The General D&D thread

I saw a video a while back about interesting 3E races that could be brought back in 5E, with the nycters as an example.

The desmodu do resemble civilized bugbears with wings, as well as the prototype for Chewbacca. I kinda like the idea of a large fierce-looking creature that is actually good with inventions. The nycter I imagine as being very gnome-like, with a similar tendency to tinker with mechanisms. What I like about bat-folk as a concept is that they would have plenty of roleplaying-fodder, due to their appearance having lots of people confuse them with fiendish creatures. I quite like both races, for different reasons, so I'm right now thinking of the two of them as a pair, perhaps a duo of recruitable party-members. I like the idea of Big Guy, Little Guy pair-up, where both of them are vaguely demonic-looking yet friendly inventors.

Good find, that's an excellent template, what with the endless list of infernal titles to start turning the reader's brain to mush even before they get to the legalese. (Though I'd use "signatory" over "signee" to make it sound more pompous).

Shame Wizards didn't put the effort into making something like that for their Hell splatbook. It would've been fun if they'd paraphrased some of the documents from D&D's previous legal troubles with the Tolkien estate and whatnot.

(nasally nerd voice) Actually, the 3.5E Monster Manual III clearly states that the nycter's preferred class is druid, implying that they're a more naturalistic society favoring harmony with nature over industrialization, and their disdain for the mechanically-inclined desmodu would make them unlikely to follow a similar path.

If I "correct" anyone in this thread, honest to Bahamut I'm not taking any sort of petty pleasure in it. I'm just saying "this is what this source said about that, and it contradicts what you're saying, but you're fully within your rights to ignore that official source to play the game and build your world how you want to." Maybe the nycters have finally realized that the "big, stupid" desmodus have a technological edge over them and are playing catch-up, or maybe the reason this nycter's hanging with a bat-ogre is because he's a cultural deviant kicked out of his home cave.

Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"

Honestly, it would make for an even better Odd Friendship if the tiny nycter is a nature-worshiping mystic, while the huge intimidating desmodu is a tinker.

Edited by Mara999 on May 30th 2022 at 7:26:46 PM

While planning out my contract with Mammon, it just occurs to me, what exactly do archdevils in hell need with money?

Aside from materialism. Aren't souls the main currency?

I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.

Remember the "root of all evil." Mammon's shtick is that while other archdevils will offer things like the ability to sway people, a way out of personal humiliation, or arcane secrets in exchange for a mortal soul, he just hands over a pile of cold, hard cash, which is comparatively boring, but applicable to just about any potential customer - and devils are often surprised by how cheaply mortals are willing to part with their immortal souls. If Mammon accepts gold in lieu of a soul, rest assured, it's going to be a large enough amount of gold that he expects to get multiple souls from it in other dealings, leading to a net gain on his part. Plus, he is the archdevil representing greed.

In a more general sense, devils need gold because mortals use it. You can't run a successful soul-harvesting operation on the Material Plane without paying for supplies, rent, wages, bribes, etc.

"This metal cannot be used. It was too cruelly torn from the mother earth and still aches with pain. It will not sit still in any new shape."

"Yeah, and there's a significant sulfur impurity in the sample. I'm more interested in the deposits from the new shaft, the magnetite could be fun."

Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"

Considering how different the two races' outlooks are, it does offer some fun fodder to explore why a nycter and a desmodu would be traveling companions. Especially if the two races live in different environments and the nycter usually don't like the latter. I imagine that the desmodu might have been travelling to the surface to get a MacGuffin of some sort to aid his people, which has him pass through a section of the Underdark inhabited by a community of nycters, with one perhaps about to go on a druidic Vision Quest. Something, something, yadda-yadda, and the two diametrically opposed Bat People have to work together to survive, gradually becoming an inseparable pair of friends.

Edited by Mara999 on May 31st 2022 at 12:12:51 PM

Yeah that's why I'm dealing with Mammon or at least one of his employees since I think it's a smart idea to avoid giving your soul away in any contract at all with a devil if you want to be good. His greed makes him reliably predictable and I will be careful to ensure he has no say over where my Warlock goes and does.

I need to think of a sum to pay him before 5 years pass, like that's the goal for why my heroic Warlock is adventuring.

Maybe if I make an evil Warlock I can deal with Asmodeus himself. What type of mortals and deals does he make? I'm aware he goes big, like he doesn't deal with just any mortal or make a contract that only gains him one measly soul.

I'm thinking of an apprentice and master dynamic for this one too.

I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.

Asmodeus is special. By infernal law, all the lesser archdevils' deals with mortals are dedicated in his name, and since he sits atop Hell's hierarchy, he has no need to harvest mortal souls to advance himself. Instead he sets his sights on corrupting and recruiting the likes of celestials and demigods, while maintaining the current infernal status quo and scheming across the planes. This is not to say that he has no cultists - he boasts more than all the other archdevils combined, as his favor is a path to power and influence. But it might be better to think of Asmodeus' cultists more as worshipers of an evil deity than power-hungry fools making a deal with a devil (because depending on the edition, Asmodeus is a full-fledged deity).

So yes, definitely more of a "master and apprentice" relationship than "strictly business partners" angle. One does not casually deal with the Lord of the Ninth.

Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"

True Strike, revised

divination transmutation? cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Target: A weapon
Components: S
Duration: Up to 1 minute
Classes: Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

You focus on a weapon you can touch and imbue it with a fraction of your killing intent. For the duration of this spell, until a hit is landed with that weapon, that weapon has Advantage on all attack rolls.

Deep Strike

1st-level divination
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Target: A target in range
Components: S
Duration: Concentration, Up to 1 round
Classes: Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

You point a finger at a target in range. Your magic grants you a brief insight into the target's weaknesses. On your next turn, your first attack roll to hit the target becomes a critical hit, provided that this spell hasn't ended.

Thoughts?

Edited by God_of_Awesome on Jun 4th 2022 at 9:00:41 AM

So the problem with (non-revised) True Strike is that it's strictly worse than just attacking twice. The revised version is merely usually worse than just attacking twice.

The way to give True Strike teeth would be making it so the next attack is guaranteed hit, rather than merely giving you advantage. But that gets into a conversation about how strong we actually want attack-enhancing cantrips to be.

"Canada Day is over, and now begins the endless dark of the Canada Night."

If you make True Strike have a duration of 1 minute, the problem is that you precast it before battle, and then you just have permanent advantage.

If you're a character that uses your concentration for other things, it's not great; but as an Eldritch Knight or something that mostly has magic on the side, permanent advantage is kind of a big deal.

That's what makes cantrips tricky.

As for Deep Strike, it's one of those "Bad unless it's OP" type things. Giving up an action to double the damage of another power is worth it if your action + the spell slot, as an opportunity cost, would be less than the damage that's being doubled (something like Steel Wind Strike or another spell that deals oodles of damage, or even something as simple as a high level Rogue's sneak attack dice).

Edited by TheyCallMeTomu on Jun 4th 2022 at 6:42:36 AM

It doesn't use Concentration but it is expended as soon as a hit lands.

Oh my bad.

That's both better and worse, because you always precast and there's no opportunity cost, but it's also a lot less impact.

Anyway, it's weird to implement with how 5E typically works, but one option would be to have True Strike make your next attack automatically hit, and the action type is "in place of an attack." So if you're Hastened, you can True Strike + Attack. Or if you're an Eldritch Knight.

Mathematically, if your hit chance is <50%, this is good, and if it's >50%, you're better off just making the attack. So it's still not very good most of the time.

A cantrip doesn't have to be good necessarily, it just has to not be totally useless by virtue of there always being a better option.

The real question is, what is the desired intended use of True Strike. If it has a short duration (1 round) then it's an in-combat cast spell. If it has a long duration, it's a pre-cast spell. To me, True Strike is a spell that you'd want to cast in the middle of combat. So I'd want it as a bonus action. But a bonus action cantrip has either super high value or no value at all depending on whether you're a build that can already use its bonus action, and "I always get advantage because of a cantrip" probably creates warped incentives multiclassing wise.

Edited by TheyCallMeTomu on Jun 4th 2022 at 6:51:24 AM

Personally, I'd remove the duration and make it a reaction, triggered when you see an attack (not spell attacks, maybe?) being made within 30 feet of you, to give that attack advantage. That's pretty powerful, but most spellcasters have a lot of competition for both cantrips and reactions. Maybe limit it to melee attacks, to force folks closer to the front line.

Eh, the spell only exists because it existed in past editions, and in those editions it was limited to a range of personal. So it should just only be usable on your own attacks.

Still: That just makes it a must-take for anyone that isn't using their reaction every round to cast Shield. Then again, most any build that gets a lot of mileage out of advantage is probably a Gish type that wants to use Shield anyway.

Honestly, I think True Strike should just probably not be a spell. If they can cut Endure Elements, the world won't miss True Strike.

Warning, double post (Since it's a totally differnet topic, apologies for the rudeness)

So I'm intending on starting up a new campaign a few months from now, and it initially starts with a time loop. I want to have a bunch of side quests for the characters that rely on Groundhog Day style schenanigans (like when Bill saves the kid from falling out of the tree), but I'm having issues coming up with ideas that aren't basically "A bad guy does a thing that no one could have predicted, the P Cs know the bad guy is going to do the thing so they can stop the crime in progress" a bunch of times.

Well, that, and the aforementioned saving the kid falling out of the tree.

Anyone have any good ideas? I also have "The Stablehand lost all his money gambling on horses: give him tips on what horses to bet on."

To elaborate, I'd like the P Cs to have the ability to help out the tavernkeep, the smith, the tailor, a nurse, a nun, a carpenter, an apothecary, and the captain of the guard. But like I said, the things they can do become pretty repetitive. Though maybe that's the problem: too many sidequests.

Edited by TheyCallMeTomu on Jun 4th 2022 at 9:11:00 AM

The tailor and the carpenter have a mutual crush but things keep getting in the way of a confession

The tavernkeep has a keg of bad beer in the cellar that will cause a minor scandal during happy hour that evening, crippling their business. The smith's rebellious child hid their tools all over the house, and they'll spend all day looking for them instead of being able to work, an incident that will deepen the wedge within the family. The nurse is due to have a traumatic night, thanks to a patient who waited until sunset to seek care, when it will be too late for there to be any hope of successful treatment. The nun will suffer a crisis of faith over the thought that her deity has already planned her fate, meaning she has no agency in life. The alchemist will spend the day completely unaware that the author of a seminal text on potion-brewing is in town until morning. The captain of the guard will go from a champion of the law to another murderer after coming home to surprise their spouse with lunch, only to find them in bed with someone else.

Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"

I'd also suggest a fire in the village, started by accident that the P Cs could prevent.

Nach jeder Ebbe kommt die Flut.

Well, there's four demon cults, each which has their own apocalypse foreshadowing event, but ironically, the first of those is putting out the fire in the lighthouse, not starting one!

(There's also a gigantic snowstorm in july)

What are examples of good Tieflings in lore?

Or backstories?

I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.

I’d also throw in a multi-stage task or two. Maybe tasks that interact with each other.

So for a multi-stage one, the nun could have to give a sermon to boost everyone’s spirits. She can’t find the right holy book to write the sermon in time and thus panics and doesn’t give it. They solve the first stage by helping her find the right book with plenty of time. However, once they solve that she gives the sermon but something happens during the service that spoils it, so they also have to prevent that happening.

With an interactive one you could have it be that the captain of the guard keep getting killed at night by an assassin when he’s on his way to tell the apothecary something. What they need to do is solve the problem for the smith so that he can get a suit of new armour finished which the guard captain then buy before he heads out at night, the guard captain then survives to get to the apothecary and solve his problem.

Edited by Silasw on Jun 5th 2022 at 7:59:44 PM

"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran

So what are examples of organizations that work for Asmodeus?

Like is it all just cultists? I know his daughter has a crime ring or something.

I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.

Some tyrants might serve him. Asmodeus is a deity of order after all.

Asmodeus' followers revere him as "a paragon of might and oppression. They see following him as a means to great and terrible power. Clerics who have Asmodeus as their patron are imperious, powerful figures with great personal magnetism and political influence." His followers aspire for wealth, power and prestige (since Asmodeus is after all a Man of Wealth and Taste), acting as upstanding members of society by day while serving their dread lord at night.

If archdevils like Mephistopheles, Mammon, etc. offer things like arcane power, wealth, charisma or secrets, Asmodeus offers political power, connections, ways to advance yourself — insider trading, backroom political dealing, demagoguery, all that good stuff. And even an established tyrant has reason to emulate him, since Asmodeus has ruled an evil hierarchy without being deposed for longer than some mortal civilizations.

As for Glasya, her 5E portrayal paints her as someone who will twist the law to her advantage without actually breaking it, such as by using transmutation to turn lead into gold, minting that gold in hell as per regulation, and then spending it before it reverted back to useless lead. Her elevation to archduchess is supposed to keep her too busy to pull stunts like that, but if she truly is her father's daughter, she still ought to be up to something on the side.

Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"