> For example, wishing that a villain were dead might propel you forward in time to a period when that villain is no longer alive, effectively removing you from the game.
This isn't even a debate: The SRD literally states outright that Scorching Ray doesn't work with Twinned Spell. They call it out specifically: Here's the Roll20 page on it.
> Once a card is drawn, it fades from existence. Unless the card is the Fool or the Jester, the card reappears in the deck, making it possible to draw the same card twice.
https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Deck%20of%20Many%20Things#content
the DM was correct in this ruling.
I talked my friends into it at my wedding after I realized we spend far, far too little time together. After barely seeing each other over the last four years, we now make an effort to meet every week on Skype for a D&D session, and we are all having an absolute blast.
I'm DMing, and even though I know how our campaign is supposed to go, the most fun comes from putting your friends into it, and having them act in their own unique ways. Every session is like sitting down and watching a movie I've seen before, but all the main characters have instead been replaced by my best friends, and it's up to them to follow the plot however much or little they want, bringing their own imagination and flavor to the table.
The end result is a hilarious, intricate, and diverse story without the plot rules that exist in every other form of storytelling beyond the writers' room, but with a fraction of the planning and the effort.
Seriously, if you've got a few friends even mildly interested, get a game together and learn as you go. I look forward to our game every day of the week.
Edit: For those wondering how we play online, check out Roll20. It has pretty much full integration with the grid system (which I don't use much), as well as character sheets, tokens, and roll-able dice.
Problem-solving with spells occasionally has unintended consequences, though this is usually against me and not my players, since they typically have a better idea of what their spells do than I do. I’m much more likely to try something like having a villain escape with the flying spell when the players have all their spells slots, which is really just a way to invite my players to inflict fall damage on the villain and ensure that it goes downward into ~~the wood-chipper~~ range of the martial classes.
Every so often, though, the players cast a spell and I have to pipe up with an “if you really want to, okay” so that they second-guess themselves into not being buried alive.
Also, to save the unfamiliar some trouble, this is what Tiny Hut does. You may be used to it having some troublesome, copyright protected name in front of the spell’s name.
If you like these comics, check out the rest of them at www.yesthievescan.com and if you want to help us keep making them, check out our splatbooks on patreon.
Don't force multiclass levels on him. Give him something like a boon or a charm, balance it as if it is a level appropriate magic (but also probably cursed) item.
Maybe something like the Berserker Axe - so he gets the benefits and drawbacks of the item, but instead of it being a physical item it's the magic of the "patron" affecting him directly. Can be removed later on down the line with Remove Curse or other similalr magic if needs be.
I get that this is a joke, and not meant to be taken seriously. I do find it amusing.
I worry newer DMs do take this kind of thing seriously though. What I say below is directed at such new DMs.
If a player says something like that, feel free to do one of these things:
The Deck of Many Things is famous for this. It sounds fun, but it's unpredictable as all hell and can sink your game very easily.
Be careful... Rats get ADV on ATK rolls when they are within 5 feet of each other... They only do 1D4+2 with their bite, but in swarms they can be nasty...
EDIT: Mis-remembered the ATK roll for Giant Rats... Updated!
https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Giant%20Rat#content
Moon Druid. Spend a bonus action to heal ~~126 hitpoints~~ 126 rock-solid hitpoints...infinitely.
> ...it’s technically a cursed armor that can’t be removed and won’t let him attack devils, but it has magic arm blades...
FYI, this sounds like a modified version of the [Demon Armor](https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Demon%20Armor#content) from the DMG, pg 165. Modified in that it will allow him to fly in it.
That being said, it sounds like the DM and the player are colluding to make the rest of the group supporting characters in the player's adventure. As far as I'm concerned, you are right to bail on them.
I believe it's actually a Robe of Eyes. However, I would like to see more art of bird people/kenkus with eyes on the sides of their heads.
TIL 5e Finger of Death also raises a zombie after dealing damage.
>You send negative energy coursing through a creature that you can see within range, causing it searing pain. The target must make a Constitution saving throw. It takes 7d8 + 30 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
>A humanoid killed by this spell rises at the start of your next turn as a zombie that is permanently under your command, following your verbal orders to the best of its ability.
Icefrog, Lion rework when?
If you're ever curious, Wizards of the Coast has put the rules to the latest edition online for free!
With that and the free online RPG platform https://roll20.net, you and a few friends could start playing tonight! :D
Nope, that Oni is the stuff of nightmares. Invisibility at will and a 30 ft fly speed makes him (nearly) undetectable. That’s why the M9 heard his voice several times in the basement; he was floating above them, watching, waiting.
Edit: Here are his stats, if you feel like seeing the abilities he had. While it’s very likely that Matt adjusted/home brewed a bit, it seemed like a fairly by-the-book Oni.
Yeah, Forcecage is STUPIDLY powerful! And it's only 7th level, meaning in the high levels you can even cast it 2-3 times in a day as a Player Character!
https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Forcecage
I played in a very fun epic-level one-shot recently, party of 4 at level 18. I played a Wizard. It was basically the hunger games, four enemy NPC teams of 4 adventurers, with 5 epic monsters guarding loot around the arena, we could take our pick of hoping to hunt enemy groups, loot monsters. It was a lot of fun.
On our first adventuring day, I used one Forcecage to trap a dragon, and then we killed it through the slits in the cage effortlessly. Later that same day, we ambushed and killed another adventuring group. Still later that same day, I used a second forcecage on the Pit Fiend when the fight turned south, trapping it totally for an hour in the solid cage. We grabbed the loot and used Pass Without Trace and some other sneaky shit to spend an hour making sure the fiend had a bat's chance in nine hells to track us down.
TL;DR Forcecage. OP. 10/10, would recommend. Warning: very easy to piss off the DM as a player or your players as a DM when using it. ;)
Whilst not exactly the same, if you find a bunch of people willing to play online you can play using sites like roll 20 and a voice chat thus overcoming the physical distance issue.
Earth Elemental also heals you for 126 hit points, but also has four more AC, resistance to non-magical weapons, and Earth Glide.
^^^I ^^^don't ^^^see ^^^Thunder ^^^Vulnerability ^^^as ^^^that ^^^much ^^^of ^^^a ^^^problem.
> https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Magic%20Items > >In most cases, a magic item that’s meant to be worn can fit a creature regardless of size or build. Many magic garments are made to be easily adjustable, or they magically adjust themselves to the wearer. Rare exceptions exist. If the story suggests a good reason for an item to fit only creatures of a certain size or shape, you can rule that it doesn’t adjust. For example, drow-made armor might fit elves only. Dwarves might make items usable only by dwarf-sized and dwarf-shaped folk.
Hey, I work for a company called Roll20, a virtual tabletop. It’s a site where you can play D&D over the internet and make new friends.
The first thing to do is go to Roll20.net and make an account.
Next you select from the game drop down the option to “Join a Game”. Filter by Dungeons and Dragons along with whatever time of day or day of week works best with your schedule. Be sure to also filter for only games that “Welcome New Players”. This will make sure that each of these groups will be open to teaching you both D&D and how to use Roll20.
Once you’ve looked through the list and found some games you’d be interested in joining, add a new message to the game’s forum introducing yourself and ask to be invited. The game owner should get back to you with a game invitation if they have space. If you don’t get into a game right away, keep trying! There are hundreds of games open all the time, with new ones opening up every day.
In the mean time check out the 5th Edition rules on Roll20’s Compendium.
If you have any questions about this process, making an account, finding a game, or anything else, send me a message and I’ll do my best to help.
> # Cloudkill
> You create a 20-foot-radius Sphere of poisonous, yellow-green fog centered on a point you choose within range. The fog spreads around corners. It lasts for the Duration or until strong wind disperses the fog, ending the spell. Its area is heavily obscured.
> When a creature enters the spell's area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, that creature must make a Constitution saving throw. The creature takes 5d8 poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Creatures are affected even if they hold their breath or don't need to breathe.
> The fog moves 10 feet away from you at the start of each of your turns, rolling along the surface of the ground. The vapors, being heavier than air, sink to the lowest level of the land, even pouring down openings.
yeah sounds about right
> Failed death saving throws reset only upon completing a long rest.
Cleric casts Revivify on their fallen comrade, who then instantly dies again.
Cleric, "Well shit."
If you're interested in hosting a game online, https://roll20.net/ is pretty awesome. It has google hangout integration for voice chat, neat tools for DMing, and a wide variety of character sheets to pick from. My group has been using it and all of the people that DM love it.
Grappling ~~in short~~ works as follows:
you state that you want to grapple a creature. The creature must be within your reach (almost always 5ft) and no more than one category size bigger than you (ex. youre medium and you can grapple large and smaller creatures).
You roll an athletics (STR) check.
The creature being grappled has their choice between rolling athletics or acrobatics to defend against being grappled.
if you rolled higher than the creature you are grappling you have grappled them and they are considered grappled
if the creature you are trying to grapple exceeds or ties your roll the grapple fails. and nothing really happens.
a grappled creature can use their action to attempt to escape a grapple which causes both players to roll again. This time if its a tie then the creature stays grappled. This is because in a contested check a tie keeps the situation as it is before the check.
really read the grappled condition cause my guess is based on you saying this
> grapple specific limbs or something.
is that you are assuming grappling a creature will make it unable to attack, which is a reasonable assumption if you have ever grappled someone IRL, however in D&D grappling does no such thing, even the restrained condition cannot apply the effects you are looking for. You need to incapacitate a creature if you want it not to be able to attack.
a much more Rules As Written way to accomplish my presumption of your goal is to try to disarm your opponent and steal their weapon. (check out the battle master subclass within fighter, but keep in mind ANYONE can try this, the battle master is just better at it). This will leave your opponent free to attack but for a measily 1+STR damage as opposed to a large greataxe 2d12+STR damage
let me know if anything is still unclear, it can be a bit convoluted.
Some people are really fussy about things like that, and to them "bandits" doesn't mean "people who attack and rob you in the wilderness" but the very specific monster type in the manual--you know, these guys--who have specific stats that are all always exactly the same. And they're not necessarily wrong, since many DMs play this way. Which makes "calling" them a sort of metagaming.
It's bizarre to me. And also because "Bandits!" is exactly what a character might yell in-game in response to any group of attackers roughly like these. But hey, different strokes, etc.
As per Roll20:
>When you score a critical hit, you get to roll extra dice for the attack’s damage against the target. Roll all of the attack’s damage dice twice and add them together. Then add any relevant modifiers as normal. To speed up play, you can roll all the damage dice at once.
>
>For example, if you score a critical hit with a Dagger, roll 2d4 for the damage, rather than 1d4, and then add your relevant ability modifier. If the Attack involves other damage dice, such as from the rogue’s Sneak Attack feature, you roll those dice twice as well.
So I would say yes, you roll 20d4 if you expend all of the blade's uses. On average, this is an extra 40 damage (if used all at once with a crit) of a frequently resisted damage type once per day. While it's an awesome spike mechanic, especially with a critical hit, I would still remain confident that it's balanced!
​
This thing has 50 HP, 3 attacks, can regen most of its health in a single round, is invisible, and has an AoE frighten?
Is that really only CR 3?
For comparison, an owlbear, which is given as CR 3 and 700 XP, has 13 AC, 59 HP, two attacks (avg dmg 10 and 14), and none of the other abilities you've given this guy.
Here's our typical press release finishing move:
Roll20, owned by The Orr Group LLC, began as an effort to keep developers Riley Dutton, Richard Zayas, and Nolan T. Jones in touch via long distance tabletop gaming. Since launching via Kickstarter in 2012, it has attracted over 2.2 million users as a free service, becoming the preeminent way to play tabletop roleplaying games online and developing into a staple of in-person play. The award-winning program continues to be funded by subscribers who receive features that assist advanced gameplay.
I don't really know, but I've only seen Damage Threshold used as I described it in 5e. I don't have the books in front of me, but here's a description from Roll20:
> Damage Threshold: Big objects such as castle walls often have extra resilience represented by a damage threshold. An object with a damage threshold has immunity to all damage unless it takes an amount of damage from a single Attack or effect equal to or greater than its damage threshold, in which case it takes damage as normal. Any damage that fails to meet or exceed the object’s damage threshold is considered superficial and doesn’t reduce the object’s hit points.
Let's look at the spells a Transmuter would have.
Alter self: this one is pretty easy. If you can turn into a fish, what better way to keep other people out of your house than having the opposite of an airlock, inside of which only fish can survive? It also makes water-based traps trivial to overcome. Heck, if you want a good boss battle, have him laugh maniacally, flood the room, and turn into a shark. Underwater combat sucks, especially if the water goes all the way to the ceiling...
You should have small things which have been enlarged, and large things which have been shrunken. Put stuff in bottles! Let them realize that it wasn't painstakingly assembled in there, but done with magic. Holy crap, why is there a copper piece the size of a horse?
Feather fall! This is their bread and butter. You want a memorable last encounter? The wizard's shtick is now pushing people out of windows and gently floating down after them, probably shooting magic missiles all the while.
I would consider having nontraditional methods of moving between floors. The wizard uses rope trick, and spider climb, or levitate. Let the party figure out how to get around that.
Their jam is controlling the battlefield. Shape Earth! Control Water! Slow! Stone Shape! By the time the party gets to them...well, for one, he'll probably know that they're there, so there's lots of time to prepare. For another, high-level wizards have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves. He's not going to stand in a room and let them beat him to shit. I don't even really understand why he'd stand his ground once he was low on health, to say nothing of polymorphing and giving up the biggest advantage that they have (which is spellcasting). Make the PCs work to keep their foe in place.
In fact, they're about as intelligent and wise as any average person. Not to mention that the philter of love is just a charm potion, not a "automatically have sex" potion.
But never let the facts get in the way of a good session! As long as everyone had fun it's all good.
I've been playing over skype and Roll20 for around two years now, and honestly I'm starting to prefer it over in person. With all the extra tools, and being able to mute yourself when you eat/drink something (thats nice for everyone), and not having to drive anywhere is really nice.
Though, I do miss hanging out with my friends in person and making a weekend of it
https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Clone#content
Short version, you use a small amount of flesh from the original creature and some diamond worth 1k gold and put it in a container big enough for the body. 120 days later you get a new, empty body. If the original dies, they instead come back in the new body.
A few things:1.One thing from what I can recall was healing was harder. Most of the time you only regained 1hp from resting. For example, 2e Ad&D had:
>Natural Healing: Characters heal naturally at a rate of 1 hit point per day of rest. Rest is defined as low activity - nothing more strenuous than riding a horse or traveling from one place to another.
>
>And
>
>If a character has complete bed-rest (doing nothing for an entire day), he can regain 3 hit points for that day.
Wow, 3 hp for a whole day of bed rest! Now you could have someone with healing skills help you out, or get the beloved cleric to patch you up, but that still drained you. (Also, some dungeons explicitly 'refilled' a certain amount per day. If you took too long healing up, all your progress could be undone).
In 1e Ad&D some races couldn't even be raised- they had no souls. And by some races I mean most non-human, including elves. They could be reincarnated, but not rezzed. Also, rezzing reduced the life expectancy of the cleric. And cost a lot. Sometimes it was better just to make a new character.
​
As a random example of something I noticed recently- Violet Fungi.In 5e, they're CR 1/2. They're not that bad. In 1e, these things made you loose limbs. Not just necrotic damage or stat damage. They rotted entire limbs off of you. And if you were hit too many times and didn't have limbs to sacrifice, you were just dead. And considering they could hit a lot of times, well...
in 1e Ad&D, you mostly got XP through treasure- the gold you took out of a dungeon was your XP. You leveled based on treasure. So, if you could get the treasure without risking death do it.
​
<puts on a bright red nose and hires a Mariachi player>
I mean, what else can you say about this? 5 mana do nothing, and occasionally you'll draw spells that might be useful secrets, might be powerful attacks, and might be a pyroblast aimed at your face.
I do like that this seems to be a reference to the legendary Deck of Many Things, a D&D magical artifact that... well, if you give it to a party of adventurers, they'll basically ruin whatever story you have planned :D.
But yeah, no, this is a meme card, and it's going to be utterly awful for Mages to pull from random spell generators...
Depends on the version, but the older brown bear has a STR 27, meaning a +8 ability mod, for a total attack bonus of +11.
Younger brown bears only have a STR of 19, meaning a +4, for a total attack bonus of +5. This is possibly the result of attempted domestication, as these bears tend to be smaller, more numerous, and more cunning than their ancestors.
So far the craziest things that we have gotten away with are:
Our Wizard Aarakocra paying a massive sum of money along with seducing an Archmage to semi-perma-transform him into looking like a celestial angel
Me persuading a High Priest of the Church to give us a scroll of True Resurrection (in exchange of an I.O.U a favor)
Our Rogue stealing the before mentioned Archmage's mansion and accidentally killing her grandchild
Me using Legend Lore on a former Ancient Dragon God and then using learned information on semi-blackmailing him and persuading him to grant us a gift
The last one nearly TPK'd us since the dragon got a tiny bit mad at me but we managed to talk it out.
Hi! Thanks for commenting. At first glance, I thought so too. However, did you know that the broom of flying is actually just an uncommon item? It's wildly better than this, too.
If you take any damage while using this item, you fall. And it only lasts for a minute! Perhaps a slower flying speed of 20 would be more appropriate. I should specify weight restrictions, too.
But the long and short of it is that, comparatively, this is pretty solid grounds for a common item by comparison. You can't really use it in combat, so it's really just a way to solve some puzzles.
updated to reduce speed and uses, and offer a low weight limit.
Warlock spells are funny. They have a very limited spell slot pool (only two slots until level 5, I think? then 3.)
However, their spell slots are always "Max level." Unlike a wizard that has a bunch of level 1, several level 2, a couple level 3 slots, etc... Warlocks would have ALL level 3 slots. (And they get them back on a short rest!)
This means that any spell they cast automatically gets upgraded to the highest level slot power that they have reached, so AoA is working on a second level spell slot currently, which adds 5 to both temp HP and damage reflect. When Travis gets level 3 slots, it will bump up further.
Hope this helps! :D (I played warlock for a decent length campaign. Favorite character ever.)
EDIT: Also AoA lasts for 1 hour, or until the HP is gone. I've not caught up with the latest episodes, so there may be confusion on when he cast it and how often or something.
EDIT2: Chart for spell slots and levels can be found here: https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Warlock#content
Looks like 3rd slot comes at level 11.
>Scrying spells can be blocked with lead,
This actually isn't true in 5e, even though I've house ruled it based on the text from the Detect Thoughts spell.
https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Conditions#toc_2
> A charmed creature can’t Attack the charmer or target the charmer with harmful Abilities or magical effects.
> The charmer has advantage on any ability check to interact socially with the creature.
Any ability check to interact socially includes persuasion.
>Reducing something (making it 1/8th it’s weight) then casting Enlarge on it effectively increasing its weight by 64 times.
Um... no.
Enlarge. The target's size doubles in all dimensions, and its weight is multiplied by eight... Reduce. The target's size is halved in all dimensions, and its weight is reduced to one-eighth of normal.
If you Reduce something, it's weight decreases to 1/8th of normal. If you then Enlarge it, it's weight increases by 8, making it's weight... normal.
Normal weight x 1/8 x 8 = normal weight.
>Make your enemy bigger so he can’t get through a door
Umm... probably not.
>Make a lock smaller so previously mentioned Barbarian can cast smash
No. Reduced items have the same hit points and armor class, the same overall toughness and difficulty to break.
>Put a rock in someone’s mouth then Enlarge it, reverse bear trapping their jaw
No. Per the spell, emphasis mine: "Choose either a creature or an object that is neither worn nor carried." A rock in someone's mouth would be consider an object that is carried by that creature.
Don't get me wrong, some of this stuff, like shrinking doors and blocking passages is good. But there are limits written into the spell.
For those not familiar with 5e, the 4th-level spell <em>Conjure Woodland Beings</em> allows a player to call forth some small creatures as servants. One of the options is "8 fey creatures of CR 1/4 or lower", and a Pixie fits that bill.
Pixies can each cast <em>Polymorph</em>, and turn the party into T-Rexes or other beasts.
It's a pretty crazy and powerful combination, but by the rules you don't actually get to choose which woodland beings are conjured, the DM does. It's a frequently overlooked rule that would prevent this game-breaking combo at the table.
For reference about Planetar's: https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Planetar#content
The planetar knows if it hears a lie. - great for interrogations
Magic Resistance: The planetar has advantage on saving throws against Spellsand other magical effects. - nuff said
Healing Touch (4/Day): The planetar touches another creature. The target magically regains 30 (6d8 + 3) hit points and is freed from any curse, disease, poison, blindness, or deafness.
Senses: Truesight 120 Ft. - great for seeing invisible things.
Languages: All. - found something no one can read or speak? Not a problem!
Dispel Evil and Good: Shimmering energy surrounds and protects you from fey, Undead, and creatures originating from Beyond the Material Plane. For the Duration, Celestials, elementals, fey, Fiends, and Undead have disadvantage on Attack rolls against you. You can end the spell early by using either of the following Specialfunctions. - would be a great buff on Grog or Kima as they tank minions.
Blade Barrier: You can make a straight wall up to 100 feet long, 20 feet high, and 5 feet thick, or a ringed wall up to 60 feet in diameter, 20 feet high, and 5 feet thick. The wall provides three-quarters cover to creatures behind it, and its space is difficult terrain.
When a creature enters the wall's area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, the creature must make a Dexteritysaving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 6d10 slashing damage. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage. - could be good against a creature with low movement and dex. Like a Death Knight?
A souped up wight could make sense. Maybe also give it dissonant whisper, and definitely upgrade the armor and double the HP.
Give the longsword and longbow attacks a lasting necrotic damage, like a sword of wounding, and players that have taken a hit have disadvantage to save against life drain.
That's how that works. From the RAW:
> The spell has no effect if the target is Undead, if it doesn't understand your Language, or if your command is directly harmful to it.
I was trying to wrap my head around how old Keyleth would end up being. With getting Timeless Body in her twenties, her aging process slows to 1/10th of its normal rate. 5e half elves often live to be over 180 years old. So she would live for roughly one and a half to two millennium more. Crazy.
Some monsters are capable of reducing your stats directly with their attacks, for example in 5th edition D&D the most common one I've seen is the Shadow
Every time it hits you, your strength is reduced by 1d4. If your strength hits 0, you die. This means if you get unlucky, anyone with 8 strength can instantly die in 2 hits if they get unlucky. Not go down, straight up die. Now consider that Shadows are CR 1/2, so theoretically in a regular strength encounter, there should be twice as many shadows as there are people in the party... Oh, and they're shadows, so they love ambushing the squishy back of the group, which happens to be where people with 8 strength live.
Shadows are a bad time.
edit: There's an equivalent for int too, the Intellect Devourer. If your int hits 0, you're stunned until you recover int (a long rest, or greater restoration). While you're stunned (or even if they just beat you in an intelligence roll after reducing your already poor intelligence), they can hop into your head, eat your brain, claim control of your body and go to town on your allies. The only way to stop it is to kill the body and hope you can resurrect them later. They're monsters that basically exist to punish min-maxing (because almost everyone dumps int or strength in 5e) and they're absolutely horrifying the first time you encounter them.
Also, based on the rules as my group understands them, you CAN have up to 1 hour of rigorous activity (including battling) during a long rest and still gain the benefits of it.
Source: https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Resting#content
Well it says no more than one hour of interruption, so 59 minutes
I think / they look like the things made by the free service provided by the website "roll20", I´d check that out if you´re interested, the tool is free and great fun to use.
Edit: Link: https://roll20.net/
>what would be stopping me from conjuring, say, a full-sized Galleon directly overhead of a particularly dangerous foe?
Same thing that prevents people from dropping horses on goblins with Find Steed, the 10 minute casting time and audible verbal component.
Clarification on the question about how the fight went down in C1E102 >!Vecna used his reaction to Counterspell the Plane Shift which was subsequently Counterspelled by Scanlan. A Legendary Action is not a reaction and can only be taken after another creature's turn; so the Plane Shift would have already went off before Vecna could act.!<
Hawks have better stats and skills that none of the summonable steeds can match.
Keen Sight: The hawk has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
Skills Perception +4
Senses passive Perception 14
I'm always surprised by the hard-line, prescriptivist approach people take to things like this. Like, I'm a jerk for playing a silly, harmless prank during a game? Really?
This was one mimic vs. a party of 4 PCs and 7-8 NPCs, almost all of whom were relatively unharmed. The mimic had already taken two arrows' worth of damage before the encounter even started. This was the last encounter of the session, and the players had skipped a major battle, so I wanted to make sure they got their fill of action. It was a very easy fight for them.
More importantly, my job as a DM is to make sure that my players are having a good time and advancing the action. They had completed all the narrative items on my agenda for the session and then some, so this was just a fun little encounter for them to put a bow on the session. They loved it. We still joke about it.
The way we're doing XP in this campaign is a mixture of milestone and encounter. I don't feel the need to explain how the entire module works to you, but suffice to say that I wanted to ensure that they had done enough to earn a level up.
I'm sorry for writing such a long response, but I take exception to the accusation of being a "jerk DM." I work really hard on my campaigns to make sure my players are having a good time, and I don't appreciate being attacked based on a funny story I shared on the internet. All my players read these stories. If they think I was being a jerk, they are free to chime in and excoriate me.
And, for the record, a Mimic's false appearance remains unchanged as long as it is motionless. So, as long as it chooses not to react to being hit with arrows or pulled by a rope, there's no reason it has to reveal its true form until it chooses to. Because it's a predator that relies on deception to get close to its prey, I think the way I played this was more than reasonable. You're free to disagree, but do please try to be a little nicer about it.
SRD is the free content that is available as the very base of d&d, no source books required. It is also probably in the plain old monster manual, since most SRD things come from there
Sounds like it's just a crappy group. If you're in an area that doesn't have a lot of in-person games available, you can always look for a game on roll20 or another online system.
i am going to save this for later thanks!
i currently do it in such a way expecting a character to die. I have all rolls visible in roll20.net so i can't fudge numbers at all. if a player dies it dies with the normal 5e rules. I tell the players before the game starts they can have up to 3 characters made that level up with the milestones the same time the player does.
i tell the players i just need to know how they know each other, family, friends went to bard college together....so if a player dies and can bring in a new character easy. because main party knows each other so well having a dead fighters sister wizard come in to help out is fairly believable.
your way seems to be a lot less work on the players end. I may change things up next time
It sounds like you are coming from a different game or edition to 5e?
Here are the basics.
Anyone can attempt to Grapple (and then Drag), Shove 5ft, Shove Prone, Disarm, or Climb Large Enemy. This is a contest check of your athletics vs. enemy's choice of athletics or acrobatics. Each of these is a non-damage dealing "attack", so it can be any one of most classes 1 or more "attacks" inside of the "attack action".
Battlemaster Fighters can do these things also as invididual "attacks" inside of the "attack action", however, they get to also deal damage simulataneously.
Note, special cases. Barbarians have advantage on all athletics checks while raging. Shield Masters and Tavern Brawlers can do some of these things as bonus action. More exceptions exist as well.
For some of the basics, look here:
JFC you people piss me off.
A stone golem has 20 fucking feet of movment per round - only 5ft less than a goddamn stock dwarf.
PFM was quite clearly a gray ooze build - 10ft per round - with some GM leniency on ranged attacks.
They're creatures that look like cave formations:
OP is trying to say that he used one on his party, and now they are fearful every time they go into a cave and he describes its features.
I'm not aware of an explicit rule. For something like a drinking contest you'd probably do opposed Constitution checks. To determine the effects of drinking heavily, you could do a Constitution saving throw (DC set by the potency and quantity of drink). A failure results the character suffering the poisoned condition for a few hours.
If you want to have different levels of drunkenness, you can use the exhaustion levels as a basis. Maybe swap levels 2 and 3, and change level 4 to incapacitated. Have it so one hour of not drinking removes a level of intoxication, and any effects that remove the poisoned condition also remove all levels of intoxication.
> I appreciated Matt's new Trinket but I thought it would have been a lot better if he acted like CR Trinket, sort of gullible well-meaning and slow, instead of acting like the criminals the others were.
In D&D, Trinket has an intelligence of 4 as a ranger's companion. A mundane bear has intelligence 2.
In other words, he's only "gullible well-meaning and slow" because you're seeing him in comparison to people. Take him out of the party of people, and there's plenty of justification to make him the smartest and most devious bear in the room.
I would totally pimp out Roll20 to anyone, the base features of the software are more than enough for any DM to get a great campaign going. I won't lie, it does take setup time, just like any Virtual Tabletop would, but it's all pretty straightforward and easy to use. I just really really wanted the line of sight feature so I paid for it. I probably used Roll20 for a solid 6 months to make sure it was worthwhile before I stepped up and got the Pro. They actually have a subreddit /r/Roll20 or the site. If you have any questions just let me know.
>anything that deprives you of your ability to take actions also prevents you from taking a Bonus Action.
so yeah... if Matt stands by his ruling... is there anything in the books (curse, debilitating effect, monster, god) that gives you that kind of "disease" after only one failed saving throw?
And what could be the thing that makes that "disease" an incurable disease by the spell that... cures diseases? 'Cause disadvantages in Saving throws, even if its only CON (you know, the one that matters when fighting snakes) is some 3rd level of exhaustion kind of problem...
Can't find anything on Conditions
I don't see anything wrong making a NPC, who is built like a PC.
But if you want something a bit more simple, just use the Priest statblock, and tinker with it's spells if needed.
Jokes on you bruh the gay black dude is aaaaactually a white female elf who was the target of a true polymorph spell and the other black dude is actually a white male human who tried to turn the black-dude-who-was-formerly-a-white-girl-elf back into an elf but due to a bad roll cast it on himself and (due to another bad roll) became a black dude also but they were short on time so they decided to fuck each other anyway and figure out the true polymorph spell later. So you see it was really just straight white sex the whole time! Happy now?
Seems like you don't know much about dnd 5e I am just saying.
Maybe I can help you out!
I thought so too, but from the way it works, it looks more like it just lets him summon a Swarm of Insects, sort of like a "Staff of Swarming Insects Lite".
In 5th edition, you can only have 3 magic items that require attunement active at any time. It takes a short rest to attune to an item, and a short rest (or one of the other conditions) to remove that attunement. So you can't "game the system" by switching items mid-combat, for example.
Almost every magic item requires attunement, I can't think off the top of my head one that doesn't, and I've just had a quick flick through some in books and can't see anything there.
You can read about attunement here.
I think it's actually the spell Augury
It's a pretty limited divination that just tells you if an idea is good, bad or a bit of both. RAW it would take 11 minutes without using a spell slot, but waiving that doesn't seem like it'd really cause any problems and having to huff a stink pouch for 11 minutes would make the whole thing much less cool.
DnD pricing doesnt make alot of sense, if thought of as a real world economy. It neither considers actual incomes/production, nor considers manufacturing capabilities of that period.
https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Adventuring%20Gear#content
Remember when people say, peasants only make like 1gp/year tops? look at that list. 2gp for backpack. 2 gp for a barrel. 1 gp for a hammer. 1 gp for fishing tackle.
how could a peasant live, if a shovel is 2 gp?
while rope is 1gp/50ft. Rope in a medieval society should be very expensive. 1gp/5ft more like. chain is 5gp/10ft. Also, would be VERY expensive. A barrel is very easy to make. that should be like 10sp. Chain would be like 10gp/foot. assuming you can even find a blacksmith with enough skill.
>Breathing creatures inside the bag can survive up to a number of minutes equal to 10 divided by the number of creatures (minimum 1 minute), after which time they begin to suffocate.
If they did it quick enough the air supply wouldn't matter. Size might though.
>This bag has an interior space considerably larger than its outside dimensions, roughly 2 feet in diameter at the mouth and 4 feet deep. The bag can hold up to 500 pounds, not exceeding a volume of 64 cubic feet.
If the mouth is only 2 feet in diameter it wouldn't be a whole lot larger than the air duct the small and nimble the elf is moving through, so it might even present a challenge for the larger PCs to get into the bag.
Assuming that they CAN get into the space there isn't even that much space on the other side of it. 4 feet deep and 64 ft^3 only makes the diameter 2.26 ft which is barely larger than the mouth of the bag. Ever tried to fit a comically over-sized pig man and a bulky human in a 64 ft^3 cylinder? The only effective way to do that would be with a blender.
All that taken into consideration: Nice creativity by the OP! I'm glad their DM lets them play in a way that lets your party have fun and tackle the challenges at hand! If everyone played RAW instead of using some Homebrew (since I'm pretty sure a muscly pig-man isn't an official race) and Hand-Wavy-Bullshit every once and a while D&D would probably be a lot less fun...
Lucretia didn't know Takko cast detect thoughts on her. https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Detect%20Thoughts#content
He only used it to detect her surface thoughts, which doesn't let your target know you're reading their mind. Griffin specifically mentioned this IIRC.
I had the same "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" reaction you did, both times he cast it. XD
>Knock
lvl 2 transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard
Choose an object that you can see within range. The object can be a door, a box, a chest, a set of manacles, a padlock, or another object that contains a mundane or magical means that prevents access.
A target that is held shut by a mundane lock or that is stuck or barred becomes unlocked, unstuck, or unbarred. If the object has multiple locks, only one of them is unlocked.
If you choose a target that is held shut with arcane lock, that spell is suppressed for 10 minutes, during which time the target can be opened and shut normally.
When you cast the spell, a loud knock, audible from as far away as 300 feet, emanates from the target object.
Such a missed RP opportunity! I often don't bother taking/preparing Knock due to that drawback unless I need it for getting through a specific lock in a specific heist/mission.
Well my guess is you would want to start with a barbarian, get up to level 20, have 20 DEX and 24 CON, then grab yourself 5 of Manuals of Quickness of Action and 3 Manuals of Bodily Health
Now your Unarmored AC is a slick 30. grab a +3 shield for 35. we are doing pretty well.
This guy has a slicker video where he gets over 100 AC, I cant remember how high he gets while being permanent but I cant watch it again cause i hate his voice.
Wand of Wonder. I tried using it twice during a deadly combat against a single creature, the results were a fireball (which it saved, taking 10 damage) and the heavy rain.
Turns out I would have dealt the same amount of damage if I had cast Eldritch Blast and rolled 1s on both rounds.
There's also the obvious problem that I simply can't use it after my allies engage in melee, unless I want to risk friendly fire.
I mean, that's basically how mimics work in DnD; I assume Dark Souls has only chest mimics due to time/engine limitations (much easier to design, animate, program one type of mimic than a bunch).
While still a challenge to almost any party, the tarrasque in 5e is hardly the unbeatable force that it was in 3.5. Back in those days, it had some crazy health regeneration, so you'd be just treading water unless you manage to focus fire. It was also able to keep flying PCs within 20ft altitude, which the 5e tarrasque lost. It did maintain a few key immunities, and of course its huge HP pool and high AC.
If you ever encounter a tarrasque, just leave. Whatever it's destroying probably isn't worth saving.
Technically you'll add the creature's dex save to the d20 roll. Usually it's the same as the modifier but not always. Example: A Pit Fiend. Notice how it has a 14 dex (+2 modifier), but under Saves it has a Dex+8. So you would roll a D20 and add 8, rather than 2. If the save isn't listed, then yes, it is the relevant modifier.
Speak with Dead requires a corpse with a mouth. If you destroy the lower jaw, or maybe cut out the tongue (DM discretion), Speak with Dead won’t do anything.
(The easier answer, of course, is give them no hints that you’re coming)
Depends how tall they are. According to roll20 https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Bag%20of%20Holding#content
This bag has an interior space considerably larger than its outside dimensions, roughly 2 feet in diameter at the mouth and 4 feet deep. The bag can hold up to 500 pounds, not exceeding a volume of 64 cubic feet. The bag weighs 15 pounds, regardless of its contents. Retrieving an item from the bag requires an action.
So, therefore, if they are super fat elves (170 lbs) you can fit about 3 or four. If they are skinny, you can fit 4-5. But if you want, you could have the heads of the elves stick out. Most elves that are short are 5'3, so there heads would stick out. Tall elves are 6 feet, so head and upper chest stick out.
Implying there are no mountains, hills, valleys, etc. in reality?
'Plane' is definitely the word you'd want for this.
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Elemental_Plane
https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/The%20Planes%20of%20Existence#content
I've no idea if you're using modified monsters, but a goblin officially has the following stat block: https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Goblin#content
Now, regardless of whether the monsters could always succeed their rolls, whether it was fair, or anything else, this seems to be something you should talk with your GM. Because me telling you he was naïve (at best) and handled it poorly will not change him, and me saying something like "luck of the dice" wouldn't change that you're not comfortable with this.
https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Wish#content
DM simply doesn't know how wish works in 5e, then, the whole story is largely based on him screwing up the rules rather than actually being backed into a corner.
As rules state, wish only guarantees either an 8th or lower level spell, or one of the explicitly listed set of other effects.
Any other attempted effect is at GM discretion, and can either be twisted OR simply fail if too ambitious. Quote:
> This spell might simply fail
Asking for 29 levels at once is obviously of such profound power that the spell "simply failing" is by far the most likely outcome. Another option explicitly listed in the rules is "partial success" so for example, maybe you only get 2 levels each, etc.
"The basic use of this spell is to duplicate any other spell of 8th level or lower. You don't need to meet any requirements in that spell, including costly Components. The spell simply takes effect. Alternatively, you can create one of the following effects of your choice."
Life advice: don't wait.
Don't wait to start exercising. Don't wait to start working on your appearance and basic hygiene. Don't wait to learn to cook cheaply and healthily for yourself. Don't wait to get your budget and finances in check. Don't wait to try and find friends, or a better job. Don't wait to do things that are good for your mental and psychological health. Don't wait to do things that are good for your physical health, like getting enough sleep.
/r/personalfinance
/r/fitness
/r/eatcheapandhealthy
You are an adult now, despite being a student and possibly not feeling like one. Responsibilities will never go away, there will always be stressors and bullshit between what you are doing, and what you want or need to be doing. You will never have time unless you make the time. You have to balance and prioritize taking care of what you need or want to do.
Finding RPG groups:
/r/lfg
https://www.reddit.com/r/criticalrole/wiki/faq#wiki_how_to_find_a_gaming_group
If you are at university, I almost guarantee that there is an RPG club or a Local Gaming Store (LGS) in your area. If there isn't, you can always play games online.
The Arena
This isn't the flashiest area I've ever made, but in-game, the Pyramid Apex is a fairly simple location. You arrive via stairs, pits in the corner, stairs leading to the Sarn Borders with the Oversoul's plinith in the center of the room. Of course, the Oversoul won't begin awoken - his token is only there for a sense of scale.
The Vaal Oversoul
This guy is easily the largest statblock I've ever had to make. Due to his multitude of moves, I wanted to try and remain as faithful to the source material as possible, while still keeping the difficulty in check. This is meant to be a rough fight, absolutely, but not one to stomp the players. Note that it is a group of five 7th level players, though they may reach 8th before the encounter. Also note that the players will have to fight a minimum of nine additional creatures throughout the encounter, at a minimum. Finally, his Actions aren't set up as perfectly as I would like. In roll20, all actions are either attacks or spells. Considering some of them (such as Ice Shards and Collapse) isn't really one of either, I put it under Attacks for simplicity. The macro rolls a chance to hit, though it is ignored and treated more like a spell's AoE damage.
Serpentine and Vaal Constructs
These guys were pretty simple. I just used a pre-existing creature Swarm of Poisonous Snakes and made some slight tweaks to better fit the flavor of their PoE counterparts.
As always, all my creations can be found over at /r/exilesandencounters. I post much more frequent, minor updates there along with a master list divided up by skill gems, creatures, maps, and unique items.
Compilation of D&D (plus Pathfinder) data from The Orr Group Industry Report (aka roll20.net).
​
Updated with more info: Better verion here https://imgur.com/a/20s5UPM
> Once a card is drawn, it fades from existence. Unless the card is the Fool or the Jester, the card reappears in the deck, making it possible to draw the same card twice.
https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Deck%20of%20Many%20Things#content
In general, I would avoid taking away "agency" from your players. So in general, "instant knock outs" are not a good idea (though there are certainly ways to make them work).
I would suggest that you at least play it out a little so they don't feel cheated. For 1, if it's hard for them to move I'd say they're restrained. For two, if Tasha's Hideous Laughter states they are incapacitated. In both these scenarios, the characters could defend themselves somewhat - though the chances of them getting out successful are pretty much nil. With enough NPCs with clubs, you'd knock them out in a round anyways.
I know you can't go back in time but if you ever wanted to do this situation again (they get captured and put in a new location), there are some subtle ways you can make the players want to get captured. That way, when you ask to "fade to black", they're excited!
Hope that helps and good luck!
You know how a D&D character like a rogue, bard or wizard might have a clock of many pockets so you can always pull out what you need? Or how a Skyrim/Fallout character has an inventory of tons of little trinkets and bobbles? That's more or less my messenger bag at this point, after years of being a journalist, writer, father, tabletop gamer, video gamer and "person who sometimes needs to unscrew things." If you've got a nice bag with a lot of pockets, why not fill them with small glow sticks, toothpicks, playing cards, sketch pads, etc.?
Basically, this is my bag: https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Robe%20of%20Useful%20Items#content
Take a look at Storm of Vengeance. Technically, that only costs a single action to cast, plus concentration. But each round you maintain concentration, the effect changes and becomes stronger. For players familiar with the spell, there's a definite 'we've got to break his concentration before round 3' vibe in combat.
No, you roll 1d4+1 and that's the damage of each missile. Since it's only one roll you can apply the empowered evocation.
If it were as you say you could apply the bonus only on one of the missile.
https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/School%20of%20Evocation#h-Empowered%20Evocation
Assuming 5th edition, that DM should check the actual rules about travel pace. On Normal terrain, Normal pace is 24 miles a day. Fast is 30. It's when you push into a "Forced March", so additional hours past 8, that you risk "Exhaustion". So especially if you have a good Con, you can safely do 34 or 38 in a safe, flat area.
It looks like our link to the handbook is dead, but finding a 5e player handbook PDF shouldn't be too hard. Same with character sheets.
Roll20 should have most everything you need though!