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Splicer posted:Barbarians recovering from exhaustion from a short rather than a long rest no matter what the source is honestly barbariany as heck. Yeah true. I think everybody should do that. I realize it's not the only complaint about the Berzerker but it helps. Another idea I had was, starting at level 7, if a Berzerker hits at least once on a Reckless Attack, they gain some amount of temp HP.
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Nov 23, 2017 10:45
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Soylent Pudding posted:I've been GMing a rather relaxed homebrew table for a bit over a year now. The store where we play asked some of us who GM if we're interested in GMing adventure league tables? Anyone here have experience with that as opposed to just GMing for fun? It's highly restrictive. You do have some wiggle room, and some AL DMs put a lot of effort into adjusting encounters and adding story details to try to get things to make sense, but in the end you are running premade adventures more or less as-written. And you may find yourself asking "if I'm putting this much effort into beating DDAL05-14 Reeducation into a usable shape, why am I not just running my own drat story?" and the answer is "I'm an idiot." The advantage of AL is on the player side, for people that move a lot or have unpredictable schedules. The fact that it's an organized play system lets them drop in and drop out of games while keeping the same character.
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Nov 23, 2017 11:47
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Mendrian posted:Yeah true. I think everybody should do that. I realize it's not the only complaint about the Berzerker but it helps. Would gaining half of the damage dealt back in temp HP be too much? I'm starting to write some of these crowd sourced fixes down in the blank spots of my PHB, in case one of my players wants to play something that isn't well thought out.
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Nov 23, 2017 17:12
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Fiend Warlocks have an ability that grants temporary hit points whenever they kill anything, equal to their level + their cha modifier. Maybe look into attaching the healing to their con modifier or level or something?
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Nov 23, 2017 17:21
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They get that feature at level 1. At level 7, I think the barbarian should get an enhanced version of that.
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Nov 23, 2017 17:31
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ReapersTouch posted:Would gaining half of the damage dealt back in temp HP be too much? I'm starting to write some of these crowd sourced fixes down in the blank spots of my PHB, in case one of my players wants to play something that isn't well thought out.
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Nov 23, 2017 18:06
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I think the Zealot from Xanathar's guide covers the same flavor as Berserker much better with different, but functional mechanics.
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Nov 23, 2017 18:14
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Splicer posted:Gain it if they miss because they're so angry about missing, also if they crit because they're so happy about the extra murdering. One set of temp HP for hitting, one set for missing, one set for critting, one set for rolling a natural one. Barbarians are now mechanically deep.
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Nov 23, 2017 18:37
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mango sentinel posted:I think the Zealot from Xanathar's guide covers the same flavor as Berserker much better with different, but functional mechanics. I'm running a Zealot right now and they're pretty enjoyable. Plus the cost free resurrections are technically not that huge of a thing and ideally not necessary, but it's a neat bit of flavor that feels nice. Plus you get to pretend you're in Fury Road. You live, you die, you live again.  Overall I'm really liking what's in Xanathar's, but I can understand the complaints about some of what was included too since not every class got something super exciting. The only subclass I'm particularly down on is Hexblade because it feels like a retread of Blade Pact, but one I don't like out of 28 options isn't the worst thing in the world.
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Nov 23, 2017 19:49
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Hexblade is incredibly good, and there to make hexblade actually viable. You're the first person I've seen complain about it. There's some stinkers but most of the subclasses are solid, I don't think that'sthe part of the book people are most harsh on.
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Nov 23, 2017 20:02
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Honestly it's less that I'm against it and more that it feels like it could've been part of the Blade Pact in the first place to an extent. Overall I like that it's a proper option now since I like the weird gishes like Hexblade, Bladesinger and EK. Xanathar's coming out definitely revitalized the game I've been playing in recent though since about half of the group was waiting on the UA stuff to be available for swapovers. So we have a Zealot Barbarian, Redemption Paladin, and Hexblade mixed in with vanilla subclasses and none of us are feeling like we made a mistake in picking those options which is nice.
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Nov 23, 2017 20:08
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It's entirely reasonable to hate the hexblade. It is, again, implicitly a "fix" for the blade pact, without actually being a fix.
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Nov 23, 2017 22:53
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More character building help: I want to create a divine flavored character such as a Cleric or Paladin that is a good melee fighter, but with spell support for the party. I was originally thinking pure Cleric, but I also was considering Paladin/x where x is something... either Sorcadin, or Warlock, or something of that flavor. I want someone who is STR based that's competent in melee, but with support magic to support allies. Any ideas?
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Nov 24, 2017 02:18
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User0015 posted:More character building help: You are exactly describing a pure cleric. War, tempest, life, or forge would probably be best for what you’re after but I’m not a melee cleric build expert. Only one I ever played was light as a primarily wis-based caster.
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Nov 24, 2017 02:35
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User0015 posted:More character building help: Thats a War Cleric.
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Nov 24, 2017 03:04
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User0015 posted:More character building help: Alternatively, Paladin 2/Bard the rest is pretty solid for this, I think - pick Valor or Swords for your college and have all the supporty Bard spells and the ability to blow slots on smites for a bit of extra damage. Swords is stronger now, I think, because it gets to also trade Inspiration for extra damage + some effect. With Xanathar's it's also possible to build a Cha-only melee character by dipping a level of Warlock for the Hexblade ability to use charisma for attack/damage, too, so that's a possible option for a gish that doesn't want to be so MAD.
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Nov 24, 2017 03:14
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Wouldn't Paladin 3 still be good? Oath of Vengeance for that sweet Advantage and a couple extra spells known.
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Nov 24, 2017 03:25
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You know this does mean the all Cha Paladin is more viable now, don't need 3 levels of Warlock, or 6 levels of bard, to get a Cha based Shillelagh now. Also if you are willing to take 3 levels of Warlock still you can get Cha to pretty much any weapon you could want by using Pact of the Blade, since Hexblade's Cha to attack and damage is one a single 1 handed weapon, or any weapon you create with Pact of the Blade, and there is an Invocation that makes the Pact of the Blade weapon +1 as well as opening up longbow, shortbow, light crossbow and heavy crossbow. Paladin 3 for Oath of Vengeance could be good, or Oath of Devotion. Vengeance gives advantage against one target, Devotion gives you +Cha to attack. Which means with Hexblade that would give you Cha+Cha+Prof for attack, and weapon+Cha for damage, or if you get 12 levels of Warlock and get Lifedrinker weapon+Cha+Cha for damage.
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Nov 24, 2017 03:37
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I just rolled up a new character I'm super excited to play, based on a challenge from my DM. It's a melee warlock uses neither hex nor eldritch blast. I'm pretty happy with the backstory, so I thought I'd post it here. My character is Nateo Kaimon. He's a 20 something human male that grew up on the streets of a medium sized city state. He wasn't exactly smart, but with a little luck and a few prayers to Tymora, he made his living throwing dice in the local taverns. Eventually winning too often against the wrong people, he found himself locked in local lords private dungeon, left to rot. Growing increasingly desperate, the demon lord Pazuzu sensed an opportunity. Approaching Nateo in his dreams under the guise of Beshaba, the beautiful goddess of misfortune, Pazuzu mocked Nateo's dependence on fortune and where it had left him. Smitten with the beautiful figure before him, Nateo swore to forsake fortune and prove his worth to her. The fake Pazuzu Beshaba mocked Nateo before offering him an opportunity to prove his worth by making a pact. Nateo gladly accepted, vowing to disavow fortune and prove his worth to Beshaba, the goddess he had become infatuated with. Pazuzu, always happy to corrupt an innocent soul, smiled as Nateo went off into the world to grow in power, spreading misfortune to appease a goddess he didn't actually serve, to pursue a love that knew nothing of him and would never be attainable. Nateo doesn't understand his powers as a Warlock and mostly thinks his abilities come from power that was deep within him because he is an idiot. As he journeys he will be very vocal about how other should follow Beshaba, despite being hated by the actual Beshaba clergy because of his lack of knowledge/adherence to their dogma, as well as his claims that he will "prove himself worthy of her love" and that he had personally been brought into her grace. He is an entirely hypocritical character, declaring he doesn't need a weapon, yet still using brass knuckles, declaring he will prove himself with his own power, yet depending on the power he thinks was granted by Beshaba, but actually flows from Pazuzu. He is a broken man that, as he grows, will become increasingly obsessed with achieving greater and more dangerous tasks to appease his dark mistress. Also, he is very loud.
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Nov 24, 2017 04:00
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Ryuujin posted:You know this does mean the all Cha Paladin is more viable now, don't need 3 levels of Warlock, or 6 levels of bard, to get a Cha based Shillelagh now. Also if you are willing to take 3 levels of Warlock still you can get Cha to pretty much any weapon you could want by using Pact of the Blade, since Hexblade's Cha to attack and damage is one a single 1 handed weapon, or any weapon you create with Pact of the Blade, and there is an Invocation that makes the Pact of the Blade weapon +1 as well as opening up longbow, shortbow, light crossbow and heavy crossbow. I'm not real sure on how multiclassing and spell progression work. If I wanted to do something like this, how would spells work? I kind of like Paladin 3/Hexblade
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Nov 24, 2017 04:21
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So it works a bit differently for Warlock than with other classes. Generally you would add class levels together to determine number of spell slots and what level those spell slots would be, which is a bit complicated for classes like Paladin that aren't a full caster. Spell lists for all your classes are completely different and spell known is dependent on class level as well. Warlock is a bit different. Warlock spell slots are completely separate from the spell slots for other classes. So for a Paladin Warlock you would have Spellcasting and Spell Slots as a level 3 Paladin, and then separate you would have your Warlock Spells and Warlock Spell Slots. The Warlock spell slots refresh on a short rest, instead of just a long rest.
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Nov 24, 2017 04:27
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How does that interact with smiting? Warlocks treat their spell levels as always at maximum, so if I smite using a warlock spell slot and assume I'm a level 10 warlock, does that mean I'm casting a 5th level spell slot smite that refreshes on shorts?
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Nov 24, 2017 04:29
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User0015 posted:How does that interact with smiting? Warlocks treat their spell levels as always at maximum, so if I smite using a warlock spell slot and assume I'm a level 10 warlock, does that mean I'm casting a 5th level spell slot smite that refreshes on shorts? Yup! Base Paladin is fairly strong; multiclassing the "right" way just multiplies that power, instead of diluting two classes like a lot of options do.
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Nov 24, 2017 05:03
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Alright, I'm down for this. So Paladin 3 for Veng or Devotion, then Hexblade Warlock so I can use my weapon pact on a giant 2-hander that scales off Cha instead of Str? So would I also be doing things like casting BB or GFB or just straight attacking? I've never played a Warlock before. I should read up on them.
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Nov 24, 2017 05:08
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User0015 posted:How does that interact with smiting? Warlocks treat their spell levels as always at maximum, so if I smite using a warlock spell slot and assume I'm a level 10 warlock, does that mean I'm casting a 5th level spell slot smite that refreshes on shorts? You can use Pact slots to Smite, yes. A few things to note: - Paladin dip on a Hexblade is a bad idea because Smite is now an invocation available to all Pact of the Blade Warlocks, and 3rd level Oath features aren't worth delaying class progression for. - Paladin with a 1-3 Warlock dip is a much better combatant in general. You get more HP, Lay on Hands, Aura of Protection, more granular use of your smites (btw if you have 2 short rests per day, then your total smite d8s are roughly even between Paladin and Warlock), and Improved Divine Smite is better than Life Drinker. - If you want to play Hexblade, take a 1 level dip of Fighter.
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Nov 24, 2017 05:08
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Mechanically, there's very little reason to go past 3 for Warlock. Maybe to 4 if you need that ASI/Feat and can lose a level in whatever else you're taking. Character options past Warlock 3 aren't really useful compared to other classes.
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Nov 24, 2017 05:14
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Alright, so what kind of dip into Warlock would you recommend?
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Nov 24, 2017 05:18
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User0015 posted:Alright, so what kind of dip into Warlock would you recommend? Depends! If you're cool with using a 1h weapon, 1 level is just fine because that lets you make any 1h melee into a cha weapon. 3 is the most, because that unlocks 2h weapons and other stuff and a few other tertiary features. The rest of your levels will go into [insert casting class of your choice] which ideally will be one that gives you Extra Attack.
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Nov 24, 2017 05:35
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Conspiratiorist posted:Wood Elf racial lets you attempt to hide when you're lightly obscured by natural phenomena like, you know, dim light. Played this one today, vicious longbow and all. It was total bullshit in the best possible way. Thank you.
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Nov 24, 2017 05:38
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User0015 posted:More character building help: At some point I decided I wanted a red mage, points in dexterity and wisdom. Human feat was initiate for summon familiar. Started as rogue, then switched to cleric arcane domain. It's worked really well, great in melee with sneak attack. Always has a ranged attack on hand. Bonus action is always there for spiritual weapon or healing word. If things really need to die magic missile is on the list. And since he's in the thick of things healing is convenient to. It wouldn't be hard to adopt to a heavy. Start a level of fighter for armor and weapons. Get a fighting style. Then switch to the arcane domain for cleric. Grab green flame blade and fire blast and go to town. You don't even need the familiar that's just a personal favorite of mine.
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Nov 24, 2017 06:23
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AlphaDog posted:Played this one today, vicious longbow and all. It was total bullshit in the best possible way. I'd kinda like to try a level 11+ one-shot with a similar character abusing Sharpshooter/Elven Accuracy, but as a Samurai Fighter rather than Rogue. No need for familiar/hiding shenanigans, just hit Fighting Spirit for advantage on all of that turn's attacks with no questions asked. Assuming you need a natural 11 to hit while Sharpshooting, that's roughly 105 average damage on an action surge (1d8 + 15 rounds to 20 * 6 attacks * .875 accuracy at super-advantage). At level 20, you're flirting with Meteor Swarm's average damage roll of 140 (albeit to a single target), and with two Action Surges/short rest, you can basically do it every fight.
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Nov 24, 2017 06:36
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User0015 posted:More character building help: IF you don't want to bother with using a bonus action to make a second attack a limited number of times per day, just grab Booming Blade with a feat and your choices for Cleric Domain expands quite a bit. Importantly, you can use your bonus action for Spiritual Weapon or Healing Word instead. I'm honestly not a huge fan of War Cleric because if you're wading into melee with a Cleric, your bonus action is probably going to be used on Spiritual Weapon. Being able to get +10 to hit once or twice per day will let you land a couple Great Weapon Master power attack hits, but I dunno if that's worth the investment. I'd rather just take Tempest Domain and cast a maximized Shatter or Call Lightning. Conspiratiorist posted:You can use Pact slots to Smite, yes. I like this. Go Paladin 1/Warlock 3/Paladin X to get Heavy Armor proficiency without a feat and some extra HP. This setup gets you two second level Warlock spell slots to spend on smites for an extra 3d8 damage twice per short rest, the pact of the blade feature which combined with Hex Blade will allow you to swing your great sword with Charisma, and two invocations. They have to be low level, so Improved Pact Weapon and Devil's Sight are good choices for combat, while Beguiling Influence and Beast Speech are good social/utility choices. Take a SCAG cantrip (Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade) when you get your first Warlock level to make up for the fact that you're delaying your Extra Attack and Improved Divine Smite access by three levels. A Paladin who dips 3 into Warlock and takes the Great Weapon Master feat at first level (if you're a variant human) can cast Darkness and use Devil's Sight to make -10 to hit/+10 damage attacks with advantage. That sounds fun! Nickoten fucked around with this message at 07:11 on Nov 24, 2017 |
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Nov 24, 2017 06:53
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Nickoten posted:I like this. Go Paladin 1/Warlock 3/Paladin X to get Heavy Armor proficiency without a feat and some extra HP. You're significantly delaying Extra Attack and Aura of Protection; you're even delaying Smite itself till level 5. My main objection is that I don't think 2h weapons aren't enough of a reason to delay Paladin by going Hexblade 3, since quarterstaves are just so good and only take 1 level. But if you really want to do this, if you really want to wield a 2h weapon, the best way to go about it is to not actually try it until you're Paladin 5 / Hexblade 3. Pick up Agonizing Blast and play like a normal Warlock fighting from range. The sad truth is that blasting things with EB is going to be the more effective approach until you have all the pieces of this build in place. Alternatively, start with STR16 and CHA16 and play Paladin normally till 6 then switch to using CHA after you get your 3 Hexblade levels and an ASI. PAM is also a better call than GWM, but similarly, if you want to use a Greatsword, then you pick GWM.
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Nov 24, 2017 07:41
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Conspiratiorist posted:You're significantly delaying Extra Attack and Aura of Protection; you're even delaying Smite itself till level 5. A one level dip into Hexblade is probably better, but I assumed 3 because they mentioned swinging a big two-hander. But yeah, Paladin 5/Warlock something/Paladin X is probably better.
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Nov 24, 2017 07:46
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I found a fun-sounding Pal 6/Bard X build that I was going to give a shot, again going for the melee spellcaster. http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?465907-Multiclass-Paladin-Bard Starting at level 2 (Pal 1/Bard 1), stats are 16/10/13/8/10/16 instead of the link because of variant human vs half-elf. Warcaster feat to help maintain concentration on debuff spells while mixing it up in combat. 18 AC with a shield, can cast somatic while wielding 1d8 longsword in combat. Haven't decided on an oath, but that's a ways off given the dip goes up to Bard 3 first before leveling Paladin up to 6.
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Nov 24, 2017 19:17
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Window into 5e design mentality:
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Nov 24, 2017 20:03
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Pleads posted:I found a fun-sounding Pal 6/Bard X build that I was going to give a shot, again going for the melee spellcaster. Consider skipping one ASI for Polearm Mastery and swapping to a 1h quarterstaff - getting a bonus action (that can carry a Smite) and much more reliable OAs (that can also carry Smites) is incredibly solid because alpha-striking is the best way to go in 5E combat.
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Nov 24, 2017 20:15
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Yeah, nobody's brought it up yet, but Xanathar's is filled with "hilarious" commentary by the so-named Beholder, and it's truly banal.
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Nov 24, 2017 20:38
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Darwinism posted:Consider skipping one ASI for Polearm Mastery and swapping to a 1h quarterstaff - getting a bonus action (that can carry a Smite) and much more reliable OAs (that can also carry Smites) is incredibly solid because alpha-striking is the best way to go in 5E combat. Yeah someone earlier had this as part of a pally build. It sounds good mechanically, but I gotta see how group comp works out and also whether the character would do it. He's an ostentatious person so the sword and shield look will be important to him.
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Nov 24, 2017 20:41
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ProfessorCirno posted:Yeah, nobody's brought it up yet, but Xanathar's is filled with "hilarious" commentary by the so-named Beholder, and it's truly banal. A few got a chuckle out of me. The gloom stalker one about sneaking in the dark is funny since it calls out the darkvision bloat in 5e.
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Nov 24, 2017 20:47
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