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I am starting a new campaign as the only not new player out of 5 PCs and they have said that they want me to play to carry/bail the group while they figure the game out. I've not messed much with the caster classes because I always love melee in every game I play so I figure this would be the best time to munchkin as hard as a I can into casters. Any official material that I can get access to online, limiting myself to zero or one multiclass, what are y'alls favorite caster supremacy builds? Edit: I'm thinking maybe something wizard based?
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Aug 7, 2018 14:39
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What are some thrifty things you guys do for your games? I'm starting a group soon and I'm trying to come up with fun ideas for tokens. So far I have some 1" washers, bought a 1" paper punch, and I'm gonna try to print some creature tokens out and glue them to the washers.
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Aug 7, 2018 14:40
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Why couldn't you take an action to help or hinder the chase using the 5e guidelines, though? It just says how you can move during a chase sequence, and movement rules are still a thing. Difficult terrain can be created, removed, or obscured. Hell, rangers and druids have specific spells that would be perfect for that kind of thing, and party members could interfere with attempts to magically hold back people in your party. In our Tomb of Annihilation game last week, some members of our party landed in some rough poo poo in Jahaka and had to race out of the gate before either people on horseback got to them or the gate was closed. Our sorcerer created the illusion of a large fire in front of the horses, spooking them and stopping their advance for a few seconds, and that gave our NPC buddy time to make a 10-foot-tall wall in front of the pursuers, giving everyone else time to get out of the gate before it closed. It's not like every action has to be listed there.
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Aug 7, 2018 14:43
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Verisimilidude posted:What are some thrifty things you guys do for your games? I'm starting a group soon and I'm trying to come up with fun ideas for tokens. So far I have some 1" washers, bought a 1" paper punch, and I'm gonna try to print some creature tokens out and glue them to the washers. My group likes little vending machine toys like Homies.
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Aug 7, 2018 14:43
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Squidtentacle posted:Why couldn't you take an action to help or hinder the chase using the 5e guidelines, though? It just says how you can move during a chase sequence, and movement rules are still a thing. Difficult terrain can be created, removed, or obscured. Hell, rangers and druids have specific spells that would be perfect for that kind of thing, and party members could interfere with attempts to magically hold back people in your party. You can. But the point is that the game itself does not give that kind of guidance in how to run a chase.
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Aug 7, 2018 14:49
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Verisimilidude posted:What are some thrifty things you guys do for your games? I'm starting a group soon and I'm trying to come up with fun ideas for tokens. So far I have some 1" washers, bought a 1" paper punch, and I'm gonna try to print some creature tokens out and glue them to the washers. You could also get 1" round sticker labels that go in your printer and skip the punching/gluing.
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Aug 7, 2018 14:52
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Dameius posted:I am starting a new campaign as the only not new player out of 5 PCs and they have said that they want me to play to carry/bail the group while they figure the game out. I've not messed much with the caster classes because I always love melee in every game I play so I figure this would be the best time to munchkin as hard as a I can into casters. Divination wizard with Lucky is pretty drat strong without needing much thought. Snag “Mind Spike” from XGE and you’ll do decent damage when you need to and recover spell slots. Sorlock for consistent damage output, moon druid for face tanking at lowish levels.
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Aug 7, 2018 15:01
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Verisimilidude posted:What are some thrifty things you guys do for your games? I'm starting a group soon and I'm trying to come up with fun ideas for tokens. So far I have some 1" washers, bought a 1" paper punch, and I'm gonna try to print some creature tokens out and glue them to the washers. Pull off the little rings of soda or sports drink bottle and use those as markers for when someone has a condition. Easier than just trying to keep track or trusting the player to keep track. You can also get bulk plastic toys for minis, like skeletons or cowboys and indians and such for pretty cheap online.
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Aug 7, 2018 15:02
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Verisimilidude posted:What are some thrifty things you guys do for your games? I'm starting a group soon and I'm trying to come up with fun ideas for tokens. So far I have some 1" washers, bought a 1" paper punch, and I'm gonna try to print some creature tokens out and glue them to the washers. Use maps from Donjon or Dungeongrapher or any other source and run them through the rasterbator to get them to actual size.
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Aug 7, 2018 15:30
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Kaysette posted:Divination wizard with Lucky is pretty drat strong without needing much thought. Snag “Mind Spike” from XGE and you’ll do decent damage when you need to and recover spell slots. Sorlock for consistent damage output, moon druid for face tanking at lowish levels. God damm, they gave divination a damage spell? Is anyone even paying attention at WotC?
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Aug 7, 2018 15:42
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inthesto posted:God damm, they gave divination a damage spell? Is anyone even paying attention at WotC? lmao what do you think
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Aug 7, 2018 15:43
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Dameius posted:I am starting a new campaign as the only not new player out of 5 PCs and they have said that they want me to play to carry/bail the group while they figure the game out. I've not messed much with the caster classes because I always love melee in every game I play so I figure this would be the best time to munchkin as hard as a I can into casters. Maybe Bard? That way you can help out the other characters with Healing Word and bardic inspiration, and still be plenty capable individually.
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Aug 7, 2018 16:06
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inthesto posted:God damm, they gave divination a damage spell? Is anyone even paying attention at WotC? It does require concentration so it's not great if you already have a crowd control effect going. Its still a decent way to start a fight and get a lower slot back if you need it.
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Aug 7, 2018 16:13
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sebmojo posted:Skill challenges are such a great idea, that 4e never properly managed to articulate; dungeon world is basically 'skill challenges, the game' Yeah, I'd like to read up more on these, they sound like they'd be a fun house rule for 5e. Should I just read through the dungeon world stuff or 4e?
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Aug 7, 2018 16:25
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Dameius posted:I am starting a new campaign as the only not new player out of 5 PCs and they have said that they want me to play to carry/bail the group while they figure the game out. I've not messed much with the caster classes because I always love melee in every game I play so I figure this would be the best time to munchkin as hard as a I can into casters. Lore Bard is hands down best caster in 5e, IMHO. You can literally cast any spell in the game (as mentioned above) and you can also divvy out inspiration dice to other players, which is fun. When I played a Lore Bard (thinking it would be the most pointless choice like every other edition) I would hand other players my dice and if you want to get really funny/annoying you can make up little songs like Sam Riegel did on critical role. I also took the Lucky feat early on which was a huge boon. With the crazy choice of spells, Jack-of-all-trades (half proficiency bonus to anything you're not proficient with), and getting expertise on multiple skills, lore bards are extremely useful, and the danger might be that you carry too hard and make everyone else feel bored and/or inadequate.
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Aug 7, 2018 16:32
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Kaysette posted:It does require concentration so it's not great if you already have a crowd control effect going. Its still a decent way to start a fight and get a lower slot back if you need it. The concentration effect is nothing to write home about (though if an enemy flees combat, it's a wonderful way to overwrite the ranger's tracking abilities); it's more that divination already has the best class features by a fair margin. This is presumably to compensate for the fact that divination spells are rarely used in combat (not that it matters because specialization is not nearly as restrictive as it was in 3.X), and then they just give divination a combat spell anyway.
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Aug 7, 2018 16:35
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inthesto posted:The concentration effect is nothing to write home about (though if an enemy flees combat, it's a wonderful way to overwrite the ranger's tracking abilities); it's more that divination already has the best class features by a fair margin. This is presumably to compensate for the fact that divination spells are rarely used in combat (not that it matters because specialization is not nearly as restrictive as it was in 3.X), and then they just give divination a combat spell anyway. Kaysette means that because it's a spell that requires concentration, you're forced to drop any existing concentration spells to cast it, even if the damage is all you want it for.
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Aug 7, 2018 17:01
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Finster Dexter posted:Yeah, I'd like to read up more on these, they sound like they'd be a fun house rule for 5e. Should I just read through the dungeon world stuff or 4e? I've house ruled them into one of my games, somewhere between 4E RAW and Dungeon World. The objective is to get X success before Y failures. If you want to do something describe it to me and maybe I'll give advantage or disadvantage depending on what you've described. No contributing to the challenge twice before someone else has contributed once. If no one is feeling like piping up, we move right to the fail state for the challenge (usually combat for a chase, or complication down the road for a social scene).
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Aug 7, 2018 17:49
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Ok, so I'm not great at Wizarding yet, so I'm looking for suggestions before I do my pre-5 rebuild in AL (with all the lessons learned so far). It's only a couple minor changes at this point, but maybe feedback will get me some more insight. I'm using this dude exclusively in AL, so it's been largely small "breadcrumbs to box text" minis and we're getting ready to transition into HCs once we have a full group at 5. However, since it's AL, it's liable to be a lot of alternating combat and puzzles and from what I've seen of the puzzles, they are largely written such that magic isn't relevant in solving them. I'm at Wizard 4 with War Wizard subclass and am almost certain I'm taking an ASI over a feat. At that point, I'll have 9 spell slots which is the problem I run into most. Even with rituals, I feel like there's already a handful of mandatory picks and then the competition for the other half of my slots is so fierce, that I can't ever even prepare situational stuff because the loss of the prep slot is too big a cost for something that may not get used. I'm going to have to take Counterspell+Dispel Magic at either 5 or 6, since I'm in War Magic, Misty Step feels like a must-have, and Magic Missile feels indispensable as a scaling spell with few resistances and a high damage floor. Once I take those, I only have about 5 prep spots left, so I could grab Web/Sleep/Haste (at which point Web and Haste are competing for my Concentration), then I'm looking at needing probably 2 direct damage spells (Fireball and Chromatic Orb?). That leaves me unable to take cool situational stuff like Featherfall, Knock, Invisibility, Spider Climb, Mirror Image etc. which are all the cool rad things that set wizards apart. Am I missing something or are Wizards just not given the prep slots to really take advantage of their spellbook? Also, I don't understand some of the underlying design decisions. I picked up a Wand of the War Mage +1 early which buffs ranged spell attacks. But, as far as I can tell, those basically don't exist past level 2 (The only one I could find using DnDB's broken search is Crown of Stars at level 7). Is the point of this item to incentivize taking the lower level ranged attack spells and using them in boosted slots (which, I guess is a thing, but they don't seem to scale especially well, and often on scale on a portion of the spell)? Anyway, any rad wizarding advice (other than TRY MY OTHER NOT-D&D GAME THAT DOES WIZARDS EVEN RADDER) would be appreciated.
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Aug 7, 2018 18:21
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Two questions about fighter/wizard: 1. Is action surge worth the second fighter level or do you take your armor and save proficiency and call it a day? 2. Does the damage absorption from abjurer scale well enough, or is being a diviner who can force monsters to miss more valuable on average?
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Aug 7, 2018 18:30
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Toshimo posted:Anyway, any rad wizarding advice (other than TRY MY OTHER NOT-D&D GAME THAT DOES WIZARDS EVEN RADDER) would be appreciated. Well, other not-D&D games do wizards way radder, though 
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Aug 7, 2018 18:30
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sebmojo posted:Skill challenges are such a great idea, that 4e never properly managed to articulate; dungeon world is basically 'skill challenges, the game' "Intimidate check. DC whatever. gently caress you passing it still ruins everything" I can't remember what module it was, but I did get a giggle out of the prank of "If you pass the arcana check, you take a little psychic damage from understanding the horrible eldritch lore written on the wall". inthesto posted:Two questions about fighter/wizard: Either way, if you are more interested in casting I'd probably focus on caster levels though. As reality can make "It's only one more level of wait time!" drag on quite a lot. A pal of mine who made unironic "But at level 17" you get-' comments a lot, changed his tune when realizing how long reaching level 4 would take for an NPC given the infrequency of our games when prepping for a separate yet to start campaign. Section Z fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Aug 7, 2018 |
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Aug 7, 2018 18:43
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Toshimo posted:Anyway, any rad wizarding advice (other than TRY MY OTHER NOT-D&D GAME THAT DOES WIZARDS EVEN RADDER) would be appreciated. Yeah you don't really get the chance to prepare situational stuff unless there's another caster to pick up the slack - it's all rituals and what is most generally useful. Magic Missile is by far your best early-level damage option, and even later it's good against enemy casters by forcing them to make 3 concentration checks automatically, but it doesn't scale that well in the damage department. You've correctly assessed Misty Step is awesome. You can drop Sleep as you hit 5, since at that point it's more of an utility spell than a serious combat option. Firebolt is a ranged spell attack - at 5 it deals 2d10 damage, which is a decent enough use of your action after you've blown the spells you've budgeted for the current encounter. Scorching Ray is also good. Chromatic Orb is bad. Generally, you don't want to upcast spells - they tend to have very poor roi compared to using a slot-appropriate spell. Since you're not a Sorcerer, I'd say taking Hypnotic Pattern is better than Haste, as the latter is effectively a damage option but you've also got Fireball. And since you've got an AoE concentration disable, you could drop Web. You could also take Suggestion, another great concentration and utility spell for your 2nd level slot. What's your wizwong race/stats anyway? An understand that War Mage's only useful feature for a wizard is the initiative bonus. inthesto posted:Two questions about fighter/wizard: 1. Debatable. It's certainly nice to get once you've got all your essential spells down, but 3rd and 4th level spells are really clutch and you don't want to delay them any more than you have to. 5th level spells and up are honestly kind of campaign busting poo poo so it's like whatever - delay by one level when you can Dominate Person or trivialize straight fights with Wall of Force, or Teleport the whole party across the world. It's more matter of whether you want to get faster to the high-level caster exclusive minigame, or be better at the game everyone else is playing. 2. Divination is better, though more than forcing misses, by forcing them to fail saves on save-or-lose spells.
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Aug 7, 2018 18:53
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"Command" can also be real good time for being a cheap level 1 slot spell. While it's creative effects are nowhere near as bullshit as better spells, and even less if you have a GM making passive aggressive interpretations of your wording. One of the BEST parts of the Command spell my friends keep forgetting about, is the fine print "-and then they end their turn". Command spell really fucks with action economy, because the effect triggers on the enemy turn, and that's ALL they get to do on their turn. Nowhere near as good as straight up paralyze bullshit, but still useful for breathing room. So even if a GM interprets "Disarm" as "They won't throw it, they drop it at their feet! 5th edition rules will let them just pick it up as part of their attack action anyways  " that enemy is still hosed because they lost their turn in which do to so.Primarily this holds my attention because it remains real useful as 1st level slot spending filler. While things like sleep becomes less and less useful without amping up the slot level you cast it as. Or ignoring fine print like "Sorry, the spell says hold PERSON, and this is a demon" Section Z fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Aug 7, 2018 |
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Aug 7, 2018 19:02
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Command is really good, yeah. But it's not a Wizard spell.
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Aug 7, 2018 19:07
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Conspiratiorist posted:Command is really good, yeah. 
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Aug 7, 2018 19:13
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Finster Dexter posted:Yeah, I'd like to read up more on these, they sound like they'd be a fun house rule for 5e. Should I just read through the dungeon world stuff or 4e? If you have access to these books: I would read 4e's DMG 2 to get guidance on how to pace and structure campaigns and plots I would read 3e's DMG 2 to get guidance on how to actually run games, as a real-life, practical matter I would read Dungeon World to get a feel for the principle of making a move, setting up the fiction and the danger, and then following through
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Aug 7, 2018 19:22
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Conspiratiorist posted:What's your wizwong race/stats anyway? An understand that War Mage's only useful feature for a wizard is the initiative bonus. Gnome https://ddb.ac/characters/3080251/nbK3ww The on-demand reaction for +2AC/+4 to a failed save is super nice and probably as good as the init bonus imo. +2 passive AC while concentrating is nice, but not cray. Everything to do with damage is dogshit though because 1/2 your level damage is small potatoes.
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Aug 7, 2018 19:46
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Additionally, I was looking at Chromatic Orb over Scorching Ray because I didn't want to have (Fire Bolt+Conjure Bonfire+Scorching Ray+Fireball) and be stuck with MM only when up against a Fire resistant/immune dude. (Someone pls explain why Thunder and Lightning are separate damage types and almost nothing is resistant/immune to Thunder, but lots are resistant/immune to Lightning.)
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Aug 7, 2018 19:49
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Toshimo posted:Additionally, I was looking at Chromatic Orb over Scorching Ray because I didn't want to have (Fire Bolt+Conjure Bonfire+Scorching Ray+Fireball) and be stuck with MM only when up against a Fire resistant/immune dude. (Someone pls explain why Thunder and Lightning are separate damage types and almost nothing is resistant/immune to Thunder, but lots are resistant/immune to Lightning.) Because 3.x called it sonic damage and basically nothing resisted it, and 5th edition is a slavish recreation of 3.x with the numbers filed off
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Aug 7, 2018 19:53
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I am about to enter a new game and am considering making a Dream Druid. If anyone could offer their impressions of the subclass, as well as general advice for making a druid, I would appreciate it.
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Aug 7, 2018 20:05
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Piell posted:Because 3.x called it sonic damage and basically nothing resisted it, and 5th edition is a slavish recreation of 3.x with the numbers filed off Seriously, just look at Thunderwave. The description is literally describing a sonic boom.
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Aug 7, 2018 20:11
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Actually it's cause 4e renamed Sonic to Thunder damage and Electricity to Lightning damage. And 5e decided to keep the 4e damage type names.
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Aug 7, 2018 20:59
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SettingSun posted:Seriously, just look at Thunderwave. The description is literally describing a sonic boom. counterpoint: Thunder Wave has been Electric type since Pokemon Red/Blue
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Aug 7, 2018 21:17
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thunder the hedgehog
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Aug 7, 2018 21:18
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Section Z posted:Action surge is pretty great, but it can also wildly vary depending on your GM's hot takes on how it "Should" work. I'd be making the character at level 8 or 9, so muddling through those mid-levels that fighter/wizards always suffer through isn't too much of an issue for me. I mostly want a fighter that has some spellcasting for flair, but sadly EK just doesn't seem to do that well enough in 5E.
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Aug 7, 2018 21:38
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gradenko_2000 posted:If you have access to these books: I know how to run games... I was speaking specifically to the idea of the "skill challenges" mentioned previously.
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Aug 7, 2018 22:00
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inthesto posted:I'd be making the character at level 8 or 9, so muddling through those mid-levels that fighter/wizards always suffer through isn't too much of an issue for me. Consider Paladin 2/Sorc 6, Sorc 6/Hexblade 1, Hexblade 1/Swords Bard 6, or Bladesinger.
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Aug 7, 2018 22:02
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Finster Dexter posted:I know how to run games... I was speaking specifically to the idea of the "skill challenges" mentioned previously. Matt Coville has a video that goes into them on his YouTube too; my DM did one to escape a collapsing temple recently and it went pretty well (aside from the fact that we failed)
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Aug 7, 2018 22:16
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Finster Dexter posted:I know how to run games... I was speaking specifically to the idea of the "skill challenges" mentioned previously. In that case you will probably still want to look at 4e's DMG 2, because it has a "revision" of how to run skill challenges that's better than the first DMG.
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Aug 7, 2018 22:18
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