Hi, I'm going to be playing for the first time, and I want to be a wood elf. I'm between ranger or druid. I like that would elfs are proficient in short bows and long bows, but druids don't use bows. I been watching videos on druids and how they draw power from nature. Since wood elfs are more one with nature it seems that being druid is a good choice, but the bow thing really bumbs me out. Rangers sounds good too since they can use a bow but someone in my party is already a ranger and I don't know if it's a good thing to have 2 rangers in a party? Anyway, hope someone can give some more insight.

Im making a collage of glamour bard for grim hollow and wanted to know everyones opinion on it since i can't find a single reddit post mentioning it

Specifically, outside of their (already very good) area control options where there are a number of different viable choices, most situations have a 'best' spell which makes for dull gameplay. We playtested a few sessions using the new PHB and that's turned into a mini campaign after players ended up wanting to explore the personalities that emerged for each. They're level 9 at the moment, and for the wildfire druid in most situations outside aoe control there's a clear best option, with nothing else comparing.

• Specific enemies need to be shut down: Giant Insect, summon the spider and use it to keep whatever the target is - dragon, pit fiend, mummy lord, whatever - stuck to the spot. None of us thought reducing speed to 0 would be so devastating, but turns out the majority of enemies get screwed over really badly by it.

• Specific enemy needs to die: Conjure minor elementals, then hit them with scorching ray. This one is the least problematic since it's burning a lot of slots for single target damage, and everyone can do single target damage. Still, despite being much more clunky and contextual than the other options it has a habit of one shotting level appropriate bosses.

• Lots of enemies need to die: Conjure woodland beings works like spirit guardians now, and spirit guardians now forces a save once per for per turn when the emanation enters an enemy space or an enemy enters the emanation. That means between running past enemies, using the ready action to do it again on a future turn and wildfire spirit teleport they're forcing each enemy to save against 5d8 two or three times a round, going through entire teams like a lawnmower.

• And if none of the above three are ideal, say because getting close is a bad idea and there are lots of them, conjure animals is a ranged spirit guardians now and is the most generically good spell in D&D's history. Large (movable) spirit that makes enemies within 10' save against 3d10, so in actuality a 30' cube - high regular aoe damage at range, and enemy you hover the spirit above has to save again on their own turn since they'll have to move into a new space within 10' of it in order to leave. A sustained movable area of save vs 6d10 a round as a third level spell is the backup, the I have nothing special so I'll use my generic damage.

I know this all sounds like a lot of whining, but it's concerning how much of the rest of their combat spell list the above renders obsolete. In most situations there's a clear best spell, and when there isn't there's the generically very good conjure animals as backup. At least with wizards you have a variety of standouts to choose from, being more useful than everyone else requires preparation and thought. I can tell what the druid is going to do as soon as I've designed the encounter, because there's a clear best path in every situation that isn't aoe control. Feels really weird.

So lore wise can a warforged be only and just metal, no organic only inorganic.

Hi! I was given the rare opportunity in my campaign to respec my character. This was my first real campaign and it’s been going on for over a year now. I played bg3 a while ago and have been doing my research and turns out my level 9 Warlock/Fighter is basically an unoptimized hex blade. Now that I know, what are some optimal ways to hex blade with a greatsword? I have a special sword I got from a boss we defeated that I would like to keep as my pact weapon. Thanks!

I saw this in some comments as a sentiment but there might be more who hold this view so I felt like spelling it out.

A business should care about its consumers. Not parasocially, which I think is what people think "caring" means. No fucking duh a company will not individually care about its consumers, but a company should care about who its business is built upon.

What does this care look like? It means creating practices that build trust with your consumers. Practices that incentivize good rapport that enaure they want to do business with you in the future.

Having a stupid doomer mindset where you say "WOTC doesnt care about me" and then give them money as a reward for not caring about you is not only stupid, but is exactly the behavior that contributes to this hellhole where companies in general are no longer catering to consumers that it was built upon

Hi everyone, I wanted to know if you could help me with this problem, I recently returned to the DM seat after a long time and luckily I was able to get some new players who are lovely, I helped them make their characters and everything, but I can still notice that they are still afraid of roleplaying, every time I try to interact with their characters many of them stay silent and I only have 1 player who talks. Don't get me wrong, I really like that 1 player is taking the initiative, but I would like the others to talk and roleplay more, do you have any advice or tips that could help me with this problem???

I’m planning of having 4 horsemen being the guards and fist of an evil king. One of them i’ve planned to just have a buffed horse with him being the main fighting component. Another I was thinking of a halfling or gnome riding an enslaved centaur. But for the other two i’m open for ideas.

I know Hasbro is evil and we should stop buying their books but I can't help but read some of their adventure modules for story or lore reasons and recently I've been planning to buy either planescape: adventures in the multiverse or Tyranny of Dragons, I've already read some reviews regarding those books but I wanted to get your opinions on which story or campaign is better.

We have a druid, fighter, sorcerer, and bard. In 5 days time we will be attacked by the underlings and also Wrath who we only know as a very powerful devil. We have 14000 gold total and know they will be using minions.

This setting utilizes the idea that teleportation circles are common in big cities, so our current plan is go to the nearest city, pay the tax to use their teleportation circle, and go to Baldurs Gate and go to the inside of the city, that way any attackers of a large force will have to attack Baldurs Gate.

Considering the DM might not allow this, or they sneak into Baldurs Gate etc, what are some ideas on how we can use our gold to defeat this coming threat?

If you multiclass with Rogue, could you multiply the proficiency bonus by 4 when dealing with dragons?

I havent played DnD in many years, and recently, wanted to start up a session again. I just launched DnD beyond and wanted to see what new races, spells, feats, and other random stuff had come into the game since i had quit. Upon opening the marketplace, i couldnt find the option to buy these individual parts anywhere anymore. After a quick search, found out that DnDBeyond removed the option to buy only the content we want... Im now completely demotivated to want to even touch anything DnD. Hasbro pushed me away from Magic, and now DnD as well. They amount of profit grubbing they have been doing these last few years is getting ridiculous, and how they are still maintaining sales is disappointing. That means, it will never change. Thanks Hasbro again, for making another game i played seem completely and an unappealing cash grab effort.

I just needed to vent. So, thank you.

The spell requires "Holy water or powdered silver and iron, which the spell consumes". Ceremony can produce holy water with 25 gp of silver, but is there anything that says how much the powdered silver and iron should cost? Could it be a single piece of each for a negligible cost?

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The trigger for you to expend a bardic die for this is your initiative roll but there is no other indication of trigger or duration for how long the boost to initiative for you and your allies lasts. Right? It doesn’t say on your present and their present or next initiative roll, or until combat ends. It modifies the actual character sheet Initiative score - seemingly permanently.

People are seemingly pretty “ok, meh” about the Dance Bard but this should raise their standing in my book. You might not want to play this but Level6+ youre gonna be real happy one is in your party.

It is a use of your very limited bardic dice, it requires you to gamble when your bardic dice increases that you won’t get a lower subsequent roll (which you very well could), and again - what else besides unarmored defense is at all exciting about the Dance Bard before level 6? I would house rule this if this is somehow not the intent.

I have been having this debate for a while now with some fellow players. The question is with the Fly spell do you fly horizontally or do you fly vertically or standing up?

Basically, my character can imbue an unarmed strike with fire, cold, or lightning damage. How does that roll work? Is it a regular deal, but just fire, or do I roll the damage with a different dice?

So I’m a GM and making an NPC for tonight’s session and a combo occurred to me that I wanted to both post about and confirm that I’m interpreting the rules correctly (or at least close). Of course I’m the GM so I can handwave some of this for my own campaign. And before anyone objects I’m a very experienced GM across many editions so while I nominally run 5e (2014 for now) I make full PC stat blocks for key NPCs - largely for out of combat abilities and interactions published WoTC monsters especially for higher levels often lack.

With that caveat I noticed a cool NPC “trick” a school of illusion wizard gets a few abilities by level 15. At level 6 they gain “malleable illusions” where for an illusion with a duration longer than 1 minute they can spend an action to remake the illusion (using the spells limitations) provided they can see it.

At level they get Illusory Reality which allows as a bonus action to make some nonmagical nonharmful object in the illusion actually real for 1 minute provided the illusion is ongoing.

So here is the “trick”. The 7th level illusion spell Mirage Arcana has a duration of 10 days, is not a concentration spell and has a 1 sq mile range.

This means my 15th level wizard NPC can cast mirage arcana days before the PCs encounter him (thus having a 7th level slot for the encounter) and can reshape the reality of the entire environment they are walking in as they look for him. Making bridges appear/disappear/become actually real for a minute etc. I can imagine how much fun I can have with this as a GM - making the whole realm around them feel altered and odd and off. All without having to purely handwave it.

It isn’t overpowered but I think it will lead to some fun interactions. And yes PCs facing level 15 threats should expect complications.

If I, as an evocation wizard, cast Wish to duplicate the effects of an evocation spell, do I get to add my Int modifier to the damage roll?

I'm trying to make an Elf subrace that is more desert based, and I'm seeing like a ton of conflicting information about them and I'm not sure what's canon. Does anyone have any recs on how to build an NPC for this (for a party companion)?

So I've been working on a homebrew subclass for a while but I'm stuck on what the final feature should be. I already have the all the features I want?

Below is the subclass in its current stat

Puppetmiester rogue Archetype: A mystic art passed down through the generations, you have learned the secrets of the puppet master. While many view puppets as a medium of art, you have learned how to craft marionettes capable of killing.

1st Level: 

**Martial Puppet**: You have learned how to craft a martial puppet. A martial puppet resembles a small humanoid, but your puppet is a weapon not a creature.

• Type: Your puppet is a martial two handed finesse weapon. You are proficient with this weapon.

• Damage: 1d4+dex. Damage increases by 1d4 at 9th, 13th, and 17th level.

• Range: You can move your puppet within 15 ft of you with a movement speed of 20ft, if you move your puppet automatically follows without expending its own movement speed.

• Extension of Oneself: your puppet is capable of interacting with objects and creatures as a humanoid. However you cannot receive any sensory information from your puppet other than resistance to its movements.

• There are no strings on me: you are connected to your puppet through a set of thin metal wires. 

  • The wire cannot be severed unless attacked by a slashing weapon. The wires have an ac equal to 8 + your Dex modifier + your proficiency bonus. If the strings are cut you lose control of your puppet, causing it to fall limp until the strings are restored. 

  Puppet Tactics: You gain a poll of 3 tactic dice, and one more at your 9th, 13th, and 17th class level up

  You can spend these dice(D4’s) to use special moves called puppet Tactics(P-tech). You learn two P-techs from the list below, and more at 9th, 13th, and 15th level. You can change P-techs during a level up. You regain all expended P-tech dice after completing a long or short rest.

Sometimes a P-tech will require your target to make a saving throw. The DC is calculated as follows: 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dex modifier.  

P-techs

Startling Lunge

As a part of your attack action, your puppet can lunge at a creature within its range, giving you advantage on the attack.

String guard

When a creature attacks your puppet’s wires, as a reaction, you can roll a P-tech die, adding the roll to the wires AC.

False opening

As a bonus action, roll a P-tech die so you can leave an opening for your enemies, adding the roll to your ac. The next creature that makes a melee attack against you and fails to hit, as a reaction, you can attack them with your puppet with advantage.

Uncanny presence

Your puppets can be off putting at times, a bonus action you can put that trait to your advantage. All creatures that can see your puppet must make a wisdom saving throw, any creature that fails the save is frightened of your puppet until the end of your turn.

Ensnaring Embrace

When your puppet successfully grapples a creature its size or smaller, by expending a P-tech die, your puppet can wrap itself around the creature, restraining it. As a bonus action, your puppet can make an attack against the restrained creature with advantage. 

Feinting Attack

You can expend one P-tech die and use a bonus action on your turn to feint, choosing one creature within 5 feet of your puppet as your target. You have advantage on your next attack roll against that creature this turn. If that attack hits, add the P-tech die to the attack's damage roll.

Precision Attack

When you make a weapon attack roll against a creature, you can expend one P-tech die to add it to the roll. You can use this tactic before or after making the attack roll, but before any effects of the attack are applied.

Tactical Assessment

When you make an Intelligence (Investigation), an Intelligence (History), or a Wisdom (Insight) check, you can expend one P-tech die and add the P-tech die to the ability check.

Close Line

As a bonus action you can pull on your puppet’s strings, making them go taught like a tripwire. Any creature caught on a direct line between you and your puppet, takes (2 + your P-tech die) bludgeoning damage. If the creature is large or smaller, it makes a dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature falls prone.

Scout

You can send your puppet ahead of you to check for traps. By expending a P-tech die you can add your P-tech die to the next ability check related to detecting traps.

9th Level:

**Improved Martial Puppet**: Your understanding of puppeteering has given you the confidence to build more advanced puppets. 

• Adjustable Frame: As an action you can change your puppets size from small to medium and vice versa.
• Tele-Wire: A special wire is attached to the puppets skull and ears allowing for you to speak and hear through the puppet.
• Sneaky slot: There is untapped power in Thieves Cant.by adorning your puppets interior with the script it gains its own attunement slot for equipment. The puppet cannot attune to items that boost stats. Your puppet is considered a humanoid rouge for the purposes of prerequisites. 

Puppet Art: Your puppet can be decorated for a variety of occasions. Using a disguise kit you can change your puppets appearance to one of the following. This appearance persists even if the puppet changes size.

• Lively: Your puppet is covered in vibrant cloth and flashy extremities. Your puppet is capable of entertaining a crowd of thousands. You can add your Dexterity Modifier to performance checks.
• Frightening: Your puppet is covered in ghoulish rags and sinister accessories. You can add your Dexterity Modifier to intimidation checks.
• Deceptive: By using your disguise kit for its intended purpose, you disguise your puppet as a humanoid equal in size. You may add your Dexterity Modifier to deception checks.

13th Level:

**Gear shift**: You have installed a special mechanism that allows your puppet to rapidly transform. Select one of the abilities below, you can choose a different gear shift during a long rest. 

Warden: As an action, your puppet gets down on all fours, its size increasing to a large creature, leaving enough space for you to fit comfortably inside. If you are within 5 ft of your puppet when it transforms you can crawl inside as free action, otherwise it's a bonus action to enter. While inside your puppets you get a +4 to your AC and your resistance bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage by non-magical attacks.

Blitz: As an action, your puppets compacts into a small creature, its body becoming as sleek as possible. Your puppets speed and range increases by 15 ft.

Ascended: As an action your puppet sprouts a set of leather wings, granting it a flying speed of 25ft.

Cleaver: As a bonus action, a set of razor sharp claws extend from your puppets body, changing its damage dice from a 1d4 to a 1d6.

17th Level: Undetermined.

I’ve seen many discussions about how Blur is better for a Bladesinger with high AC. But now that mirror image will also use your AC, is it the better choice over Blur?

Hey guys! I'm trying to get into 5e, but hearing A LOT of conflicting opinions. Should I wait for 2024 rulebooks or buy the current 2014 stuff, along with Tanya's, Xanathar's, & Fizban's?

I’ve always been a believer that one of the strengths of the D&D Wizard is a huge inventory of spells from which just the right mix can be pre-selected for a given days adventures. The wizard’s list is, in fact, huge (306 spells in my DnDBeyond listing vs a Cleric’s 110). With that many spells to choose from the Batman Wizard who has exactly the right tools for any given problem is a realistic possibility.

On the other hand an issue arrises when trying to build that giant list.  The poor (and I mean that literally) wizard has to gain access to an unknown spell, which can be an interesting point of game play *AND* scribe the spell into his personal spell book which takes time and money.  Specifically 2 hours and 50 gold per spell level.  

If a wizard had access to most of the level 3 spells, lets say he found 40 of the tasty spells, the wizard could spend 10 days without pause for food or sleep (2 hours/level * 3 level * 40 / 24 hours/day) and burn 6,000 gold of resources (50 gold * 3 level * 40) to add the spells to a spell book (assuming the spell book had sufficient pages). 

Six thousand gold for a substantial portion of the level 3 spells is a large chunk of change for a 5th level party especially since every party I have ever encountered like to split the group’s loot evenly and very few had pity for the group gold sink known as a Wizard. The gold problem only arises after the spells are acquired so that they can be scribed.  If they have to be copied from scrolls the cost shoots up dramatically. 

Minimum Spells Known

Wizards do acquire some spells for their spell book for free, 6 at first level and 2 per level after that.  This sets a minimum spells known which is approximately double those known by Bards 5E, Paladin 5E, and Sorc 5R.  Their minimum 44 at level 20 is dwarfed by the Cleric’s 110 and Paladin’s 50, by my DnDBeyond list of available spells. This pretty makes a bad joke out of Wizard’s strength is a huge spell list if they haven’t invested enormous sums into building that spell book.

Spell School Savant

Each spell school has a Savant feature at 2nd level.  This cuts the cost and time required to scribe spells of the specific school in half saving some money. Perhaps saving something like 6% of the total cost (there are 8 schools, saving half on one of them, on average saves 1/16th of the total cost).  

This feature sets up a perverse incentive for a wizard to never learn spells of his/her school while leveling up. Encouraging wizards specializing in a specific spell school to never spontaneously (as in for free) gain spells that they are supposed to be specializing is totally ass backward. 

Potential House Rule  

I had hoped that DnD 5R would address the problem of the poor wizard who just can’t build that spell book.  I want Wizards in my game to have a bunch of spells to choose from and I certainly don’t want them eschewing spells from their specialty school.  

I think this is fixed nicely by modifying the spells gained at each level up to include two spells of the specialty school in addition to the two gained from any school.  The wizard would have a minimum of 82 spells if his school had enough spells,  If the school didn’t have enough spells, the wizard would end up knowing all of them for his/her school and 44 spells from other schools.

I like the feel of that.  Any thoughts on why its a bad (or good) idea?

If you do, how was it?

EDIT: I'm not specifically asking abt campaigns that increase the lvl cap. Any campaign where reaching 20 doesn't end it qualifies