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Splicer posted:The big thing for the revised ranger is that going first means you can pick and choose who to attack for your "first round attack gets advantage" ability. Spend your bonus attack marking and then attack with a ranged weapon (or throw a dagger or a hand axe). Splash rogue after level 5 and the advantage will trigger your sneak attacks for some decent alpha striking. this sounds tight as hell, someone above mentioned throwing axes too and i hadn't considered. i knew i wasn't really interested in a bow but the thought of other ranged weapons didn't even cross my mind. i intend on getting colossus slayer too so even just nicking someone out of the gate for minimal damage will help me out later on. Admiral Joeslop posted:With point buy, you can have 8, 8, 8, 15, 15, 15 before racial adjustments. That means all kinds of room for variety, especially if you're just discarding a bunch of 16+ rolls. edited my post above, but i can't stress enough how casual we're going to be. i'm not setting out to powergame and even then i asked my to-be dm if he was cool if i rolled stats and he said yes.
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 16:33 |
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# ? May 30, 2024 12:20 |
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just give yourself 6 18s it'll be more fun that way
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 16:41 |
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Kaubocks posted:this sounds tight as hell, someone above mentioned throwing axes too and i hadn't considered. i knew i wasn't really interested in a bow but the thought of other ranged weapons didn't even cross my mind. i intend on getting colossus slayer too so even just nicking someone out of the gate for minimal damage will help me out later on. It's not power gaming. It's what the the game is balanced around. If anything rolling dice is the power gaming option since you've fishing for higher than array numbers and you can just beg your DM to start over if you get an incompetent character.
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 16:44 |
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I disagree about initiative being relatively unimportant. As far as combat alone goes, yeah, it doesn't matter too much. On the other hand, if the DM has things happening during fights, like an enemy trying to raise a drawbridge, or a cultist trying to summon a demon, it can matter a lot more. Even if you can't finish the cultist you can interrupt him, and you can try to jam the crank or at least make the soldiers choose between defending himself or completing his task. If these take more than a couple rounds it comes right back to not mattering as much, but if turns are of the essence it can.
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 17:00 |
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Anyone at Gencon pick up the B1+B2 reprint/5e conversion from Goodman games?
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 17:11 |
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sleepy.eyes posted:I disagree about initiative being relatively unimportant. As far as combat alone goes, yeah, it doesn't matter too much. On the other hand, if the DM has things happening during fights, like an enemy trying to raise a drawbridge, or a cultist trying to summon a demon, it can matter a lot more. Even if you can't finish the cultist you can interrupt him, and you can try to jam the crank or at least make the soldiers choose between defending himself or completing his task. If these take more than a couple rounds it comes right back to not mattering as much, but if turns are of the essence it can. Reenforcements coming at the top of a certain round can also make it matter.
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 19:38 |
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So yesterday we sat down and tried to play through the 5th edition Tomb of Horrors. It's bad. Not in the "this is really challenging" way. It was just incredibly boring. Yeah there's lots of stuff that will kill you or take all your stuff or whatever but that just leads you to proceed through in the most tedious way possible. None of the puzzles in the Tomb are actually clever, they're either pure "trial and error" or specifically designed to dick you over for doing the thing that makes sense. At no point was my character even really at risk of death nor was anyone else's until we started doing things we deliberately knew were dumb. About halfway through, after figuring out how to get the Gem of True Sight from the gargoyle puzzle (which is bullshit btw, because the solution actually requires 2 more gems than you get from the other gargoyle) we all looked at each other and went "let's just play something else." So we played Hex Hex instead and had a way better time, even though I lost half a fingernail during a scramble for hexen stix.
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 20:08 |
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How is 5E Tamoachan?
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 20:11 |
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My thoughts on Tomb of Horrors 5e are that it's not good also. It's fun in a way where if your players know "hey we're doing Tomb of Horrors" they get to check off "did Tomb of Horrors" on their D&D resume but it has significant problems mostly in how people interact with initiative when playing 5e. It really is set up for 2e style dungeon crawling with a 10 foot pole and the trap doors and such just aren't as compelling in 5e. Additionally, the entire thing is set up on succeeding rolls, but with bounded accuracy for DCs it kind of falls flat. The most fun rooms I found were the ones where things happened independent of skill checks entirely. That said, you sold yourself short stopping there because most of the fun stuff in ToH happens significantly later.
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 20:27 |
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Yeah I opined afterward that one of the main reasons it was as bad as it was is because we were running it in 5th edition instead of 1st or 2nd. It was clearly not meant to run in this system, and all the things that hamstring 5e already just made it even worse. There are ways to do Gygaxian dungeon crawls in 5e that aren't that tedious.
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 20:36 |
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Mordiceius posted:How is 5E Tamoachan? I am still a novice DM but I am running it for my friends (about 2/3rds through it) and enjoying it. I intended to tweak out some of the bullshit murder diseases since I am only running it because it is the level appropriate module I have on hand to buy me time to homebrew my own stuff. The party doesn't even have lesser restoration so I was worried about trapped door with 5000 year sleeping gas, but luckily they missed that room entirely. Fake Beholder gas spore with bullshit "you die in 12+con mod hours" disease, luckily the melee dudes rolled poor initiative so it was triggered at range, and 2 people did contract sewer plague but eventually saved their way to health. I really like the flavor and the rooms so far, and it seemed like nice skeleton for me to tack some story stuff onto. The ever present poison gas for urgency seemed like a nice hook but after a particular nasty trap it became obvious that they were never making it out of this if they couldn't take a long rest, so I bargained with my players that the gas could dissipate during their rest, but the reason it dissipates would be to make the boss I am adding at the end stronger. There are 3 or 4 paths through the lowest tier. My players are completionists and I don't want to be running this adventure forever so I am just collapsing tunnels and removing rooms they passed over to prevent them from wasting time backtracking for a few hundred more gold. I would recommend going through the module before hand and condensing the loot descriptions into just total gold values for the most part. Reading out all those trinkets and baubles they find really slows the game down even though my players do seem to appreciate that they now own a miniature gold llama figurine. Neon Knight fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Aug 20, 2017 |
# ? Aug 20, 2017 20:55 |
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From what I read of Tamoachan, it feels... defanged to a degree. I felt like the 4e version was pretty good. Especially since it was set up as more for being played under a time pressure.
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 21:11 |
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Paramemetic posted:My thoughts on Tomb of Horrors 5e are that it's not good also. It's fun in a way where if your players know "hey we're doing Tomb of Horrors" they get to check off "did Tomb of Horrors" on their D&D resume Yeah that's kinda how I did it once. We'd do a room, get killed by whatever stupid thing, DM would share the correct solution, we'd all go "lol that's dumb, who would've figured that out?" and move on to the next room as if nobody had died.
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 22:04 |
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Question about Zeitgeist for 5e (yes, I could buy the completed one for Pathfinder or 4e and convert, but ) How much has been published, have the players guides etc. been converted yet, and what's the quality like? It seems that the only way to get it is to subscribe to En5ider on Patreon?
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 23:31 |
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Angrymog posted:Question about Zeitgeist for 5e (yes, I could buy the completed one for Pathfinder or 4e and convert, but ) The player's guide is done, a Prequel adventure is done, and the first Adventure (Island at the Axis of the world) is done. Nothing else is, and you can get everything by backing for one dollar, downloading the back catalog, and then unbacking. You'll have to pay for at least one release, so it'll cost 1 dollar. Edit: and the campaign guide
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# ? Aug 20, 2017 23:48 |
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For running an 11th level ranger, what's the best subclass to roll up? /feats besides lucky
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 00:13 |
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RC Cola posted:For running an 11th level ranger, what's the best subclass to roll up? /feats besides lucky With revised Ranger any of them are viable. As for feats I need to really take a better look at them.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 00:16 |
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Sage Genesis posted:Advantage on initiative is more or less worthless. Initiative in D&D is a cycle, so "going first" matters only for a tiny moment and then loses all meaning. In fact, for a melee character it can be outright dangerous. Overall effectiveness varies by role, of course, but winning initiative is great. See, combat is usually decided in the first three-four rounds, and winning initiative is essentially getting an extra turn over your opponents - not only do you get to go first, which can be tactically useful depending on circumstances, but you also outright get a whole extra turn on the last round of the combat. So that's 25%-33% more actions, and the action economy is king. It's advantageous even in the scenario you described: merely stand next to a fellow frontliner and Ready an attack for when the enemy charges in.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 02:11 |
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Oh for an infiltration mission, what are decent spells for a tempest cleric to prepare? Up to 6th level spells
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 02:40 |
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RC Cola posted:For running an 11th level ranger, what's the best subclass to roll up? /feats besides lucky PHB only, Hunter. But it's only barely passable a class. UA Ranger Revised, they're all decent by virtue of the stronger base chassis, but Hunter and Deep Stalker are the strongest. Feats depend entirely on whether you want to go melee or ranged. For ranged, Sharpshooter+Crossbow Expert (wielding a Hand Crossbow) is the optimal attack option once you've got both feats in. For melee, 2h with Great Weapon Master + Polearm Master is the strongest option offense-wise, followed by GWM with a Greatsword, followed by PAM with a Quarterstaff + Shield (dueling style) which leans more defensive but still very effective. Gimmick: Variant Human, initial feat Magic Initiate: Druid to grab Shillelagh, at 4th grab PAM, you QS+Shield using your wisdom to attack. (Also Magic Stone for backup ranged attacks). Not much room for utility feats on a Ranger, since you'll want to grab your combat feats then max your combat stat.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 02:54 |
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RC Cola posted:Oh for an infiltration mission, what are decent spells for a tempest cleric to prepare? Up to 6th level spells Thaumaturgy so when you successfully sneak in you can yell really loud to let everyone know you're in position.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 03:26 |
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RC Cola posted:Oh for an infiltration mission, what are decent spells for a tempest cleric to prepare? Up to 6th level spells Silence, pretty much any Divination spell. Meld into Stone, Stone Shape, Geas could be useful, depending on your DM. e: Planar Binding. Why do it yourself when you could make something else do all the legwork for you? sleepy.eyes fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Aug 21, 2017 |
# ? Aug 21, 2017 03:40 |
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Silence is a 20ft radius anti-caster AoE spell which really makes it very good in a lot of situations. I can't think of any spells that don't include a verbal component unless you're a sorcerer who can do metamagic shenanigans.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 03:58 |
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bewilderment posted:Silence is a 20ft radius anti-caster AoE spell which really makes it very good in a lot of situations. I can't think of any spells that don't include a verbal component unless you're a sorcerer who can do metamagic shenanigans. Hypnotic Pattern, Thunderclap, Counterspell, Minor Illusion, Friends
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 04:06 |
Kibner posted:Will take some work to get it to scale how you want, but the math in this link should give you some guidance in what stats it should have. I killed 2 of my players in 3 rounds so I think I did it right.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 04:50 |
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Played the T3 Epic today at GenCon. It was pretty cool. We took over a boat, only to find a much larger boat waiting for us with an Icon of Bane standing in front of a large green dragon. Our fighter jumped to the other boat and moved in between Bane and the Dragon, declared he had no time to deal with you, shield bashed Bane off the side of the boat and began to dig into the dragon. Bane failed all his checks and it was loving hilarious.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 06:23 |
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Reene posted:There are ways to do Gygaxian dungeon crawls in 5e that aren't that tedious. If you're in the mood for sharing, I'd be interested in hearing what these are.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 06:27 |
I'm trying to convert the 4e racial power "Dark Reaping" into a spell for 5e.Dark Reaping ___ Revenant Racial Power posted:You use one death as the seed to sow more destruction. Now I'm still pretty new to 5e, but 1d8+Con seems mighty strong for a cantrip. I was thinking of changing it to a necromancy spell that can only be used twice per day, and lowering the damage to 1d6+Con. Is that still too strong or is it too weak, or what?
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 18:39 |
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I'd say if you take off the extra Con damage it's in line with other cantrips, if that's your goal. As a racial ability, I think I would do "When a creature within 5 squares of you is reduced to 0 hit points, add your Con modifier as damage to your next attack roll." Maybe make it once per short rest? I'm not a math guy.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 19:01 |
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Lurdiak posted:Now I'm still pretty new to 5e, but 1d8+Con seems mighty strong for a cantrip. I was thinking of changing it to a necromancy spell that can only be used twice per day, and lowering the damage to 1d6+Con. Is that still too strong or is it too weak, or what? Spells in 5e typically don't add any ability modifiers to their damage rolls, they just use dice. When converting from one game to another, you can't simply copy-paste the dice used. I'm not quite sure why you're trying to make it both a cantrip and "twice per day" at once. If it's a cantrip it's unlimited in use, by definition. If it's a leveled spell, then it has its own uses per day depending on the caster's slots. If it's a power that has its own inherent number of uses per day, then it isn't a spell. Furthermore, the entire concept of the spell itself translates poorly to 5e. 4e uses relatively few monsters per encounter (roughly one per PC) and this power uses such an event to build more momentum. On the other hand, 5e revels in keeping lower level monsters relevant for more time so it tends to use larger hordes of weak monsters. As such, being an at-will ability might be overkill. (Not to mention that a 4e "attack" is not the same thing as a 5e "attack".) Let's say this is not a cantrip but a 1st level spell. Something like... Dark Reaping 1st-level necromancy Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when a creature within 30 feet is reduced to 0 hit points Range: self Components: V, S Duration: 1 round You use one death as the seed to sow more destruction. Until the end of your next turn, all your damage rolls gain an extra 1d6 necrotic damage. Damage is relatively low for a 1st level spell but that's because it bends the action economy, gaining damage without it being your own turn. And it plays quite well with Action Surging, Hasted Eldritch Knights so it's not as if it really needs to do more. If it was a cantrip it would just be +1d6 damage all the drat time.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 19:01 |
Man I barely understand how anything works in 5e. I keep erroneously assuming things are kinda like 4e and I'm always wrong.Sage Genesis posted:Dark Reaping Ok, here's my follow-up question: This is meant to be a racial power in 4e, how does this square with turning it into a spell in 5e? Would it take up a spell slot or should I make it clear it's on the player's spell list as an extra? What about classes who can't cast spells normally?
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 19:06 |
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Lurdiak posted:Man I barely understand how anything works in 5e. I keep erroneously assuming things are kinda like 4e and I'm always wrong. No, it's 5e who's wrong. Lurdiak posted:Ok, here's my follow-up question: This is meant to be a racial power in 4e, how does this square with turning it into a spell in 5e? Would it take up a spell slot or should I make it clear it's on the player's spell list as an extra? What about classes who can't cast spells normally? In 5e, abilities are either racial powers or spells. Not both. There's one sort-of-exception, which is that some races can also cast spells. For example, drow and tieflings. So you might make this a spell, available to all Wizards and Clerics (or whatever classes you have in mind), and then your race might say something like "You can cast the Dark Reaping spell once per day. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast it twice per day. When you reach 5th level, you can cast it three times per day. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for this spell." (The part about Constitution is pretty superfluous but you never know when it might come up.)
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 19:19 |
Sage Genesis posted:No, it's 5e who's wrong. Don't I know it. quote:In 5e, abilities are either racial powers or spells. Not both. There's one sort-of-exception, which is that some races can also cast spells. For example, drow and tieflings. So you might make this a spell, available to all Wizards and Clerics (or whatever classes you have in mind), and then your race might say something like "You can cast the Dark Reaping spell once per day. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast it twice per day. When you reach 5th level, you can cast it three times per day. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for this spell." Aw man, then I guess I should've been converting it into a racial power the whole time. I'm not doing a very good job. See, I'm trying to make Revenants into a distinct custom race, because the weird subrace thing 5e has for them doesn't really work with what I have planned for my game. I once again assumed 5e revenants would at least be kind of like 4e, but instead they can't be killed at all and have overly specific revenge powers.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 19:24 |
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Lurdiak posted:Aw man, then I guess I should've been converting it into a racial power the whole time. I'm not doing a very good job. See, I'm trying to make Revenants into a distinct custom race, because the weird subrace thing 5e has for them doesn't really work with what I have planned for my game. I once again assumed 5e revenants would at least be kind of like 4e, but instead they can't be killed at all and have overly specific revenge powers. Meh, mistakes is how we learn. And I think the concept is pretty neat for a spell, opens up some cool Blackguard moments where you rip out a dying orc's soul and beat his brother to death with it. (Bonus points if you then recruit both of their skeletons to be your adventure homies.) If I were you I'd keep it a spell and just say your race can cast it inherently. In the end it'll boil down to the exact same effect and it saves you from going back to the drawing board.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 19:30 |
Sage Genesis posted:Meh, mistakes is how we learn. And I think the concept is pretty neat for a spell, opens up some cool Blackguard moments where you rip out a dying orc's soul and beat his brother to death with it. (Bonus points if you then recruit both of their skeletons to be your adventure homies.) That does seem like a fair solution, but that still confuses me wrt to the whole "classes without spell slots" thing. What if one of my players wants to be a Revenant Fighter or somesuch?
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 19:31 |
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Lurdiak posted:That does seem like a fair solution, but that still confuses me wrt to the whole "classes without spell slots" thing. What if one of my players wants to be a Revenant Fighter or somesuch? Ah right. Those races can just cast those spells without needing any slots. Some characters and monsters just can cast spells like that, they just do it. So your Revenant Fighter would just cast the spells, doesn't matter if he has any slots or not. A Revenant Wizard, on the other hand, might know both the spell from his race and from his class. Then when he'd cast the spell, he'd be allowed to choose whether this was a free casting from his race or whether it was a slot from his class (pro tip: always choose the former if you can).
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 19:36 |
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Why exactly do you want to turn it into a spell? You could just keep it as a racial power like the Dragonborn's Dragon Breath ability.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 19:38 |
Ok, but doesn't that mean that they can cast the spell infinitely? That might be a bit much...Ojetor posted:Why exactly do you want to turn it into a spell? You could just keep it as a racial power like the Dragonborn's Dragon Breath ability. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhagVcjOPZE
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 19:38 |
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You could easily say it can only be used once (or twice or whatever amount you deem appropriate) before a short/long rest.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 19:40 |
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# ? May 30, 2024 12:20 |
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Lurdiak posted:Ok, but doesn't that mean that they can cast the spell infinitely? That might be a bit much... No, because their racial ability would be "you can cast Spell X once per day". Or twice per day, or whatever, but not indefinitely. You wouldn't want to write "you can cast Spell X at will" because then you do end up in that situation. High Elves learn a cantrip for free, so they're an example of a race which does get to cast their spell indefinitely. That's just how cantrips work. Drow and Tieflings (and your Revenant) work differently.
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# ? Aug 21, 2017 19:43 |