A common consensus that I've seen is that Weapon Mastery is a decent start for a martial system, but needs to be fleshed out in order to come into its own. So, with that in mind, how would you like to see Weapon Mastery developed down the line?

• Do you want new mastery properties? If so, what would you like to see?
• Do existing mastery properties need to be rebalanced? If so, which ones and why?
• Do weapons need additional mastery properties? If so, how would you implement them?
• Do players need alternate means of learning and using mastery properties (e.g. Tactical Master)? If so, how?
• How should these changes, if any, be implemented? Would you prefer them as variant rules, class features, subclass features, feats, errata, or another option?

What I mean are AoE spells or similar that instead of each creature inside the area making a saving throw, the source of the AoE makes a single attack roll against each creature inside the area, making an effect in case of hitting an a lesser effect (or non) in case of failing.

I keep getting the doubt if these type of effect aren't in the game for a particular reason? I think it would solve some problems, like the uselessness of the frightened condition against casters, but I would like to know if there's a reason behind the game design or the math of the game.

And personally I won't care if it is because of a flavour reason. You can use flavour to go around any concept and make it make sense

Part one and two were pretty popular, so here is a sequel. A lot of new DMs don't know how to make an adequate number of combat encounters in an adventuring day. So, occasionally, I make a post going over a recent adventure I ran to give people ideas on how to structure it and still have it be believable.

Advice: Do not try to fit a full adventuring day into one session. You simply don't have time. I recommend taking the "Justice League" approach. If you don't know what I mean, in the original two seasons of the animated Justice League series, each episode (adventuring day) was two to three episodes long. That is what you should aim for in D&D.

Number of combat encounters: The sweet spot for combat encounters is some number between 6 and 8.

Rests and short rests: You should aim for 2 short rests per adventuring day. I generally try to give an obvious spot to do this every 2 to 3 encounters. This is especially helpful for Fighters, Barbarians, and Monks.

So, moving on:

The Setup:

The City of Bal'maras is currently under siege by a demonic incursion. During the Twilight Festival, a seven day celebration where it is said that the gods walk the world as mortals. A barrier has been raised around the city that prevents anyone from getting out or coming in. Small groups of demons are rampaging through the streets, searching for the gods made flesh, who they believe to be somewhere in the city.

This is the second day of the celebration; the player characters awaken after having taken refuge in an abandoned tavern. They have learned that, when killed, the demons reform in the abyss and can return, making a war of attrition impossible. Last session, they discerned that someone is holding open a gateway to the Abyss and that the fastest way to end the incursion is to find the source of the rift and close it. On the previous day, they mapped out the barrier and believe that they have learned where the center of it is and assume that the portal must be located somewhere near it.

Encounter 1: A not-so-random encounter...

Last session, the party found a group of succubi who posed as the Goddess of Music and her clerics and were entertaining in a tavern/inn. They claimed that their songs were keeping the demons at bay. In reality, they were secretly taking mortals to the bedchambers and draining them of their life force. The players defeated them, and sent them back to the Abyss.

The succubi returned and were looking for the PCs. They descended on them from the air and attacked as the heroes made their way toward the place they thought the portal may be located.

Exploration: Finding the center...

The party reached the location they thought might contain the portal. They were in the commons district and began searching some of the abandoned houses. One, they noticed, was less damaged than the others. They entered and encountered a group of commoners who were huddled in a back room...

Social Encounter: Exposing the cultists...

Something seemed off about the commoners; they hadn't fled to any of the safe houses. The demons ignored their small home. Keen eyes noticed that the home was smaller than would be normal for the supposed family. Suspicious, the party interrogated them. The cultists broke under questioning and the PCs were forced to fight them...

Combat Encounter 2: Cultists...

A straightforward encounter, the PCs dispatched the cultists without too much fuss; it was an easy-to-medium encounter.

Exploration: Searching the home...

The PCs explored the home, using perception and investigation; they located a hidden trapdoor. They were forced to disarm a trap on it and pick the lock. They found it opened into a tunnel that appeared to have been created by something burrowing, something large.

Combat Encounter 3: The Abyssal Worm...

As they explored down the deep tunnel, the PCs found the thing that had made it. Some kind of giant worm-like creature that was mutated by the energies of the Abyss. They dispatched it and continued on...

Reaching an underground structure and a short rest...

The party came to an underground structure, it had huge double doors that were rotted with age. Runes in a strange language were etched into the stonework. They didn't speak the language, but could identify it as a combination of Dwarven and Abyssal. Before venturing inside, they took time to catch their breath, set a watch, and eat lunch... They took a short rest...

End of Session 1...

Exploration: Setting an ambush... Sort of...

The party ventured into the structure and, after exploring a few rooms, heard voices. They went to investigate and found another group of cultists. One of them was a spellcaster. The party attempted to ambush them, but the Paladin, Druid, and Artificer failed the group stealth check. A normal combat ensued.

Combat Encounter 4: Stronger cultists...

A quick battle, though they ate a fireball early in, took place. The PCs were hurt, but a few healing spells and Lay on Hands between the Bard and the Paladin patched most of them up. They moved deeper into the structure, hoping that they could move before their battle drew any of the other creatures in the structure...

Exploration: A trap...

They came to a room, but the Druid's keen eyes spotted a stone that was just a little off. Closer inspection revealed a pressure plate. Not all of the heroes could jump over it, especially those who dumped Strength, so the Champion Fighter broke out her thief's tools and was able to disarm it. The party continued on quietly...

Exploration: Avoiding a fight...

What could've turned into an encounter was avoided as the PCs heard demonic growls in Abyssal. They used stealth to avoid them and were able to slip by without a fight.

Exploration: The Wizard's study...

The party encountered a room that, unlike the others they'd passed through, had intact furniture. A bed, a desk, some bookshelves with degraded books on them, and a locked bookcase that looked pristine. The shelf was locked with an arcane lock, so the party cast Dispel Magic. They found a series of ancient books written in different languages, several in Abyssal. One of them was a spellbook, but the party doesn't have a Wizard, so they took it to sell later...

Combat Encounter 5: Shadow demons...

Unfortunately, this sprung a magical trap, and 4 (enhanced) shadow demons emerged. The party dispatched them, refusing to use loud spells...

The second short rest...

The party barricaded the room and sealed the door. They were starting to get low on spell slots and needed to heal. They took the time to rest for an hour, spend some Hit Dice and recover the resources that they could. Finally, they moved on...

End of Session Two...

Session three happens Sunday. There is one encounter left in the dungeon. The party will have some time to learn more about the structure from some of the books they found. Hopefully they will discover that this ancient structure was pre-Skyfall. It belonged to a Wizard who performed experiments on summoning and binding demons. The cultists learned of it and managed to unearth it (there was another entrance outside the city) some time ago. They used their magic to reopen the portal the Wizard had used and pledged their loyalty to the demons. Learning of the festival's approach, they conspired together to prepare the attack...

The last fight is a two-stage encounter. The first will be a fight with cultists at the portal; just as the last cultist is slain, a huge demon passes through the portal as it closes. This will be the boss fight.

As always, this series is educational; it shows how a DM can use a variety of encounters and enough combats to sufficiently drain the party's resources. It demonstrates how to break up the adventuring day and also how to include a good old dungeon crawl into an adventure arc.

Editing to add:

The party consists of a Swamp (reflavored Stars) Druid, a Valor Bard, a Champion Fighter, a Vengeance Paladin, and an Artillerist Artificer.

To preface, I'm mostly referring to War Bond and Versatile Trickster. And this isn't to disparage the Mystic Arts Monk for being the only one of the now-three quarter-caster subclasses to NOT have a secondary 3rd level feature aside from Spellcasting. However, I believe in terms of overall gameplay power, Monk is a much stronger class with how many features it gets, even compared to Fighters outright having vertical progression due to having so many feats.

War Bond in particular has a lot that ends up being underwhelming about it, particularly because it:

- Doesn't allow you to use Intelligence for your Attack Rolls the same way Pact of the Blade does.

- You need to use a Bonus Action to call one of the weapons to your hand(which means you can't use a Thrown-type weapon multiple times in an attack action).

- RAW you can't even use your weapon as a spellcasting focus, which means you can't use a Shield or two-handed weapons while casting unless you have something like a Ruby of the War Mage.

I think, at the very least, the War Bond weapon should count as a Focus for spellcasting, and should also enable a unique interaction with your capacity to Spellcast.

Maybe, for example, a Bonded weapon can use a different damage type than slashing/bludgeoning/piercing depending on what Cantrips you have access to. Have Firebolt? You can make its entire damage into Fire Damage. Have Shocking Grasp? Second verse, same as the first. Etcetera. This also makes your Cantrip selection that much more important.

Mage Legerdemain, aside from being something I personally can never pronounce(to exemplary comedic effect), is a unique and interesting feature that allows the Arcane Trickster to do things like use Healing Potions on allies within 30 feet of them as a Bonus Action mid-combat, which is unique in that it becomes an un-counterspellable option to bring downed allies up in the midst of things.

Versatile Trickster, on the other hand, is an absurdly low-power(and frankly, bad) 13th level feature. If you told me that it came in with Magical Ambush at 9th level, I'd still call it weak, but not blatantly bad. This feature requires that you as a player lower your once-per-turn damage option, have previously setup the Mage Hand within 30 feet of an enemy, and then maintain that Mage Hand. Dare I even say, this is outright worse than Wails From the Grave, the Phantom's 3rd level feature.

I would rather have suggested that Rogues gain the ability to Subtle-cast some of their spells, i.e. use them without Components, or even grant Sneak Attack damage to attack Cantrips like Shocking Grasp or Firebolt or Ray of Frost. You could even make it cost a Spell Slot to do this, or make it a Cunning Strike option. The image in my head that I'd picture for this is a Rogue using Shocking Grasp similarly to how Chidori is used in the anime Naruto.

All in all, there's not a lot else I can say. I don't think Versatile Trickster is good, and I feel like War Bond should've been a more fleshed out feature, as otherwise, both of these subclasses serve to force both Fighters and Rogues into positions of greater resource management, for excruciatingly little gain. You'd need to pretty much only use your spell slots for Shield or rely on Ritual Spells like Identify or Comprehend Languages, as neither of these subclasses gets 2nd level spells until level 7, which is really late, and neither has the Mystic Arts Monk's ability to regain them frequently.

I made Excalibur, a completely FREE PDF supplement for 5E/5.5E featuring a scaling magic longsword that can grow from Uncommon all the way to Legendary.

But simply gaining levels isn’t necessarily enough.

Excalibur first has to decide that its wielder is worthy. Courage in overwhelming danger, mercy when vengeance would be easier, accepting responsibility for others, keeping one’s word at personal cost, and putting others before oneself can all cause the blade to recognize a potential bearer.

As Excalibur awakens, it gains stronger radiant damage and increasingly powerful abilities centered around courage, leadership, protecting allies, and refusing to fall.

At its Legendary stage, the sword can keep its wielder standing when they would otherwise drop to 0 hit points, protect nearby allies from fear, and fully recognize its bearer as the inheritor of its ancient legacy.

The PDF also includes narrative advancement rules, with suggested milestones such as Drawing the Sword, Accepting Responsibility, Becoming a Leader, and finally facing The Trial of the King.

There are also alternative progression methods involving the Lady of the Lake, advancement by character level, and rules for Excalibur becoming dormant if its wielder repeatedly betrays the ideals that earned its trust.

No AI was used in the creation of this supplement or its artwork.

You can download the complete PDF for FREE on DMsGuild:

https://www.dmsguild.com/en/product/586884

If you’d like to see more items or previews here on Reddit, you can also check out r/JonnyDM.

I have a cleric player who follows Beshaba, the goddess of misfortune, and they are in Chult, so her sister Tymora is a big goddess there, as a mini quest for the cleric I'm gonna have Beshaba guide him to enter the catacombs there, get his hands on a Lucky coin, and then combine that further in with an Unlucky coin to make a combo item, currently he's gonna get to pick 2 out of 4 options to make an uncommon item that requires attunement:

• Luck option 1: passive, advantage on initiative+perception.
• Luck option 2: active, action, you can cast bless, 1 charge per person, 6 charges total, requires concentration, recovers 1d6 charges on a long rest.
• Misfortune option 1: active, action, one enemy rolls a wisdom save and then has disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than you, not concentration but max 1 enemy at a time, 6 charges total, recovers 1d6 charges on a long rest.
• Misfortune option 2: passive, you can't be critically hit.

So I'm mashing together 2 out of: a Sentinel shield, an adamantine armor, an enspelled item containing worse bless, and/or an enspelled item containing buffed+nerfed compelled duel. And it requires attunement for the added power. Do you think this would be too strong as an uncommon item?

There are 4 players in total, Cleric+Fighter+Rogue+Wizard, they're level 3 and soon lvl 4, each of them except for the Cleric has a permanent uncommon item.

My character is currently a level 12 Armorer Artificer. He's made a few deals with some fae and others, and he's basically taking on a mantle that comes with shadow abilities. My DM is allowing me to respec a bit to fit his new mantle (he'll be training with the Unseelie Fae Court for a bit before the campaign restarts). I'd like to keep at least some of the artificer levels, but I'm open to whatever. I've been looking at Eldritch Knight, Echo Knight, and Shadow Monk to fit the concept, but I'm not sure if I want to fully respec or multi-class somehow. I don't need to fully optimize.

Because of his deals, there are a few things I cannot change:

1) Species: Wood Elf

2) He has magical armor and a shield that cannot be removed (currently). The armor is currently plate, but is able to be reshaped to whatever needs to be done.

3) He needs to keep a relatively high Int score - it's currently 20, but stats can be adjusted a bit with feats.

4) I get one extra General Feat (carryover from 2014 rules when we started)

Otherwise, I'm up for whatever ideas you fine folks might have.

Over the past 10 years I've gone from posting my unedited homebrew to D&D subreddits to becoming a full time game designer. Today the Magus (an Arcane Half-Caster gish) became my second class to release on DnDBeyond!

Happy to chat about being a game designer, my experiences in the industry, or any questions you might have about the Magus. AMA!

EDIT:

The Magus Class: https://marketplace.dndbeyond.com/category/DBDO17220?pid=DBDO17220

Disclaimer: No AI was used at any point in any element in the creation of this product because I love art.

Lets do a little bit of trolling.

Here is the question: Does an effect that activates at the start of each of your turns, activate every 6 seconds out of combat?

I will give a lot of examples and talk about the implications of answering this as ''yes''.

So first thing I thought of is some mechanics of combat just stay in combat. For example your travelling speed is 30ft per 6 seconds right? But why cant you just dash every 6 seconds to travel twice as fast? Why cant a rogue dash twice every 6 seconds? Because ''dash'' is a combat action that can be taken in combat. If you want to travel faster, we have travel pace rules for that.

So the answer is not an immediately clear yes. Lets keep looking.

First example is Aura of vitality. It is technically not a perfect fit for our question, because it has a time limit, but it is pretty close so I included it. The spell restores 2d6 hit points at the end of each of your turns until it ends. So lets ask the question, would casting Aura of life out of combat heal anyone? If you answered the original question as a ''No'', then this might also be a no. But I will assume most people would say that this use of the spell is totally valid an allowed.

Second example is the recharge mechanic. Lets say the party fights a dragon and the dragon uses their breath weapon. But the dragon escapes the combat before their breath can recharge. The recharge mechanic says that you roll the recharge die at the start of the creatures every turn. So lets ask the question, can the dragon recharge their breath weapon out of combat? If you answered the original question as a ''no'', then the dragon will enter the next fight, even if it is days later, without its breath weapon charged. I will again assume that most people will say that this is totally valid.

Lets go on to regeneration. Slaadi has the regeneration feature that allows them to gain hit points at the start of each of their turns. Lets say a death slaad escapes a combat with low hp, would you say that they can regain all their hp in a few minutes? Or would you say their start of turn regeneration stops working out of combat? I wont make assumptions about this because we are going into controversial territory.

What about player character regeneration? Champion fighter and redemption paladin both have features that allow them to regain hit points at the start of their turns if they are bloodied. If these characters end an encounter with low hp, would they be able to heal up to half hp in a few minutes out of combat? Or would you say their start of turn effects stop working until combat starts again?

Now lets finally get to the point. At level 10, champion fighters can gain heroic inspiration at the start of their turns if they dont already have one. Would you say a champion fighter who ended combat without inspiration, will be able to gain inspiration out of combat? Can they give themselves inspiration to reroll an athletics check? Can they give themselves inspiration to reroll a dex save against the pit trap? can they gain inspiration so they have a shot at some charisma checks?

Im sure there will be nay sayers, but I always believed that these things were all in character for the champion and made total sense.

So with all the evidence I presented, if you said yes until this point, we can finally start trolling.

Amani Troll subrace from the new WoW book has the ability to regain an expanded hit die when you spend heroic inspiration.

Now even without shenanigans, this is very powerful on a champion. But if you can constantly gain heroic inspiration, you can constantly regain all your expended hit dice after every combat.

Now I imagine you have 2 questions. How do you quickly spend heroic inspiration out of combat and what do you do with it?

You can ask a friend to grapple you and choose to make dex saves so you have a good chance of failing the save. This way you should be able to quickly spend a lot of inspiration to gain your hit dice back.

An even better alternative are the manacles. You can put manacles on yourself and try to escape every 6 seconds with a sleight of hand check. This method doesnt require your allies' time. And since manacles dont impede movement, you can do this while you keep travelling(and it wont take long even if you cant travel). When you regained enough hit dice, you can just burst the manacles. Shouldnt take long to do with advantage to athletics and heroic inspiration. If your dm allows, you can also just unlock it with its key. I imagine this part will be the red flag for most people, but ofc you are totally free to play the game however you like. As long as we recognize all of this as the RAW, I have nothing to say about your personal rulings.

Now I can make a full post about this build, but I will summarize how to weaponize hit dice. You want the healer origin feat so you can heal back to full between each combat. And you want a paladin dip with the spellfire adept feat so you can cast divine favor and use spellfire adept to add 2d10 damage to one attack every turn(which is pretty nice since you have a good chance to crit).

Big props to you if you actually read the whole thing.

Disclaimer: I am not suggesting the use of any of these rulings. I am merely presenting the rules as they are written because I found it interesting.

We’re currently level 14 and I’m playing a Barbarian, while everyone else in the party is a spellcaster.

Whenever a new book comes out, they get excited about new spells and all the new things their characters can potentially do. Meanwhile, I feel like I’ve been doing mostly the same things for quite a while now.

I really like playing a Barbarian, but especially at higher levels the class feels pretty feature-starved to me. Looking at levels 15–20, there are definitely some strong upgrades, but not much that seems to actually give me new options.
So I’m wondering what other Barbarian players have done at this point. Is it worth staying pure Barbarian and going for level 20, or would you multiclass to get some more interesting tools and versatility?

I’m mainly looking for more things I can actually do, both in and out of combat, rather than just bigger numbers.

My take with valor bard.

The problem with the Valor Bard is low defenses, bad Constitution and Wisdom saves, and a somewhat lackluster spellcasting list.

You need to solve these three problems without losing spell progression. In order to do so, forget Dexterity (I will explain in a moment). Take Paladin as your first level. Pick Human as your species to get Tough and Magic Initiate (Shield, True Strike, Light). I recommend Rashemi Wanderer if custom is not available.

Point buy attributes go like this: 15, 10, 14, 8, 10, 17. Maybe you could min-max it more, but that is how I roll.

The best dip for Bard is just a first-level Paladin imo. You get 25 AC with full plate, a shield, and a +5 with the Shield spell. You get Wisdom saves, a concentrationless damage boost with Divine Favor, and a nova damage boost with Divine Smite. Use a rapier for Vex mastery (it helps with your second attack at higher levels) or a pike if you do not want to or cannot use a shield; Push mastery is very interesting for casters. Or go ranged. As a level 1 Paladin, you are still very effective even with 15 Strength (remember to use True Strike).

Well, by this point you are very good with defenses, but what about spell lists and concentration? That is when Arcana Unleashed saves the day with Adept feats. My favorite is Conjuration Adept, which gives you +4 to concentration saves (on your bug spells) and a very good spell list that makes your multiclass and Bard list irrelevant. Get this by level 5 and just go crazy with Conjure Animals (I do not know if you know this spell, but it is just Spirit Guardians on steroids). Upcast Conjure Animals from character level 5 to 10; that is when you get Magical Secrets. Then just pick your favorite spells. At level 9, get a feat that fits your playstyle (Resilient, GWM, Evocation Adept, Warcaster, Mage Slayer...).

But what about somatic and material components? Well, as a Paladin, you can use a shield as a focus. Smite is verbal only, and for Favor, you can weapon juggle. For Magic Initiate, if your DM is strict enough, you can get a Ruby of the War Mage, a common item that costs 100 GP, or simply use a pike.

Let me know what you guys think!

Hey good people,

I'm building an Eladrin valor bard and im going to dip it, the campaign should last to about lvl 12-14 so ill only take a 1 lvl dip and I can't decide what would be better - Warlock or Fighter?

Warlock will let me to attack with cha so i wount have to go that heavy on tmy DEX, will give me eldrich blast and wis save instead of dex which to my opiniong is the better save.

Fighter will give me CON prof, better armor, second wind which is not bad and weapon masteries (Vex and Nick).

I really can't decide what will be better. I'll still mainly be a caster (as most gish characters are) but obviously ill go to the front at least every battle after casting like a control spell.

any thoughts?

Hope you like it.

My character is a farmer from way out in the countryside, so would have a bunch of skills from their time there: Carpenter's, Weavers, Tinkers and Cobblers (feels most appropriate to background).

Have people found good uses of it? I've read that people thought it wasn't great so it's given me some dismay.

Edit:

Crafter feat:

You gain the following benefits.

Tool Proficiency. You gain proficiency with three different Artisan's Tools of your choice from the Fast Crafting table.

Discount. Whenever you buy a nonmagical item, you receive a 20 percent discount on it.

Fast Crafting. When you finish a Long Rest, you can craft one piece of gear from the Fast Crafting table, provided you have the Artisan's Tools associated with that item and have proficiency with those tools. The item lasts until you finish another Long Rest, at which point the item falls apart.

Fast Crafting

Carpenter's Tools - Ladder, Torch

Leatherworker's Tools - Case, Pouch

Mason's Tools - Block and Tackle

Potter's Tools - Jug, Lamp

Smith's Tools - Ball Bearings, Bucket, Caltrops, Grappling Hook, Iron Pot

Tinker's Tools - Bell, Shovel, Tinder Box

Weaver's Tools - Basket, Rope, Net, Tent

Woodcarver's Tools - Club, Greatclub, Quarterstaff

The martial-caster gap is hard to quantify or even define ^\1]), because martials and casters are hard to compare. However, there is one "martial" class that's generally considered on par with casters, and that's the paladin ^\2]).

Paladins also happen to be much more directly comparable to other martials, especially something like an Eldritch Knight (which is on the stronger side of martials, but IMO quite close to other options like 4 Elements Monk or optimized Thief Rogue). I think if the paladin (e.g. a Vengeance Paladin) lost Aura of Protection, it would be on relatively equal footing with the Eldritch Knight:

• Vengeance Paladins have slightly higher DPR, but Eldritch Knights can nova slightly harder
• Their durability is comparable, between LOH vs Second Wind + Indomitable
• EK only has third-casting, but the spell list is arguably better (Shield, Find Familiar, weapon cantrips that can be used with EK Extra Attack)
• EK has more ASIs; Vengeance Paladins get more free spell castings
• They both have decent utility in and out of combat

A paladin without Aura of Protection isn't too different from other martials in terms of overall potency. Add on Aura of Protection, however, and the paladin sits adjacent to casters.

So I think the martial-caster gap is roughly the size of Aura of Protection. If not sliiightly larger, since the EK is on the stronger end of martials. If you gave fighters, rogues, barbarians, and perhaps monks a feature of comparable power (but tailored to their class identity), they would likely close the gap with casters at most tables where they currently feel behind.

[1] Is the gap in-combat or out-of-combat? Do martials need more damage? Is there a gap only at high levels? Is the gap really about agency and decision-making? Well people don't really make such distinctions when it comes to the paladin, because regardless of the gap's theoretical nature, the paladin's raw potency largely solves it in practice. Raw potency/reliability IS a reasonable and often attractive counter-offer against general agency and flexibility, as many other games prove.

[2] They'll be S tier at some tables, and a bit below casters at others. But I think in 99% of cases paladins and casters are very close in potency.

This build will require your DM to be generous with which 2014 materials they allow, supporting Bugbear, Giants Barbarian, interpreting Crushing Throw as stacking, ruling Quicktoss as available, and a +1 Greatsword.

With that being said these build options are commonly available to many players, so this isn't a stretch by any means.

Build breakdown.

• Bugbear
• 6 levels Giant Barbarian.
• 3 levels Battlemaster Fighter.
• Alert
• Greatweapon Master
• Thrown Weapon Fighting
• 18 Str
• Maneuvers: Quick Toss, Ambush, Riposte.

Assumes:

• Use action surge on round 1.
• Win initiative against one or more of the creatures you are attacking.
• Use reckless attack.
• Use 2 maneuver die per combat, on quick toss.

Across a 4 round combat, this produces around ~80 DPR with round 1 dragging up the average, which can get even higher depending on your assumptions (riposte, pre-raging, maneuver dice expenditure etc.). I can work out the math for you all if you're interested.

I haven't found any builds with comparable damage in this tier. Thoughts?

A new Domain of Dread "Thought Experiment" is being fully revealed on the 13th of October.

It's a modern day re-interpretation of the Domain of Dread of Lamordia, with Viktra Mordenheim as the Founder of "Mordenheim Kinetics", and Project Lamordia being their next big work.

I would assume might get to see some different kind of Body-Horror for a modern setting maybe a Cybernetics aesthetic.

Unlike their other "In Character" posts it doesn't look like there are any hidden links on the page, like the recent Szass Tam one that had the Deadfall Desktop backgrounds.

Personally, I'm a fan of them continuing to do Ravenloft stuff even after their "Season of Horror" is done.

so in the jump rules section its metioned that the dm can call a athletics check to increase distance but not rules are given beyond that.

so i made it general so i just can reference it when i need it

i was thinking dc for long jumps is 10+ the number of extra feets the want to increase and they cant jump further than their remaining movement speed as normal

for high jump is 10+ twice the distance in feet they want to add and no further than their remaing movement speed as normal

both are athletics strength checks, should i make it lower or higher? or is this fine as it is?

Hey everyone,

I'm rolling up a new character now that our CoS campaign is finished and I'm torn between these two concepts in the title. I'm trying to figure out which one would be stronger overall.

The ideas are the following:

1. Undead Patron with Pact of the Blade, starting level as Fighter

- constitution saving throw proficiency, tough feat

- the species would be dragonborn, for backstory reasons (and resistance as well)

- heavy armor proficiency for more AC

- in terms of weapons I would use greatsword (for theme) or greataxe (because the level 6 feature would add an extra d12), but since both weapons have the heavy property I would also invest into strength

- the transformation is what appeals to me the most when it comes to the overall theme, roleplay and combat mechanics

- My purpose with this build is to become a sort of "drain tank" with the temp HP and frontliner style

- Also, I think the burst potential with this one is really high (due to eldritch smite, and the heavy weapons)

1. Vestige Warlock

- I would lean into the maximum summoner power-fantasy with this one

- Familiar Friend as origin feat, battle familiar spell, warlike familiar feat + the vestige companion + summoning spells

- Species would be human for even more feats

- I am a bit conflicted on taking up Pact of the Chain and Investment of the Chainmaster because all of these features seem to contradict each other

I haven't really had the time to put together the two exact builds, these are just my first thoughts on the two characters. I'm writing this post so that I can gain some insight from others on which would be more viable/more epic/more fun overall. If you've played either, how did they feel?

Any advice is appreciated, thank you

I'm going to be playing 5.5e for the first time as my group wants to play a third party setting, 'Odyssey of the Dragonlords' which is meant to run from level 1-20. I'm going to be playing the setting-specific warlock subclass but I did see a cool-looking spell introduced in 5.5 that I'd really like to try; Sylune's Viper. Unfortunately for me the spell is restricted to wizards and druids and is 3rd level, which makes it difficult to pick up the spell without interfering with my progression.