D&D NEXT: Infinite Posts of the Abyss

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Nehru the Damaja: May 20, 2005

Rip_Van_Winkle posted:

you can't get a fox with find familiar though

Just reskin a weasel.

# ? Feb 27, 2017 19:19

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# ? May 30, 2024 06:21

Mr. Tambo: Feb 7, 2015

You should probably anesthetize the weasel first.

# ? Feb 27, 2017 19:30

Big Black Brony: Jul 11, 2008; Congratulations on Graduation Shnookums.
Love, Mom & Dad

Mr. Tambo posted:

You should probably anesthetize the weasel first.

# ? Feb 27, 2017 20:51

Turtlicious: Sep 17, 2012; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Yo everyone was telling me that you could subscribe to DDI still, but when I try too I get sent to a dead link.

Anyone managed to subscribe (not re-suscribe) in the last year or so? Because I can't.

# ? Feb 28, 2017 00:24

Mr. Tambo: Feb 7, 2015

You might get better answers in the 4e thread. (I know I've seen someone post a link to subscribe, but I don't have time to look for it right now).

# ? Feb 28, 2017 00:49

Turtlicious: Sep 17, 2012; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

I thought I put that in the 4e thread, I should not browse with both open.

# ? Feb 28, 2017 01:14

Selachian: Oct 9, 2012

Allstone posted:

Hot new character concept: three dogs, but one of them has a gun (Druid 2/Ranger 3/Artificer 6)

Aggressively hegemonizing canine swarm?

# ? Feb 28, 2017 01:17

Nehru the Damaja: May 20, 2005

Gonna be starting a game with a Kenku monk and have the option of starting the first level as a rogue. Am I going to see returns soon enough to justify trying an assassin/shadow monk multiclass or is that really only going to pay off on those hypothetical 1-20 grand campaigns?

# ? Feb 28, 2017 19:16

Big Black Brony: Jul 11, 2008; Congratulations on Graduation Shnookums.
Love, Mom & Dad

Nehru the Damaja posted:

Gonna be starting a game with a Kenku monk and have the option of starting the first level as a rogue. Am I going to see returns soon enough to justify trying an assassin/shadow monk multiclass or is that really only going to pay off on those hypothetical 1-20 grand campaigns?

I don't know about the class stuff, but my brother is playing as a kenku monk and it's hilarious. He doesn't overdo the whole noises thing, but repeats certain things people said with hilarious results. Example was a quest giver saying"go help this bunch of poo poo farmers", then repeating that line to the poo poo farmers letting them know he was there to help.

# ? Feb 28, 2017 19:23

Nehru the Damaja: May 20, 2005

I figure being a monk (and one on a path of redemption and self-discovery) gives him an excuse to be a little more reticent and not have to [Chants makes a bunch of noises that you understand to mean "we should ask this bard if he's heard anything about the Lich Lord."] But he could call on his criminal past for less savory things like interrogations, on his fighting training for battle communication -- "Again! Again!" "I said FORM of the turtle, not speed!" -- and occasionally drop some appropriate zen nonsense into a conversation when he's got something that's good for the moment. But yeah there's definitely great opportunities to use someone's words against them.

# ? Feb 28, 2017 19:44

Paramemetic: Sep 29, 2003; Area 51. You heard of it, right?; Fallen Rib

Is Kenku monk some kind of thing? I've got someone brought one to my table, then several mentions of them here. They seem fun and cool but I mean, is this a thing?

I also thought a thing of Kenku wasn't only that they just mimic sounds and don't talk, but also they don't have original thoughts. Which I guess works fine for monks?

# ? Feb 28, 2017 20:05

Nehru the Damaja: May 20, 2005

Kenku get bonuses in dex and wisdom which makes them good monks. And for people who care about it, a monastic setting is good for someone whose speech is restricted.

It's also probably a lot harder to figure out RP for some other combinations. Once a wizard starts getting pretty far along, how's he ever going to hear the verbal components for his high-level spells so he can mimic them, for example? And mimicry is really handy for some social situations but lack of original speech is gonna make it really hard to be the party's face, which might be expected of charisma-based classes.

Really the more I think about it, it's kind of remarkable any time a Kenku ends up something other than a rogue or monk.

edit: Oh and there's probably people who want to make their Kenku east-Asian flavored because of their origins as Crow Tengu from folklore.

Nehru the Damaja fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Feb 28, 2017

# ? Feb 28, 2017 20:18

Nehru the Damaja: May 20, 2005

I see I'm not the only one who realized this but UA Way of the Kensei is trying to accommodate people who want to be samurai or whatever, but they're also creating monks who can immediately turn a 1d1 blowgun into 1d4 that scales and miraculously does its bonus pummeling damage at any range. It doesn't seem overpowered to me but it does seem incredibly dumb.

# ? Feb 28, 2017 20:50

Splicer: Oct 16, 2006; from hell's heart I cast at thee
🧙🐀🧹🌙🪄🐸

Paramemetic posted:

Is Kenku monk some kind of thing? I've got someone brought one to my table, then several mentions of them here. They seem fun and cool but I mean, is this a thing?

I also thought a thing of Kenku wasn't only that they just mimic sounds and don't talk, but also they don't have original thoughts. Which I guess works fine for monks?

Kenku have +dex and +wis and are more interesting than playing yet another "it's a human but tall/short/thin" race.

Nehru the Damaja posted:

Really the more I think about it, it's kind of remarkable any time a Kenku ends up something other than a rogue or monk.

I wanted to play a Ranger and it ticked all the boxes!

# ? Feb 28, 2017 20:55

Nehru the Damaja: May 20, 2005

Oh yeah, they're a good fit there too, huh. I kind of forget Ranger exists because I kind of hate nature-type characters. I got a go-ahead to be a Firbolg Druid once because I do think Firbolg are kind of neat, but as I was planning it out I was like "man Druid feels fuckin BORING" and asked to change.

# ? Feb 28, 2017 21:00

Splicer: Oct 16, 2006; from hell's heart I cast at thee
🧙🐀🧹🌙🪄🐸

The key to a fun beastmaster is to remember you're RPing two characters.

# ? Feb 28, 2017 21:05

Vengarr: Jun 17, 2010; Smashed before noon

Did no one post the new Trap UA?

I'm disappointed it didn't address the problem of how to make passive detection of traps organic rather than determinate.

Vengarr fucked around with this message at 22:32 on Feb 28, 2017

# ? Feb 28, 2017 22:16

Big Black Brony: Jul 11, 2008; Congratulations on Graduation Shnookums.
Love, Mom & Dad

Vengarr posted:

Did no one post the new Trap UA?

I'm disappointed it didn't address the problem of how to make passive detection of traps organic rather than determinate.

I thought you meant the ua was a trap for readers, but it's actually about traps.

# ? Feb 28, 2017 22:49

Splicer: Oct 16, 2006; from hell's heart I cast at thee
🧙🐀🧹🌙🪄🐸

Big Black Brony posted:

I thought you meant the ua was a trap for readers, but it's actually about traps.

I was expecting some kind of deceptively terrible class or archetype or something.

# ? Feb 28, 2017 23:09

Nehru the Damaja: May 20, 2005

Paramemetic posted:

Is Kenku monk some kind of thing?

Incidentally, on Twitter there's apparently a zillion more kenku druids than monks

# ? Mar 1, 2017 02:04

Ryuujin: Sep 26, 2007; Dragon God

Man was trying to find some old threads, as someone was interested in the playtest stuff and I kind of wanted to see the posts back then, found a thread through a link in another thread but even that is fairly far into the play test.

Also looking at my previous posts in this thread, because I remember actually commenting on some of the previous playtests I found I had a lot of posts of quotes.

quote:

@zamubafoo : So what happened to martial dice anyways? I truly hope they at least make it into the DMG as an optional rule
@mikemearls : PHB

@Danny2Chins : Hey Mike but are spellcasters ever able to swap out or add cantrips to their spellbooks if they didnt start out with them?
@mikemearls : most casters gain more cantrips - DM can let you make swaps

@Ettin64 : Was damage on a miss replaced with rerolling damage dice, or has it just been moved out of Basic?
@mikemearls : replaced - caused too much confusion (poisoned weapon is a good example)

Looks like it was close to Basic's release. But man Martial Dice did not make it into the PHB, unless you count the super neutered thing the Battlemaster got.

I sure posted a lot of quotes back then, for the people who didn't follow his Twitter or the thread about his Twitter on the official forums, of course now the official forums don't exist.

Hmm back in late 2014 I was already trying to make a Legendary Hero Fighter.

Here was a point when I talked about the Playtest Warlock, when it and the Sorcerer were the only two classes included in addition to the Core 4. This was before Bard, Barbarian, Druid, or Paladin.

Ryuujin posted:

The Warlock in the playtest, years ago now, had Eldritch Blast as an option, still pretty sure it didn't get it automatically, but I believe it did something like 3d6 at 1st level and 4d6 at 3rd level, the playtest at that time only went to level 5 but it presumably would have gone up to 5d6 at 6th level, and so on. It was an at will invocation, one of only two at the time. Of course this was back when cantrips didn't scale and Magic Missile was a cantrip that did 1d4+1 damage, no attack roll or save.

Another post from 2014 where I talked about some of the playtest stuff.

Ryuujin posted:

The Combat Dice did not get refreshed at the start of your turn, this was a common misconception. They got refreshed at the start of every turn. So if you used them to add damage or perform a maneuver on your turn they would refresh in time for you to use them to reduce damage from an enemy's attack on their turn.

Those two things are some of the nice things fighters once had, that was then given to pretty much everyone, and then eventually faded out. Admittedly at the time no one had extra attacks. Though the fighter could get a maneuver to attack everyone adjacent by spending their dice, and the monk who was the only other class with maneuvers that used those dice could flurry to give up a die or two to make up to 2 or 3 total attacks, unlike anyone else.

Also in a late playtest packet, like the last couple public playtests, the Fighter looked a lot like this except it got its second crit expansion at like level 7. Also in that packet the Fighter got special crit riders, doing a dot or knocking people prone or something on a crit.

Another packet, back when subclasses were introduced, had the Knight subclass for the fighter which got some charisma stuff, and eventually got a couple low level fighters to follow it around.

Man and in 2014 I was going to try and run a 5e Conversion of Grim Requiem.

And I was going to try and run a Gamma World game that someone build using the 5e rules, kind of like the official release that was based off the 4e rules, just not official.

quote:

Ederick posted:
A handful of pages back someone wanted the playtest packet with the Sorcerer in it. Here you go, page 11. This is the August 13th packet.
http://www.speedyshare.com/6bJhv/081712-Classes.pdf

Hypothetical question just for shits and giggles. Is there a way to make having a large "spells" chapter containing most/all actions a decent option? Rename it to the more neutral sounding but still loaded term "powers", give each class a power list, cut down on the chaff and streamline it a bit? Instead of casting Bull's Strength, maybe there's a generic "Improve Strength" power that's available to Clerics, Barbarians, etc. Maybe Clerics get a class ability to target others with an "Improve X" power, while Barbarians get the ability to use them as a bonus action or multiple at once. Monks could get the same "Deflect Projectile" power to emulate that 3.5 feat, while a Dragon could use that as an aura to emulate hurricane-force winds from their wings. Classes and monsters can have different riders or additions they can add to these powers, or perhaps different ways to regain use of their Not Spell Slots in fights. In short, combining both 4E and 3/5E's systems together.

My own response to that with info on a later packet.

Ryuujin posted:

This packet is interesting for what it shows of the old version of warlock and sorcerer. The 12/17/12 packet on the other hand has an expanded version of the fighter, which seems way better than the current fighter. It also doesn't have Warlock or Sorcerer anymore, would have been nice to see the 20 level breakdown for those classes at the time when Fighter looked like this.

Some important points that may have been in the 081717 playtest, or may have been added afterwards and are in the 121712 packet. Martial Damage Dice, aka Expertise Dice, are a once per TURN resource, not per ROUND. This may have changed at some point and is a lot better than the current Expertise Dice that are daily, with a short rest recovery I believe.

The Fighter eventually gets up to 6 dice. Another thing is that in this version of the playtest no one got multiple attacks. Various maneuvers, that I think only the Fighter and Monk got in class, others could pick them up with a feat, could grant additional attacks for the cost of a Martial Damage Die. The Martial Damage Dice were otherwise rolled on a hit for additional damage. Monks could pretty much exchange one die for one attack with Flurry, while Fighters could pick up Whirlwind to attack all adjacent, and I believe some other options.

Fighters get Combat Surge 1/day at 11th level, it is kind of like Action Surge in that it gives you another Action. This could be bad if you have already used your Martial Damage Dice for that turn, but if you haven't then any Martial Damage Dice spent on that extra Attack have their results doubled. So lets say you attack, and maybe you miss or maybe you hit but didn't feel like spending your dice, then you Combat Surge to attack again and roll 2 Martial Damage Dice and get a 7, instead of adding 7 damage to your hit you would add 14.

The only classes in this playtest are Cleric, Fighter, Monk, Rogue, and Wizard. This was before Proficiency and so classes got a Weapon Attack Bonus and/or a Spellcasting Attack Bonus. Cleric was the only one that got both, and the Weapon one was real bad. All the classes except the Wizard got the Martial Damage Dice, as well as a Martial Damage Bonus that was applied to one weapon attack per turn on a hit. The Cleric had a reduced progression for both, maxing out at 4 dice and +5 damage bonus. The other classes, except Wizard that got neither, maxed out at 6 dice, and got +5 damage bonus at 5th level and up to +20 at 17th level.

Only the Fighter and Monk got maneuvers as part of their class at this time. The Rogue got some skill tricks instead, that relied on using the skill die that existed at the time.

This was a time when no class got extra attacks for a high level, instead it was focused on single more damaging attacks. Though the Monk was good at spreading them out into multiple weaker attacks. Hmm at this time it looks like the Monk could use Flurry of Blows to make one additional attack by spending 1 die, or 2 additional attacks by spending 2 dice. Spending 2 dice at level 17 means 3 attacks that can then use the remaining 4 dice for extra damage or some other maneuver. Rapid Shot allows you to spend a die to make a separate attack against 2 enemies that are within 10 feet of each other. Volley is better you spend dice equal to the number of targets you want to shoot, then roll to hit each of them. Whirlwind Attack is similar for melee against enemies within 5 feet of you. So the Fighter, or someone else who spends a feat to get one of those Maneuvers may be able to make more attacks than the Monk, but the Monk is the only way in this playtest to hit the same target multiple times.

Looking at the older playtest I think back then you got both more dice and bigger dice, I may need to check a packet inbetween these two. Also comparing the two, the 081712 packet does not have Parry. Parry is a really nice Fighter ability at 1st level that, if you are willing to spend your reaction, is just great at providing durability. It requires being hit by a melee attack while you are wielding a melee weapon or shield, and you can spend your reaction and as many Martial Damage Dice as you want, add up their results and reduce the damage by that much, if the damage becomes 0 then the hit becomes a miss.

And another post dealing with playtest packets.

Ryuujin posted:

Okay looked at some different playtests. 121712 had 20 levels, all classes except Wizard gets Martial Damage Dice and Martial Damage Bonus, though the Cleric has a slower progression. Only the Fighter and Monk have built in maneuvers, though the Rogue has something similar that uses the Skill Die instead. Unless I missed one this was the first packet with 20 levels. No Extra Attacks. Except through some Maneuvers but those are limited in targeting. Everyone except the Wizard has a Melee Attack Bonus, this is before a constant Proficiency system was used. Wizard has a Spell Attack Bonus instead, and Cleric has both but at a reduced pace. Also at the time the Monk capstone was that all their stats became 20.

111312 has 10 levels, same thing with a Weapon Attack Bonus and Spell Attack Bonus. Cleric starts at +2 for both and goes up to +3. Wizard gets +2 for all 10 levels on Weapon Attack Bonus, but otherwise gets +2 at start up to +5. The other classes get no Spell Attack Bonus but have a Weapon Attack Bonus going from +2 up to +5. Monk and Wizard get a bonus to Save DC starting at +1 and going up to +3. The Cleric's is probably a typo since it seems to start at +0 and goes up to +1. In this playtest it looks like your maneuvers are chosen based on the Fighting Style you choose, instead of being able to pick which ones you want at the Maneuver levels. Instead of Skill Tricks Rogues get Rogue Maneuvers, while Fighters get Fighter Maneuvers. Flurry of Blows is spend Expertise Dice to make additional attacks, the attack deals damage equal to the die rolled, with no bonus. Doesn't seem like it would be all that useful unless you want to spread damage around or your first attack missed.

102912 is pretty similar to the later 111312, except no Monk.

Going back to the future with 012813 playtest and the Barbarian is added. They get the full 6d6 Martial Damage Dice and +2 Martial Damage Bonus that the Fighter, Rogue and Monk get. They get Rage 2/day that slowly increases to 5/day and at 20th level goes Unlimited/day. They get bonus Rage Damage Bonus that starts at +2 and scales to +14. I believe that is per hit instead of per turn, but the Barbarian is not built for multiple attacks like the Monk is, or the Fighter can be when spreading the damage to multiple targets. Needed to take a Short Rest between Rages, but I think at the time Short Rests were 5 minutes or maybe 15. Back then Rage gave straight up resistance to Bludgeoning, Slashing and Piercing. Later iterations got rid of that, or limited it in some way. Rage gave advantage on Strength Attack Rolls and Strength Checks, and Relentless Assault was specifically for when you weren't Raging.

And the big change at 032113. Martial Damage Dice and Martial Damage Bonus are a thing of the past. In their place is Deadly Strike. This gives the more "combat" oriented classes, i.e. not Wizard and the Cleric gets a slower progression, an extra weapon damage die on a successful attack once per turn. So a 20th level cleric may swing a 1d8 mace with their 16 str, and if they hit do 3d8+3 while a Barbarian with 20 strength and using some great axe would be doing 5d12+5. These are just examples, I didn't look up the damage die size of the weapons or anything. Oh yeah Barbarians at level 10 heal 5 hp every round while Raging. This packet also introduced the Druid. The Druid already had a Choice between Oak, aka Land, and Moon. Doesn't look like it ever got above 5 wild shapes per day, and Moon just got better forms. It did not get all the MM, or future MM, as forms. It had specific forms at specific levels like fish, steed, bird, etc. With Moon getting actual battle capable forms, again specific forms with them improving as you level instead of just being MM monsters. I think this was my favorite version of the Druid's Wild Shape, though it would have been nice if Moon Druid's got more uses per day, or unlimited eventually.

Man that is getting long. Okay Fighters get Expertise Dice again! They are somewhere in between the old version and the current version. They start with 2d6, and eventually max out at 17th level with 6d6. Using one expends it until you take a short or long rest, which replenishes all of them, or if you are empty you can get 1 back by using an action. They pick an option from a list at various levels for things they can use them for, some are even kind of leaderish. Others allow them to get another attack in or deal more damage. At 5th level they pick a feature that is either ranged or melee that lets them attack two targets, gaining more targets as they level, maxing out at 5. Good for spreading the damage.

Monks don't have a feature that gives them a special Unarmed Strike in this packet, instead they have a feature that gives them a feat that gives them an unarmed strike. Not seeing a Flurry of Blows, though the feat they get gives them a light finesse unarmed strike that can be dual wielded.

Paladin also shows up in this packet, this was back when there were 3 options. Cavalier, Warden and Blackguard. Each with their own Channel Divinity choices, and each with a themed mount at level 8. I remember being disappointed in the later versions of Paladin in comparison.

Ranger was also introduced in this packet. Had 3 choices of "favored enemy". Each gives a bonus on lore checks for a specific group of enemies, grants a few features that give you extra damage in certain situations, and another benefit or two that fits the theme.

Rogues have an actual Sneak Attack now that is not just the same dice as others get, starts at 1d6 but scales to 10d8. Rogue picks a theme, each theme has a collection of abilities including one ability that gives them advantage on attack rolls in a specific situation. Assassin is for when attacking something that has a hostile creature next to it, like one of your allies. Acrobat if you started your turn at least 20 feet away before moving in for the attack. Rake is pretty much the opposite of what Assassin gets. Also Sneak Attack is a once on your turn when you make an attack that doesn't have disadvantage you can make the attack with disadvantage for the bonus damage. Which is kind of stupid.'

I think this is when Wizards first gained Arcane Recovery as a feature.

Huh and in early 2015 I was trying to make a Fighter Archetype that gave them the stuff from one of those Playtest Packets.

Here is another post I made in the past about playtest packets.

Ryuujin posted:

Well while I had asked for someone else to go through with the Warlock and Sorcerer stuff I am kind of feeling like taking a look myself.

I believe I missed the first playtest packet or two. The earliest I have is the 05/24/12 packet. Which did not have character creation rules, but instead some pregens. This was back in the day when you would clearly pick a Race, a Class, a Background and a Theme. If you had character creation options. The Dwarf Fighter pregen had an ability called Weapon Focus that gave it +2 damage on weapon attacks. Background Soldier gave +3 to three different skills. And gave a feature called Endurance that let you to perform strenuous activity for twice as long. Themes were prepackaged feats. The Slayer theme gave you the Reaper feat. This let you deal your ability modifier in damage on a missed attack. Yeah this is where the damage on a miss for fighters started. Right there at the very start.

The pregens went up to 3rd level, at 2nd the dwarf fighter got the old version of Action Surge, an extra action once per day. And at 3rd level it increased weapon damage by another point. And gained the Cleave feat from Slayer theme, once on your turn when you reduce an enemy to 0 hp you get an extra attack as part of that same action.

The High Elf Wizard mentions that when making Magical Attacks you add your Int modifier to attack and damage, which did not end up happening in later versions or the final release. They actually prepared specific spells, not like the final release. Yes you could prepare the same spell multiple times. Also if they took damage they had to roll a Constitution check on their next turn, DC 10, if they fail they cannot cast any spells except a minor aka cantrip spell. Also no casting spells in armor, at least for Wizards. Minor spells or cantrips mostly don't seem to scale. Radiance Lance does 1d8+casting modifier radiant damage. Ray of Frost does no damage, just drops the targets speed to 0. Oh and hey Magic Missile is a cantrip. So at will. Actually does scale. Starts with one 1d4+1 missile, with a 2nd at 3rd, a 3rd at 6th and a 4th at 9th level. No idea if it would have scaled beyond that. Shield is a 1st level spell that provides half cover, and blocks magic missiles, and lasts for 10 minutes. Not seeing any mention of casting them in a higher level spell slot or anything, or any scaling at all actually. Then again the packet only goes to 3rd level and only gets 2nd level spells.

------------------

Next packet I seem to have is 08/13/12. This packet actually has character creation options. So. Yeah races seem to be +1 to one stat. Except Human. Humans get +2 to one stat, and +1 to all others. Seriously. Instead of the human being fairly versatile, it is just straight up better than any other race at any stat. Dwarves increased the damage die size of axes and hammers they are proficient with by one size. One subtype also increases the die size of their hit die by one size, d12 becoming 2d6. The other gets +1 AC while in armor.

Themes are now Specialities. Each gets a feat at 1st and 3rd level. Magic User specialty gives you two wizard cantrips, using Int, at 1st level and Find Familiar at 3rd level. There is a Necromancer specialty, it does require being able to cast at least one spell, gives you some kind of soul stealing ability, that can be expended to get advantage on attacking with a necromancer spell, and at 3rd level can animate a body for a skelton servant. At 3rd level. I am sure anything interesting lasted a long time and made it through the whole playtest. Surely. Survivor specialty gives you Toughness twice. ... Each time you gain a Hit Die. 1d8, rolled or take the "average" of 5 that is then added to your hit points.

Oh. By the way. Slayer and the Reaper and Cleave feats seem to be gone. Already.

Remember how I said all the races, except super OP Humans, got +1 to a stat? At this point classes also increased one stat by +1. Kind of reminiscent of 13th Age, only they are +1s not +2s and you can stack race and class. Okay classes start with Cleric. They get Channel Divinity 1/day, 2/day at 4th level. Channel Divinity starts at 1d8, and goes up to 2d8 at 5th level. You use it, choose a single target within 30ft. Roll 1d8+wis, or 2d8+wis at 5th, that target heals that amount if living, or is hurt that much if undead, or if you are evil those are reversed. Fighter is already getting Expertise Dice, though they regain all spent dice at the start of their turn. This gets better in later playtests like LFK says. Then it nosedives. Like LFK says. Hmm Rogues start with 2d6 Sneak Attack, and have 6d6 Sneak Attack by 5th level. Rogues can use either +3 or their stat modifier for their skills, whichever is better. Though at this point Rogues can only get Sneak Attack when they have advantage, though they get to pick a scheme, kind of like the Fighter and Fighting Style, kind of precursors to archetypes. The Thug archetype for example lets you Sneak Attack if you target an enemy with 2 or more of your allies adjacent to it, though Sneak Attack in general can only be used once per round. Nothing interesting on Wizard. But oh hey what is this? Part 2?

Oh hey it is the Sorcerer. They get to pick a Sorcerous Origin, the Dragon origin is the only one they had. They also got Willpower. Start with 3, had 16 by 5th level. Didn't have spell slots. Let me repeat. Did not have spell slots. Instead you could cast a spell of 1st level for 1 WP, or a level 2 spells for 2 WP. You regain them all at the end of a long rest. Normally can't cast sorcery spells while wearing armor, but the origin could change that. Draconic Heritage increased your Hit Die to d8s. Gave you proficiency with all armor and shields, and let you cast spells while wearing them. Gave you a Sorcerous Power called Dragon Strength at 1st level, also each day after you spent 3 WP your hands became claw-like and until you complete a long rest you gain a +2 bonus to the damage rolls of melee attacks. At level 4 you can spend 2 WP to use another sorcerous power called Dragon Scales. And at that point each day after you had spent 10 WP you manifest dragon scales and until you complete a long rest you have resistance to the damage type associated with your type of dragon. Dragon Scales is a reaction power, when you use it it reduces the damage by 10, and if you have the Draconic Heritage class feature also gives you resistance to damage determined by your dragon type until the end of your next turn. Dragon Strength makes it so the next time you hit a hostile creature with a melee attack during the next minute it takes an extra 2d6 damage.

And hey the Warlock. Also it uses Int? You pick a pact, only one option in this playtest, the Fey pact. The pact grants pact boons at given levels. You get two Pact Favors, you can spend these when using certain Pact Boons. You also use the favors for your lesser invocations, and when you take a short or long rest you regain your favors. Fey Pact: Verenestra. Level 1 a small wart appears on your face as she claims a piece of your beauty for herself, and when speaking to a creature that can understand you, you can spend of your favors. If its hp maximum is lower than your you gain advantage on all Cha checks made to influence it for the next hour. At level 3 your irises turn a bright gold, and as a reaction you can impose disadvantage on a melee attack made against you by a living creature. No mention of needing to use a Favor for this. At level five a spiderweb of thin white scars appears on your neck and arms as she robs more of your beauty. Also as an action you can spend one of your favors to teleport up to 30 feet to a location you can see. You start with 3 invocations, and no you don't have spell slots or spells or cantrips, you gain a 4th invocation at 2nd level and a 5th at 4th level. At first level you get the minor, aka at will, invocation Eldritch Blast, and two more of your choice. There is only one more invocation in this playtest packet that is a minor invocation. The rest require Favor. Which was not something I liked, I wanted more at will options like 3.5 Warlocks. We only ever see Minor and Lesser Invocations. Well I said Warlocks don't get spells, but they do have a limited spell list, but only for rituals. At this time Eldritch Blast did 3d6 force damage against a target within 50ft on a magical attack hit, scaling to 4d6 at level 3. But not scaling at level 5, would be interesting to know if it would scale further in that version. Since that version straight up doesn't get spells like the current Warlock, and most of its invocations aren't at will either. Shadow Veil is the other Minor Invocation, until the start of your next turn you don't provoke opportunity attacks and can move through the space occupied by hostile creatures. Baleful Utterance is the only other invocation shown that actually does damage.

Spells in this packet still don't seem to scale, or have an option for placing them in higher slots. Magic Missile is still a cantrip, but no longer seems to scale up to 4 missiles by 9th. Instead 100ft range 1d4+1 damage. Some of the other cantrips seem to no longer add a stat to damage, but get a specific bonus, ray of frost 1d6+3 Radiant Lance 1d8+4.

There was another packet or two with these two classes still, very little changed for the other classes at that time I believe, and before any major changes happened these two classes were dropped. Spells changed after they were dropped, classes changed DRASTICALLY since then. So by the time classes went up to 10th level, let alone 20th level, they didn't work the same as when these two classes had been revealed. So no idea how they would have scaled. A lot of people seemed to have liked the Warlock, and even the Sorcerer was popular with some. But. Some people didn't like that the sorcerer was a gish, that they could cast in armor and got to do more melee damage as they cast spells. Totally ignoring the fact that only one origin had been revealed yet, and that was a very martial origin.

Also found a link to an ENWorld thread where someone went over a bunch of the playtest packets.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?449695-Let-s-Read-the-D-amp-D-Next-Playtest

Still if someone else wanted to go into more detail, better presentation, I would appreciate it.

# ? Mar 1, 2017 02:26

Boing: Jul 12, 2005; trapped in custom title factory, send help

It's interesting how, out of all the myriad playtest iterations, the game that eventually came out feels like the most boring and unambitious of them all.

# ? Mar 1, 2017 14:08

Arivia: Mar 17, 2011

Boing posted:

It's interesting how, out of all the myriad playtest iterations, the game that eventually came out feels like the most boring and unambitious of them all.

mikemearls.txt

# ? Mar 1, 2017 14:14

Vengarr: Jun 17, 2010; Smashed before noon

They reaaaallly need to reintroduce something like Martial Dice again, I feel.

I want to drop some money on my ongoing campaign (I'm the DM). I've already picked up some Gaming Paper (just lol at that name, but it was only 4 bucks) for maps and I make my own tokens, so I don't need miniatures. Any ideas?

I was thinking about buying those Gale Force 9 Spell Cards but apparently they're coming out with a new set soonish.

# ? Mar 1, 2017 16:00

Arivia: Mar 17, 2011

Vengarr posted:

They reaaaallly need to reintroduce something like Martial Dice again, I feel.

I want to drop some money on my ongoing campaign (I'm the DM). I've already picked up some Gaming Paper (just lol at that name, but it was only 4 bucks) for maps and I make my own tokens, so I don't need miniatures. Any ideas?

I was thinking about buying those Gale Force 9 Spell Cards but apparently they're coming out with a new set soonish.

One of Matt Coville's recent videos (the West Marches one) included a preview of some cool spell templates.

# ? Mar 1, 2017 16:06

Vengarr: Jun 17, 2010; Smashed before noon

Arivia posted:

One of Matt Coville's recent videos (the West Marches one) included a preview of some cool spell templates.

I saw those (and they are cool), but my party doesn't have a proper spellcaster. Just a Cleric and a Bard :iiam:

# ? Mar 1, 2017 16:43

Gumdrop Larry: Jul 30, 2006

If you're looking to spend money one widget I really like for tabletop stuff is an e-writer. They're worse than paper or a computer or whatever in like 95% of life situations due to the impermanence, but just right for D&D where you want to jot stuff down and keep track of things on an encounter-by-encounter basis.

Gumdrop Larry fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Mar 1, 2017

# ? Mar 1, 2017 16:55

Turtlicious: Sep 17, 2012; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Vengarr posted:

They reaaaallly need to reintroduce something like Martial Dice again, I feel.

I want to drop some money on my ongoing campaign (I'm the DM). I've already picked up some Gaming Paper (just lol at that name, but it was only 4 bucks) for maps and I make my own tokens, so I don't need miniatures. Any ideas?

I was thinking about buying those Gale Force 9 Spell Cards but apparently they're coming out with a new set soonish.

I use these literally every night, they're great to prep ahead of time with wet erase markers, and then use for the dungeon that night https://www.amazon.com/Dry-Erase-inch-Dungeon-Tiles/dp/B016H14JFM

# ? Mar 1, 2017 22:18

Slippery42: Nov 10, 2011

One of my players recently approached me about wanting his ranger to be better at using traps. I'm thinking a custom feat is in order since he's only a level away from an ASI. My first thoughts are to make the DC on any trap items from whatever's listed in the PHB to 8 + dex/wis mod + proficiency and to remove disadvantage from any attack made with a net. It feels like it might need a bit more oomph, though. Maybe add a +1 ability score bonus to fill it out, but I'd like it to be something a little cooler than that. Codifying how I'll run enemies spotting traps will probably be a good thing to include as well.

Thoughts/suggestions?

# ? Mar 1, 2017 23:36

Splicer: Oct 16, 2006; from hell's heart I cast at thee
🧙🐀🧹🌙🪄🐸

Slippery42 posted:

One of my players recently approached me about wanting his ranger to be better at using traps. I'm thinking a custom feat is in order since he's only a level away from an ASI. My first thoughts are to make the DC on any trap items from whatever's listed in the PHB to 8 + dex/wis mod + proficiency and to remove disadvantage from any attack made with a net. It feels like it might need a bit more oomph, though. Maybe add a +1 ability score bonus to fill it out, but I'd like it to be something a little cooler than that. Codifying how I'll run enemies spotting traps will probably be a good thing to include as well.

Thoughts/suggestions?

Is it a UA ranger or a PHB ranger? If it's a PHB ranger just dump +traps on them.

AFAIK there's no actual rules for traps, so what rules are you currently using? You could just make them better at it.

Also just in case you missed it: https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/0227_UATraps.pdf

# ? Mar 1, 2017 23:46

lifg: Dec 4, 2000; <this tag left blank>; Muldoon

Slippery42 posted:

One of my players recently approached me about wanting his ranger to be better at using traps. I'm thinking a custom feat is in order since he's only a level away from an ASI. My first thoughts are to make the DC on any trap items from whatever's listed in the PHB to 8 + dex/wis mod + proficiency and to remove disadvantage from any attack made with a net. It feels like it might need a bit more oomph, though. Maybe add a +1 ability score bonus to fill it out, but I'd like it to be something a little cooler than that. Codifying how I'll run enemies spotting traps will probably be a good thing to include as well.

Thoughts/suggestions?

If you make a "Tool Proficiency: Traps", it'll fit in well with 5e. Then anyone can make traps, but only the skilled dude can add their proficiency bonus to it.

To spot traps, it could be a contested check of trap skill v. perception.

# ? Mar 2, 2017 01:02

ritorix: Jul 22, 2007; Vancian Roulette

Vengarr posted:

I want to drop some money on my ongoing campaign (I'm the DM). I've already picked up some Gaming Paper (just lol at that name, but it was only 4 bucks) for maps and I make my own tokens, so I don't need miniatures. Any ideas?

I was thinking about buying those Gale Force 9 Spell Cards but apparently they're coming out with a new set soonish.

Highly recommend the GF9 spell cards. They are really nice - I've got the arcane and cleric sets and put them into protective sleeves.

If you are doing a custom setting, a large laminated map of your campaign world would be nice to display and track player travels and actions.

Another minor thing that really comes in handy when DMing at a big table: a laser pointer.

For DMing I really recommend a few large grid maps like these. It covers a large table and can host all kinds of scenarios. Mine is grids on one side, hex on the other. This is a castle I had mapped out the other week, with the original map next to it for comparison. Scale was 10' to a square here, and I ran 5e combats that way with minis, just allowed everyone to pile into the same square. It worked out pretty great and had some nice reactions from the players.

We've also got a ton of these dungeon tile things. They are expensive as gently caress and only worth putting together if your group will be in the same area for a while, but it does really add something to the experience.

And if you've got the cash, there's always a full castle:

Ok, that's a Gencon pic. I haven't blown that much cash yet...

# ? Mar 2, 2017 01:06

Drowning Rabbit: Oct 28, 2003; YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Hey guys, I am curious if I'm missing something but I am about to start the Storm Kings Thunder this upcoming week and in one of the early encounters is a group of mounted bandits, but looking in the PHB under combat there is like a couple of paragraphs on mounted combat just saying how you can mount or dismount really.

Is there somewhere else to look up mounted combat or is it just the same as regular combat but with mount speed instead of player speed?

# ? Mar 2, 2017 02:10

MonsterEnvy: Feb 4, 2012; Shocked I tell you

Drowning Rabbit posted:

Hey guys, I am curious if I'm missing something but I am about to start the Storm Kings Thunder this upcoming week and in one of the early encounters is a group of mounted bandits, but looking in the PHB under combat there is like a couple of paragraphs on mounted combat just saying how you can mount or dismount really.

Is there somewhere else to look up mounted combat or is it just the same as regular combat but with mount speed instead of player speed?

I think there is tiny bit more let me find it for you.

Edit: Just a bit more below the mounting and dismounting section.

quote:

CONTROLLING A MOUNT
While you're mounted, you have two options. You can either control the mount or allow it to act independently. Intelligent creatures, such as dragons, act independently.
You can control a mount only if it has been trained to accept a rider. Domesticated horses, donkeys, and similar creatures are assumed to have such training. The initiative of a controlled mount changes to match yours when you mount it. It moves as you direct it, and it has only three action options; Dash, Disengage, and Dodge. A controlled mount can move and act even on the turn that you mount it.
An independent mount retains its place in the initiative order. Bearing a rider puts no restrictions on the actions the mount can take, and it moves and acts as it wishes. It might flee from combat, rush to attack and devour a badly injured foe, or otherwise act against your wishes.
In either case, if the mount provokes an opportunity attack while you're on it, the attacker can target you or the mount.

MonsterEnvy fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Mar 2, 2017

# ? Mar 2, 2017 03:25

Drowning Rabbit: Oct 28, 2003; YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

MonsterEnvy posted:

I think there is tiny bit more let me find it for you.

Edit: Just a bit more below the mounting and dismounting section.

Yeah, all on the same page, so the only tactics are the mount has its own movement and can dash/dodge/disengage? Would dodging by the mount increase the ac of the rider?

# ? Mar 2, 2017 06:08

Elector_Nerdlingen: Sep 27, 2004

Drowning Rabbit posted:

Yeah, all on the same page, so the only tactics are the mount has its own movement and can dash/dodge/disengage? Would dodging by the mount increase the ac of the rider?

That half a page is all you get.

First question: Yes, for a mount you're controlling.

Second question: Personally I'd go with yes, based on the way I've now put more thought and effort into this than the dev team did.

Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 06:43 on Mar 2, 2017

# ? Mar 2, 2017 06:40

Drowning Rabbit: Oct 28, 2003; YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

AlphaDog posted:

That half a page is all you get.

First question: Yes, for a mount you're controlling.

Second question: Personally I'd go with yes, based on the way I've now put more thought and effort into this than the dev team did.

One last question, RAW it is saying that you are controlling the mount, or letting it decide it's fate freely. Would controlling the mount take an action?

# ? Mar 2, 2017 15:43

Paramemetic: Sep 29, 2003; Area 51. You heard of it, right?; Fallen Rib

Drowning Rabbit posted:

One last question, RAW it is saying that you are controlling the mount, or letting it decide it's fate freely. Would controlling the mount take an action?

Shouldn't or it would say "as an action on your turn," or whatever. My understanding is if you have a controlled mount your movement is replaced by its movement and it gets those three bonus actions, but you consolidate the turns otherwise because its initiative matches your initiative. This way you can ride up, hit someone, disengage, and ride off.

If the mount is uncontrolled (an intelligent mount or your animal handling is trasho and it routes or something) then it has its own initiative and does its own thing and you are at the mercy of the DM. So if you're riding a dragon you can say "hey swoop in there so I can hit it with my sword" but the DM can totally opt to go "lolnaw."

Comedy Answer: Ask your DM.

Edit: so like on a two turn spread it might go something like:

Me (Init 17), Mount (Init 12), Bad Dude (Init 14):

Turn 1:
Round 1: I move 20 feet, use an action to mount the mount and it is controlled.
Round 2: The mount gains my Init, so the mount can now move 30 feet to the badguy and use the dodge action.
Round 3: Bad guy takes a swing at me, I inherit dodge from the mount and the dude misses.

Turn 2:
Round 1: I attack the bad dude, and as a bonus action I attack with an offhand weapon.
Round 2: The mount uses disengage as a bonus action and trucks off 30 feet
Round 3: Bad guy chases or whatever.

If the mount is uncontrolled it goes:
Round 1: I move 20 feet, jump on the mount as an action.
Round 2: Bad dude attacks with a bow or something and hits the mount.
Round 3: Uncontrolled mount decides to flee from battle, taking me with it, welp.

Paramemetic fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Mar 2, 2017

# ? Mar 2, 2017 16:05

Trast: Oct 20, 2010; Three games, thousands of playthroughs. 90% of the players don't know I exist. Still a redhead saving the galaxy with a [Right Hook].

Does anyone have recommendations for one shots that have 5E rules?

# ? Mar 3, 2017 04:46

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# ? May 30, 2024 06:21

Nehru the Damaja: May 20, 2005

Anyone got a good guide on building a one-shot on roll20? Nuts and bolts is important right now but I'm not opposed to more information on like good DMing philosophy and stuff. I have some ideas for a one-shot I want to use to try to drag some outsiders into dungeonmans

edit: Also, is it over-metagaming if my impatient warlock starts getting more aggressive because he knows his idiot lawful goods in the squad are going to force a fight and we might as well get it over with before Hex burns out?

Nehru the Damaja fucked around with this message at 08:30 on Mar 3, 2017

# ? Mar 3, 2017 05:32

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