling hooks.

The problem is not with the premise, it's that I have no idea what the flow of this dungeon would actually be like. How will one encounter lead into the next, what are the setpieces. Usually when I come up with a dungeon, I have those vivid images in my head about how exactly it will go and what should the pivotal moments be, but with this - nothing.

>Oh wow, this place looks dead as fuck, nothing but desert and ruins. Not really what I've imagined it to look like. Okay, let's find this god.
>????????
>Not the guy we were looking for, but close enough. The deal is made, let's go home.

Would you use this weapon?

>Molten Greatblade
>Colossal Sword
>+2 Weapon
>Heavy Property and requires a STR of 20 or else you swing with Disadvantage and can never gain Advantage on an attack roll made with this weapon.
>Damage: 2d8 Slashing + 2d8 Fire
>You can only make one attack a turn with this weapon. Extra Attack multiplies the dice for that one attack by a number equal to how many total attacks you can make (I.E. attacking twice means you attack once for 4d8 Slashing + 4d8 Fire + Modifier)

>>97469406
>I have those vivid images in my head about how exactly it will go and what should the pivotal moments be
That sounds fucking awful. Those moments should be the players' to define.

>>97469649
>That sounds fucking awful. Those moments should be the players' to define.
Ignore this "if you prepare anything you are railroading" retarded no games redditor

>>97469406
it's domain of a good so whatever action related to the god fuels his power/rise/awakening. can be a school of magic, killing, lying, stealing, whatever. Or the opposite, there are side effects when they do the anathema thing

i had a dungeon blood themed, every slashing damage fueled the blood boss at the end with more hp

>>97469649
>That sounds fucking awful.
That sounds awful to you, because you are nogames.

>>97470438
The real nogames is the one who has to imagine how the scenario plays out instead of actually playing it out.

>Cover all the lands with ice. Quench fire wherever it is found. Let in the winds and the cold; cut down windbreaks and chop holes in walls and roofs that my breath may come in. Work darknesses to hide the cursed sun so that the chill I bring may slay. Take the life of an arctic creature only in great need, but slay all others at will. Make all Faerûn fear me.
Is it even possible to play a cleric of Auril with good alignment? Evil seems to come easy, neutral could perhaps be argued, but good seems to be wholly off the table.

>>97469766
There’s a world of difference between “preparing anything” and “knowing in advance exactly how it will go”. I tend to aim for ten to fifteen pages of prep notes per session, but that mostly focuses on the initial conditions of the session and the forces at play. Never predetermined outcomes.

The parameters of an encounter and the context in which it occurs should be prepared, but the actual resolution is up to the players to determine. The strategies they employ and the results of the dice will dictate how things go. Then you prepare the next session based on where they ended up.

>>97470533
Clerics are chosen by their gods, typically for ineffable divine reasons. If Auril has chosen a good-aligned character to bless with her power, they might struggle under the weight of her general aims, but would be well within their rights to try to steer her divine boons to serve the greater good.

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>Next Session: The Gang is Fucked
How does a losing fight against a dragon not turn into a TPK?

>>97470638
How amusing are they and how readily are they willing to serve?

>>97470638
Assuming based on the map that this is a Green, it could probably decide to spare the party in exchange for their services to bring in more riches for its hoard or in the service of some other scheme.

>>97470533
With seasonal deities it can be easier to play a druid who broadly aligns with their outlook but isn't constrained in the same manner that a cleric might be.

>>97470663
>>97470697
This dragon has been surprisingly open about his schemes and has been very forward with the party regarding what they can do to avoid getting on his bad side.
They even could be allies against larger threats to the realm such as Mindflayers.

But the 7 INT paladin wants to fight because the dragon is doing evil things.

>>97470735
>Does this man speak for all of you?
Sowing party conflict is also in character for greens.

I can't seem to make scenarios where the consequences of the party's actions or the movement of the plot requiring an ambush of strong enemies discourages the party from running and instead they fight to the death every time.
I've subtly nerfed some things every time but I'm wondering if I should just let one of them get massively destroyed and killed so the rest finally learn the worth of retreat.

However, is this more on me for even introducing monsters and enemies well beyond their level? They breeze through content with their ranged dps builds: 2 rangers, sorcerer, and a druid but get 2 or 3 shotted by most enemies.

Theyre new players and dont even think to use dodge, disengage or hide they just right click.

>>97470945
How many enemies do you usually set against them?
I was finding myself utilizing too few for a party of 5 and they ganged up on strong but easily debuffed "bosses" that DnD isnt necessarily best at.
Try being more tactical with squad-based enemy troupes and they'll rather quickly feel overwhelmed enough to retreat but let them win every few times before pushing that on them

>>97470945
Honestly, the old
>Are you sure you want to do that?
is always worth deploying. Some people tunnel vision and forget that running away is even an option.

>>97470945
Even in cases where you make it clear to the party that they should retreat, to the extent of having an NPC they're with calling for a retreat and then running, the problem you often run into is that players are terrible at organizing retreats.

You basically need to give them the option to simply declare a retreat, and then have them make a group Athletics/Acrobatics check to escape the enemies, with the ability to drop some food or treasure as a distraction.
If you don't do that, then at best you get a 'fighting retreat' where the players will move away 30 feet per round while still attacking and blasting and creating no distance.

This is further exacerbated if they've got a party that's built for ranged combat, because it means that when things go bad, they go bad quickly. They'll go from being a safe distance where they can attack with impunity, to being half-dead and surrounded.
Keep in mind that they also might not have a way to tell how dangerous the enemies are at a glance.
And even if they do, it's a good rule of thumb that higher CR enemies are also faster and have more movement options. Trying to Disengage and run doesn't work when there's a dragon with a 80 foot fly speed after you.
Doubly so if they somehow manage to get away, but the enemies are still out there to ambush them. If there's no alternative path, then they're going to need to eventually fight anyway.

Killing them won't teach them a lesson if it isn't obvious that the alternative would have worked.

>>97471081
makes sense, I do tend to like having an npc related to the quest with them I should have him be the reasonable one as this party gets overconfident and murder hobo quick (drinking heavily every session, myself included tends to make this happen).

>>97471123
If you're running a literal beer and pretzels game (also would suggest adding pretzels or other snacks to help mitigate effects of alcohol), then I especially wouldn't bother with these sort of complex plots and schemes. Most players are already brazen enough when sober, and so doing a hack and slash dungeon crawl with plenty of fights to the death is basically what you signed up for.

You're not going to get a band of rowdy drunks to take things seriously. It simply is not going to happen.

Any tips for a new 5e DM? I’m only going to have 2 players as my two friends are going to be my players. We’ve played pathfinder before, but I want to try 5e because of the wealth of third party content.

>>97470485
Weak bait, do better, nogames.

>>97471183
Use kobold fight club to build encounters.
I don't know about Pathfinder, but 5e is an attrition-based system, which is built for 4-8 encounters a day. It doesn't work correctly with a five minute adventuring day.

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>>97459475
When I played a necromancer my DM ruled that it had to be a full humanoid skeleton to be raised. Found one without a skull once and couldn't raise it. My maximum summons were also limited to 12 and I was prevented from giving them our crappy leftover magical weapons. This is because my skeleton archer formation was regularly out damaging everyone else in the party. Despite the summons my turns were also the fastest because 5e is an easy game that is played by people who don't like games.

First time DM-ing a prewritten campaign (Strahd), ran a couple of homebrews before that. Is it normal for dungeons to be filled with so many empty rooms or is that just The Death House? Whenever I'd design a dungeon before, I'd usually put like at least 3-7 things to interract with. I think that it gave my players an overwhelming feeling but after I finished this one, it feels kinda dry. What do you guys prefer as players? I've never played a game of DnD, only DMed.

>>97471305
Traditional dungeon crawls have dozens of rooms, many of them being empty to allow for travel and random encounter spacing. 5e dungeons should be designed like a simple video game dungeon, dumbed down for the average 5e player. Make it a straight line, maybe a fork that comes back together. Make every room have something, a proper 5 room dungeon.

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I have no idea what class to pick

>>97471445
When in doubt: warlock.

>>97471445
I second >>97471468, Warlocks are awesome.

>>97471445
Psion is a strictly better warlock

>>97471445
Roll a d12 lmao (artificers are gay)
1 Fighter
2 Wizard
3 Rogue
4 Monk
5 Cleric
6 Ranger
7 Warlock
8 Sorcerer
9 Druid
10 Bard
11 Barbarian
12 Paladin

>>97471500
Psion doesn’t fucking exist.

>>97471468
>>97471488
>>97471500
I was mostly doubting between Sorcerer, Rogue and Monk, but I'm also willing to make a Warlock, Hexblades are kinda cool

>>97471521
Roll.

I seem to have ended up making a pretty engaging sprawling international story based off a giant happening that occurred when a party member was locked the fuck in and inadvertently shifted the power balance of celestial beings and global politics.
The game isnt about going into dungeons and getting loot anymore or saving NPCs from a goblin lair.
That said, some of the "anything can happen" element is stripped away as I try to craft a narrative from what has happened.
Is there a way to balance the openness of the story going anywhere with the maps and events ive preplanned to take this event to its natural conclusion? theres so many factions that spawned out of this event and Id quite like to see it develop into a full saga I just worry the players will be too railroaded. They seem fine with it and I often hear players given too much freedom ends up in unsatisfying pigeonholes so to speak.

tl;dr Any advice on crafting an epic without being too demanding of what you want from the players?

>>97471695
Come up with a villain that has formulated a plan based off of what happened in this giant happening.
Like, maybe some opportunist has just noticed a path to ultimate power left open by this shift in power balance. Or maybe there was some ancient prophecy that some evil cult has been waiting on that mentioned it. Or a secretive order that used to maintain the status quo for nefarious purposes is now targeting the party after they fucked it all up.

Basically come up with a big obstacle that they now have to face, then integrate it into the plot in some way they can't ignore. Maybe the opportunist takes advantage of them, the cult tries to sacrifice them, they get ambushed, etc. Develop from there as needed. When you've got a final goal and a start figured out, everything in the middle can be adjusted to how the party reacts.

I have a bard in the party who insists on talking his way out of every single combat encounter. Most of the enemies in this mini-questline are human so I can see how they may be deceived but this is my first time DM'ing and idk how to explain that even an over 20 total persuasion check isnt literally mind control. Do I make it to where perhaps they attack rest of party and not just him? Their motivations (bounty on the heads of half the party) shouldnt change right?

>>97471746
And when he uses charm, I can reasonably have the other enemies know its magic and break him from it?
Im not trying to restrict the players as they can use environment or magical items to end encounters but they always just fight or talk there's never any unique problem solving id like to see when I make these maps and items

>>97471746
>>97471755
As the DM, you're the one in charge of calling for a roll. If something isn't possible, you don't let them roll.
Beyond that, just think of what the enemy's goal is, what the party's goal is, and make it so that there are some potential counter offers. Bandits might agree to simply capture the party alive, or agree to let them go in exchange for money.

Charm is likewise just advantage on checks, but unless he can charm everyone, the other enemies are going to see him casting a spell, see their friend acting strangely, and refuse to agree to any deal that their charmed friend goes for.
It might work if there's a lone enemy, or if there's a small enough number that they'd rather get their bewitched friend out of there than risk a fight will outnumbered, but it's not foolproof.

Having some enemies be elves and half-elves could also help there, for advantage against Charm effects.

>>97471695
you'd be surprised by just how braindead, capeshit, or by the books module based a good portion of DM's are. Just go all out and flex your creative writing skills and have fun with your friends fleshing it out along the way.
If you have a decent personality and relation to everyone in the group they want to hang out and do wacky, badass, and worldbuilding shit with you so just trust your gut (we dont know the friend group dynamic like you do) and go from there

>>97471522
4chanGPT in my thread? More likely than you think.

My group has gone from weekly playing to biweekly to now every 3 weeks or 4 weeks.
Should I just start doing biweekly if 3 out of 4 of the group often make it?
I suspect 2 of them dont care as much if they miss im just not sure if playing an absent character for them is fair since I know if theyd be "wasting" spell slots in combat since I know whats next and how to ration them.

>>97471468
>>97471488
What's so good about warlock?

>>97471895
Simple, customizable, prebaked plothooks

>>97471895
High charisma fish + what >>97471895
said

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>>97471948
>High charisma fish

>>97471895
You make your dm do half the work

>>97471895
cool exclusive spells is what I like the most

>>97471445
Roll your stats first and then pick your class accordingly

>>97472538
This.
>>97471445
Pick some wild ass shit for fun. Optimize well, but seriously, any crazy idea is fine. I like to take one class's standard Role and just give it to another class and figure it out as I go.

What cantrips would be best for sex?

>>97472841
there's several cantrips that have interesting social implications which I will not suggest but you could be a pretty fucking freaky guy if you wanted


mage hand is the safe answer

>>97471746
>every single combat encounter
See you already fell into the story railroad trap.

You dont build "combat encounters". You have encounters and the pcs solve them through combat.

And if you want an easy fix, read the dang rules

>>97472841
>Amazing
Prestidigitation

>Pretty good
Guidance
Mage Hand
Minor Illusion

>Okay
Druidcraft
Elementalism
Thaumaturgy

>Please do not use this
Friends

Been a while since I've run a game and a few friends want to do a one shot. Any good recommendations with the following caveats?
>low-mid level (3-6ish)
>playable in one session of 4-6 hours
>something a bit more light hearted, but not too silly (threading a needle I know)
Doesn't have to an official scenario, we're all familiar with 5e (at least the pre 2024 version of it, not entirely sure what's changed) so it doesn't have to be beginner friendly

>>97473007
>Trying to hit up the local barmaid.
>It's not working.
>Fuck.
>...
>After too much to drink and a bit too much frustration, you finally pull the trigger and cast Friends.
>She starts getting all "friendly" with you.
>Moment of clarity happens and you realize what you're doing is fucked up and immoral.
>But she's already all over you.
>tfw you just sit there at the bar, barmaid cuddling up to you and saying lewd stuff, trying to keep your raging boner in check and at the same time overwhelmed with shame, waiting for it to run out, moment in which she'll likely pour this tankard of ale over your head.

>>97472841
Mending (for the aftercare)

>>97473007
Friends is for getting my reticent allies to agree to my hair-brained plans and get it underway before they can back out.

>>97473056
That's not how that spell works

>>97473113
It is if you're applying it to a seduction check, which was the obvious implication.

>>97473056
Using Friends to get a girl that wouldn't like you otherwise is creepy.
But getting the girl at your on merits and the using Friends to get her to open up for more kinky stuff should be fair game.

>>97473086
Harebrained, not hair-brained. The idea is that you're acting quickly, rashly, and without thinking, the way a hare does.

>>97473132
No, it's not how the spell works because it's Concentration, so you could drop it immediately.

>>97473182
...oh. Yeah you're actually right on that.

>>97472841
Thorn whip

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>>97472841

>>97473163
That’s still rape anon.
How are you going to feel when she “Friends” you and then you revert later but she’s already put eels up your ass?

>>97473163
>>97473221
I mean, I think it'd be okay to use it if it's like, the girl has already consented and you're in the middle of it, but she's nervous or insecure af so you ask her if you can cast it on her just as a way to more effectively convince her to relax.
Everything else just seems like rape.

>>97473221
As long as those aren't lampreys...

>>97473132
>if you're applying it to a seduction check
It's still not how it works.
Social rolls aren't mind control. 2014 there is a table for the stuff and being Friendly doesn't mean horny.
2024 uses willing and unwilling, Friends just gives you advantage on the check. Unwilling is still unwilling.

It doesn't work at all in either version.

RTFM

>>97473182
>>97473201
No, you may not drop concentration. You sit there with your shame boner and think about what you've done.

>>97473221
>eel soup
>in anno domini 2000+10+6+10

>>97473274
It was never about mind control, but if you try the check, get rejected, then try again using Friends for advantage and pass, even if it does prove there was a scenario where she could have agreed, you still basically did the magic equivalent of spiking her drink with aphrodisiac to convince her.

If there was never a chance she would have agreed, then I guess Friends just wouldn't work. It's not mind control, but it is basically light hypnotism to make her more amenable.

>>97473221
>How are you going to feel when she “Friends” you and then you revert later but she’s already put eels up your ass?
DRUIDS DON'T GET FRIENDS

What's the Harem Protag class.

>>97473335
That's the fighter, always as been.

>>97473335
Warlord.
>but in 5e...
sorry, it is what it is

>>97473381
>the bard
True, bard is a good choice as well

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>been playing in a curse of strahd campaign as the party bard
>literally the only offensive capability I have is casting firebolt(I'm a tiefling)
>plan to start multiclassing after level 5 into sorcerer
>Was going to go pyromancer as my subclass
>but then the party cleric left and the paladin replacement is a new player who doesn't really grasp much about the game beyond hitting his breath weapon once per short rest and casting smite

should I go divine soul instead? My justification was him leaning into his infernal heritage and channeling more of his inner fire to help and harm. With pyromancer, I think I'll have more capability to actually do damage with fire spells, but the cleric spell list is also REALLY fucking good. I think both would thematically fit, this is more just for party composition.

Currently the party is:
>Dragonborn oath of devotion paladin(he replaced a grave cleric who had to drop)
>Aasimar circle of the moon druid
>Tabaxi swashbuckler rogue
>Wood Elf Horizon Walker Ranger
>Gnome Archfey Warlock(pact of the Tome)
>and me, the Tiefling College of Lore Bard

despite being a tiefling, my character is literally the closest thing the party has for human passing in a strahd campaign

>>97473335
Sorcerer

>>97473335
>Rejected By The Adventurers' Guild For Being Useless, With The Power of Darkness, My Slow Life With Busty Girls Begins Now! ~The Charismatic Pervert's Journey To Conquer The Harem Route With 「Cheat Skills」 For The Slow Life Revenge!~
Warlock.

>>97473411
cleric is the optimal choice but is the only reason you're thinking of swapping because you don't deal much damage?

>>97473441
It's a lore thing for my character. I specifically didn't take any offensive spells for my bard(aside from vicious mockery) to indicate that the only way he's able to actually do harm is by tapping into his infernal nature. From the start he was either going to be 100% pure support or I was going to multiclass, either into warlock(which I'm not quite as fond of), or into sorcerer. I don't know if I could necessarily justify him becoming a cleric while he's already IN barovia, hence divine soul sorcerer.

>>97473461
what level is your character?

>>97473469
4 at the moment.

>>97473335
There was this one funny video on youtube that animated the idea of a Warlock with 3-4 different patrons all of which are sexy eldritch women pulling a Hera/Athena/Aphrodite scene, trying to win the one Warlock over, while he veeeery carefully keeps his attention on all of them and tries to flatter them without upsetting the others so they keep giving him power.

Sadly I can't find it now.

>>97473437
>>97473491
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IN2x7x2KsXY

>>97473474
I dont know your stats but cleric / bard don't have a lot of overlap for the required stats to multiclass, but Sorc wouldn't be awful.

You'll miss out on your 3rd level spell, but you'll still get the slot.

Also you could just keep going bard and pumping the support

>>97473516
I do technically have the wisdom to multiclass cleric, but...not very effectively.

>>97473323
WARLOCKS DO

>>97473572
WARLOCKS WOULDN'T PUT EELS UP SOMEONE'S ASSunless it's a GOOlock, I guess those freaks might be into that.

>>97473583
I was thinking Fathomless but GOO is also pretty on brand.
Warlocks might be the second most eel-coded class

>>97473583
I could see archfey locks doing it too. You can never really trust the feytouched not to be freaky.

>>97473335
>>97473419
>No one realizing Sorcerers would gather an harem of women that want that bloodline (or just fall for the high CHA).

>>97473751
>Realizing that Sorcerers are more harem protag than Bards...

>>97473335
Charismatic Rogue juggling multiple girls in influential positions to get into all the best schemes and heists and extract information.

>>97473772
>Both Charisma chasters
>Bards are the Theater Kids
>Sorcerers are Power Incarnate
I guess Sorcs fit harem protags better.

>>97473719
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uM6ANk3BRMk

>>97473772
In my experience, Bards always start as womanizers but eventually get tamed by one really willful girl.

CHA casters can't be harem protags. Harem protags are almost always losers, nerds and so on. the wizard is the only acceptable answer

>>97474113
Wizards just study magic so they can turn themselves into cute girls, though.

>>97473056
>>97473221
Friends lasts one minute.
Most it would accomplish (if the person already had a reasonable chance of agreeing with doing lewd things without the magical influence, which is probably not that common) is getting to the first few bases (in the Baseball metaphors for sex) when suddenly they wake up from it knowing they were magically charmed by the PC. Most would not be happy about it.
n 5.0 (2014) the NPC even became hostile towards the caster.

This cantrip is useful instead
>for rather harmlessly extracting information out of NPCs that are not that frequent in the story
>for facilitating profit in dishonest business deals for some less than honorable characters - assuming a quick escape is available

Use of this cantrip can be a bit powergamed when the PC alters their look (like with Disguise Self, Alter Self or with or equivalent effects) as they use it on the NPC. Poor citizen could get very confused about things.

>>97473411
>six person party

how's combat go?
when in towns/taverns does evreryone interact with npcs at once or separate?

my party is just 4 and 2 of them still dont know basic combat rules.

>>97474282
right now, I'm the party tard wrangler and face. Combat is stressful for the DM(this is his first time) and only a few of us actually know the rules.

>ranger: full tism researcher, but friendly enough. This is her first time playing DnD, so she has been playing her character as kind of childish, but fixated on gathering soil and plant samples everywhere she goes

>warlock: joke character, borderline feral old lady who wears nothing but a cloak and hates being around society. The ranger's husband, he knows the game and is good at roleplay when he's involved with a scene

>rogue: literally Dreamworks 'Puss in Boots' right at the start of the most recent movie. She's run strahd before and is having fun giving depth to what started as a joke character.

>paladin: rogue's boyfriend. just kind of generically big dragon lady. Barely knows how to play, and is barely grasping 'hit the enemy then use smite'. Puss hates her for some weird jealousy reason. He jumped in for his first time experiencing DnD after our cleric(who also had experience) had to drop.

>druid: has some familiarity with the rules thanks to liveplays. She plays the character as generally nice and supportive

My character is nice bordering on patronizing, and keeps all his demonic features hidden in public. I also do a lot of angst with his infernal nature and the lengths he goes to hide it. Puss and the warlock have started bonding with each other too so they have a lot of scenes during social periods, leaving me to try and calm angry villagers down when Puss casually breaks into places or the ranger runs up to strangers to ask for things.

Combat tends to go quickly for myself, the rogue, the warlock, and the druid, then grinds to a halt for the ranger and paladin. Today's session we fought 3 vampire spawn and a vampire, and likely would have died if not for the NPC priest we had with us casting Spirit Guardians.

>>97474113
Charisma isnt attractiveness

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broken as shit, but I wish there was more interaction for shit like this

>>97454916
Loxism fatigue

>>97474606
What do you mean by interaction in this case?

DM and my gf had sex in-game.
Am I cucked or is he just treating her like one of the boys?

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>>97474727
There's only one thing to be done.

>>97474683
in this case, interaction with channel divinity and traps. The latter moreso than the former

it bothers me that traps, hazards, blessing, charms, vehicles, bastions and the like are outside the realm of player control

>>97474776
Bastions are explicitly within the realm of player control, aren't they? You decide what rooms to add and you choose which actions to take for bastion turns.

>>97474323
>borderline feral old lady who wears nothing but a cloak and hates being around society
This character sounds great if the player makes it not awful

>>97474323
if he's struggling to keep everything in his head during combat, prepping a good set of flash cards with bare minimum stat blocks helped me with that a lot. just numbers and what to roll right there, a bit less overwhelming, less mental stack to focus on the rest of it.

>>97474517
Nothing to do with attractivness. The point of almost every harem is that the MC is an uncharismatic guy who has no social skills.

>>97475421
nta but harem protags are wizards, artificers or low cha fighters. The biggest nerds or normalfag losers in a world full of CHAsters. I'm leaning towards artificer or fighter due to CON save prof, you're going to need it.

Looking into running a duo game for my wife and I. I should be good taking a prewritten solo game and doubling everything, right? Or are there other considerations I need to consider?

She may also want to do a duet campaign instead, so that's on the table as well. I think it might be more fun to try duo first, but we'll talk about it.

Have you guys noticed that there are no famous fan-made 5e campaigns?
I peeked at the OSR scene and they have tons of famous / infamous modules. Is it just a difference in player philosophy?
Seriously when has anyone discussed a fanmade 5e module with the same reverence as Hated Pretender or Black Wyrm of Brandonsford

>>97476182
Odyssey of the dragonlords

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>>97475488
>nta but harem protags are wizards, artificers or low cha fighters
False actually

>>97475421
>>97475488
I have seen plenty of harem mangas where the MC is already a charismatic guy from the start.
I'd say they're worse ones, but I honestly couldn't tell because really harem mangas are mostly fucking trash.

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>>97469035
Based Dave enjoyer.

I remember when /tg/ used to leak all the upcoming books early and be the best place for dnd rules discussion.
The /pol/ification of 4chan ruined everything.

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Is there any real reason to invest in Pact of the Blade as a warlock when it eats up so many invocations, feats, and requires multiclass dips just to surpass taking Eldritch Blast + Agonizing Blast?

Are caster warlocks that focus on at will spell invocations and feats that give additional spells per day the true patrician warlock choice?

>>97476601
saying 'i stab the orc with my sword' is cooler than going 'eldritch blast' every turn.

>>97476601
Bladelocks are good in 2024
In 2014, bladelock archers are on par with EB up until level 17. But they have the benefit of cool magic weapons and stuff
Plus smiting dragons out of the sky is cool

>a few years ago I ran a pretty fun campaign for a little over a year
>had no problem getting interested in making stuff for each session
>now people bugged me to run another one, said okay but I keep procrastinating about making stuff and I can't decide on what would be good
>first session was just 3 and a half hours of raiding a bandit den
>they said they had fun but I feel like I didn't do too good
how to get the creative juices flowing?

>>97476690
Run something you think would be fun to run. If you're actually enjoying what you're making, the next local steps in the game should be obvious.

>>97476601
Because you want to be a gish and it's one of the cleanest ways.

Has anyone experimented with giving more feats/features/statistical benefits at the lowest levels, in exchange for massively slowing or halting level ups?

There are way, way more low-CR statblocks to use as a DM, and once level 5 hits, the effects of extra attack and third level spells start to run away with the game. So I'm considering constraining a campaign to the very lowest levels, and instead offering more feat and feature advancements in the tier 1 range.

>>97476810
Haven't exactly tried it, although I could see implementing something similar to the E6 rules where you just stop leveling at around level 6 and only gain feats from that point onward.
Doing something like a Gestalt-class game and doubling experience requirements could also work as a way to drag things out but give players more to work with.

If you're using milestone leveling though, it'd also work to simply just design a shorter campaign where there's only a handful of major things for the PCs to accomplish, and therefore the campaign ends at whatever level anyway.
Including feats and other boons as a stopgap way to still have progression is an option, but at a certain point the PCs are going to have so many bonuses that the CR scaling of low CR monsters is gonna be off anyway.

>>97473274
A charmed creature is willing by default.

>>97476747
Crazy that to this day we've never found a better one-syllable world for "fighter wizard" than Gish

>>97476601
>Is there any real reason
because you want to look like a retard in the group and have the GM pity on you and give you freebies? I can't see any other reason

>>97476810
I just don't see how this would be different than more level ups like usual? Maybe just merge two levels into one, so when you level you get new spell levels as well as more abilities for martials?

>>97476890
In my experience, it's "slut". But that might just be the people I play with.

>>97476855
>Including feats and other boons as a stopgap way to still have progression is an option, but at a certain point the PCs are going to have so many bonuses that the CR scaling of low CR monsters is gonna be off anyway

Part of the reason I'm considering this is that I want to design encounters with large numbers of monsters. I'm talking 10+ for a party of four (with a bit of help/meatshields) at level 1. Think the Lost Mines intro ambush but double the Goblins (Though without increasing the number of archers). Along with PC buffs, I'd probably also take minimum monster health for most of them.

The encounter challenge rating will of course be very skewed, but I want to increase baseline player power in advance of difficult encounters, while also restricting the sorts of resources gained through level advancement.

In a lot of ways, DND is a resource management game, but the number of encounters per day is scaled way higher than most GMs run. So my thinking is to expand the number of resource pools available to the players, without increasing their depth, while also making larger encounters rather than larger numbers of encounters.

>>97477066
I don't plan on allowing for gestalt subclassing and decreasing the levels at which features become available (for example, 1st level includes one subclass, 3rd the other), but in general I want to keep spell progression very slow.

Conversely, while I want to keep spell slots limited, I'll probably also increase the number of spells prepared by quite a bit, spellmod+proficiency bonus at least.

>>97476890
We use Gish because it was shorthand for Gith spellsword, the original martial/caster monster mix.