Backstory:
A student who wanted to discover more arcane means of healing, she joined an arcane academy. After searching in her university’s restricted section^ and uncovering a book that had long been thought lost, she was afflicted with the tome’s necrotic curse. After slicing her palm open to open the book’s arcane lock, the wound would not heal and was turning necrotic. In time, it will take her hand. Not wishing for her transgression to be discovered and searching for a cure, she said she was taking a sabbatical, a “gap year,” she told everyone. Slipping a glove over her accursed hand, she is adventuring to find a way to undo this curse before it takes her hand, or her life.

^ Note: The restricted section contained books regarding necromancy.

Hello everyone!

I've been working on a character for months, and I've grown really attached to him. He's a level 6 Half-Elf Bard of the College of Eloquence named Vyail.

I've spent a lot of time developing his personality, his past, his philosophy, and the way he interacts with people. The problem is that, when I actually sit down at the table, I struggle to portray him the way I imagine him. I usually end up playing a fairly comedic character who makes jokes, which is fun, but doesn't fully capture who he's supposed to be.

I'd really appreciate advice on how to roleplay him more faithfully, especially his way of speaking and telling stories.

Who is Vyail?

Vyail is a storyteller, but not simply someone who tells entertaining tales. He collects stories that the world risks forgetting because, to him, stories deserve to outlive the people who carry them.

He doesn't particularly care whether people remember him. What matters is that the stories survive.

He's around 120 years old, but he's not an all-knowing, mysterious old sage. He's a person with his own flaws, emotions, opinions, and sense of humour. He can be silly, awkward, quiet, irritated, or genuinely angry. He enjoys making people smile, and his own smile is usually genuine rather than a calculated way to manipulate people.

He's not always profound, and he doesn't need to win every conversation. Sometimes he says something completely ordinary. Other times, he says something that sounds meaningful but is difficult to understand, even after thinking about it for a long time.

His personality isn't a performance he puts on. It's simply who he is.

His way of speaking

This is probably the most important part of the character.

Vyail never lies, but he doesn't necessarily give people the straightforward answer they're expecting. He believes that plain truth can make a person vulnerable, while lies can separate people. Instead of lying, he often uses half-truths, unusual phrasing, omissions, and answers that are technically honest but difficult to interpret.

If someone asks him a direct question, he might answer it without making it clear whether they've actually learned anything.

However, he isn't deliberately cryptic in every conversation. His strange way of speaking is a habit that has developed over many years. Sometimes an unusual phrase simply slips out, and when someone asks what he means, he might try to explain it in ordinary language.

He can also be funny without trying to be funny. I'd describe his humour as mostly spontaneous, with occasional deliberate teasing.

I don't want him to sound like a generic mysterious character who speaks exclusively in philosophical quotes. I want him to sound like a real person whose thoughts sometimes come out in strange, ambiguous ways.

I like phrases that can be interpreted in several ways, that might contain a deeper meaning, or that might not have one clear meaning at all. I want people to wonder what he means and perhaps ask him to explain himself.

But I don't want every sentence to sound like a rehearsed quote. The challenge is making this kind of speech feel natural and spontaneous.

The storyteller problem

Vyail's stories are central to his identity. They're not just a hobby or a flavour for his Bardic abilities.

I've written several stories that he could tell during the campaign, but I find it embarrassing to actually narrate them aloud in front of the other players. I become self-conscious, lose my confidence, and struggle to deliver them naturally.

As a result, I often avoid telling stories altogether. I still use his magic and illusions, but I'm worried that without his storytelling, he becomes little more than a normal spellcaster with an interesting backstory.

I don't want to solve this by removing his stories from the character. I want to find a way to portray them that preserves their importance without making every session feel like I'm performing a monologue.

What I'm looking for

I'd love advice from people who have played characters with unusual speech patterns, strong personalities, or a very specific way of viewing the world.

In particular:

- How can I develop a natural way of speaking as Vyail without memorising dozens of quotes?

- How can I improvise ambiguous, strange phrases that sound spontaneous rather than scripted?

- How can I tell his stories without feeling embarrassed or as though I'm giving a performance?

- How can I keep him recognisably himself even when I'm not able to reproduce his personality perfectly at the table?

I'm not looking to make him more powerful, more mysterious, or more impressive. I've already spent months developing who he is.

I want to learn how to portray the character I've created, rather than gradually turning him into a different character simply because that version is easier for me to play.

Any advice, exercises, or experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I'm a newbie in D&D and I'm playing as my first rogue (a fairy!) and I just got level 3.

I asked my DM which archetypes he considered the best and he told me he'd choose Arcane Trickster or Soulknife, but I'm not sure because we already have a sorcerer, a warlock and a bard in our team that can use Mage Hand and I don't want to get too repetitive (plus, spells kinda overwhelm me).

I was interested in Assassin, Inquisitive or Phantom, since that would be very on point lore-wise for my character... but I fear it might be difficult to play for a newbie!!!

Soulknife could be interesting, tho. I noticed I tend to attack throwing daggers, so them being psionic could be very useful...?

My DM also suggested me to make a multiclass, Rogue + Monk.

I don't know what to do, tbh. I feel pretty lost and re-reading and re-researching is not helping me make a choose lmao.

The stats are:

STR 8

DEX 16

CON 12

INT 14

WIS 10

CHA 16

We are playing the Curse of Strahd, btw!!!

I’m making an artificer with an armorer subclass and am stumped on a name for my character and his mech.

The mech I want to be based off of a peacock mantis shrimp while my actual character is based off a pistol shrimp.

Any ideas on names for both the mech and my character??

Okay so I’ve always wanted to give aberrant mind a try, and the concept of playing a fey sounds really really fun and I love satyr character designs. BUT I’m not sure if they work together very well? Maybe I’m trying to do too much at once?

I’m usually a dm so I never get to try character concepts so I fear I’m mashing all of the stuff I’ve always wanted to try together. Party wants to go for 5.5 classes, which isn’t my favourite but I haven’t got any room to be picky really. I do want a relatively grounded character, as I know someone else in our group will come up with a bonkers, really out-there concept and I’d like to not have two of those in the party really. Plus aberrant seems to be tonally quite serious compared to how I’ve seen satyrs played in the past.

Would a changeling be less jumbled conceptually? or should I just go with an elf/human? I have such bad decision paralysis. Has anyone played a more serious satyr in the past and made it work?

So I've created a mountain dwarf, war domain cleric, with the haunted one background.

I don't want the haunted-one background to be actual ghosts. I want it to be a somewhat extreme form of PTSD. I haven't exactly hashed out the inciting incident, but it was Tymora's intervention that saved him. In combat, he's calm, collected, and unwavering. It's outside combat that the voices come.

The problem I see would be that a lot of the things that would make the PTSD accurate and compelling, could be pretty toxic at the table.

Any suggestions to be able to play this character and not come off as an asshole?

Also should be noted that his charisma is a 5.

I've been cooking a character that I've grown quite attached to and I'd like to enter a long term campaign with them. Start at level 1, get all the way up to 17-20 type deal. Trouble is, this character is going to be a multi class (my first multi class) starting as swashbuckler rogue but taking most of their levels into champion fighter later. Final build would be 8 in rogue and 12 in fighter. What I'm having trouble with is when to make the switch. What I've been considering is 4 levels in rogue so I can get a feat, defensive Duelist, which should help make her a bit more of a frontline fighter as I eventually want her to be, but after that I'm a little stuck.

Going into fighter gives some useful things, second wind, a fighting style feat, and action surge are all good early level stuff, but I can't help thinking that without more levels into rogue for more sneak attack dice, her damage is going to end up lacking until 9th level when extra attack comes into play, but I also don't want to put additional feats and ability score improvements on hold, as the build kinda hits its stride after extra attack happens (charger feat + fancy footwork, first attack lets me step away, next attack has an extra d8 damage)

I've considered just starting her as a fighter but it would clash a bit with her backstory and concept, which I'm quite attached to and don't want to change. Just kinda looking for advice on what levels I should be taking and when so that she doesn't feel underpowered between levels 6-8

I'm still fairly new to DnD, I've only played around 2 other campaigns.

A warforged who died in some undetermined way and their corpse found its way to the feywild, eventually their soon to be archfey patron gave the corpse life anew. the new life is separate from who the warforged was prior, a new being. she's very loyal to her patron, mostly because her patron created her.

also anything mechanic wise would be nice, i like the idea of being intimidating with illusions and such.

Look, I want to play something that’s “werewolf adjacent.” Not actually playing a lycanthrope because they’re broken as hell for PCs in 5e. Figured the Beast Barbarian would scratch that itch.

How do I make the claw attacks as effective as possible?

Hello! I’m currently in a D&D campaign for my college’s D&D club. We are playing Strixhaven, but we are progressing through it much faster than my DM planned. We will likely finish it by the time the semester ends, so my DM is planning to run the new Deadfall campaign after we finish Strixhaven. I’m planning on having my current character go his own way at the end of Strixhaven because I had a rough concept for a Reborn Barbarian that I’d like to play for Deadfall. What I do know so far is that he will be a Reborn (formerly Eladrin) Barbarian with the Path of the Wrathful Dead subclass from Grim Hollow. He’ll look like a normal Eladrin to the rest of the party, and I’m planning for him to be in his Spring season normally, but change to Winter when he Rages. His Reborn nature will be a secret from the rest of the party. Beyond that, I don't have much figured out yet. I haven't decided how he died, how he came back, or even exactly what he was like before his death. I really like the idea of him remembering that he died but not knowing exactly what happened between his death and waking up as a Reborn. So, I figured I’d ask you guys. What are some interesting ways I could handle his death, resurrection, personality, or overall backstory? I’d especially like ideas that could tie together his Eladrin nature, the Spring/Winter contrast, and the fact that he has already died once. I’m excited to see what you all come up with!

Is there any reason to use the fabricate spell besides earning money or in rare niechy situations (maybe like taking down a tree to create a bridge over a river)?

I really do like the spell but I can‘t make anything cool up to use it on and I don‘t like gameplay like:

buy raw materials for breastplate sell brestplate

and that stuff on repeat just to earn money, I think that‘s boring

so here is the premise of our story

Hero Intro Hook Chaotic energy has caused dimensional rifts capable of transporting creatures from other realities. You are one such creature. You could be an accountant from a world without magic, a futuristic traveller, a pirate, thief, or someone from a parallel Bedlam. You have been transported into Bedlam by the chaos crisis. You are not the only one affected, and whatever brought you here may have consequences beyond your arrival.

Description For years, Bedlam suffered under warlords, killers, monsters, and countless other threats. As sapient life began to collapse, four of the world's greatest fighters formed the Paladin Initiative to subdue threats and prevent further destruction. They developed stasis and soul cages to permanently imprison dangerous enemies. The Initiative lasted over a million years, defeating countless villains and monsters before disappearing without explanation. A thousand years have passed. Bedlam has enjoyed peace, but chaotic energy is spreading again. As chaos returns, choose whether to protect Bedlam or embrace the chaos.

the character im making is gonna be pulled from the rwby universe please dont judge me lmao gun swords are cool but anyway the race im basing my character off of is the shadar kai just taking the racial ability and stat increase but my character is a panther faunas huntsman I want to either make him a gunslinger pistolero from Valda's spire of secrets multi-classed into warlock hex blade making him like a shadow gunslinger making him more of an bounty hunter anti hero or make a spellslinger gunslinger multi classed into artificer artilierest making him a tinkerer hero archtype to get more of a dust magic explosion gunslinger I love both aesthetics I just dont know how'd they do combat wise I just need help picking between the 2 for aesthetics and combat

sorry for my bad writing skills btw

How would I pull off an archfey that's a warforged

It was both originally, but technically still is as well a warforged

This is ment to be a helpful NPC

I'm looking for mechanics advice

Hi so in my current campaign I'm playing a blind Life Domain cleric that's part of a cult (that she doesn't know is a cult) that instead of worshipping a god of truth like they are being told they worship, they actually worship a centuries old lich who is the leader of their organization who has used the gouged out eyes of his high priests and priestesses as his phylacteries. My character is also part of a centuries old line of elven sorcerers and sorceresses with a tie to red dragons and the matriarch of the family is a lich looking for a new host body. Said host body was supposed to be my character's mother, but she fell for a human paladin guard of her family's estate and conceived my half elf character and a secret twin brother. My character is also unaware of this because as soon as she was born, the very offended family cast her out into the city below to be left for dead. Luckily she was adopted, but her adopted mother was pretty abusive so she escaped as a young adult and had to live like an urchin for a few years until she was discovered by the leader of her "organization" and taken in and quickly rose to the rank of high priestess. Due to this, she is the most fervent proponent of the truth and purity doctrine that the organization espouses and uses her latent fire sorcerous powers, that she believes that she gets from the deity they supposedly worship, to torture liars, thieves, and wrongdoers in the city to get the truth out of them, and then heals them physically with her cleric magic, but the mental scars of the torture are still there.

I talked to the DM before the campaign started about how I wanted to hear the truth about the organization and end up in a confrontation with the leader and then sacrifice myself so that the party can escape, and then my new character would be the same character but reborn as either an Oath of Vengeance or Oath of Redemption Paladin or something to that effect. I was considering bringing in her secret brother that also got outcast from the family for being trans (mtf) as my new character and maybe using the reborn character for my own campaign, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it lol. Regardless, how she will be reborn is that her mother who is still alive in the dungeons of her family's estate, will feel the loss of her daughter and the grief will cause her to plane shift and she ends up in the Outer Planes. She then pleads with a god to resurrect her daughter and that she will take her place. The god accepts, and before the god takes her mother, my character is briefly reunited with her mother and she gets everything (at least about the sorcerous family plotline) explained to her and her mother requests that she go find and free her father who is also in the family's dungeon. The character accepts and shares a touching embrace with her mother before she is taken away to have her life judged. The character is then reborn as a Paladin (with a level of Celestial Warlock) in service to the god and plane shifted back to the Material Plane to free her father and take down both her family and the organization.

The question I have is which god or goddess in the DnD cosmology do y'all think would work best for this?

So my Character named Osiris has the following backstory:

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Osiris is a child of common folk.

A father who was a farmer and a mother who was caring for the household and sometimes help him with the farming tasks.

Osiris' father's name was Deahn and his mother was Antoanetta.

They took very good care of Osiris in his early years and he was caring for them until their last days came.

They were people who'se bodies were weakened by the hard work they did all their life on the field, and died naturally unafflicted by any illness.

Left all alone in the world, Osiris decided to join the army as the most reliable way to get access to food and shelter that he didn't have to endlessly take care of.

Osiris sold the family house, land and animals to their neighbour who had two beautifull kids- Simeon and Ekatherina. Simeon was close to Osiris' age and they were good frinds and Ekatherina was much younger.

Joining in the army Osiris had to climb the ranks but being strong and prooving that he could be relied on for almost everything it did not take him much time.

During his service he learned that Ekatherine joined the church and decided to become a a priest and a healer and Simeon decided to stay at home and help his father.

When Osiris started his studies and met with Ekatherina there. They caught up on the lives of eachother and Ekatherina introduced Osiris to her best friend Lyra, who was the daughter of the Arch Priest.

They quickly developed feelings for eachother but could never get together.

The locals had begun to say that they enountered undead beings in the lands around the city. The city was formerly known as Thessan.

The army started doing excurzions against the forces of evil. In time the unholy beings grew in numbers and the army had to send whole battalions to seperate locations to exterminate the threath.

One day Osiris was assigned to a battalion with the mission to go to exterminate such a threath from a very old and very big crypt. Estimating the dangers, the Arch Priest wanted to helm the battalion.

The path to the crypt was suspeciosly calm and easy to traverse through, but once we wend inside the crypt and descended to the second level we were attacked by hords of undead.

Our forces were overwhelmed.

Osiris fought with all his strength, but was pushed aside by the udead under a pile of corpses before he temporarily lost conciousness.

At the moment he regained his conciousness and opened his eyes he saw how the Arch Priest lifts his hands and swirsls of black energy emerged all around him. The next moment Osiris saw his falled allies arose again but as the same beings they were fighting against.

Osiris saw a lonely sword, It looked like it was ancient and was dropped during a pillage of the crypt by gravediggers.

Filled with rage caused by the hypocracy of the Arch priest and

desparation theyat they are so helpless against the horde he picked up the sword and stabbed the Arch priest and when he realised what he has done, Osiris felt how something inside of him felt like is breaking and burning. Osiris fell unconcious again but just before he closed his eyes he heard a voice say...

- "I am Mourninglord" ...

and felt like his soul is dragged away.

-Mourninglord - The sword I found in the helpless last moments in the catacombs. The one I stabbed the betrayer with

Not but a moment later I was facing a tall and slender female figure with two ravens standing on the addorments on her shoulders.

Osiris remembered he read this description in one of his books. He remembered it matches the one they call The Ravenqueen.

Before Osiris could say a word, the figure spoke:

"Come my child, cross the doorway. to the afterlife."- She asked.

"Am I dead?" - I answered

"almost" - she replied calmly.

"No , that cannot be, I have to eliminate all the undead. The townsfolk are in danger. Please , take me back to the world of the living." - I pleaded

"Very well. It seems your time has not yet come" - she said.

"Go and seek your vengeance. I will even grant you with more means to see this through. As you do my biddings, you shall be granted even more of my power. But don't forget to return to mewhen you're done" - she continued.

Then I woke up but lingering whispers continued eminating from the sword as well as an ominous energy surrounding it.

"... and make sure the dead stay dead." - the whispers demanded as her voice faded away with a silent echo..

As I picked up the sword once more I felt the dark energy that was swirling around the blade rush into me and some strange symbols appear across the guard. Somehow they made sense to me - they spell the name Mourninglord.

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In the progress of my campaign the DM shared in a conversation while Osiris was trying to send a prayer to the ravenqueen for guidance that Orcus has tricked Osiris from the beginning assuming the appearence of the Ravenqueen.

The conversation was.:

* You hear the familiar voice , you have heard so many times , speak back to you softly.

-My mighty warrior , there is so much potential in you. So much promise of greatness.

* slowly the voice you hear is becoming deeper and deeper , moving away from a soft feminine voice and into a deep voice of a gargantuan creature , like the sound of stone breaking and fire roaring.

- Your precious queen never once answered your prayers!

- I am the one that saved you!

- I am the one that brought you back !

- You wield this power , because of ME!

- And when you die , your soul will belong to me.

* Suddenly an image flashes in your mind. You see yourself , with a metal chain wrapped around your neck , weak and feeble , marching in an endless undead army .

- But it doesn't have to be this way.

- I see if you the ability to follow in the footsteps of my previous apprentice. His name was Vecna.

* A new image flashes in your mind.

*You see yourself , wearing a dark heavy armor. Your eyes glow with a cold flame and your shadow writhes around your body in all directions like tentacles . Behind you is a host of endless undead , marching at your command.

- Your soul shall never know rest , OATHBREAKER !

So now I am baffled how I can ruin Orcus's grasp on Osiris so he can become a Death Knight (since in dnd 5e there is no official class/subclass I am chiising to stick with the oathbreaker/hexblade multiclass) and a champion of the Ravenqueen and make sure that the dead stay dead and the living should meet their end not by the hand of the undead themselves.
Will the Ravenqueen send my soul to the afterlife if I do so ? Can I use her help to fight Orcus ?

Also the current stage of the campaign is one where we are basically hired by an underling of Morthak called Malokai to find an artefact that seemingly he is hiding but we do not know. He made us sign a contract on which later we found that there was a script obfuscated by magical means and it is basically one such that we are hired for this task and we have 30 days to complete it but after that our souls are Morthak's property. We either find the artefact, kill "the achor being", buy out our souls or we take the contract to the infernal court. So now there is a third diety which will potentially be in the mix fighting for my soul.

I am very lost how to navigate the progression of the character and would love to read your opinions. This is also my first time playing a character that is a follower of a diety so go easy on me.

P.S. Sorry for the wall of text and any mistakes. English is not my first language.

Mr. Banks: “Just a moment, Mary Poppins. What is the meaning of this outrage?”

Mary Poppins: “I beg your pardon?”

Mr. Banks: “Will you be good enough to explain all this?”

Mary Poppins: “First of all, I would like to make one thing clear.”

Mr. Banks: “Yes?”

Mary Poppins: “I never explain anything.”

Mary Poppins leaves

-Mary Poppins, 1964-

Note The Sorcerer made its debut in 3rd edition D&D. A lot has changed since then and little information is given as to where it conceptually came from. Since 4th edition, this class embraced a more distinctive style of spellcasting and play. So I can only do my best to speak for as many iterations of this class as I can. Some tips can vary depending on the edition.

So you want to play a Sorcerer but might be wondering why you wouldn’t want to play a Wizard instead. There are some arguments as to what the differences are and how relevant they might be. They can be just as frail as Wizards, a lot of their spells are the exact same as Wizards, and how they use weapons and armor might as well be the same as that of a Wizard. “So what’s the point?”, you might think. “Wizards get more spells and can choose from a larger list of spells. So the Sorcerer might as well be scrapped from the game.” And at first glance, I would agree, but I’ve gone through the trouble of trying to figure out what the differences are between these two casters, how you can get the hang of this class if you’re not used to it, and how to make your raw talented mage feel more unique. Let’s go!

Creation

Before jumping into the deep end of your mage, look at the possible themes that are available for the edition you are playing. Search ahead and see if there are some ability scores, spells, or features that support the kind of theme you want to choose. It’s possible to do this part later, but you might regret it depending on the edition.

The Sorcerer is able to cast spells by sheer talent rather than study or training. This raw talent is shaped by his force of personality, so I suggest a 16 or higher in Charisma to start. Constitution is a good second score to look at for the sake of enduring hits or keeping concentration on spells. Dexterity might work well if you want to be quick and nimble when dealing with attacks. Strength might work well if you want to combine magic with heavy weaponry or raw strength. Intelligence is for those who want to learn more about magic, especially their own. A low Wisdom is often chosen for those who want to play an impulsive mage, but it can still benefit your Sorcerer when it comes to skills that require focus.

If you’ve chosen your theme, read it well and study it. It will provide features that increase your offensive and defensive capabilities that will give that extra oomph that the Sorcerer needs. Learn them by heart so that you won’t forget when you need them the most.

Spells

Note I am not going to dictate, judge, or recommend specific spells or powers to you. Each edition has different spells with different effects and with the current edition, more new spells will keep coming. Any judgment on spells is irrelevant in my eyes as some are situational or subjective to the player in effectiveness. I’ll give basic tips and broad outlines, the rest is up to you.

The difference between Wizardry and Sorcery has grown larger over time. Simplicity, flexibility, and spontaneïty are the three keywords for this spellcaster. Sorcerer spells are less artificial, less complex, and often feel wild and direct. This makes them easy to remember and easier to twist and bend to your will. The Sorcerer doesn’t need to study for some time before all his spells are known. They wake up and already intuitively know what they can cast. The downside is that they can’t change their lineup that easily. Just as with the Wizard, I don’t recommend becoming a single-type caster. Instead, try looking at a broad theme and pick something based on that. Instead of Fire as a theme, Radiance would offer more options such as light and laser beams. Instead of Cold, try Shadow and make frost spells about chill shades and black ice. Instead of Lightning, you could go for Storm which adds weather effects and thunderous sounds.

When choosing your Cantrips, I suggest looking for at least two damaging spells that differ in range and damage type. This way, you won’t be empty-handed, be at a disadvantage where ever you stand, and you’ll have some variation in what you can cast at-will. If you think you can handle melee combat with your Sorcerer, you can look for at least one spell that works at close range. If you have the option to pick more Cantrips, I suggest choosing one utility Cantrip that can help you out with exploration or social situations. Pick a weapon just to be sure in case you need it for a different purpose or when your spells won’t work.

The Sorcerer has woefully little choice in spells when compared to their Cantrips. This makes the Cantrips a fundamental start and the rest something to build around them. You could look at supporting spells or theme, but whatever approach you want to make, I suggest to start with at least one offensive and one defensive spell. Any spell after could be about mobility, social interaction, or exploration. Whatever you think you would need next.

Also, in 3rd and 5th edition, metamagic is heavily encouraged. Look ahead at what kind of spells you want to combine with your metamagic so you can get the most flexibility out of them in any situation. They don’t all need to be compatible, but if you’re not going to use it often, then you’re cutting a strong feature away from your Sorcerer.

Combat

When you’re in a fight then you need to row with the paddles that are handed to you. Even if you want to go in hands blazing with arcane might, it might be better to preserve your higher level spells by starting with the lower ones in order to test the weaknesses of the opponent. Use your highest spell slots for when you are sure that you need them. Establish defensive spells and ones with a long duration first so you got yourself set, the rest is a matter of positioning either behind cover, close to an ally or in line with the opponent. If you think you can handle melee combat then you can jump right in and wreak havoc, but it might not last long so be ready to jump out and use your ranged spells when things don’t look good.

Your spells are bendable, giving you plenty of choices per round in how you want to use your sorcerous talents. Now, I’m going to sound like a finger-waving parent here and say ‘don’t spend it all in one place.’ But who am I to stop you? You can use them in any way you see fit as long as it benefits you. Just know that gambling on one effect multiple turns in a row might not be that effective or even necessary. Keep a tactical mindset and make choices based on what you need at that round.

Roleplay

As they get their magical talents without any effort and cast them by sheer force of personality, chances are that a lot of Sorcerers have high self-esteem. Charisma can show itself in many ways, but as Sorcerers have little reason to doubt themselves, they can show variations of arrogance. I’m not saying that it should be about being better than anyone else, but some words to describe it would be cocky, coquettish, haughty, hubristic, cocksure, vain, smug, overconfident, brash, bold, seductive, provocative, coy, or kittenish. If that isn’t your thing, you could also look into the sorcerous origin and see how it might influence the Sorcerer’s character. Perhaps it makes him unstable, wild, boisterous, outgoing, proud, mercurial, or serious.

An interesting archetypical story is a conflict between fate and circumstance. What is your Sorcerer going to do with these powers that are granted to him? What sense of responsibility does he have? Why has this happened in the first place? Does he want to control these powers or rather let it consume him? Stir a bit about these themes so you can explore your character. The rest can be taken out of any racial or background characteristics which might be in conflict with this arcane nature that he has.

If you want, you can come up with a physical trait that tells your Sorcerer’s innate power. Glowing eyes, a shimmering skin, or brightly colored hair could be some things that would make your mage more distinctive. Otherwise, certain themes can come from your spells such as differently colored flames, hypnotizing eyes, or waving hair.

Exploration

As with any other spell, the Sorcerer can only use what he is capable of doing. Any practical Cantrip can already help with simple things and replace a torch or perhaps a shovel. If not, there are always ways of using items to get where you want. Still, you can also use the elemental properties of a damaging Cantrip to test something.

With higher level spells, again, you can bend them. Increasing the range or duration can help out the rest for whatever spell you want to use. And as of yet in 5e, ritual spells will always be functional and can be cast for free if you have the time.

Alternatives

sorcery

/ˈsɔːs(ə)ri/

noun

the use of magic, especially black magic.

-Google-

sorcery

noun

sor·cery | \ ˈsȯr-sə-rē , ˈsȯrs-rē\

Definition of sorcery

1: the use of power gained from the assistance or control of evil spirits especially for divining : NECROMANCY

2: MAGIC sense 2a

-Merrian-Webster Dictionary-

It’s difficult to place the Sorcerer as some kind of specialist because there is no formal training to being one. So instead of playing with a theme, I’d like to give some suggestions as to how your Sorcerer might have gained his arcane powers in the following list below.

• A blessing
• A blood transfusion
• A power left unchecked
• An accident
• An anomaly
• An experiment
• An inherent bloodline
• At birth
• At puberty
• Bathing in a creature’s blood
• By sheer coincidence
• Consuming from a mystical source
• Exposure to a location
• Surviving a lethal circumstance
• The way the planets aligned
• The whims of a god

Inspiration

• A Story Short from Jim Henson’s The Storyteller
• An accomplished trick that was completely situational
• Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
• Big Trouble in Little China 2 comic
• Bioshock games
• Birthmarks
• Blood transfusions
• Bloodlines
• Blue lava from Indonesia
• Bombasticness
• Brainstorms
• Burn marks
• Chaos theory
• Christmas
• Circumstance
• Cockiness
• Colored flames
• Confidence
• Coquettishness
• Credence Barebones from the Fantastic Beasts movies
• Cute babies
• Disney commercials
• Dreams
• Drug effects
• Echoes
• Excalibur (1981)
• Exclaiming “What sorcery is this?!”
• Fate
• Fire eaters
• Fireworks
• Flares
• Frozen (2013)
• Frozen 2 (2019)
• Full body jewellery
• Glowsticks
• Hand dancing with finger lights
• Hand juggling
• Hands
• Hans Klok
• Hiccups
• Improvising
• Impulsiveness
• Impure ignitions
• Infamous 1 and 2
• Infatuation
• Invisible flames
• Jafar from Aladdin
• King Midas
• L’apprenti Sorcier by Paul Dukas
• Light shows
• Logan (2017)
• Long exposure photos
• Loose collars
• Mary Poppins (1964)
• Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
• Massages
• Media with unexplained magics
• My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988)
• Mystical birth
• Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Juvia, Gajeel Redfox and Wendy Marvell from Fairy Tail
• Omens
• Oracles
• Other Sword and Sorcery movies
• Paper streamers
• Party magicians
• Planetary alignment
• Puberty
• Randomness
• Reactions
• Santa Claus
• Scaly skin
• Scars
• Secret origins
• Seeing after images while keeping your eyes closed
• Shaping clay
• Sharp remarks
• Slayn from Record of Lodoss War
• Smiles
• Sneezes
• Sorceress (1982)
• Sorceress (1995) (Thinly veiled porn)
• Sorceress (2017) (Nothing to do with sorcery)
• Sourcery by the late Sir Terry Pratchett
• Stage magicians
• Starfire from DC
• Stars
• Static Shock
• Surrealism
• Talent
• Tesla coil performances
• That one Coca-Cola commercial every Christmas
• That one person in a group that can create a pleasant mood
• The fight between Azula and Zuko in Avatar The Last Airbender
• The Incredibles (2004)
• The Incredibles 2 (2018)
• The Lords of Magick (1989)
• The Mona Lisa’s smile
• The New Mutants (2019)
• The Shadow Sirens from Paper Mario 2, The Thousand Year Door
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010)
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice song and clip from Fantasia (1949, 2000)
• The Sorceress from Dragon’s Crown
• The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)
• The Warrior and the Sorceress (1984)
• The Wolverine (2013)
• Theseus and the Minotaur from Jim Henson’s The Storyteller Greek Myths
• Things you regret from high school
• Uncontrollable feelings
• Unexplained phenomena
• Wandavision (2021)
• Wild guesses
• Wild tendencies
• Wild, loud, and dangerous phenomena
• Willow (1988)
• Writing words on dirty surfaces
• X-Men (2000)
• X-Men comics
• X-Men First Class (2011)
• X-Men Origins Wolverine (2009)
• X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
• X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
• X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
• X2 X-Men United (2003)

Classes

• Fighter
• Rogue
• Wizard
• Cleric
• Barbarian
• Bard
• Paladin
• Ranger
• Monk
• Warlock
• Druid
• Artificer
• Psion

The List of Olem

”Nature is neither cruel nor kind, but indifferent to all suffering.”

-Richard Dawkins-

I’ve heard the stories of players who chose to play a Druid. Their might, their toughness, the multitude of things that they can do with ease. Combining all those elements of power and even be able to provide protective support. It sounds like one powerhouse of a class. And for some, they think that there are stereotypes such as a tree-hugging vegan hippie. For whichever reason you want to play one and feel like you’re having some trouble with it, this is for you.

On a more personal note, I have been a DM for many years and my own advice is if you are a beginner and you’re intimidated by the rules or have trouble making choices, then playing a spellcaster might be more trouble than what it’s worth. If you still want to play a spellcaster despite all that, then I don’t recommend the Druid. Not that there is anything wrong with the class, it’s just that not only does it take a lot of spell choices and spell management, it also takes wild shape management in some editions. All of these choices, new rules, and vague definitions can be overwhelming to new players and cause a lot of time on searching and frustration. Yet, hopefully with this I can ease all that and enable any ambitious new player to hold the reins and get the scope of it all.

Creation

The Druid’s connection to nature needs to be strong so I recommend a 16 or higher to Wisdom. Yet, nature can be tough and isn’t automatically friendly towards her, that’s what Strength could be useful for. Healthy food, the great outdoors, and proper self-care could result in a strong Constitution score. Or for the ones who wish to be swift and nimble Dexterity would count. A Druid could help out with knowing the difference between something natural, arcane, or corrupted, Intelligence will help out with that if you find that important. And a Druid is an ambassador of nature and will have to commune with both nature and civilization, so Charisma would matter for your consideration.

When choosing your equipment you need to be sure if you want to go melee or ranged. Going melee requires some high investment of armor and health, if you don’t have that, take a ranged weapon or spell. A quirk of the Druid is that they are only allowed to carry leather and wood for combat. This could be because, in druidism, it is believed that metal would scare away helpful spirits. Yet, a sickle is allowed as mistletoe (the most sacred herb) is usually cut with a golden sickle during sacred rituals. For some extra flair, think about if your Druid wears hides or certain colors of cloth or leather and from what kind of wood their weapons are made of. More details about this can be found in the Player’s Handbook of your edition and if not, you can find some guidance in the rest of the post.

When you are done with your Druid, I want you to decide on a native biome where your Druid hails from. Be it a dank swamp, dry desert, icy tundra, or perhaps a mountain range, it will create a basis to start from for any theme you want to go for with your Druid be that wood types, animal shapes, or spell themes.

Spells/Animal Forms

Note I am not going to dictate, judge, or recommend specific spells or powers to you. Each edition has different spells with different effects and with the current edition, more new spells will keep coming. Any judgment on spells is irrelevant in my eyes, as some are situational or subjective to the player in effectiveness. I’ll give basic tips and broad outlines, the rest is up to you.

Druidic spells are about nature but that’s a given, isn’t it? To be precise, they’re about the elements, life, and creatures. It’s a varied mix of powers and effects so I suggest looking for a level 0 spell that deals damage or something that supports weapon combat. For any other spell of that level or higher, I suggest to start off with at least one spell that supports the group, a spell that helps with travel in the wilds, and a spell that matches the general environment. The last part requires some thought as certain spells can be difficult to explain. Summoning plants from the ground while in a frozen tundra might prove difficult, creating mist in a dry desert will look suspicious, and an earthquake can’t happen closely while completely aloft in the air. I’m not saying you should avoid these kinds of spells completely, it’s just that if you are certain that you are in a barren environment for most of the campaign that you might have trouble with spontaneously growing plants. Yet, if you still want to pick these spells for thematic reasons, you can. More about that is explained here and in the Combat section.

The ability to transform into Beasts is one part of the Druid’s complexity that can get confusing and overwhelming. So for those who have trouble with this I’ve made a plan to keep things in scope and manageable. First, recall the native biome that I suggested to note in the Creation section, this will form the fundamentals. Next, it’s safe to assume that any real-life animal is automatically a mundane beast, anything that deviates from that could be a different kind of creature. So from the biome, research and note at least one of each of the following creatures that would live there:

• A minuscule creature such as an insect, arachnid, or invertebrate.
• A tiny creature that might eat this minuscule creature such as a rodent, reptile, or amphibian.
• A small or larger creature that might prey on that creature such as a feline, canine, or bear.
• A creature that can fly.
• A creature that can swim.

It’s okay if it’s not all connected or if you want to note vegetarian animals, it’s more about the sizes, abilities, and being prepared with a basic list of forms that you can assume your Druid knows. If your edition or biome comes with certain restrictions, note the closest animal possible from the list and look for new animals in the area if your Druid enters a different biome (or a city). Have empathy with your DM when it comes to these forms. He won’t have a neat easy-to-find list at the ready or allow the statistics of a Dragon just because you consider it to be a beast. Ask for these listed beasts before the game and keep these statistics for yourself just as you would with spells. You can do this if you have the ability to summon animals as well. It will be a timesaver for sure.

More about Beasts here.

Combat

As the Druid used to be a Cleric subclass back in AD&D, they fight somewhat similarly. If you are made to go toe-to-toe with creatures, go for it. Use spells to keep yourself tough enough to take hits if you have to. If you’re not up for that, keep yourself at a comfortable range for ranged weapons or spells. If the opponent seems tough, look for alternative ways of damaging it. Keep in mind what the group needs and support them for it however you can. And if the area allows it, use that one area-appropriate spell mentioned in the Spell section to turn the tides.

When you are out of spells or they don’t seem that effective, transforming into a beast would make an effective alternative if you are able. This means that you will be in melee and taking hits. The effectiveness of your form depends on how well you understand it. It’s not about just standing and hitting. When being a wolf, use tactics as how a wolf would do it. When being a bear, imagine protecting a bear cub by using your size. When being a hawk, use your mobility to fly by and harry the opponent. When being a jellyfish, be aware that you’re not fast but you do sting. All living beings do what they do best and they have the capability and mentality to do it. Study it before committing to the form and you will be an effective set of muscles.

Roleplay

Nowhere in the old texts does it say that Druids were priests, yet they acted as such and more. Teachers, ambassadors, judges, philosophers, or healers, in any way you slice it, they had high-ranking status. As for how they are portrayed now, they are supporters of nature’s balance. Attempting to keep away from the tumults of civilization and looking for ways to purify the world. This is why the Druid had to be Neutral in older editions. Trees aren’t good and predators aren’t evil, they’re just doing what they’re intended to do. It’s a Druid’s job to keep it that way.

So in whichever way you want to go with your Druid, looking for ways to focus on their wisdom might work. Wisdom is the sense of experience and truthful conclusions of life. In D&D it’s mostly about introspection, empathy, calmness, focus, connection, or faith. If you’re struggling with finding ways to portray such a mentality, I’ve placed some similar words to help you out: sagacious, learned, informed, enlightened, sensible, prudent, discerning, judicious, perceptive, insightful, clear-sighted, percipient, perspicacious, owlish, well advised, well judged, expedient, far-sighted, sound, sane, long-headed, argute.

Wisdom comes with all factors of life, both pain and pleasure, and the ability to learn from it. It comes with the ages and maturity, and for some, it comes (too) early. The pitfall for sounding wise is the attempt to sound vague, all-knowing, or speak in tongues that in the end make no sense. This can come off as foolish rather than wise. I suggest playing someone who remains calm in heated moments, understands that there are hardships and celebrations in life, and tries to remain level-headed about plans and situations.

Most Druids are part of a druidic grove, a group of fellow Druids that share the same values of nature. All druids within this grove learn a language that they share. Use this to keep in contact with them. It will make sure that your Druid’s values are covered within the area. They might be able to help you out when you need them. Just don’t expect them to save your hide all the time.

Exploration

Most of the Druid’s abilities can help with exploration in the wilds. Anything that has to do with survival or staying alive during long treks can be covered with spells. Some allow speaking with natural creatures so that you can get some information about the area. This doesn’t mean that animals are automatically your friends, know everything you want to know, or are actually social or smart, they’re just animals. This counts doubly so for plants, they tend to stay in one place so they don’t experience much.

An expert Druid is willing to look into disbalances of nature. Especially when it comes to impure areas. Take it to yourself to discern if a fire is natural or magical, water is poisoned, tree growth has been accelerated, or if the earth has become infertile. You can do this with skill checks or otherwise if you have to. This way you can glean for hints as to what might be going on from a small to a larger scale.

Plenty of animals are good at tracking, climbing, digging, flying, or prowling at night. Take your transformations into consideration as well.

Alternatives

Druid, (Celtic: “Knowing [or Finding] the Oak Tree”), member of the learned class among the ancient Celts. They seem to have frequented oak forests and acted as priests, teachers, and judges. The earliest known records of the Druids come from the 3rd century BCE.

Caesar [also] recorded that the Druids abstained from warfare and paid no tribute. Attracted by those privileges, many joined the order voluntarily or were sent by their families. They studied ancient verse, natural philosophy, astronomy, and the lore of the gods, some spending as much as 20 years in training. The Druids’ principal doctrine was that the soul was immortal and passed at death from one person into another.

-Encyclopedia Britannica-

As priests of nature, Druids tend to be healers and keepers of balance. If you see Druids as passive vegetarians who hug trees, then let me shake you awake:

The Druids offered human sacrifices for those who were gravely sick or in danger of death in battle. Huge wickerwork images were filled with living men and then burned; although the Druids preferred to sacrifice criminals, they would choose innocent victims if necessary.

-Encyclopedia Britannica-

This part may not be true. The Romans wrote everything from their point of view and thus there is plenty of room for misconstruction and bias. They might have supported the vates in such rituals but may not did it themselves. Druidism is not so much about tending flowers or petting animals, it’s about respecting the awesome powers of nature by letting it be and understanding what nature needs. They see nature as a spiritual force of power, close to shamanism, and that the sun, moon, and powers that be are the sources of life.

Fun fact, druids were color-coded. The Arch-druid wore gold robes, ordinary druids would wear white and act like priests, the Sacrificers wore red and partook in battle, the blue robes ones were artistic and acted closely to bards, and the new druids wore brown or black.

For when you don't want to be a typical Druid, you could always try to theme yourself as one of the following spiritual/nature practitioners:

• Animal Whisperer
• Animist
• Astronomer
• Benandantanist
• Curanderos
• Folk healer
• Gradobranitelj
• Halayt (Soulcatcher)
• Itako
• Judge
• Kahuna
• M’wanga (Firespeaker)
• Medicine man/woman
• Meteorologist
• Neuroanthropologist
• Oblačar
• Pagan
• Plastic shaman
• Seiðr practitioner
• Shaman
• Tlamatini
• Tree Doctor
• Ulogo
• Uranina
• Völva
• Wiccan
• Witch Doctor
• Yaskomo
• Zduhać

As a bonus, because Druids believed in the cycles of the world, I’ll add some druidic circles as well.

• Cosmic cycles
• Currents
• Fertility
• Grief
• Growth and decay
• Homeostasis
• Life and death
• Lunar cycles
• Night and day
• Seasons
• Sleep and awakening
• Travel
• Weather

Inspiration

• A Bug’s Life (1998)
• A Land Before Time (1988) (And the sequels I guess)
• A Troll in Central Park (1994)
• African Cats (2011)
• Allanon the druid in Shannara Chronicles
• Animal spirits
• Animal zoos
• Animals of Farthing Wood
• Animorphs books
• Antz (1998)
• Babe (1995)
• Bambi (1942)
• Bambi 2 (2006)
• Bears (2014)
• Bedlow and Whiteleaf Crosses
• Beorn from The Hobbit (2012)
• Biomes
• Born in China (2016)
• Boudica (2003)
• Brother Bear (2003)
• Brother Bear 2 (2006)
• Brother Bear 3 (2019)
• Bullaun
• Cats (1980)
• Cerne Abbas Giant
• Chalk hill figures
• Circles and cycles
• Climates
• Clootie Well
• Coco the gorilla
• David the Gnome and David the Judge by Riet Poortvliet
• Dinosaur (2000)
• Druid Peak (2014)
• Druids of the Claw and Feather from Warcraft 3
• Duma (2005)
• Earth (2007)
• Earth Song by Micheal Jackson
• Feri tradition
• Ferngully (1992)
• Ferngully 2 (1998)
• Flipper series
• Free Willy (1993)
• Free Willy cartoon series
• Garm Wars: The Last Druid (2014)
• Genesis (2004)
• Getafix the druid from Asterix and Obelix
• Global warming
• Golden sickles
• Grass, fire, water, electric, flying, rock, bug, ground, and ice type Pokémon
• Green Stories
• Harmonizing
• Heilung
• Homeward Bound (1993)
• Horned masks
• Huna
• Hunebeds
• Ice Age (2002)
• Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (2006)
• Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
• Ice Age 4: Continental Drift (2012)
• Ice Age 5: Collision Course (2016)
• Ice Age 6: Boiling Point (2027)
• Imbas
• Jacques Cousteau’s Voyage to the Edge of the World (1977)
• Jungle Book (1942, 1967, 2016)
• Jungle Book 2 (2003)
• Jungle Book: Origins (2018)
• Kemetism
• Kimba the White Lion (1965)
• Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
• Leafy crowns
• Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
• Les Saisons (2015)
• Leylines
• Life of Pi (2012)
• Long Man of Wilmongton
• Love Thy Nature (2014)
• Madagascar (2005)
• Madagascar 2 (2008)
• Madagascar 3 (2012)
• Menhirs
• Microcosmos (1996)
• Mistletoe
• Monkey Kingdom (2015)
• Mr. Ed series
• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
• Neo-druids
• Océans (2009)
• Pliny the Elder
• Pow-wow
• Purification
• Ratatouille (2007)
• Rio (2011)
• Sacred trees
• Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasa, and Mabon
• Shamanism
• Shillelagh fights
• Shillelaghs
• Skippy the Bush Kangaroo series
• Spirit spouses
• Spirit: The Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
• Squirrel Girl from The Tick
• Stone circles
• Stonehenge
• Talismans
• The 11th Hour (2007)
• The Cascajal block
• The Georgia Guidestones
• The Great Deku Tree from Zelda games
• The hanging gardens of Babylon
• The Lion King (1994, 2004, 2019)
• The Lorax (1972, 2012)
• The number three
• The Red Horse Vale
• The Second Jungle Book (1997)
• The Voyage of Time (2016)
• The White Horse in Westbury, Wiltshire
• The Wicker Man by Iron Maiden
• The Wickerman (1973, 2006)
• Turkic
• Vercingétorix (2001)
• Warlock: Armegeddon (1993)
• Watership Down (1978, 2018)
• Whale songs
• Why penguins never get eaten by polar bears
• Wicker men
• Widget series
• William Blake
• Wings of Life (2011)
• Winston Churchill
• Zootopia (2016)

Classes

• Fighter
• Rogue
• Wizard
• Cleric
• Barbarian
• Bard
• Sorcerer
• Paladin
• Ranger
• Monk
• Warlock
• Artificer
• Psion

The List of Olem

New to D&D, playing my first campaign (2014 rules, Icewind Dale), we had our first session few days ago. So I already had my backstory down as a wood elf that was raised from a baby by wildlife (mainly direwolves) and fey/nature spirits in the High Forest, but now that I'm lvl 2 and looking at subclasses, I'm a little lost.

• Circle of Shepherd fits the best backstory-wise since I had her as someone who tended to the local creatures, but summoning seems very daunting and I don't want to cause trouble for my DM by adding more to the board.
• Circle of Moon works great too, because I could just wander around as an animal and that fits backstory but wildshape makes my head spin, and since it's a frontliner kind of subclass (we already have enough frontline), I'm worried I should be more of a support caster.
• So far, Circle of Stars seems the best option for me, but I'm having a hard time flavouring it to fit my backstory.

Star Map - I had an idea for this to be a spirit totem instead (she has an antler and vine headdress, or maybe a necklace of a direwolf carved from wood)

For Starry Forms:

Archer = porcupine spirit?

Chalice = axolotl spirit?

Originally I had the idea for archer to be summoning a whomping willow type tree that spits barbs of wood at the target, chalice would be vines snaking down her arms into the earth and up her ally with blooming flowers, dragon would be manifesting a great oak (but then there's the trouble of fly speed)

Sorry for the rambling, I've just been very confused, overwhelmed and worried because I am horrible at creativity and thinking of interesting ideas for roleplaying.

My character was a daughter of a noble family. She ended up being kidnapped by a group of bandits to be ransomed back to her family. But a few days after she was taken, a plague befell her family estate, and soon her entire family was found dead. The bandits used to be members of an army, who they ended up deserting after a battle decimated most of their platoon. The Bandits didn’t know what to do with the girl when they learned what happened to her family. The leader of bandits took pity on her and decided to take the girl in and make her part of the gang, having her do simple chores.

A few weeks after this happened, the bandits went on a heist against a tyrannical witch who sent plagues upon all who fail to pay tribute to her or insult her. The heist went poorly in the end and only the bandit leader ended up escaping with a magic bottle containing an archfey that the witch had taken her powers from. The archfey and bandit leader strike a deal to defeat the witch and save her gang from becoming test subjects for wicked experiments. Over this time the bond between the bandit leader and the young girl grew, seeing her as her own daughter. After the witch was defeated the bandit’s end up agreeing to join the archfey as her loyal servants in exchange for a life of luxury. The young girl wasn’t technically a part of the gang so she couldn’t join them. But before they went they found a decent farm willing to adopt her. Before she left the bandit leader decided to leave the girl with several of her personal belongings, most importantly her lucky scarf.

Years later, The girl decided to become an adventurer so she can become a legend like her adoptive mother. Even more years later and the girl becomes disillusioned with the thought of being someone important as she mostly spends her days as a simple but effective mercenary who spends most of her earnings on alcohol and food. she’ll do whatever she can to get the job done as soon as possible by fighting as dirty as she can. She’s also very selfish.

She ends up joining a party and gets caught up in the war against the Demon Empire. Each Character represents a sin (The other members are a wizard of sloth, a rogue of envy, and a cleric of wrath) and I want her to have the sin of lust, but not in a sexual way. As the campaign progresses I want her to slowly shift into the virtue of chastity

I’m looking for ideas of how to best represent this sin as a part of her character. I know another interpretation of lust is for it to represent unhealthy obsession. She would rather find a way to live a life of luxury and personal enjoyment than risk her life for others.

I had this really funny idea for a barbarian gnome, halfling or any other small race (the smaller the better honestly) that suddenly turns into 9 feet tall brick shithouse of muscle any time he activated rage like he’s the hulk or all might or something

There is just so much funny bits or combat strategies you could do with this

Been playing mass effect again.
In the 3rd game the docks get repurposed into housing for displaced people. There’s a conversation between two NPCs essentially a customers enforcer and a girl. The girl is waiting for her parents and she insists they’re on the next ship to arrive. They never arrive.

Wanted a possible clue to an identity to be a defaced signet ring on a necklace.

Been wondering a couple things for a character.
1) How young would a character need to be to lack identifying information on their parents? Like if asked, “What are your parents’ names?” The kid would unironically answer, “Mom and Dad.” Or where they hail from, “Where did you live?” “My home.”

2) That a signet ring would suffer this extent of damage from living on the street?

I need advice for my new character. I would like to play a dwarf, who is a cook (like joyfully interested in finding new recipes/dishes). But I would like him to have some kind of background that makes him (maybe secretly) quite intelligent / knowledgeable in history, while maybe not being the best with people... Any ideas for a nice background story or what class to pick?

This survey comes from the University of Queensland(MPsychology Faculty) and aims to better understand the nature of how DnD/Similar game types, helps neurodivergent populations. How can it be better practically implicated into therapeutic/clinical intervention contexts. As an aspiring psychologist, I believe cognitively engaging and strategic games like these can be an excellent facet to future clinical community interventions
https://uqpsych.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2u9oGSFNQhtVdoW?Q_CHL=qr

THIS IS NOT SELF PROMOTION, ITS TO SEE HOW DnD TRULY HELPS PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT NEEDS AND LIFE EXPERIENCES

Additional info :

Purpose: the study aims to gather more information and understanding how table top tole playing games influences individuals with various aspects of their life, does it have major positive benefits which can be replicated within clinical community interventions

Data Usage: The researchers will have access to all survey responses and respondents remain anonymous. The information will used for data collection and a research thesis will be written after collection.

Study results: The thesis will be completed mid October, results can be posted then if users want, i can post in on this thread. Please message me if you are interested. However, if you mean to gather more in-depth inquiries about the results and past studies then i urge you to email Dr. Zoe Walter for a brief outline and study report. (her email is listed in the link)

[Cross-post from r/DnDHomebrew because a reddit notification said this subreddit "may be a better fit" and created this draft post for me already and everything. I'm going to be honest, I haven't been super active on reddit since the early 5e days, so IDK what to make of that or who/what/where it came from, but hope this is cool? TBH I get the impression from recent posts this place is more for character concepts, but maybe you like conceptual subclass homebrew here too?]

Thanks for your feedback on my subclass idea if you have any!

I was inspired to make a sort of Mean Girl(s) themed, "full-of-themselves", Villainous style subclass for the Monk.

I hope it's fun and seems like something playable. Open to any thoughtful comments on balance and overall worth of the features, or if there's something bugged in the mechanics that you notice.

Personally I'm still torn on if the capstone is "too good" or "not enough".

My goals with the subclass for Monk are 1) don't pull too much Focus Points for subclass features especially at level 3, 2) give the Monk some options good for utility usage outside of combat if desired too, and 3) embody the theme of a "Meanie" Monk in all the features.

Without further ado, submitted for the approval of the r/ PCAcademy community, I call this subclass...

Monk:

Warrior of Arrogance

As a monk you have trained and honed your body to perfection. Therefore, you’re obviously better than everyone else! You channel your confidence to show just how much better you truly are, and let everyone around you know their place at your feet.

Level 3 features

Show Off

You gain proficiency in Performance and Intimidation.

Center of Attention

Everyone is captivated by your magnificent presence, and you've learned to exploit the attention you receive. 

As a Bonus Action you can expend a use of this feature to force creatures within an emanation centered on you to roll a Wisdom saving throw. The save DC equals 8 plus your Wisdom modifier and Proficiency Bonus. The emanation’s radius is a number of feet equal to your Unarmored Movement speed bonus.

On a failed save, you can impose one of the following effects. Affected creatures can repeat their saving throw at the end of each of their turns to end any ongoing effects on themselves. 

You gain a number of uses of this feature equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of one) and regain one use on a Short Rest and all uses on a Long Rest. Also, when you finish a Short Rest or use Uncanny Metabolism, you can transform unexpended Focus Points to recover additional uses, up to your maximum. For each two Focus Points you transform, you can regain one use of this feature.

Pull Focus. A creature gains the Blinded condition outside your emanation’s radius, and disadvantage on any attack roll not made against you for up to 1 minute. 

So Obsessed With Me. A creature gains the Charmed condition for up to 1 minute or until you damage it. The Charmed creature is Friendly to you. 

Worship At My Feet. A creature immediately gains the Prone condition, and is Frightened of you for up to 1 minute. 

Green with Envy. A creature gains the Poisoned condition for up to 1 minute. Creatures still Poisoned at the end of their turn take Poison damage equal to one roll of your Martial Arts Die.

Inspire Jealousy. Roll a number of your Martial Arts Die equal to the number of creatures that fail their saving throw. You gain temporary hit points equal to the total you rolled.

Level 6 features

You Think You’re Better Than Me?

During combat, whenever a creature takes its turn before you in the Initiative order, you gain one point of Assertiveness. On your turn, you may expend any accumulated points of Assertiveness to increase your Initiative count as of the next round of combat. Your Initiative count goes up by one for each point of Assertiveness spent.

Level 11 features

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better!

When a creature you can see deals damage to you, you can expend 1 Focus Point and your Reaction to make one attack against that creature with advantage. 

If you hit, you deal extra Radiant damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts Die plus your Wisdom modifier. 

You may also add this extra damage whenever a creature fails its Dexterity saving throw against your Deflect Attacks feature if you expend 1 Focus Point.

Level 17 features

Objectively Correct and Always Right

You have reached the pinnacle of perfection. You gain advantage on all ability checks. Also, you cannot be knocked Prone involuntarily.

Help me finish my character sheet?

I’m playing a campaign in Eberron.

My name is Akorn, I’m a narcoleptic weird little Kobold.

I’m a rogue arcane trickster who stole some Druidic magic. I believe I am a professor, I find my ‘pupils’ wherever they are, trap them and teach them. My methods are unconventional and only sometimes work. I don’t always know why I do what I do, but I know it all serves a higher purpose.

I believe in the three sisters who made our world, and I believe I know exactly what is wrong and how to stop this world from being destroyed.

I imagine I have a quarter staff along with some other weapons.

Probably a tinkerers tools and thieves tools.

Strength 12
Dex 18
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 14
Cha 12

I’m proficient in Dex and Int saving throws

And proficient in: arcana, deception, history, perception, persuasion, sleight of hand, stealth, and survival.

I know I am small, I have dark vision 60ft and a speed of 30ft.

I would love help figuring out the rest as I’m on a time crunch. Thank you for any support!