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Under the "How do you get into 5e" section of the OP, it says to consider getting the D&D 5e "Starter Set", but the list of what the Starter Set includes does not list the Players Handbook, which seems to have more information than just the free Basic Rules (according to the free Basic Rules). Is that correct and you need to get the Player's Handbook separately?
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Feb 7, 2020 00:42
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Kaal posted:The Player's Handbook is quite a bit more complete than the Basic Rules, and ultimately you'd want to have access to it. But the basic rules have everything you need to jump into a game, create a basic character, and play with a party. The Starter Set with the Basic Rules is a good place to start so you can have all the things you need to actually play through an adventure. The Player's Handbook is for when you know you want to keep playing and you want to make characters that are more unique, or you want to have a fuller appreciation for how the rules can interact. Okay, fair enough. I was wondering in part because looking at just the basic rules I was a little unclear on some things. Such as your pick some number of skills from your class's possible skills, but is it just once at character creation, or every time you level up you get to put that number of skill points to put into your possible skills? I assume that you get skill points every level-up, but the basic rules don't seem to say.
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Feb 7, 2020 01:02
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Kaal posted:Like Toshimo mentioned, you don't generally get new skills as you level-up. Instead you increase your competence in the skills that you do have, via the slowly increasing Ability Scores and Proficiency Bonus. Leveling up tends to give you specific class abilities, rather than the relatively generic skills. But there's a variety of ways of learning new skills if you want to focus your character in that manner, and that's the kind of information that the PHB is filled with. It wasn't even so much getting extra skills as that I was unclear about whether you get to increase your competence in each skill as you level up. One rough idea I had was for a Rogue who was an ex-city guard (ex-policeman essentially) with a focus on Investigation, Perception, Insight (and probably Stealth as the last one because Rogue without Stealth might suck), but the basic rules only go over the Thief archtype. But I'm thinking Kaal is right and I should stick with much more basic simple character concepts until I decide if I want to go deeper.
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Feb 7, 2020 02:17
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Kaal posted:The Player's Handbook is quite a bit more complete than the Basic Rules, and ultimately you'd want to have access to it. But the basic rules have everything you need to jump into a game, create a basic character, and play with a party. The Starter Set with the Basic Rules is a good place to start so you can have all the things you need to actually play through an adventure. The Player's Handbook is for when you know you want to keep playing and you want to make characters that are more unique, or you want to have a fuller appreciation for how the rules can interact. Coming back to this question about the Starter Set, what does the "32-page rulebook for playing characters level 1-5" offer that the 180-page basic rules which are freely available does not? I'm not in a position to make use of the Dungeon Master portion of the Starter Set at the moment, and I do have a set of dice (d4, lots of d6, 2d8, 2d10, 2d12, and a d20), so really, that 32-page rulebook would be the most unique thing. I just discovered that the Player's Handbook is $50 USD, so I see what you mean about it being for when you know you want to keep playing. Can I ask how many pages it has, how many player races it goes into, and how many classes it goes into detail on?
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Feb 10, 2020 22:53
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Thank you all, that was very informative. EDIT: Ooh, Amazon.ca has the Player's Handbook for under $35 CDN. Considering I saw the Starter's Kit for, I think $28 CDN, at the local gaming store, that's not looking like a bad price. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 05:54 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Feb 11, 2020 01:31
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Some classes get this thing called "ritual casting", and there's this feat "Ritual Caster" but I don't really understand what "ritual casting" is.Remora posted:PHB pgs 201-202. EDIT: Oh, right. Thanks. That helped. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 06:25 on Feb 18, 2020 |
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Feb 18, 2020 05:50
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I've got a concept for a Warlock which disguises their magic as the effects of (non-functional) firearms. The details of the campaign setting will determine whether or not firearms exist and are known, or if it'll just be a strange "new invention". I would of course, consult with the DM to see if this character would be a good fit with the setting. Either way, the character won't be shooting actual bullets/balls with the weapons, and if pinch comes to shove, they could use the magic without having the firearms; they're just a disguise for the actual source of the power. (I know, I know, that might seem stupid in a setting where people fling around all sorts of magic, but I find this concept interesting.) Basically, this character would largely be using a lever-action rifle to fire Eldritch Blasts, or drawing a revolver, spinning the chamber to the right slot to "fire" off a spell. Area effect stuff would be "grenades" which - like the guns - don't actually function. I've determined that my Patron will be an Archfey (because the spell list and Otherworldly Patron features match up best with the character I want to play), but I don't have any idea what subclass of Warlock fits. Neither Pact of the Chain, Blade, or Tome seem to match and neither does Hexblade. I would default to Pact of the Tome if there aren't any better ideas, although a custom-tweaked Hexblade (Hexgun?) might be an idea if the guns actually fire real bullets... but at that point you might as well just chuck it all and go Gunslinger. What kind of Warlock seems to fit the best? Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 00:46 on May 19, 2020 |
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May 18, 2020 05:14
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I have a few possible characters in mind, so I have a few random questions. 1. Generally speaking, it's a good idea to take Ability Score Increases instead of Feats for the modifier increase, right, but do some builds have exceptions? For example, if I'm making an Eldritch Knight Fighter, it seems like I would have a hard time without taking Warcaster to let me cast while wielding a weapon and shield. 2. You can choose between an Arcane Focus or a component pouch. Is that just for flavor, or does it matter? For example, the component of Chromatic Orb requires a diamond worth 50 gp. Is that spell unusable if you select arcane focus instead of component pouch? I'm considering making an Abjuration-specialist Wizard, so I have a few questions about Arcane Ward. 3a. The description says that it appears the first time you cast an Abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, and lasts - even at 0 HP - until you finish a long rest. As written, that means it remains up even if you go unconscious, correct? 3b. Alarm is a first level abjuration which can be cast as a ritual. The description of the Arcane Ward does not say you need to expend a spell slot to get the ward. So if the first thing you do after waking up is spending 10-11 minutes casting Alarm on something, that grants you the ward, so you can have it in existence almost all the time? 3c. At 6th level you get Projected Ward, which lets you use your reaction to interject the ward on a target. But that's only as a reaction, and after that, the effect of the ward applies to the wizard again, right? 4. The spells your Warlock patron unlocks are ones you COULD learn, but they still count against your maximum spells known, so you would need to replace one of your other ones to use them, correct? Open Marriage Night posted:I’d see if you could get the Hexblade to work. I made a Forge Cleric that used his gun to cast spells that was a lot of fun until he died Yeah, that sounds about right, if the DM would allow a tweak to the wording of the Hex Warrior feature to add proficiency with firearms (instead of shields), and also allow Pact of the Blade to apply to firearms. I'll outright ignore the flavor text on Hexblade which says your pact is with an entity of the Shadowfell. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 16:09 on May 19, 2020 |
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May 19, 2020 14:56
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The Alert Feat (which I want to take for my human bounty hunter for flavor reasons even if it's not optimal) says "you can't be surprised while you are conscious". Does that mean you can sense an ambush before it's triggered? Because most campaigns don't end up lasting too long, I assume that it's probably a poor idea to have my Half-Orc Monk take three levels of Barbarian for Totem of the Bear, so I should just have his flaw of uncontrollable anger be a flaw and not a mechanical thing. TooMuchAbstraction posted:The component pouch, focus, holy symbol, etc. are all sub-ins for the material components of spells that do not cost money. You still need the 50GP for Prismatic Orb no matter what kind of item you use. So because Chromatic Orb has component with a listed cost, I still need the 50 GP diamond with a focus even though the component is not consumed when casting the spell. Okay, thanks, that's what I wanted to be clarified, as that could influence which spells to take. It's fine if the Eldritch Knight needs a component pouch. I was thinking of for using a focus instead of a pouch for the wizard. TooMuchAbstraction posted:The abjuration ward does not say the spell has to use a spell slot, so a ritual would work. This assumes of course that your party's willing to wait around 10 minutes while you ward up. Sure, whether or not there's time to cast it depends on circumstances. When there is no rush, though, the extra buffer to health seems like a good thing to do whenever possible, because fights and ambushes happen. After a while, it can be shortened to "I do my usual ten-minute ritual to cast Alarm and activate my Arcane Ward." Glagha posted:1. Well if you're not set on being sword+board (which is not a bad thing at all and you should not take this as a criticism of being a shield user!) you can use a two-handed weapon and then you don't have any issues because you can just take your hand off your sword to cast spells and there's no restriction on that. If not then yeah you might wanna take warcaster, or just go with a one-handed weapon and no shield until you get around to taking it. Sure, any of those options, I suppose. I'd only need to go without the shield for one level.
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May 19, 2020 16:28
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change my name posted:My party of level 7 players has 8 months of downtime before the next main plot quest kicks off, what activities should I offer in the meantime? I've already said that they can take a free feat if they spend that time training, and our wizard wants to craft things, but some fun sidequests would be good too. So far I've offered that if the paladin helps out by training some goblin soldiers, he can get squires/backup troops in the final battle, but other suggestions would be great. It seems obvious, but have you asked your players what activities they want their characters to pursue in the downtime? Are there any personal quests they want to pursue or advance? For example, if they're looking for someone, they could spend time asking around and if they roll high enough investigations, they might get some leads pop up which could be pursued at a future date. Did they select a background or pre-adventuring profession, and if so, is that something they could pursue during the downtime? For example, I'm planning on giving my Warlock the Outlander (Bounty Hunter) background, so in the downtime, he might take on a couple bounties, and split any rewards with party members who want to join in and help. That could be a side-quest thing, or just a "you complete 3 bounties and receive a total of 400 gp" - it depends on deep you want to go. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 22:34 on May 22, 2020 |
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May 22, 2020 20:48
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1) When doing point-buy for stats, what's the best strategy to handle the less important ones? 2) I know you shouldn't dump CON, but where should CON be for non-frontline meat shields? 10, 12, 14? 3) Do you generally want to get DEX and WIS to at least 10 to avoid a penalty to saving throws, or risk it and dump those for more points? 4) In your primary stat, you want to aim for a starting score of at least 16, but is it better to spend the points so that 16 is before, or after racial bonuses? 5) I have an (rough) idea for a Barbarian employed by a repository of knowledge (Background: Sage (Librarian)). Without sacrificing the focus on STR and CON, are there any special Barbarian subclasses which benefit from INT? It's fine if there aren't, it's not critical to the build, just something I thought I'd check.
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May 26, 2020 16:16
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Okay, those answers pretty much confirm what my instincts were saying. The idea of a Wild Soul Barbarian sounds pretty neat. Its casting seems to be Con-based, and I could work with that without needing to ask if it could be based on Int or Arcana, as my CON would be higher than my INT anyway. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 20:26 on May 27, 2020 |
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May 27, 2020 05:03
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For ability score increases - if you have two primary abilities which are odd, is it better to boost each by one for the mod increase, or to boost the primary damage attribute by two to try and max that one out sooner? As an example, I'm thinking of a Halfling Wizard (yes, I'm thinking of a lot of characters, I'd like to have several possible options to go into a party configuration). Which direction is best to go for the following stat lines? (Halfling: DEX +2, Stout: CON + 1) 1) Higher DEX STR: 8 DEX: 17 (15+2) CON: 14 (13+1) INT: 15 WIS: 12 CHA: 8 At level 4, I'd increase DEX to 18 to have a +4 mod and increase my armor class by 1 and INT to 16 to have a +3 mod. 2) Higher CON STR: 8 DEX: 16 (14+2) CON: 15 (14+1) INT: 15 WIS: 12 CHA: 8 At level 4, I'd increase INT to 17 to have a +3 mod. 3) Higher WIS STR: 8 DEX: 15 (13+2) CON: 14 (13+1) INT: 15 WIS: 14 CHA: 9 At level 4, I'd increase INT to 17 to have a +3 mod. The extra point into CHA doesn't do anything much, but it's the only place I can put the last point.
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May 27, 2020 20:37
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Toshimo posted:Are you planning on taking any half-score feats? No half-score feats immediately for this character, the only ones which raise INT are ones I'm more interested in using on other characters. The only half-score feat which came to mind was Resilient (Dexterity) to get the proficiency in DEX saves to go with my already high DEX, but even that would be something I'd take late or not at all. (And I suppose most people would say to take Resilient (Constitution) instead.) I hadn't really considered going 14 int. I suppose there's no difference between 14 and 15. My character's backstory before being taken in as an wizard's apprentice had them as a gardener, and being told things like "Wizardry isn't a proper sort of profession for Halflings" by his fellow Halflings, so not having high INT does fit. It's just that there's something about starting with the primary stat as only third-highest that feels a little wrong. But mechanics-wise, it probably does make sense. He's definitely more than a little bit of a coward, so having high CON and DEX and specializing in Abjuration will probably give a semi-decent effective HP pool. The real question then would be if +1 HP per level starting from level 1 or +1 AC starting from level 4 would be better for survival. ...Nope, that isn't even a question at all. Higher AC means more attacks will miss and therefore do no damage at all. nelson posted:The only thing that matters is the modifier. Two +1s is better than one +1. That was my first instinct as well. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 21:56 on May 27, 2020 |
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May 27, 2020 21:19
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Sorry if I've been posting too much about this character, but I'm trying to figure out the best allocation for my gun-using "Bounty Hunter" Human Warlock. STR is always 8, INT is always 10. I'm pretty sure that I want to keep my level 1 Feat as Alert given the combination of his profession and backstory. 2) DEX: 15 // CON: 14 // WIS: 10 // CHA: 16 - and @ Level 4: +1 DEX, Resilient (Dexterity) 3) DEX: 14 // CON: 14 // WIS: 12 // CHA: 16 - and @ Level 4: +2 DEX 4) DEX: 16 // CON: 13 // WIS: 10 // CHA: 16 - and @ Level 4: +1 CON, Resilient (Constitution) 5) DEX: 14 // CON: 14 // WIS: 12 // CHA: 16 - and @ Level 4: Spell Sniper (or some other non-half-score feat) 6) Other, perhaps using a different feat. 7) DEX: 14 // CON: 14 // WIS: 12 // CHA: 16 - and @ Level 4: +2 CHA The guns would largely be a cover to disguise my usage of Eldritch Blast, and I'd probably try and disguise most other spells and spellcasting as the effects of guns or devices. Essentially a Warlock pretending to be a Gunslinger (but without any of the features a Gunslinger gets except proficiency with Firearms - I'd drop the Hexblade's Proficiency with shields for that). I'd eventually get the Spell Sniper feat at some point, probably 8 or 12. I would need to work out with the DM the prevalence of firearms in the campaign, so I'm not sure how much I'd shoot actual bullets, which means I'm not sure how useful high DEX would be - although the benefit to AC is nice. I could have a Light Crossbow as a backup weapon, but that's not really the aesthetic I want. I want my patron to be an Archfey for the spells and features of that patron (plus backstory stuff involving time fuckery from transitioning between Feywild and the prime material plane), but I don't have the slightest idea which specific Archfey would be a good fit or why they'd take an interest in someone who was strung up by the arms and left to slowly bleed to death by his last bounty target's gang. (I mean, other than acquiring a useful tool who literally owed them their life.) Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Jun 3, 2020 |
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Jun 3, 2020 16:36
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Toshimo posted:TAKE 18 CHA @ 4. Okay, that makes sense, so I guess what makes the most sense for the rest of the stat line would be DEX 14, CON 14, WIS 12.
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Jun 3, 2020 18:26
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I thought up a homebrew custom background, as a fun imagination exercise for a former city watch character I'm creating. I probably won't use it for an actual character, considering that the amount of times this could be useful are limited and highly DM/campaign dependent, but as an exercise it was interesting. I'm unsure how to balance it, so I've left some things a bit vague. Thoughts on what parts are too strong, and what parts are too weak, or otherwise need tweaking? I probably erred on the side of too weak. quote:City Guard Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Jun 6, 2020 |
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Jun 6, 2020 13:55
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pog boyfriend posted:its fine, remember that you can switch proficiencies around in a background to customize freely(albeit with a limited number of features) this is RAW, but nobody ever remembers that rule I know about that, the option I was planning to use, with only the existing options was: Skill Proficiencies: Tool Proficiencies: Equipment: Feature: Basically, I'd need to replace almost everything from Soldier. (I'd actually need to replace both Tool Proficiencies from Soldier, because my class would be Rogue, who already get Thieves Tools. But I have no idea what) (I assume that City Secrets applies to every city of a certain size, not just your home city, because it seems lame enough already even if it applies to all cities. "Oh boy, we can move through cities in half the time, this will be so incredibly useful!") Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 17:19 on Jun 6, 2020 |
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Jun 6, 2020 17:10
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Suggest me some magic items to give my party! They just turned 9th level, pretty low magic world, and they don't have much magic stuff, and I'm too lazy to read through the all the magic items on dndbeyond! They are a barbarian, Archfey tomelock/rogue, fighter/war wizard, dreams druid, and vengeance paladin/hexblade. What cool stuff should they get? They are possibly looting a powerful wizard's lair, so most anything is on the table. I much prefer 'neat and occasionally useful' to 'very powerful.' You could try some randomly generated items from this site: http://www.lordbyng.net/inspiration/results.php
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Jun 6, 2020 20:25
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engessa posted:Sword Coasts Adventures Guide has an official one: http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/background:city-watch I didn't know about that. That's super, thanks. I can use that instead with the Investigator variant.
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Jun 7, 2020 13:57
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Halflings have the Lucky racial feature which lets them re-roll a 1, taking the new roll. How does that interact with Advantage or Disadvantage? If you're at Advantage and roll a 1 and a 4, are you stuck taking the 4, or do you get to re-roll the natural 1? Similarly, if you're at disadvantage and roll double natural 1's, do you get to re-roll both, or just one of them?
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Jun 10, 2020 16:27
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Ryuujin posted:Looking at this and the Barbarian subclass looks kind of interesting, but mechanically bad. I think it doesn't stack with extra attack because the extra attack is built in. Pistoleers get extra shots (with separate attack rolls) at 5th, 11th, and 20th level. Snipers don't get extra shots, but their damage die increases at 5th, 11th, and 20th levels. That class looks to be pretty close to the thing my bounty-hunter Warlock would pretend to be. It uses the same stats (DEX/CHA), too.
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Jun 11, 2020 12:48
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Tosk posted:Me again. I saw a recommendation to give level 1 characters +10 hp because the early game is super lethal. Is that a common house rule? I've heard from this thread about a house rule where level 1 characters get their total Constitution added to their health, instead of just the mod. So If you had 14 CON, that would add + 14 health instead of + 2. I don't know how common it is compared to just having characters start at a higher level, though.
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Jun 14, 2020 13:49
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Lobsterpillar posted:You could also make it a saxophone of stealth: it makes you invisible while you are playing it. I like the idea of a Tuba that increases stealth, but only if you're actively playing "In the Hall of the Mountain King".
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Jun 16, 2020 17:58
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:Holy goddamn poo poo yes, they should have killed them ages ago! Is there something stopping you from playing an Orc Wizard now? If that's the character you're interested in, there's nothing wrong with trying it, and making the non-traditional race/class combination part of your characterization. Some of my character concepts in progress have non-optimized race/class combinations because it adds some inner conflict and doubt. EDIT: Sorry, I misread Orc as Half-Orc, I forgot about the -2 INT penalty full Orcs have. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Jun 18, 2020 |
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Jun 18, 2020 12:54
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I don't mind the proposed option to customize racial ability scores to better match your character concept, and I probably would make use of that. Some of my character concepts do have racial/class synergy. It's fine if you want maximum optimization, nothing wrong with that at all. However, if have a character concept for a Half-Orc Monk, or a Halfling Wizard, those are usually going to be different characters than if I create a Halfling Monk and High Elf Wizard. Kaysette posted:It’s not fun for some people to be bad at the thing you’re supposed to be good at. I didn't say I was going to make an 8 Int Wizard or a 8 STR 10 CON Dragonborn Barbarian. They'll still be good at the thing they're supposed to be good at, even if they aren't purely optimized. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 15:27 on Jun 18, 2020 |
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Jun 18, 2020 15:20
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Kaysette posted:sure but tanking your main stat is dumb as hell in a game with rules like 5e I'm not tanking my main stats. I said that. There is a difference between non-optimized stats and dump stats. The main stats are going to be as high as I can get them while still keeping my chosen race. That is also not the same thing as "I will gently caress over the party with my roleplaying decisions".
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Jun 18, 2020 16:15
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:-2 to int is actually really bad in the case of the orc! Oh, sorry. I mis-read that and thought it was a Half-Orc. I've only looked at the stats for a full Orc a couple of times on the point build calculator and forgot about the -2 INT. Glagha posted:Considering the standard array gives you an 8 it's literally impossible to play a character who doesn't have a thing that sets them back. The idea however is to not force a player to pick between being the character they want, and being able to do their job well. That's fine, I have no problem with the proposed change to uncouple attributes from race. quote:The only different between a +2 int race wizard and a not +2 int race wizard is that they spent 4 more levels with a 5% higher chance of their poo poo just not working. That's not interesting in the slightest. Half-orc wizard has to pay the price of failing more often over the course of their career for the privilege of having tusks. It's not interesting to you. That's perfectly fine. You can play how you want. No one is going to hold a gun to your head to force you into playing a character who doesn't get a +2 in their chosen stat. There is however, a difference between playing as specific characters, such as Wilbur Greenmeadow, Halfling, and Tieneval, High Elf.I could make both of them Wizards, and Tieneval would be mechanically better at it, but I don't have anything in mind for Tieneval, whereas I do for Wilbur. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Jun 18, 2020 |
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Jun 18, 2020 17:10
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Glagha posted:There's the issue though. You just accept that Wilbur is a worse wizard than Tieneval. Why should Wilbur be a worse wizard? Because Wilbur isn't an elf? We're just going to go ahead and do the racial determinism bit and say elves are better than halflings at being wizards? And is the fact that Wilbur fails more often at wizarding make Wilbur more interesting? Or is Wilbur more interesting in spite of the game penalizing them for being the wrong race? I don't even know what you're arguing because you told me that you like uncoupling ability scores from races. This would mean you're no longer being punished for playing Wilbur instead of Tieneval. I literally said, in the exact same post you replied to: "I have no problem with the proposed change to uncouple attributes from race." Yes, it would be nice to play a Halfling where I could pick +2 INT. Wilbur not getting +2 INT does not make him more interesting, what makes Wilbur more interesting to me is the specifics of his character, and I'm loving sorry that I misspoke. One of the specifics of Wilbur's character is that he's a Halfling, and at this moment the rules as written say Halflings do not get +1 or 2 INT. If that makes him 5% worse, that's something I'll have to accept until or unless the rules change (or the DM gives me an exception and says I can change it).
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Jun 18, 2020 17:36
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Gharbad the Weak posted:You can roleplay weaknesses all you want. You can play a person with 18 wisdom as a fool, just a very perceptive fool. But it really sucks to go "Well, if I didn't try to have a more interesting character, we would've won that fight and [person] would not have died." That's nice. I don't give even the tiniest, most miniscule of fucks, because you are being absurd. Each combat has probably several dozen d20 rolls. Lots of them have the potential to dramatically turn combat. Yes, the slightly less than hyper-optimized min-maxed wizard might miss a vital roll by 1. Or maybe the hyper optimized min-max munchkin paladin never rolls above a natural 8 during the entire battle. Either way, the outcome is largely in the hands of the dice no matter what. It's a game. A million different things could happen to make you win or lose, and yes, sometimes you lose. But it is disingenuous to place the blame entirely on someone playing a "more interesting character" as if that's some kind of crime. Games are about having fun. Any table where I am told "you cannot play that character because it is only 90% optimized instead of 100% optimized" is a table I'm probably not going to sit down at.
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Jun 19, 2020 00:42
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SneezeOfTheDecade posted:If anyone's interested in an archive of this thread before the ship starts to sink, you can get one here. What tools did you use to grab that, I might want to do a similar thing for the Fiction Writing Advice thread.
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Jun 26, 2020 14:08
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Gooch181 posted:I've finally broke down and started playing with character creation; I have zero tabletop experience. I've been looking around and found a few spots for LFG (dndbeyond forums, roll20 forums) but they are a hot mess. Are those the best places to try and get in some newbie sessions or one-offs? I asked around in a DnDBeyond discord and was sadly informed level 1 one-offs aren't very common. I'm trying to decide how I can cut my teeth without committing to a character or campaign just yet. Are you looking for advice in finding a game to train new players or for creating a throwaway character (or both)?
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Jun 27, 2020 05:03
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I want to make a Warlock (Jonas Krinn) whose backstory is that they were an ordinary person, a kind of "Old West" themed bounty hunter without any notable magical talent (Cowboy Hat, duster). They want to try and pass off their spellcasting as using magical devices. They are not actually using magical devices, just pretending they are. They didn't exactly choose to become a Warlock. (Jonas was in trouble and near death and called out for anyone to help him, and to his surprise an Archfey appeared and offered to help Jonas in exchange for working for the Archfey.) So, casting Faerie Fire would be tossing a capsule to where you want to cast the spell. The spell would go off at the intended location, even if the capsule doesn't land in the proper place, which could somewhat give the trick away. The Eldritch Sight invocation would be cast by slipping on a pair of glasses. Eldritch Blast would seem to be cast from a hand crossbow or a pistol (possibly non-functional), depending on the technology setting. Would it be reasonable for the Warlock to be able to get away with this if they are proficient in Deception and Sleight of Hand? (Sleight of Hand would be the bonus proficiency from being a Variant Human.) I picked Archfey for the spell list. What I'm not sure about is the Pact to choose. I only have a PHB so the only ones I know of are Chain, Blade and Tome. Chain is right out because having a familiar gives up the ruse. Pact of the Blade would only really be useful for the summoning and dismissing of the weapon, and using it only for that part seems like a waste of a class feature. That leaves Pact of the Tome, but that also runs up against the concept of a character trying to conceal their magic power. Are there other pacts from different sourcebooks which might fit better? My class skill proficiencies from the Warlock list would be Intimidation and Investigation (because of my Bounty Hunter backstory). My background would be Outlander (Bounty Hunter), which gives proficiencies in Survival and Athletics - except I would swap Stealth in place of Athletics, because Bounty Hunter. If the setting allows firearms, I'd also be tempted to swap out the Musical Instrument tool proficiency for Tinkerer's Kit proficiency. My idea for the required arcane focus would be a ring made of stone from the Feywild. A couple other questions about building a Warlock. 1. They don't get much in the way of spell slots, so is it best to take a bunch of support spells? (I was thinking of taking Faerie Fire and Charm Person as 1st-level spells, but I suppose I should drop Charm Person and take Hex like a Warlock is supposed to do.) I'd take Eldritch Blast as a cantrip of course, and probably Minor Illusion as the other one. 2. For Eldritch Invocations, I was going to take Agonizing Blast as my first one of course. I also want to take Eldritch Sight, Devil's Sight, and Repelling Blast, because those seem like they would be quite useful. Beguiling Influence gives proficiency in Deception and Persuasion. But you only get so many Invocations, so is Beguiling Influence worthwhile to spend one of those on for the proficencies? Other than that, nothing else is on my list of must-haves.
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Mar 6, 2021 17:50
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Real UK Grime posted:Beguiling Influence is a pretty poor invocation - you'd be better off finding any key proficiencies through racial or background skills. Hmmm, I was worried that proficiencies would be a poor choice for one of the Invocations. If I drop Beguiling Influence, I'd probably swap in Eldritch Sight, because at will Detect Magic would be extremely helpful for any number of times when there's no time to sit around for 11 minutes to cast it as a ritual. I'm not TOO particular about the proficiencies, but I do kinda want to stick close to ones which fit my character's backstory. The ones I originally penciled in were:
I could drop Investigation for Deception and perhaps drop Slight of Hand for Persuasion. The other Warlock proficiencies (Arcana, History, Nature, Religion) don't fit a poorly educated lawman like Jonas, and he has a +0 INT mod. In terms of racial proficiencies, I'm not sure I can do much there other than Variant Human (or Lightfoot Halfling). Halfling would require dropping one of Persuasion, Stealth, or Survival. Every other race except Elf/Half-Elf doesn't have the right ability score makeup, and this character can't be an Elf or Half-Elf, because one part of their backstory is that they spent 15 days recuperating from near-death in the Feywild, then experienced a time warp when their patron returned them from the Feywild back to the material plane and ended up 15 years in the future. (Yes, I am aware that an Archfey can control whether or not that happens, but my character does not know that.) Real UK Grime posted:Pact of the Chain may still be on the table given that many of the special familiars have permanent invisibility and/or shapechange, which might play into the 'things are not as they seem' angle. I'm not really feeling Pact of the Chain as a fit for this character, permanent invisibility or not. The Pact of the Talisman Kaal suggested seems like a much better fit. The Talisman could be passed off as a "good luck charm" or an heirloom. pog boyfriend posted:+8 on insight is enough that on passive insight you can solve any check. there is a real and present danger however that the DM will want to make rolls challenging for you and thus increase the DC such that every person you talk to is some secret agent and DC 20 is the base level or something absurd like this, as new DMs tend to see players minmaxing skills as "whoof gotta do something to balance this in line" so just make sure your DM doesnt do that kind of thing That talk of maxing out starting skills possibly pissing off the DM and making him break the game for other characters makes me think of another character concept I have - a former City Watch Investigator turned Rogue. If I made them a Variant Human (STR 8/DEX 15 +1/CON 13 +1/INT 14/WIS 12/CHA 10) and take Observant as the level 1 feat with Expertise in Insight and Perception, they would have a passive Insight of 15, a passive Investigation of 19 and a passive Perception of 20 at level 1. (And at level 6 I would take Expertise in Thieves Tools and Investigation.) The big downside is that they wouldn't have super-high Stealth scores. I guess I should reconsider that concept. I suppose a Half-Elf would work just as well without the big bonus from the level 1 feat. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Mar 7, 2021 |
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Mar 7, 2021 02:18
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cheesetriangles posted:So our party has a warlock with Bel as a patron and he gets the characters soul when he dies as part of a contract between the two. The warlock has had his goal in mind all campaign (we started at 1 level and are 13 now a year and a half irl later) of either finding a way to never die (lich?) or breaking the contract. The topic came up again today and there are rules for breaking a contract with a devil but no rules for what happens to a warlock if they break the pact with their patron. Quick look around on Google seems to say there are rules to allow it or what happens if you do. Older editions had things like paladins losing their abilities which obviously is lovely and no one is suggesting that. Anyone have some good ideas for this? Maybe needing to do some involved quest to get the contract modified or having to find a new patron. The lack of rules means the consequences are at the discretion of the DM. I'd consider something along the line of the Critical Role example Taeke mentioned: The Warlock can break their pact, but they lose their Warlock spells and features until they find another patron. The DM COULD just have a new one pop in immediately, but it would be a good quest hook to try and find a new patron more aligned with the Warlock's character. The DM and the Warlock's player should discuss that sort of thing together, though, to find out what the Warlock's player wants.
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Mar 13, 2021 16:46
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Bobby Deluxe posted:Don't forget they have to let the audience know what's going on as well. There was a lot of upset among players who were just following the narrative and not the mechanics when Mollymauk died. Narratively, Matt described one thing happening whereas I think he described it that way to cover up that mechanically, what happened was actually pretty embarrassing - they explained it in the related episode of Talks, but IIRC, Taliesin used Blood Maledict at the highest level he could, which he referred to as 'empowered' at the time. It failed, and backfired dealing so much damage to him that it would have sent him past his maximum in negative HP, which is instadeath, no saves. This is why he said 'gently caress, my Blood Maledict is gonna kill me.' He didn't go to max negative HP, he said "kill me" in the sense of going to 0 HP. He only had X HP remaining so he went to 0, but the bad guy had already begun his two attacks, and it wouldn't have made story sense for him to stop, so that was two automatic critical hits for 4 out of 3 failed death saves. Charging into melee with an untouched boss enemy while he was almost dead was a very poorly thought-out plan.
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Mar 21, 2021 17:33
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nelson posted:Disagree. If the players have no way of knowing about it then it doesn’t matter and just wastes precious space. Hmmm... yes, there's absolutely no way that a Dungeon Master, the one in control of the adventure, could possibly convey lore or background information to players.
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Mar 22, 2021 18:44
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SkySteak posted:Thank you for the replies given! I am trying to do all that I can to break down character creation and combat into something comprehensible -- the whole affair of teaching newbies being a learning experience in of itself. For one-way or two-way communication? Two-way would be difficult without a pre-arranged system. Two-way would be something like the patron using Sending or sending dreams to the Warlock. For one-way, I'd probably flavor that based on the type of patron or pact. - An Archfey might have notes in the patterns on leaves, which the Warlock could burn or tear up to hide them. - A fiend might leave logs that when burned reveal letters of fire. - Someone with the Pact of the Blade might have writing on their weapon which looks decorative without close inspection, but changes to send messages. - Pact of the Tome could have messages written on the cover of the book of shadows. - Pact of the Chain could have the pact speak through the familiar, whispering into the warlock's ear. That sort of thing. **** I'm actually thinking of also making a Warlock who wants to keep his patron and dealings as secret from their group, and as such tries to pretend that they're pretty non-magical, and they would play off their casting and invocations as stuff he got from an (fictitious) Artificer buddy. For instance, casting Misty Step would be dropping a "smoke stone" like real-life stage magic. Using the Eldritch Sight invocation would be putting on "special glasses". Using Eldritch Blast would be cast through his special weapon. This character would also be trying to avoid a lot of the most obviously magical stuff like alter self/polymorph. I'm not really sure what the best Invocations for that kind of character would be (Obviously, Agonizing Blast). I'm thinking their pact might be Pact of the Talisman. Their patron would be the Archfey for story reasons and because the spell slot list fits the idea best. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 02:54 on Apr 9, 2021 |
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Apr 9, 2021 01:42
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Enjoy posted:Lawyers and Liches Leeches and Liches
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Apr 14, 2021 20:04
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Rip_Van_Winkle posted:Does anyone have a hard answer to "can one PC use Deception, Intimidation, and Perception on another PC, and if so, what happens?" It's tricky to think about. This has happened many times on Critical Role - usually in the form of "Can I make an Insight check on X", and the DM tells PC X to make a deception or persuasion check, their choice. It's a contested roll, highest wins. The result is generally along the lines of "They're lying/seem to be sincere" for successful insight versus deception/persuasion, although if the DM doesn't know or isn't sure, the player answers. I don't know about an intimidation check, but I think it would be similar. The target of the Intimidation has to roll Insight, and if the Insight check succeeds, the DM would direct the PC trying to be intimidating to say whether they're being sincere or bluffing. For a failed insight check, the result tends to be "it's hard to tell." It is never a Jedi mind trick. The DM doesn't get to tell you "you believe them", just whether you can get a good read. A successful persuasion doesn't force you into changing your opinion, just that the one persuading seems sincere. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 14:13 on Apr 29, 2021 |
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Apr 29, 2021 14:11
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