The General D&D thread

One of my players game me a Monster Manual for my birthday. Later that day I said "Y'know, giving your DM a book full of monsters was probably not the wisest decision you've made".

Well, happy birthday, and may I reccomend the Aboleth, a really underrated monster, lots of roleplaying possibilities.

we had a sidequest which involved a coven of slaad, though they were disguised as humanoids in high places so we didn't know it at first. it was a good murder mystery.

You'll probably be okay until he miscalculates the CR.

It's underrated because it requires access to areas with large bodies of water, which a lot of players tend to avoid like the plague

That, and they're psionic.

Yes, but they're one of the few appropriately psionic creatures. And think of the storytelling opportunities!

Been looking at the epic boons (dungeon masters guide 5E p231)

Anyone got any favourites? Anyone actually feature them in their games?

The DMG treats them as rewards for characters that have reached 20th level. As such I have never seen them used, but I was planning to utilize them if we get our Epic Level campaign continuing at some point.

Well, my gaming group suffered a Total Party Kill today. Actually, it was more of a Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies, because he threw a second Boss Fight at us immediately after the first, with no time in between to rest and regain spells and hit points.

But everybody is fine with that, because we were all suffering from Arc Fatigue from the DM's Railroad Plot. The other (original) DM is taking the reins again and returning us to his previous campaign, which he says we'll probably wind up in a single session (one way or another), then starting us on an entirely new campaign (new setting, new characters.)

Change is good, sometimes.

edited 17th Jun '18 2:22:43 PM by pwiegle

Custom Paladin Oath (WIP)

Oath of the Moon Louksna, god of the moon and fortune.

Oath Features Level 3rd Divine Oath, Oath Spells, Channel Divinity 7th Inimical Foe 15th Soul of Vengeance 20th Fortune's Favor

Oath Spells Paladin Level Spells 3rd Bane, Hunter's Mark 5th Darkvision, Enhance Ability 9th Feral Senses, Beacon of Hope 11th Freedom of Movement, Phantasmal Killer 17th Dream, Wall of Light

Channel Divinity Options: Breaker of Chains: As an action, you may Channel Divinity to break status effects on a creature within 30ft that you can see. That creature loses the following conditions, if it has them: Charmed, Stunned, Petrified, Paralyzed, and Restrained. They also gain a bonus on any Grapple Checks they make within the next ten minutes, provided it is to escape the grapple. Pack Hunter: As a Bonus action, you may grant one ally within 30ft advantage on attack rolls against a target for 1 minute, or until it drops to zero hit points or falls unconscious.

Inimical Foe: At seventh level, you have become an expert at hunting particular prey. Choose a race. You gain a +2 against damage rolls made against creatures of the chosen race. You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) Checks to track your favoured enemies, as well as on Intelligence Checks to recall information about them.

Soul of Vengeance: Starting at 15th level, the authority with which you speak your Vow of Enmity gives you greater power over your foe. When a creature under the effect of your insertnamehere makes an attack, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against that creature if it is within range

20th level: (WIP) Three times per long rest, can replace the result of a roll with a natural 20, a critical success. The next roll made (provided it is part of a different action) is automatically a 1. This bonus can only be used once per turn.

20th level, alternate: Alternate Emissary of Peace (still working on wording)

spells: Feral Senses: 3rd level Enchantment Casting Time: 1 action Components: Somatic, Material (A holy symbol) Duration: 5 minutes You can imbue yourself with the preternatural awareness of your canine totem animal. For the spell's duration.when you attack a creature you cannot see, your inability to see it doesn't impose disadvantage on your attack rolls against it. You are also aware of the location of any invisible creatures within 30ft of you, provided that the creature isn't hidden from you and you aren't blinded or deafened.

looking for feedback on this, cos it is still massively WIP

also bit of background, this is set at the dawn of human civilisation (humanity only recently started to liberate itself from elven slavery and are still mostly nomadic tribes) and wolves are sacred animals to Louksna, and werewolves are not the evil monsters we all know and love yet, as becoming one is a reward for his most pious worshippers and has none of the traditional drawbacks, however a few thousand years does the line when his worship wanes and new gods gain prominence then something happens...

Humanoid races? You may want to look at the wording of Favored enemy. Coz this feels weak. Assuming you're limited to like, humanoid races, The ranger's favored enemy gives you 2 picks if you want humanoids instead of broader categories. This feels underwhelming compared to other Oath level 7 features (Aura of Warding FTW)

I'd also point out how this feature is much less interesting for Paladins than Rangers, even in its nerfed form. Rangers have higher wisdom (Due to it being a spellcasting attribute), so the advantage on Wisdom (Survival) is more worthwhile. Paladins don't use wisdom, so it's sort of a bonus to something the Paladin doesn't want to do.

Vow of Emnity? the feature from the Oath of vengeange? Do you like, need both Oaths? Or is it using pack hunter?

Holy shit that's awesome. Okay, I get why all the other features bite then. Makes sense. I'd point out that though minor, your channel divinity sort of breaks the general theme of most oath where the first one is a rebuke against certain enemy type, and the other does something else. Not major per say. Though I'd argue the two you have are much better channel divinity combos than any other oath.

"Here rogue or warlock or fighter, have advantage against every boss we encounter. For the entire fight."

You might say "it's not that different than Vow of Emnity". But it is (Without multiclass), coz those guys can milk it WAY more. :-P

Not broke mind you, it's awesome.

edited 18th Jun '18 7:29:08 PM by Ghilz

it's basically a Team Support version of Oath of Vengeance's Vow of Enmity (as you can see, there might have been some copy paste and I will angrily type at the writer for that later), and we were going more thematic to the setting than to the general Paladin type, because these Paladins are more proto-Paladins

as for nicking the ranger bit, we wanted it to have a similar feel while not stepping on a rangers toes, and by race we mean Elf, because Elves are massive slaving dicks here and humanity hates them (well, the surface elves, the Drow are actually cool)

edited 18th Jun '18 7:46:13 PM by FieldMarshalFry

I've also had some feedback that Breaker of Chains might be a bit OP (specifically removing Petrified) thoughts on that?

It sort of is but isnt? Petrified is supposed to be one of those super scary conditions that's hard to remove. Flesh to Stone is a level 6 spell (ie: One of those spells casters get barely any slots for). Short of wish, only Greater Restoration cures petrification in the core book.

that said, Petrification is also super rare, so having a guy who can just wave it away isn't that OP. Coz he might never even encounter it.

edited 18th Jun '18 8:15:31 PM by Ghilz

it's rare enough that having a hard counter doesn't really matter, Breaker of Chains ties into the god being one of freedom for humanity (we're still writing the lore about the formation of the first nomadic human tribes post freedom from slaving Elven dicks, but one interesting thing is humans were artificially evolved from Neanderthals and the like, and near human races like Goliath',s are actually human, but bred for a specific purpose, like heavy shock troops)

edited 18th Jun '18 8:29:13 PM by FieldMarshalFry

Personally, I'd like Breaker of Chains better if it was limited to the caster, and triggered automatically rather than being an action. Not because of balance so much as flavour, though — I just find that moment where the character busts through the supposedly unbreakable bonds/curse/whatever pretty satisfying in its own right.

Balance-wise, removing any of the listed effects without a roll does seem pretty powerful for a Channel Divinity power, particularly an effect which is often permanent like petrified. A free saving throw with a high bonus to the roll seems more in step with the other C Ds. And sure, you might never encounter petrification in a normal game, but an ability like this means you might as well never use it at all. So it mostly depends on whether you're balancing this for every table or just your own, really.

edited 18th Jun '18 9:07:23 PM by Unsung

The problem with having a Channel Divinity that triggers automatically is that the Paladin has 2 Channel Divinity Options and can only ever use one per rest. So when Break the Chains triggers, it'll prevent the use of Pack Hunter.

Can a player choose not to use it to save it? How does a charmed or stunned player choose to not use it? Heck, how does a charmed player choose to use it if they charmed/stunned to begin with (or heck, Petrified)

If the player can choose "not" to use it, then you got all those questions (How does one choose when affected by a condition that makes choosing impossible). If the player can't choose not to use it, then can one just hit the Paladin with some low grade condition that'll end next turn and force the Paladin to use his Channel Divinity removing it, thus preventing the Paladin from using the other, much more threatening option?

Plus TBH having the condition be automatic is kinda redundant when Paladins already get the best saving throws of any class thanks to Aura of Protection.

edited 18th Jun '18 9:15:38 PM by Ghilz

I'd lean toward it either being a weaker ability that affects allies, or a higher-level ability (and thus not a CD) that only affects the Paladin. Though I don't see any problem with allowing the paladin to choose whether to use it in the moment that it's happening, or in flavoring it as them using their Heroic Willpower to resist what would normally be irresistible. And it is kind of redundant, sure, but deciding when to use it and take out some of the guesswork feels appropriate to the oath.

edited 18th Jun '18 9:21:49 PM by Unsung

It's a cool concept, just that mechanically it doesn't work too well IMHO when you just lift then downgrade a Ranger ability.

to be honest we're not entirely worried about balance on Breaker of Chains, we're more interested in this being fun and fluffy for our setting, though we do know the 7th level ability needs a fair bit of work

also the 20th level ability

plus we're thinking of making a "break lock" sort of spell, ties into humanity being an escaped slave race

edited 19th Jun '18 5:38:08 AM by FieldMarshalFry

Be careful with making such a spell as you can basically make being proficient in lockpick tools pointless.

There's a reason Knock is balanced with causing an audible sound over 300 feet.

If we're sharing homebrew subclasses, I've made my own that I still need to fluff, for the Monk.

• Storm Fist
• When you select this tradition at third level, your unarmed strikes gain the ability to deal thunder or lightning damage, instead of their normal bludgeoning damage. You select which damage type to use when you make the attack.

• Tempest Technique
• At level 3, when you use flurry of blows, you may expend 1 ki point per unarmed strike which successfully hits, including strikes granted by flurry of blows, to force enemies within five feet of the enemy you are attacking to make a dexterity saving throw. Enemies which fail this saving throw take damage equal to the damage of the unarmed strike.

• Storm Stride
• Beginning at 6th level, whenever you expend ki points you gain a flight speed equal to your movement speed until the end of your turn.

• Guarding Gale
• Beginning at 11th level, you gain the ability to make the swirling winds of the storm within guard your form. When an enemy willingly moves within 5 feet of, you may use your reaction to force that enemy to make a strength saving throw; If it fails, it is pushed back 20 feet.

• One with the storm
• At 17th level, the storm within you becomes one with you, aiding you in all you do. You gain immunity to thunder and lightning damage; additionally, you learn the spell Weather Control, and can cast it without material components. You may also spend 1 ki point to reduce the spell's casting time to 1 action and cast it without verbal or somatic components.

Not 100% sure on the balance, but I know it's not trash like the 4 elements, and that's the important part.

Do they get to add dex / strength to the damage dealt? Or just the unarmed dmg die? I'm also not 100% about how priced this is. Flurry already costs a Ki point. you can only spend this on attacks that hit, and it's one more ki point per attack. and the enemy gets to save to avoid the damage. I think it's a cool idea but mechanically needs some tuning. Maybe remove the cost, but make it limited to working only once when doing flurry of blow, closer to how Open Hand Technique works?

On the final ability. Control Weather takes 1d4x10 Min for the new conditions to take effect (And repeat for every stage by which you want to change the conditions on the table), irregardless of casting time. Being able to cast it instantly seems... pointless.

I also have a homebrew monk subclass that I've been playing in the Warhammer campaign we've been going on for a while.

Way of the Wench
You are not the typical monk. Your holy temple is a crowded, smoke-filled room hot with the press of bodies. Your divine hymns are the roar of laughter, conversation, and incoherent insults all shouted over each other simultaneously. Your revered abbot is the bartender, and beer is your holy ambrosia. In fact, some might suggest you're not really a monk at all!

Tavern wenches wield their tongues like other monks wield their fists, wounding their foe's pride with sharp insults and bending others to their wills with a quick smile and a low-cut bodice.

Empowered Flirtation
Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can enhance your natural charms with your ki to duplicate the effects of certain spells. As an action, you can spend 1 ki point to cast charm person or command, or 2 ki points to cast calm emotions or enthrall, without providing material components. Calm emotions is centered on yourself when cast with this feature. Additionally, you gain the friends cantrip if you don't already know it.

Beguiling Technique
Also at 3rd level, you may substitute Charisma for Wisdom in determining the save DC of your ki features. You may also substitute Charisma for Wisdom in your Unarmored Defense, but can only gain a maximum of 2 AC from your Charisma in this way. At 11th level, this maximum increases to 3.

Tongue Lash
At 6th level, you gain the ability to empower your insults with ki, disrupting the target of your ire's effort to focus. As an action, you can spend ki points up to an amount equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1) to cause a creature within 60 feet who can hear and understand you to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, choose either attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws. Until the beginning of your next turn, the creature must subtract a die determined by the number of ki points you spent from all rolls it makes of that type.

• Ki Points / Die
  • 1 / d4
  • 2 / d6
  • 3 / d8
  • 4 / d10
  • 5 / d12

Bouncing
By 11th level you have learned how to off-balance opponents with your strikes to make them easier to control. Whenever you successfully hit a creature with an unarmed strike or an attack using a monk weapon during your turn, you have advantage on your next Strength (Athletics) check to grapple or shove the same creature before the end of your turn.

Improvised Weapon Proficiency
Also at 11th level, you gain proficiency with improvised weapons, which count as monk weapons for you.

Around Your Finger
By 17th level you have learned to make your charms even more potent using your ki. As an action, you can spend 6 ki points to cast dominate person or modify memory. _____________________

It's been going pretty well so far, but I've certainly found a few things I'd tweak for a revision.

• Beguiling Technique: I've come to decide that capping the Cha bonus to AC is unnecessary. I'd originally thought making a full Wis>Cha conversion would be too strong, as Cha is a very potent skill stat, but A) the power of Cha skills is already somewhat redundant with the spells gained from Empowered Flirtation, and B) Wis saves are much, much more valuable than Cha saves, so full Cha conversion it is.
• Tongue Lash: This ability just came out really wonky, and I've never really used it in play. It's an awkward single-target version of bane, and costing an action, I'm usually better off doing something else to control any enemy I'd potentially use this on. Heck, the only time this is a better option than Stunning Strike is if I can't get in melee range of the target for some reason. I still want something in the concept of "insult the target into incompetence," but this isn't the way to do it. Back to the drawing board.
• Bouncing/Improvised Weapon Proficiency: These need to come up earlier in the progression, because these have totally turned out to be this tradition's bread and butter. Grappling an enemy, then using him as an improvised weapon to hit another enemy with my martial arts die quickly turned out to be one of the most fun things to do with this tradition, and needs to come online sooner, either in the 3rd or 6th level slot. I'll probably do a little tweaking to Bouncing, too, to make the interaction clearer to see and the action sequence smoother to execute.