Does anyone know any beginner-friendly software that could be used to make ship decks? I've got motor-control problems so I'm trying to avoid professional-grade art programs (photoshop etc.) but I'm about to run a campaign involving airships and boarding them, so I need a good mapping software for them.

yeah so i am writing a DnD Pirate theme One/Two shot, and its my first time writing a campagine... and i have NO idea what im doing... any tips?

I made a fairy barbarian path of the juggernaut. We used the point system, I hope my dm is prepared for the smallest party member to have the most stength.

Hey everyone! DM here looking for recommendations for music to play in the background of my in person sessions. One of the tracks they've liked the most so far is-

https://youtu.be/wEsuJoBKAvA?si=XaB_amzDvRfvFglC

Seems everything from Cryo Crypt has been a hit so far. They seem to really like Dungeon Synth.

Bonus points for epic boss fight music!

My fiancé got an iPad today and it came with an £80 apple gift card.

And they're letting me use some of that gift card.

So are there any really good apps for make creation or DMing I should get?

To add some context this campaign lasted almost one year and a half, we were 6 players + a DM (all between 30 to 36 years old). We play once per month.

We were all beginners when this campaign started and the DM was very frustrated with us because we struggled a lot to play "well enough" and didn't advance "fast enough" in the story. So before the last session we decided (not with the DM) to help each other in order to improve and play our characters better before the next session.

Few weeks later the session happens and in our last encounter a very powerful barbarian NPC hired us to put an end to drug trafficking in a city.

We had to fight a whole group of bandits (there were atleast 16 of them) in a warehouse. The barbarian was nearby observing and analyzing our group to see if we are "capable enough" and how we deal with that. It has been clearly said that he was not supposed to help us.

We somehow manage to put a very good fight. We fight so well that we manage to place a combo "Hex" on wisdom from the Hexblade and "Command" from the Paladin on the boss of this encounter, a very strong fighter, basically screwing over the DM.

The DM then decided to transform his boss into a PLANETAR (one of the BBEG main allies) telling us our actions triggered this transformation.

Mind you we are still lvl 4, and the Planetar has 21 AC and 200HP.

Then the Patreon of the Hexblade takes control of him, making him stronger. The same thing happens with the Paladin. So now 2 players can no longer control their character but they are able to stand a bit against the Planetar.

One of the allies NPC tell us that we can't fight this enemy. So at this point we thought we needed to do something to banish or remove those transformations.

But no, our DM actually wanted us to fight the Planetar to death and call his barbarian NPC for the rescue.

The fight ended with the Planetar killing himself by exploding himself.

This campaign is now over since we collectively decided to stop after this session, we had enough.

However he deflected any criticism we had and pretty much told us we didn't use "basic logic" so i make this post to have your opinion on the matter.

What do you guys think about this ?

I feel like he is playing with himself and that we can't use basic logic if he provides us misleading informations.

Hi all! If you could give just 1 line to give inspiration to a new character build what would it be?

For example “It ain’t how hard you hit, its how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward” let me to a halfling barbarian with a Napolean Complex

Hello! I am playing a zealot barbarian lizardfolk who has been one attached to an npc who was a member of a cult of Tiamat. The cult doesn’t like that he left and has recently kidnapped and attempted to kill him. She wants to be able to keep watch while he sleeps. I’m aware of Aspect of The Moon for warlock multi-classing, but I’m curious of other options.

So a friend of mine is doing a one shot, and the homebrew enemy were facing is utterly busted.

Anyone have any lvl 16 builds that are just completely unfair and broken? Mind you 90% of things won't work

Enemy has adv against spells, 28 AC and +10 minimum on saves. But whatever, I'll still try

hi, new on the subreddit and a new dm as well, (english isn't my first language, sorry if i mispell something).

backstory to understand my idea: i once played a fire genasi warlock, her name was willow, a mother who lost her son, after she found her son she accepted a pact with a patron, after some time willow arrived in a city where she applied to be a caretaker for the orphanage of the city. -here my players / companions at the time of the one-shot found willow.

my idea: in my campaign i've yet to intoduce willow, but i will not introduce her as "willow the fire genasi warlock" rather "willow the wizard", she will be working at an orphanage and i'll also make her son come in the scene, soo, if my friends will remember the willow i played, maybe they'll suspect / feel something when they see the child knowing that the willow i played HAD a son who was murdered

Scene Description: after i kill her son in this campaign i'll make her be present so when they are fighting the BBEG, he will pull out the ostage ( the kid) and kill him, rushed by hatred dread and deep sadness willow will hear a voice ( the old god making a proposal) upon accepting the flames on willows body will become from a gas stove blue flame to a ruby red flame bursting frome her body, the patreon also make her a 4x4 creature (don't know the name of the size) with a AoE burst of flames (dex save fireball map wide) she will be fixed at the center of the arena, attacking the BBEG with frightening might, after the enemies are dead willow won't return to normal, she will still be burning from rage and mourning,

i intend to make a fight where they are not trying to kill willow, but, calm/stop her
willow won't attack the players directly but the energy emanating frome her will generate fire whips, burst of fire (mapwide fireball) but she isnt consious of what she is doing, she is just standing there crying tears so hot that they melt the stone where they fall.

the problem: i don't know what stats to give her, my players party is all lv5 and i have 7 players

Edit: since a few comment think i will do the entire fight with willow, let me clarify: after the BBEG is almost dead and beaten he will bring out the child , so the party get the full fight, Before it ends there will be the plot twist, am i clear or do i need to clarify anything else?

Edit 2: (boss life example) boss has 100hp at 10 or lower hp he will bring out the child

A wizard that only casts extremely annoying yet unremarkable spells like "ITCHY FINGER" and "ETERNALLY WARM PILLOW" and only shows up to show off his new minor inconvenience to the party

Shit only really starts to get real when he starts casting damaging spells like "MUSCLE CRAMP" and "TESTICULAR TORSION" and eventually he evolves into an extremely powerful sorcerer whose only spells exist to minorly inconvenience people.

I played a sorcerer with my last group, so I know how underwhelming they can be at times. Metamagic just isn't enough to make up for the loss of sheer number of spells the Wizard could get access to over their 20 levels, and the Warlock's eldritch invocations were more applicable in the vast majority of situations. But reading the changes that the sorcerer is getting for the 2024 edition of the PHB, I feel like WotC went just a little overboard with the buffs they gave the sorcerer, particularly the brand-new innate sorcerery feature, and by a little, I mean a lot. Here's what the post on DnDBeyond says:

• Innate Sorcerery
  • Use a bonus action to surge in power for 1 minute.
  • While active, your Sorcerer spell save DC increases by +1, and you have Advantage on attack rolls for Sorcerer spells.
  • Two uses per long rest.

So, if I understand this correctly, sorcerers can give themselves advantage on spell attacks for two minutes per day, at no drawbacks. And that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg: at level seven, you regain your innate sorcerery uses (yes, uses plural, implying you get both uses back) by spending two sorcerery points, and while it's active, you can use two metamagic options per spell, and at your capstone of level 20, you get to use one of those metamagic options for free. Does anyone else think that this is a little overpowered? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that WotC is buffing the Sorcerer, but this feels like it's a bit too much.

I had a player a few years ago insist that I was being a bad DM for not allowing homebrew in my Curse of Strahd campaign. It got really heated in quite an unpleasant way with accusations that I was depriving them of a core aspect of the game and that they weren't allowed to be creative.

My stance was two fold: I don't have time to check over homebrewed characters while also memorising the next segment of CoS for a smooth game and;
that they hadn't actually read the core rulebooks to find out what was possible within the existing rules before making homebrew requests so they weren't actually engaging with my favourite part of DnD: finding rules loopholes that make you feel powerful as a character and smart as a player for discovering them.

Their requests were typical "new player tries homebrew" like "The Find Familiar spell should summon a dragon that scales with my level, starting with <insert dragonling stat block from the MM> and ending with <insert Ancient Dragon stat block>". Things that sound super cool but that would completely dwarf the other players' skills and abilities and force me to rebalance every single encounter in the CoS book to make them non-trivial.

It was years ago but the player is still very angry with me. I just want some reassurance that I'm not in the wrong.

I see people all over the internet complaining about the martial/caster divide, and I buy that somewhat, but I don't think it's that bad. This game is about roleplaying and is not meant to be competitive in any way.

I think it is way more relevant to measure discrepancies among martials, and among casters. I don't want to play a fighter who can do things that can be compared to a meteor shower or a teleport spell. That's not what I signed for. When I choose to be a battlemaster fighter, I want the fantasy of swinging swords effectively in a tactical manner. If a ranger or barbarian does that differently, that's ok, but if they do it vastly better, then that's a problem. What if I don't want the flavor of the barbarian or ranger?

Yes, casters can control and influence the battlefield in ways that fighters can only dream of, and that is the part where I somewhat agree. But still, is it reasonable for my fantasy of being a sword-swinging badass to suddenly be able to do something akind to a fireball? Or a spike growth? I don't think so, unless you're going for a very different vibe of comics or anime superhumans, which is a valid fantasy to roleplay as much as any other. But now this has the problem of alienating those who want the more grounded fantasy of just playing Legolas, Ned Stark or Conan.

Besides, there are indeed areas where martials excel and casters don't. The longer the adventuring day is, the better martials perform. They usually don't rely much on resources, and even when they do, these resources are usually recovered a lot faster. For single-target damage, martials are still unmatched. Yes, some spells can do ok single target and even AOE damage (looking at you fireball at 5th level), but still, a fireball that doesn't kill any creature does nothing for the action economy. Except it makes martials's job way easier, so they can grab the kills. The same is true for crowd control. All it does it ease the way for the whole group. Who'd think teamwork is a theme on a cooperative game?

There are possible ways to mitigate what's already there, and I think some of those are being adressed by one D&D. Weapon masteries are vastly increase the tactical depth of martial classes, and a few problematic spells are getting a nerf, although I think this nerfs are not gonna be enough.

I think people make this a way bigger issue than it actually is. If you want to swing swords and be good at it, you're quite well served in 5e. There are some inbalances between fighting styles and martial classes which I think are the real issues. Everyone is rocking hand crossbows or halberds it seems, and casters are the ones with shields usually, which is weird. But really, if your martial fantasy is being fullfilled, and casters are too, you're helping each other and having fun, so what's the problem?

So I have not seen the redesign for all the dragons yet besides gold but I was wondering if there a place to see all the new designs and if anything was mention on bringing back Mercury steel purple orange yellow dragons and so on or is it just the 10/15 if the gems are in it

Perhaps a random one but given the fact Clerics of Kelemvor are taught to not rush into death but also not avoid it and that it's something that should be met with pride and dignity, would Kelemvor clerics typically be against being revived post death by spells like revifify or true resurrection?

Just a small thought I'm having as I kinda like the idea of maybe doing a Cleric of Kelemvor character who got revived and is struggling with the fact that he's sorta gone against his God despite the fact he had no control over it.

I know that a heavy crossbow is not the best or most talked about weapon to use in d&d. And their builds are not the most efficient in terms of action efficiency or ability to upgrade over the course of a campaign.

And doing any sort of reddit research leads you to all sorts of negative speeches about why they are bad to play.

But there really is a fun appeal, and a bad-ass, macho wild west kind of vibe about how you can build them. And after a few years of being a dm, I was going to get a chance to build a character for a little side campaign run by one of the players.

The campaign starts at level 3. And it was going to be my character and a warlock (hexblade) and probably a sidekick (animal type). We get a free starting feat and multiclassing or well known homebrew stuff is allowed.

Does anybody out there have a few good ideas to help me brainstorm a fun and effective character. It does not have to be over the top damage and any suggestions you have would be appreciated.

Doing a very tropical setting, and it occurred to me that hurricanes and cyclones exist, so I found the rules for weather in the DMG, but was hoping that someone might have some other rules for extreme weather, and maybe a table or two to roll on for weather events or something? (If not… eh, I’ll just throw my own one together)

I created and ran this series of quests over 35 years ago and was thinking on recreating it. Looking for feedback to see if it’s a viable idea and I’ll try to keep it concise.

The original title was ‘The seven scrolls of Sanrafalos’ and based on the 7 Chakras of Indian/tantric traditions. Each enchanted scroll details instructions and components needed to imbue the recipient with special magical abilities via a complicated ritual & tattooing process on locations of the body congruent with the details of each chakra. Each power set bestowed on the individual also correlates to the powers of each chakra. If one were to complete the set of all 7 scrolls, ultimate enlightenment/power is achieved. Think of the infinity gauntlet from Marvel.

A sorcerer king ruler seeking absolute power launches a campaign to seek out the 7 scrolls.

The adventurers catch wind of this and a race to uncover the locations of the hidden and separated scrolls begin. There are many opportunities to thwart the sorcerer king such as finding the scrolls first, securing some of the unique magical components first, defeating the kings minions, etc.

Ethic implications can arise should the party find a scroll and be forced to hide it, destroy it, or find the components and pick a party member to undergo the ritual themselves.

This was a complex and long campaign considering searching out the scrolls, deciphering them, and/or searching out each component of the rituals was nearly a session or two each.

I wanted a campaign where I could implement nearly every aspect of (AD&D 2nd edition at the time) and it was successful then. Wondering about now considering how much DnD has changed.

I appreciate any questions or feedback!

Not necessarily "easily", but without needing to grind gameplay to a halt as our Warlock is trying to recruit. Has anyone come up with a simple mechanic in handling this?

Hello! My name is Amy, and I've been working on my own homebrew setting for some time now. While most of the setting is about taking base 5e stuff and reflavoring it to fit the setting, one of the more daunting prospects of this world is making brand-new content. One example is the Umbrum, also known as Shadowfolk, a race built around two unique abilities: Deepsight, an inversion of traditional darkvision, and Shadowmeld, an ability that allows them to use darkness to their advantage.

I've been working on this for more than two years now, and I finally have a version I'm happy with. Please feel free to leave feedback! I'd love to hear it.

--

Umbrum

Born from the disparity of light and dark, umbrum, or shadowfolk, are the descendants of shadow elementals that dwell on the Material Plane in places where natural light is scarce. Their mountain strongholds and underground fortresses stand for millennia, and their armies, when raised, sweep through the night as an all but unstoppable scourge. While many umbrum live in isolation among their own kind, some set out into the wider world, braving the sun and the stigma of other species to broaden their horizons and seek their destiny.

Souls of the Void

The true form of an umbrum resembles a featureless humanoid crafted from black flames with colorful dots for eyes. They occupy a wide range of heights and weights, usually influenced by the people their ancestors lived and interbred with. Umbrum raised around or born from other races often take on physical markers of that race: an elf's ears, a kobold's tail, a minotaur's horns, and so on.

Their bodies are insubstantial, composed of raw elemental essence, but they leave behind corpses when they die and can be carried or held like any other humanoid.

Uniquely among elementals, countless generations on the Material Plane have left the umbrum with the ability to assume a flesh-and-blood humanoid form. Similar to their true shadow forms, they take a unique appearance that resembles the race they grew up around and can pass as one even with a thorough inspection. Some umbrum are born in their humanoid form and endure dysphoria for years until discovering their true self.

Many umbrum approach the dichotomy of their two selves differently. Some wear their true forms with pride while others hide it from all but their most trusted friends. Others still find harmony and embrace their dual existence wholeheartedly.

Long Years In The Dark

As ageless elementals, umbrum often spend their time in thought. They often develop rigid personalities and worldviews to cope as they grow older, detaching themselves from the change happening around them. Umbrum tend to be blunt people, preferring logic and simplicity in thought and action, and spurn the more carefree natures of other races. They form relationships slowly and prefer to work under the framework of a contract. However, when umbrum are truly befriended by someone, they are loyal to the end, sometimes sticking around with their friend's descendants to make friends with them as well.

The umbrum rarely befriend their own kind, butting heads with their fellows' rigidity as much as other races do. Groups of umbrum are most often mates. Courtship can take place over decades or even centuries as they transform from fierce enemies to caring lovers. Umbrum mates wistfully discuss moments where they crossed swords or spells with each other in the same way that human couples might discuss a chance encounter under a full moon. Chaotic umbrum tend to prefer mating with other races due to the difficulty and length of this process.

Dark Empires, Dim Futures

Umbrum societies are often bound together through a system of pacts, with the most powerful people being the owners of the most pacts. Through this system, they have raised vast armies of darkness, built impenetrable strongholds, and grown simple settlements into thriving cities. Befitting their mindsets, they build dark brutalist structures that loom large over efficiently designed homes and apartment buildings within preplanned districts, all within the bounds of sturdy walls.

While their industry is evident, the pact system has also brought them to ruin in the past. The rigidity of umbrum worldviews often means they are doomed to repeat their mistakes at a societal level. The oldest umbrum nations are stagnant and not designed to adapt to failure, and their leaders are often authoritarian warmongers who aim high and blame individuals for falling short. Those umbrum who live outside these states often set up solitary communes for their own, but these are few and far between.

Shadowed Wanderers

Umbrum that take up adventuring often seek community, which they either lost by leaving their home states or never truly had growing up around other races. Other umbrum find the prestige given to senior adventurers to be a way out of marginalization. Some take up adventuring to bring glory to their home or gods, to avenge a wrong done to them, or to champion a cause they find righteous. The best and worst of adventurers can be found among them, from paladins of good gods to warlocks of dark fiends and everything in between.

Subrace

Due to an ancient caste system, the umbrum diverged into three main subraces: deep umbrum, liminal umbrum, and stark umbrum. Each one expresses their connection to darkness in a different way. Choose one of these subraces.

--

Racial Traits

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2.

Creature Type. You are an Elemental. You are also considered a humanoid for any prerequisite or effect that requires you to be a humanoid.

Age. Umbrum mature at roughly the same rate humans do, but they do not grow physically older past their forties.

Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Elemental Physiology. You do not need to eat or drink.

Deepsight. You see normally in nonmagical darkness and perceive dim light as dim light, but you can only see out to sixty feet within bright light and are blind beyond that radius. You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in bright light. You are blind while in direct sunlight.

Humanoid Form. You possess a humanoid form with a fixed appearance to better blend in with other races. As a bonus action, you can assume your humanoid form or return back to your umbrum form. While in your humanoid form, you gain advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks to pass yourself off as a member of your form's race.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Primordial.

Shadowmeld. When in dim light or darkness, you can use your action to meld your form with the shadows, turning yourself and any gear you wear or carry into ephemeral darkness. While melded, you can see your surroundings as normal, you can interact with objects, and you can move up to your speed as long as you end your turn in a space that is also in dim light or darkness. You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide or move quietly, and you gain resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. You can also squeeze through spaces as small as an inch wide and share a space with a creature. You cannot make attacks or perform somatic or verbal components while melded, but you can still be targeted by attacks, spells, and other effects as normal. You cannot use your Shadowmeld while in humanoid form.

This form lasts for a minute, until you end it as an action, or until you start your turn in bright light. You can use this action a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses on a long rest.

--

Deep Umbrum

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity Score increases by 1.

Improved Deepsight. You can see normally in dim light as well as darkness, but your range of vision in bright light is reduced to 30 feet.

Shadow of the Assassin. While using Shadowmeld, you can speak, and you can attack or cast a spell at the cost of 30 feet of movement. If you have used movement on your turn, you cannot make attacks or cast spells while using Shadowmeld. You can also make attacks of opportunity.

--

Liminal Umbrum

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Extra Language. You can speak, read, and write one additional language of your choice.

Shadow of the Impostor. As an action while using Shadowmeld, you can change your appearance and your voice. You determine the specifics of the changes, including your coloration, hair length, and physical sex. You can also adjust your height and weight and can change your size between Medium and Small. You can make yourself appear as a member of another race, though none of your game statistics change. You can’t duplicate the appearance of an individual you’ve never seen, and you must adopt a form that has the same basic arrangement of limbs that you have. Your clothing and equipment aren’t changed by this trait. Your new appearance does not count as your humanoid form.

You can use your Shadowmeld while in your humanoid form or an appearance taken by this feature. Additionally, during a long rest, you can use this feature to change the appearance of your humanoid form.

You assume the new form when your Shadowmeld ends, and you keep it until you use an action to revert to your true form or until you die.

Stark Umbrum

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.

Large Frame. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Shadow of the Warrior. Whenever you use Shadowmeld, you can choose to gain the following benefits instead: you count as behind half cover, you gain advantage on Strength ability checks, and your reach with melee weapon attacks and unarmed strikes increases by 5 feet. You do not lose these benefits while in bright light.

I am learning DnD with some friends of mine. None of us had ever played, though I knew the most by far because of attempts to try DnD in the past. My friend seems to only want to make characters with gimmicks, for example Karl from Deep Rock Galactic basically, Inspector Gadget, someone with a gimmick where they are cursed/blessed with lag and can tp back 5 seconds ago a few times every long rest, etc. The lag gimmick was the newest one.

I prefer building characters from a background instead of a gimmick, and get a bit irritated when he comes with another gimmick character with no real personality aside from their gimmick and how they handle their gimmick in character (like the lag-guy having trouble with his weird existence). Am I wrong in turning these character ideas down? Genuine question. I feel like it might also come from inexperience. I do think the lag guy could be an okay character for example, but only from really experienced roleplayers, not from literal newbies who still don't know how 90% of the game works.

I have more problems with this friend, like him not learning any of the rules, or being determined to make everything, including every enemy type, homebrew, but I'll focus on this one aspect for this post. Please give me your opinions