Playing my first campaign (yay!) and my character is a Tabaxi Way of the Ascendant Dragon Monk.I rolled really high for my initial scores so I'm considering options for a feat instead of score increase, but was hoping for some insight from some folks who have been playing longer than I have.

Initial Stats: Str-14 Dex-18 Con-15 Int-12 Wis-16 Cha-12

If I do pick a feat, I would want to go with something thematically appropriate to my character but useful. Some I was considering, though not comprehensive: TABAXI: Alert, Observant MONK: Mobile, Martial Adept ASCENDANT DRAGON: Poisoner, Gift of the Gem Dragon, Gift of the Metallic Dragon

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated 🫶

If you were asked to play in a level 20 oneshot right now, what race/class combo would you pick and why? The more insane, the better. You can use any officially published Races, feats and subclasses; multiclassing is allowed.

I'll give an example: 'The Greatest Swordsman who ever lived': Shadar'Kai Swords Bard 14/Battlemaster Fighter 3/ Paladin 2/ Hexblade Warlock 1.

The crux of the build centres around a magical screts option we choose at Bard 14: Tenser's Transformation, a 6th level Wizard spell which grants the caster advantage on all weapon attacks, extra force damage, temp hp but restricts casting spells. That is not a problem however as we will be using our spell slots to channel smites, which is still allowed.

Assuming standard array, and we set charisma to 15 and strength to 13, multiclassing into all 4 classes is viable. We can use 2 of our Bard ASIs to increase Charisma, and use the last to take Elven Accuracy. This will Cap our charisma, as well as granting a single die reroll on charisma-based attacks that are made with advantage. (Shadar'Kai count as elves for anything that has elf as a prerequisite) Thanks to hexblade warlock, all of our weapon attacks use charisma, and while Tensers is active, they are all made with advantage. Using Hexblades curse to ensure crits on a 19 and 20 turns this build into a critfishing powerhouse.

Level 14 swords bards can use also use blade flourishes for free using a d6 instead of Bardics. Combined with maneuvers this gives the user insane versatility. Swords Bard, Fighter and Paladin give a fighting style each, so we'll take Duelling to ensure attacks land more, Defence to up AC, and Superior Technique to gain a 4th manuever and an extra d6 superiority die.

This doesnt even account for all the amazing utility spells Bard, Paladin and Warlock have access to that you can cast while not using Tensers, or the fact that Shadarkai can BAMF up to 30ft as a bonus action and gain resistance to all damage until the start of their next turn PB times per long rest (so in this case, 6). Assuming we start with either fighter or paladin, we also have access to all armour and weapon types.

I'd love to see what you guys can come up :).

https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/4418691-general-marius

I made this monster as the first of 3 major bosses for my campaign. For context, the party consists of 5 lvl 5 PCs. Since this is the first campaign that I'm DMing, I'd like to get some feedback on how I designed my first major boss fight.

Short story.

A captive managed to get away from the party amid another encounter. The prior captive stole a horse and is now riding away before dawn. One of the party is now mounted and chasing after them.

That PC is a Firbolg and has the "Speach of Beast and Leaf" together with the spell "Command" to command both to halt. The rider saved but the mount was also targeted and failed. As it was a mount under the control of the captive, I ruled that the rider overide the command as per commands RAW "If the target can’t follow your command, the spell ends".

Would anyone else rule this differently?

This is where we left our last session, so there will be numerous other attempts for this PC and it will be his moment to shine.

How would confusion magic work on a hydra?

If she fails the Wisdom check, would she fail as a whole, or would just one head be affected?

One of my players want to play as a fighter in a party of 3 with the other 2 as wizards and sorcerer respectively. So they ask me for any way to buff they're character to which I suggested magic items but they wants something for they're fighter that isn't a magic item. So here is me trying to buff martial.

Martial Skills

All the Martial Classes will have the Martial Skills which they can select from a list to learn and comes with the SkillPoint (SP) to spent to use these Martial Skill. They get 1 Martial Skill to pick at level 1 and 2 more as they level up.

Fighter - 3 SP at level 1, 6 SP at level 20 Paladin - 2 SP at level 1, 5 SP at level 20 Monk - 3 SP at level 1, 6 SP at level 20 Barbarian - 3 SP at level 1, 6 SP at level 20 Rogue - 2 SP at level 1, 5 SP at level 20

Martial Skill:

Changed Attack

On a melee attack roll, you can expend 1 SP to change your attack from a slashing (slashing damage) to thrusting (piercing damage) attack and vice versa.

Evasion

Whenever you are required to do a Dexterity Saving throws you can instead expend 3 SP to move up to half of your speed.

Strong Strike

On a melee attack roll, you can expend 1 SP to use half of your Proficiency Bonus on your Attack roll and the other half on damage roll.

Grappling Strike

You attempt to grapple a creature within range by expending 2 SP (Only if the creature can be Grappled and you have a free hand), if the grapple is successful you make a melee attack roll on the grappled creature.

Focus Aim

On a ranged attack roll you can expend both 1 SP and your reaction to double your proficiency added to the attack.

Quick Loading

On a ranged attack roll with a weapon that has the loading property, you can expend 2 SP to load the ammunition again to attack once more(This process can be repeated as long as you have the SP needed and actions needed).

Throwing

Instead of making a melee attack rolls, expending 1 SP to changed it to a ranged attack roll with a melee weapon that doesn't have the thrown property (range 15/30) on a hit it does the weapon damage die as piercing damage, if the melee weapon has the heavy property it cost 2 SP and have (range 10/20) instead.

Hey there, hope you're all doin good. I'm starting on my first non virtual campaign at level 13 this sunday and I want to make a Nature Cleric, but more focused on their martial prowess so I thought Ranger could be a great dip. Were gonna use standard array and I want to focuse on range attacks, so Dex and Wis would be my main picks.

Right now I'm thinking of Cleric 8/ Ranger 5. With Divine Strike I can assure 1d8 elemental damage, and choosing Hunter domain will allow me either 1 extra attack or another 1d8. Then with druidic warrior I could have 3 cantrips (in case I need more variety) and some good spells. However I dont feel so sure about the fighting style. My character will use a bow as her main damage dealer, so maybe archery is the Key?

I know that with shillelagh I have a good melee option, but then Im really lost on what spells or combos this multiclass could work with except Holy Weapon + all the bonuses. Also, our dm said we could choose any 2 uncommon items. Would be very grateful for some advive

In my opinion a Unicorn should be Fey, and a Sphinx should be Celestial

Hi I want play a Fey creature but i don´t want to play warlock any suggestion?

My friend is getting me and some other buddies to try it out. We havent had our session zero yet, but I got pretty invested with storycrafting and made a character already. I wanted to do somthing intresting with how elves lived long. I made an elf, and made her kind of an asshole. Not a disruptive kind of asshole, just an apathetic, selfish kind, the kind of person someone would realistically become if they lived for over a few centuries. The idea was to take this elf and give her head trauma. I havent decided on how yet, but slipping and tumbling down a cliff is what I'm going for atm. This would cause her have a hard reset, like setting a device back to factory mode. Now, all those years of experience and memories are gone. I thought it would be a cool concept to explore, an elf who doesnt know how old they are, who they are, weather or not they were a good person or not, who's memories are only slowly comming back to them through dreams and deja vu and such, AS they are making new memories and forming a new personality with new eyes that arent views through the lenses of all that time, effectively causing an identity crisis. Am I the person I was before? With all those centuries of experiences and seeing people come and go? Or am I the person I am now, after having traveled with the party, barley a year or two of experiences, having not dealt with loss yet?

Tldr: an elf who's memory got wiped and now has to struggle with her old personality and memories slowly beginning to resurface in her brain after head trauma.

There are campaign spoilers in here so just a word of warning for those thinking of being a player in this campaign.

I just read the red dragon's tale campaign book for the DnD lego set and the story leaves a few details unexplained. I'm mainly just looking for an explanation for how you think the following inconsistencies should be handled when running this campaign. I ask this as a new dm. This will be my first campaign and i just want to know what you would do if these issues came up. Thanks for any advice! https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/dungeons-dragons-red-dragon-s-tale-21348

1.Why are there tentacles coming out of the water next to the sentient tree and the entrance to the hidden dungeon? The story pretends that this doesn't exist and I want some sort of a story tie in or potential fight or I'll just remove them since it can't be missed. The players walk right by the tentacles to get to the dungeon antrance.

2. The mushroom creatures are located above some mountains in the lego model which is not obvious that the players can easily climb. The story assumes that you can approach and converse with the mushrooms 🍄 🍄 but doesn't explain how the players reach them.

3. Additionally, there are some vines to the far side of the mushrooms that the players are supposed to be able to climb but also behind the vines there is no wall so the players could technically just cut them down and enter the dungeon that way but this is unexplained in the module.

4. There is a spider hidden to the left of the vines in a small upper alcove under a stone bridge. The story doesn't explain why this is there or if the players can interact with it.

5. In the inn plain sight inn, there is a back door on the first floor that the campaign fails to mention exists that leads to the main dungeon and the location of a beholder which the players probably should not just be able to enter since doing so would completely sidestep part 2 and part of part 3 of the 5 part campaign. The party has a rogue who can lockpick door locks and the party can probably just bust the door down as well when they learn that the fake inn owner just teleported away after sending the adventurers to be surprisingly and unexpectedly eaten by mimics on the second floor. I feel like people would attempt to forcefully pursue this man who lied about who he was and just attempted to have the party eaten.

6. The last inconsistency is that if the players realize they can climb the side of the mountain to reach and converse with the sentient mushrooms there are similar looking legos built into the side of the mountain which also look like you might be able to climb them, which when climbed, would bring the party to the top of the bridge and would allow the party to sidestep the entire dungeon, which would sidestep freeing from prison the real inn owner Alax Jadescales or learning about the demise of ''the hard way' band of adventurous at the hands of Ervan Soulfallen. It would also completely sidestep finding the displacer beast 'pouncy' and reuniting it with its owner. This potential is also not mentioned at all in the official campaign.

So, I'm new to DnD, but... there's this the main quest we have to help the sister an elusive water spirit's sister. Where are we? Nowhere near that lake. You're now in the Feywild venturing ever deeper even though we know the dangers.

In the first session we went in circles doing all content, the DM offered us a fork in the road: go through the forest, more dangerous but faster or go with the sinuous road. We somehow went on both after some crow shenanigans. There was a second fork on the road in the forest. One leading towards a bandit camp, one towards a sentient flower bickering with a bear. We met them all.

This has happened all over. And it's hard to say no, especially that it makes me think that if the DM took his time to prepare all of this, we should check it out. But the DM always preps more than we can do, so I don't know what to do.

Also, I was wondering if all this sidetracking is actually straining our GM. Like I know he tries to weave some of smaller quests into the large one by doing a little foreshadowing. And I am worried he is getting disappointed by our hectic playstyle. I want him to know that I also appreciate what he is doing and that we have a main quest.

Long time GM (2E, 3E, 4E, Pathfinder, and Shadowrun experience), but new to 5th ed. I've been looking through the rules and I don't want to touch TOO much, but have been leaning towards implementing a handful of house rules off the bat. Mostly things I liked from previous editions and a few games. Just wondering if people more experienced with the system saw any problems with these.

1. Not using alignment.

2. Initiative uses d10 instead of d20. It looks to me like initiative boosters are harder yo come by and tougher to really stack, so I was considering this to make them more impact full for players who get them

3. Taking 10 and taking 20. Making a return, players can take 10 on a tasks in which they receive their proficiency bonus as long as they aren't being rushed or pressured (virtually never during combat). They can take 20 on amy check in which time is not a factor and there are no consequences for failure.

4. Shorter short rests. Short rests normally take only half an hour now. It is also an urban campaign, and if they party is in the city at large, they can spend 1gp each to complete a short rest in 10 minutes, as they duck into a cafe or something and treat themselves to the amenities within.

5. Clarification on familiar and the help action. I want to nip this in the bud because I've heard of different GMs making different calls (most notabely in Dimension 20, which I've recommended to my players, and the big reason I want to clarify this for them off the bat) Help requires the familiar to use its action, and cannot be used as a reaction. In combat, a familiar adjacent to an enemy can use help to give advantage on attack rolls against that creature. They can usually give the help action for downtime tasks. For other actions, the player will need to justify how the familiar is aiding them.

6. 1 bonus skill. For a little more personalization of PCs, all PCs gain proficiency in 1 extra skill of their choice at the conclusion of character creation

I’m thinking maybe getting the ability to make one infusion for the artificer one, and maybe one use of wild shape per long rest for the druid one?

If a character were a 20th level Druid and a 10th level wizard, could he shape change into a CR30 creature?

Hi,

Wondering what are the best buff spells that a wizard can provide to other players.

My friend want's to run a level 12 one shot with my party. One of my friends wants to play a Clockwork Sorcerer 1 / Abjuration Wizard 11 that uses Armor of Agathys. My friend thinks that this can be a good way to bring the wizard to the front of combat, and is excited to kill an enemy with AoA. That, however, can be hard since that the optimal way to counter that is to simply not hit him with a melee attack.

Are there any builds that I can play to help my friend get hit with an attack? We can use any official published book for 5E and Critical Role Content.

Personally I think all Bards should get Magical Secrets at 6th level and not just Lore Bards. Maybe Lore Bards could get three spells instead of two at 6th, still powerful and unique, but opening up the other Bards substantially.

Hi everyone! A couple of days ago I asked for your help to create a subclass named Path of immortality barbarian and like 4 awesome classes came out of that post.

And now I'm asking to hear how would you make a Skinwalker theme subclass, personally I think it would be good for fighter, barbarian or ranger.

But I wanna hear how would you do it.

I'm of the personal idea that if I'm having trouble thinking of peoples names or city names, ChatGPT can provide a bunch rather quickly. However, I am apposed to ChatGPT writing the campaign for a DM.

Likewise, BingAI has Copilot, which can generate images as well as text (others can too, i'm just more aware of these 2). I like to generate images if I can't find concept art anywhere else, or if I have an idea for a character and nothing along those lines exists.

I'd like to know how other people feel GM's or players, about the use of AI for campaigns. Would you be upset in some way if you found out you were playing a campaign created by an AI? Would you be upset if a player generated a character with the help of AI?

TL:DR; How do you feel GM/player about use of AI in D&D?

In a recent session we had, I had used Wish to duplicate Glibness on myself to give myself a fighting chance at talking to another mage.

When the mage began to suspect I'd been charmed because of my evasiveness, (don't ask why, it's complicated. Outside the scope of the question) they said they would need to use Identify on me to determine if I'd been under some effect.

Now, not seeing a way to refuse, I did end up letting her use the spell on me, and they saw Glibness...

But should they have? I cast Wish. Sure, it duplicated the effects of Glibness, but I didn't cast that spell... So should she have seen Wish? If she had, it might have drastically increased my chances of getting out of that encounter without having to divulge important secrets.

Not that I'd ask to go back and fix it, but for future reference should this totally not incredibly rare and niche circumstance happen again.

This happened maybe 1 hour ago as i JUST stopped laughing enough to type it is also one of many stories i have of this mans constant struggle with D&D. So I'm currently running the Light of Xaryxis with some homebrew modifications (think treasure planet meets Pirates of the Carribean. I'm writing up my script, notes, and maps. My dad came up to me and asked AND I QUOTE;

Dad: Oh are you doing Dumbledore tonight?
Me: Uhh no? Since he's dead and that isn't a kink I morally agree with I am not. I'm also not into old dudes.
D: (slaps the back of my head) No smart ass. The thing with magic.
M: No I haven't played a card game in years.
D: No. That game with magic and dragons and things.
M:....... Do... you mean Dungeons and Dragons?
D: YES! That thing whatever its called. you doing that tonight?

At this point I just laugh to the point of tears for an hour barely able to say yes. So from this day forward all my game nights are going to be called "Doing Dumbledores". Mind you this man was around since 1e and has told stories about seeing people play it in highschool.

The song in question.

The singer is a normal human, with a normal vocal tract. No magic can be used. They have to sing the song as written, at the prescribed tempo. But they can make up their own lyrics.

If there are multiple notes at once, all the notes need to be sung simultaneously through polyphonic singing or other applicable techniques.

How high of a Performance check would you ask for, in order to perform the song successfully and accurately?

First time DMing and I feel like the next encounter may crush them... How do you draw the line between fun / mechanics?

And not just until level 5.

Posting this because I'm still seeing this take being parroted around by some people, even after ten years. Now, this isn't a discussion of whether or not Rangers are well-designed, fun, or satisfying to play. Those are other, completely different topics. I'm talking purely about the class's strength.

Rangers have D10 Hit Die, Medium Armor, Shields, Martial Weapons, Archery Fighting Style, Extra Attack, and Spellcasting. This last one is key, but we'll circle back to this. Now, a common line is "multiclass out after 5." Usually people recommend Fighter or Rogue.

Fighters start to lose steam after 5th level too. Outside of Action Surge, the only real thing they have to offer is Extra Attack again at 11th-level. But Rangers also get a dpr boost in Tier 3. It comes from their subclass. Whether this is good or bad design isn't the point. The point is that they do. These usually come with additional riders to make up for how conditional they are, but they are there. And their conditions for triggering aren't that hard to proc. So for the majority of the game, Rangers keep up with Fighters and Paladins in terms of weapon damage, unless the latter go nova. But we'll get back to that as well. Compared to Rogues, they get fewer expertises and no Cunning Action, but that's pretty much the only thing Rogues have to offer. Sneak Attack damage is notoriously subpar and the plethora of damage reduction abilities Rogues have are intended to make up for their frailty, a problem Rangers don't have. Besides all of that, they also have ways of mimicking the Rogue's Cunning Action in a pinch (Zephyr Strike, Vanish - albeit a bit late, Flame Stride, etc). So there really isn't a whole lot for Rangers in this class.

Now we come to spellcasting. Spellcasting is the single best class feature in the game, period. Bar none. Rangers getting half-casting at all already puts them head and shoulders above all four martial classes, which elevates them at the very least to the mid-tier along with Paladins and Artificers. On that alone, they are already not weak. While they may be known casters (which is dumb), their spell list is a contender for the best spell list for any of the non-full casters. They get Absorb Elements, Entangle, Spike Growth, Pass Without Trace, Conjure Animals, Plant Growth, Conjure Woodland Beings, Revivify, Lesser and Greater Restoration, etc. With this alone they are already much more versatile than any martial class, and arguably even Paladins.

Finally, if we're talking about nova/spike damage, it's true that a Paladin smiting or a Fighter Action Surging outpace the Ranger's weapon damage, but no their total damage overall. Whether or not you like Conjure Animals, it greatly increases the dpr, all the while providing versatility and utility.

Now, I'm not saying Ranger is flawless. Are they fun? Are they well designed? Are they satisfying to play? Those are separate questions and a separate discussion. But they are mechanically strong.

I'm going to be playing through short episodes with some friends.

I'd like to generate completely random characters for the players - random name, race, class, and background, random stats (ideally untethered from class), random personality traits, etc..

However, I would like to be able to specify the character level.

Anyone know a character generator that does this?

Edit: thank you for telling me how my friends and I should have fun. We might have had fun in the entirely wrong way if not for your brilliant insight.

So I am making a Half elf bard, starting at lvl 1, I know common, elvish, and 1 more language of my choice. Now Could that language be that of beasts? Nowhere does it say it has to be a humanoid language. So you know, on a technicality?? Do beasts have a language? This campaign is only a PHB campaign, so no Xanathars or other books. And I know, talk to your DM, and I will. This was just a random thought that entered my head, as we discussed RAW rules earlier today. Anyway let me know what you all think. Have a good one. And sorry cant select 2 flairs, as it is also under Character Building.

Hey, I was wondering would it be balanced to allow a player to essentially add a weaker version of subtle spell into the order of scribe's wizard subclass. I don't mind that it's a power increase. I'm just not sure how much of a power increase it is. Do you think it will break anything is what I'm asking?

• You can write spells into the air. This allows you to trade the spell's verbal component for a somatic component by writing the words into the air using your quill.

Hello! So my current character that I'm playing as is a homebrewed elloquence bard, with more emphasis on performing than talking due to his unique "metallic play-style". Yes, he is essentially a rock and roll bard. However, as our campaign has gone on, my character (Glenn) has taken a huge liking to nature and animals, even obtaining a magic guitar that lets him speak to animals through his music. That leads to my question, what would be a good druid multi-class to go with bard? Specifically one that maybe deals with leading animals more so than just turning into good ones.

Welcome back to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc. and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible!

This is the twist we've all been waiting for. The base version of the Lost Mine of Phandelver is fun, but it lacks in a few departments. One of which is The Big Bads; both Venomfang and The Black Spider.

Thanks to this amazing One-Shot, courtesy of Helianas Guide to Monster Hunting I've been able to seamlessly merge in a compelling narrative. No longer are The Black Spider and Venomfang two separate entities, but they're merged into one...Volrak from The Reign of Iron! The Lost Mine was in fact the lair of Volrak who stole it from the Dragon you'll meet in this Adventure (Only to have it lost once he became fat and lazy). What Dragon wouldn't want access to a forge to create magical items?

This session will culminate in a three-wave boss battle, with a possible non-combat solution. It will be the first truly epic battle your players will face in this campaign! Not only that, but they'll meet a new friend, one who may just be able to provide your players with their first truly powerful and unique magical item. This is only the beginning, however. In Sessions to come, you'll see how this One-Shot sends ripples throughout the campaign as a whole!

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for The Reign of Iron: DM Notes
• Link to: One-Shot PDF
• Link to: Reign of Iron Playlist
• Link to: Word Doc Download (Download at bottom of post)

Index:

The Lost Mine of Phandelver Index

• Part 1 - Intro and Cragmaw Hideout
• Part 2a - Phandalin
• Part 2b - Redbrand Hideout
• Part 3a - Reign of Iron
• Part 3b - Thundertree (Coming Soon)
• Part 3c - Cragmaw Castle (Coming Soon)
• Part 4 - Wave Echo Cave (Coming Soon)
• Part 5 - Side Quests

Over 5 dozen other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and Campaigns: Click Here

If you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc. please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,
Advent