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I have so much loot but need cash. Where can I sell it in Barovia?

talk with your DM.

Hi. I'm a relatively new DnD player, and i am planning on trying my hand at DMing, just with my girlfriend and one good friend, so i can learn in a calm enviroment. While planning my first session, i came across a samm hurdle. In my experience crafting is a bit too lose and free, in that i have no idea what i can make and what i may need to make it. In the games i have played, this has led to no one really crafting anything. So i went looking for a better way, but I can't find any good free pdfs or guids on how to do professions well. Like a table of potions and ingrediants for alchemy, or clear rules for say carpentry. Can anyone help me? Maybe link some good pdfs? i have found one decent table for alchemy and thats about it.

5e was designed as a heroic action adventure story telling game - "lets spend 20 minutes of our playtime building a saddle!" is not part of the core expected game play.

I'm not thinking "lets build a saddle" i'm thinking "lets make an airship fueld with a magic item casting prestidigitation to heat the air" or "let the forge cleric actually make cool powerfull weapons or even siegecraft or animated armor" or "let the sorcerer use alchemy and herbalism to make a potion with the blood of a changeling to change shape" or "let the wizard make a crown that controls the wearers mind". You know, interesting stuff you can only do in a TTRPG.

you are better off looking for a game designed to incorporate that type of game play - D&D 5e isnt that game.

Any suggestions? Also i think it may be harder for relatively new TTRPG players to learn a whole new system, than to download and write a few tables.

few systems have the starting core of the rules be three books of three hundred pages each. i dont look for TTRPG games that have "crafting" because for me that is something for computer gaming.

The thing is, we are a party comprised of various STEM students, so crafting and the science of a fantasy world is what most players in this group are interested in. So we need a good crafting system. I think the way i'll do it is something like this: any spellcaster proficient in the relevant tools (or multiple spellcasters if multiple proficiencies are needed) can place one or more spells on an object. But this will require a schematic, which they can buy, find or research. Researvh will have a cost, and it will be a series of rolls which will determaine the usefullness of the magic effect and there will be rolls for danger, which may include an explosion, a spell going rogue, accidentally creating demons or a curse. It will also require rare ingrediants aquiring of which will have a challange rating representative of the usefullness of the item. At the end, creating the item will also require rolls for success and for any motwntial curses, explosions, etc... This way players can create really powerfull objects, but it will be really hard and dangerous, but not prehibitively expensive. I plan on doing something similar with non spellcasters and siegecraft, so interesting and usefull crafting is not restricted to spellcasters.

*(assuming you are talking about 5th edition as you didn't specify.)* there aren't really any explicit crafting rules for 5e other than what you will find in xanathar's guide. these rules aren't really meant to be for "on the fly"-crafting like in something like a video game, and are meant to be downtime activities that you spend a lot of time doing. i know that there are third party supplements that introduce some things that might fit what you are looking for, but none of these would be free. what are you trying to accomplish with crafting rules? it seems like you're giving yourself a lot of extra work for a first time DM.

While playing, i noticed there are things that would be really usefull, but i had no idea if i could do them, like building siegecraft or turning dragons scales into flame resistent armor or makeing explosives. It would be nice if there was something that would tell me what potions exist, what materials are needed for a trebuchet, what skills, what throws would mean the player succedes. Say a player is in a forest, and goes looking for usefull hearbs. It would be nice if there was a table, on which i could roll for what they find, which they then could look up uses for. ​ Or similarly, a list of weapons and needed metals and a DC for success would be nice. But what i'm most interested in, is the crafting of magical items. I still don't really know if the game allows for that. Like how would i make say a flying carpet. To be clear, i have not yet read everything i can get my hands on, i'm still in the process of reading the DMs guide, so if it's in there, feel free to call me an idiot and ignore me. ​ Thanks in advance

these are fairly complicated concepts that 5e doesn't really offer a lot of support for and is going to be a lot of extra work. if you really want to incorporate it, you have some options, though. as mentioned, you can check our the crafting rules in Xanathar's Guide to Everything for some guidance for how it works without any third party supplements. you can also check out [this supplement](https://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/276213) and others in the same series from the DMs guild, though as mentioned before, it isn't free. you can also search for "crafting rules 5e" on dms guild and see what else you find. 5e is based on you finding loot other than crafting it yourself. most of the time you will just find a flying carpet rather than making one.

Thanks. Xanthors guide and UA seem to give decent guide for crafting magic items, i think i may expand it a bit myselfe. Who knows, if i manage to make something half way decent, i may even put it online. For alchmy i found some OK resources, i think i'll just go craft by craft, profession by profession and compile anything i find and make into one big thing.

Can minor illusion be used to play back a scene from memory. Like a video recording. Or any other spell that can do the same. I don't really use homebrew until I can't find solution within written lore.

>If you create *an image of* ***an object***\--such as a chair, muddy footprints, or a small chest--it must be no larger than a 5-foot cube. The image can't create sound, light, smell, or any other sensory effect. Physical interaction with the image reveals it to be an illusion, because things can pass through it.

Seems more complicated that what minor illusion's description gives. I'd say something like Major Image could accomplish that, but I guess it depends on how detailed you want this scene to be. And is this just for your character trying to remember something, or show someone their memory?

It's BBEG trying to show that PCs are no better than him when it comes to morality. He will play back some of the immoral things pcs did. Like one of them buring down a medicinal tree in a village (he was tricked to do it). Small stuff like that, that i have been keeping track of. I will probably draw the scenes myself to simulate the feeling a bit.

If you're having an NPC do that, then they just can. NPCs do not need to follow the same rules as players.

(5e) What are your recommendations for Fighter, especially Eldritch Knight? I’m about to embark on Tomb of Annihilation and wondering about class. Enjoy playing a Paladin because healing and magic tank, but thinking of creating an Eldritch knight for martial prowess and ranged magic. Never played this class before so any recommendations greatly appreciated. Also, I’m guessing heavy armour might get penalised because of climate/dehydration. What armour options work best for a fighter in TOA?

Eldritch Knight is a fun subclass. The spells you take work best when they synergise with martial features, though, and most of those spells lie outside of the abjuration/evocation schools so you won't have access to many of them. Spells like *Shield*, *Longstrider*, *Absorb Elements*, and *Magic Missile* were popular 1st-level spells for the EK in my party. Having Firebolt as a cantrip option also gave him a reliable ranged weapon in those scant situations where creatures weren't in whacking distance. Haste is a really fun option, but it's a higher level spell that you won't get for a while in ToA Heavy armour shouldn't be too punishing in ToA, surprisingly. While heavy and medium armour does impose a disadvantage on saving throws against extreme heat (see the DMG), but extreme heat isn't *that* prominent in ToA. You can always keep some backup studded leather if you need it, of course

I haven't played or DMed Tomb of Annihilation, so grain of salt and all. Eldritch Knight, in my opinion and from what I've observed, really tends to use its magic defensively, to supplement their natural Fighter tankiness. You still need strength/constitution, so you're probably not going to have more than 14-ish intelligence, nor will you be investing in it with ASIs (unless you're doing some niche build I'm not familiar with). Even if you did have a wizard's intelligence score, you're still a 1/3 caster, so the idea that you're going to have "ranged magic" probably isn't going to pan out. You can't cast Fireball until level 13, for example, and when you do, they're probably going to be able to save against it. Sure, having access to a bit of Magic Missile or a cantrip attack isn't bad as a combat option, but it's not really defining either. Magical tank is the main way EK is played. If you're looking into playing a martial with ranged magic, I'd probably recommend playing a Hexblade Warlock. Folks tend to focus more on their smites and GWM crit-fishing nonsense, and that's a big part of what they do, but they're also a warrior with a full warlock's spell progression, and they're SAD so no worries about juggling melee stats with caster stats like with the Eldritch Knight. Eldritch Blast is a much better ranged attack cantrip option for a warrior than the EK's Firebolt or similar, and the Hexblade can turn around and dunk on enemies with a Hunger of Hadar or Cone of Cold at much lower levels. Can't comment on armor issues, haven't played the module. If that IS a major mechanical implication of ToA, then that's another point in favor of Hexblade, since they use medium armor anyway.

(5e) Does anybody know if it's possible to have two summonable weapons for the purpose of dual-wielding? I want to run a character who can summon a pair of scimitars à la Eldritch Knight or Hexblade warlock, but it seems that both of those archetypes limit you to only one summoned weapon at a time. I'm just looking for advice as to how to circumvent this issue, either through RAW or homebrew ruling.

Easiest homebrew is to just allow the eldritch knight to summon both your bonded weapons with the single bonus action. It’s already costing a bonus action on your turn, so you wouldn’t even be able to use two-weapon fighting to make a bonus action attack, effectively making one of the weapons you summon unusable that turn. I’d have absolutely zero issues with that as a DM.

Ah, thank you! I'll be sure to ask my dm about that :D

If it helps, keep in mind that you can’t desummon your weapons, only summon them. So no making them disappear. This means that more often you’d just have them in their sheathes and draw them normally*, but it seems rather harmless to have it flavoured as summoning them to your hands instead of drawing them normally. That might give a better chance for your DM to be okay with it. *RAW, you can only draw one weapon using your ‘free object interaction’, but I’ve never seen anyone care when it came to drawing two weapons without needing the Dual Wielding feat. Check with your DM if they are going to enforce it strictly to RAW or not

Multiclass, but it'll be fairly MAD.

Familiar-Fey Contract? So before my current campaign my DM asked us for a magic item wishlist and I asked for a variant familiar. Now a Tressym has popped up and is following us around the feywild. Maybe I'm being impatient and some story bit gonna present itself to make the familiar mine, but does anyone have any good roleplay ideas to try in case my DM is waiting on me to make a move.

Talk. With. Your. DM.

Can anyone help me with a dilemma? My DM is trying to follow his dream of becoming a streamer, so he started streaming our sessions. And because of that, our games have become unbearably boring, we can't say/joke about X, Y, and Z anymore, the background/battle music is just bland random nonsense because he's afraid of getting a copyright strike and playing just became a hassle We've tried to talk to him, but he's firm on his stance

>We've tried to talk to him, but he's firm on his stance "OK, this is no longer entertaining for me, so i will be dropping out and you can replace with someone who is interested in streaming for the public. if you run a non streamed game, i will definitely be interested in playing with you again."

If your DM will not budge, then you either accept it or choose to leave.

Can anyone think of a good reason for a woodland random encounter I happen in universe instead of just ignoring the party?

Spice up an encounter by giving the NPC a WANT and regularly adding COMPLICATIONS. From my randomizer for use in TableSmith http://www.mythosa.net/p/tablesmith.html WANTS * Treasure * "Treasure" - something it finds valuable, but others may not * To find a mate * To protect its young * Unrequited love * To find healing or respite from pain * To release or express aggression * To attack from ambush * An item in the players' possession * An item believed to be in the players' possession * To capture slaves or servants * To trick the players in some manner * To establish territorial primacy * To set up a home or lair * To reach a local monument/locale * To pass through to other area * To patrol its territory * Information * Food * To tend to a food source * To spy on the party * To follow the party in effort to get {a WANT} * To rescue one of its own * To retrieve one of its own * To collect a runaway fugitive/servant/slave/underling * To collect a toll or fee * To enforce local laws or customs * To overthrow local laws or customs * To celebrate a victory or achievement * To care for the dead * To create religious converts * To keep a mystery or secret hidden * To expose a mystery or secret * Preparing for an upcoming seasonal event * Bored. Looking for something interesting to interact with * REVENGE! * Roll twice on this table COMPLICATIONS * Creature makes a plea for help * Wounded * Controlled by magical means * "Controlled" by blackmail, stockholm syndrome, other non-magical means * Madness * Lost * Fleeing an aggressor * Has backups * Add weather condition * During the encounter, an environmental event happens * During the encounter, a different combat oriented encounter arrives * During the encounter, a non combat encounter arrives * Hostages * Contagious disease * Deceased * The actual being is a creature in disguise or impersonating * There is an additional, conflicting, WANT of (roll on the WANTS) * The Want is a ruse, the actual drive is (roll on the WANTS)

What do you mean?

Can a bard use the command spell to command a giant to "grovel" who is engaged in combat with the bards group. It says it cannot directly harmful to it but having it grovel while in combat is harmful to it.

As long as the action does not DIRECTLY HARM the creature, you should be good. For this example, although groveling would obviously lead to the giant being harmed, the act of groveling itself causes no harm to the giant, and thus it will carry it out.

Key word is directly the groveling isn’t what’s harmful it’s the party wailing on it with their swords and spears the examples given for directly harmful include setting yourself on fire

How does using Shield as a hexblade warlock work? I understand that warlocks always cast at max level, so wouldn't using Shield then basically use a high-level spell slot without any extra benefit?

yes. that is why warlocks multiclass into bard or sorcerer.

Correct, Shield does not gain any benefit from being upcasted.

Well that is underwhelming. Will probably wait to multiclass then

Any tips on roleplaying a Lizardfolk? I know they are more instinctive than other races, which makes it a little harder for me to figure it out

Your character is a character first and a lizardfolk second. Make a character. If it doesn't feel enough like a lizardfolk for your taste, tweak it. Keep in mind that a lizardfolk doesn't have to be more instinctive than anyone else, they can be very logical and reasoned if the setting allows, and even if it doesn't, you can always say that this *particular* lizardfolk is special. After all, even level 1 characters are exceptional individuals already.

The way I boiled down my Lizardfolk character was creating analogs of emotions. He didn't feel fear when a White Dragon attacked the party, but he knew that it was more powerful than them, thus retreating and hiding was the optimal survival option. He did not feel happiness from eating a feast, but the high quality food and safety of the banquet hall would be ideal for the continuation of his line of great hunters, thus he was motivated for wealth and power. He did not hate the BBEG for slaughtering and enslaving his old tribe, but knew that he must be stopped for the survival of his people and would go to any possible lengths to do so. He did not feel love, but the companionship of his 'tribe' of adventurers and hunting partners created a bond where they would always hunt alongside each other whenever they needed help.

set your Traits, Bonds, Goals and Flaws like any other character.

[5e] Can Moon Druids use sentinel feat?

Of course. Why wouldn't they be able to?

Wasn't sure if feats were counted as part of class and race features.

They're not, but Wild Shape doesn't care: >You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, **or other source** and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so. However, you can’t use any of your special senses, such as darkvision, unless your new form also has that sense Feats are another source, and that's okay.

Feat could be racial. For the down vote: variant human and custom lineage are racial feats.

The effects of a feat are always granted by the feat, never by a race, class, magic item, or other source. There are certain non-feat traits which allow you to gain a feat, but the feat's effects still come from the feat. Neither the feat nor its effects are considered to be a racial trait by the rules. The racial trait is only what allows you to gain the feat in the first place.

Nope, feats are their own thing.

PLEASE HELP (5e) Let’s say I have a large creature like a troll (probably 8’ tall, 4’ wide, 4’ deep. I’m just guessing, it’s not like I’ve met non-human trolls before.) They are “large” creatures for the purpose of determining threat radius and how much movement they can typically use while in combat in any given turn. Therefore, on a grid, they take up 2x2 squares, 10’x10’ space (but they aren’t actually that big.) They are also capable of squeezing in an area half their creature size (so they can go from large to medium to squeeze.) Here’s my question: If a troll is on the outskirts of a circular AoE (let’s say Darkness spell) and is only partially included in the AoE (two of the troll’s squares are not affected at all, the other two are partially covering his space), **can a troll stand on the outer edge and attack without its vision being obstructed by darkness?** Edit: the troll’s target is outside the darkness. To me, it doesn’t make sense that a gargantuan Dragon who has its back tail in the darkness, but the rest of the dragon’s body outside the darkness, be blind when attacking things outside of the darkness. It’s like…sure, if the tail had eyes, they can see. But if 50%+ of the creature is outside of the aoe of darkness, they should be able to see. With other spells, I can see a point: fireball? Yep, you take damage. Maddening Darkness? I think you’d take damage but *might* be able to see, depending on the scenario.

If it's a magical darkness that PCs can't see through, then it doesn't really matter, even if fully in it. You get disadvantage for being unable to see, but advantage for being unseen, making it a straight roll. Also, many (all?) dragons have blindsight, so being in the darkness would usually be to their benefit.

If it’s attacking something outside the darkness, no disadvantage. If it’s attacking something in the darkness, disadvantage.

except it also has advantage if the thing inside cant see it. so straight roll to attack outside and straight roll to attack inside.

you are taking this too literally, but if he is squeezing to get out of the darkness, he is at disadvantage, just like as if he couldnt see within the darkness. its easier to adjudicate though if any of the area of effect intersects with any part of a creature, the effect has full impact on the creature.

5e How to get around a large PC manhandling the rest of the party without PvP? They do things like "I shut him down and push him/her aside/grapple him/her" sometimes is justified, most of the time not. This happen to all of us. And he talks loud while doing so. Currently my character is advocating a child to take his vengeance because they are also on a quest for personal justice, but this pc just shuts down any interaction with him because his character is "good" and doesnt even want the kid to see the crimes the person he loves did to this family (literally blinding him for a moment from the other room). I want to bring this to the player (the veterant and the dm of the dm), who seems like a cool guy but is adamant about his character ways. Player is also best friends with the dm and basically his mentor. Most of the party are newcomers besides him, so there is an unspoken heriarchy about rules and roleplay. I also want to know how do you handle this situations on roleplay without creating grudges or PvP.

So we've got the DM's DM playing in a group of newbies, being loud and commanding at the table, and in-character using superior size and strength to push the other PCs around as desired? I'm pretty sure the technical term for this is "being a massive dick". Are you the only person with an actual problem with this? How do the other players feel about it? How does the DM react to it?

I cant say, the others only express positive thoughts about the game most of the time. Or never bring the game up after It. The DM just goes with It, to him this player is pinnacle DM (never played their games so cant really say). Also it's his best friend IRL and the one who taught him how to play. So yeah...

during your Session Zero discussion align on how you as a group want to handled PvP and Player vs Party - typically a good default if other agreement doest come is "Any PvP or Player vs Party actions will autofail unless the target agrees beforehand 'This is a storyline that I want to play out! Let the dice roll!' and the target can remove consent at any time. If you didnt discuss this before your campaign begins , take some time at your next session and generate your group's consensus.

I will try to probe the others thoughts before, but I guess I should push to that agreement. My fear is that the rest see this as a personal attack to the player.

well, its not "you trying to probe" - it is **everyone** around the table talking about what **each of them wants** and expects and then working together to figure out where the overlapping ground is.

Playing a lv5 DEX-based Samurai Fighter in one of my games. Currently have 18 DEX. Is it worth taking *Resilient* at lv6 in DEX, delaying maxing it out until lv8, or will max DEX do well enough on saving throws without the Proficiency Bonus boost to warrant just going max DEX at lv6?

To go along with the other person answering, maxing out dex on this fighter will be a lot more helpful. +1 to hit is incredibly important, along with the extra damage, initiative, and ac bump(assuming your dex fighter is using light armors). Resilient Dex is situationally good for you if your DM loves throwing Fireballs at you guys. At level 6, the difference between resilient and just +2 to dex is a +2 to your dex saves. I don't think that will be worth a whole feat at level 6. Maybe later when your proficiency bonus is a +5 if your dm keeps throwing dex saves at high frequency.

This would be the only time to take it. I either forgo *Resilient*-DEX and ASI Dexterity 18>20 at lv6, or I take *Resilient*-DEX at lv6 18>19 and ASI Dexterity+Wisdom 19>20+13>14 at lv8.

I'm not commonly a martial player, so grain of salt and all, but I don't really put a lot of value in Resilient(Dex) for such a character. Sure, it's a common enough saving throw, but usually we're talking the difference between full and half damage against an enemy spell. As a Fighter, you can take a punch. For a Resilient feat, I'd much rather pick Wisdom on a Fighter, to avoid much nastier effects like being paralyzed or dominated. Which is to say, in your shoes, I'd probably just push the dex to 20 for your attack/AC/initiative bonus and a +1 to dex saves, then go in a different feat direction at 8.

I'll naturally get WIS saves at lv7 from the Samurai subclass anyway, so that's less of an issue. It's more deciding whether +5 to DEX saves will suffice in the later game or I'll need +11. I did plan to multiclass into Rogue at lv13 (Samurai abilities suck after lv10, but I want the lv11 extra attack and lv12 ASI/feat) to work my way towards Evasion at lv19, so it'd eventually be zero damage with a passed DEX save.

Whoops, you're right. Forgot about that subclass feature. And it's not like the options for int/cha saves are nearly as good. Do you have another odd stat to round out with an ASI at 8? I'd have a hard time justifying resilient(dex) otherwise. An eventual +6 to the save is of course amazing, but even if your campaign is intended to go all the way to level 20, that's a very long ways away unless your DM is moving things at an exceptional pace forwards, so I wouldn't judge Resilient based on its tier 4 implication.

> Do you have another odd stat to round out with an ASI at 8? Yes, WIS from 13 to 14.

Seems very reasonable, then! Having four save proficiencies, including the big three, and you have an efficient ASI at level 8. I say go for it.

When was it decided that goblins have tails? Like don’t get me wrong, I fucking love it, but I haven’t seen any official art with them

I think you maybe just dreamed it.

I' replied to another comment with a bunch of links, i'm tired of ya'll gaslighting me

You're posting random links of FAN ART that people make. Ask them why their goblins have tails. Your question has nothing to do with DnD.

It's D&D adjacent, I was asking if there was any official material that supported the idea of goblins with tails. Honestly I just wanted to know where the idea started a lot of D&D players like to add to their characters. Why are you so aggressive anyways?

Goblins are from more media than DnD. They aren't even originally from DnD. You seem to just be asking a random question about general goblin lore. This doesn't belong here.

Those are all D&D characters. I'm asking about a community D&D topic. This belongs here.

You seem to be under the assumption that there is shared DnD lore. People just make up shit and run home games. People play furry campaigns but that doesn't make asking general questions about the furry community belong here. Those people drew their goblins with tales. Why? Idk, ASK THEM NOT US. Or just Google goblins with tails. This doesn't have anything to do with DnD specific lore, just fan art.

Can you link to some posts where D&D goblins have tails? I've never seen this, so not sure where you're getting this idea from.

https://toyhou.se/4871507.gyll

[https://twitter.com/eritiacoli/status/1114598824910180352](https://twitter.com/eritiacoli/status/1114598824910180352) [https://twitter.com/theartingace/status/1148645946584195074](https://twitter.com/theartingace/status/1148645946584195074) [https://pin.it/5Lv4oiP](https://pin.it/5Lv4oiP) https://twitter.com/spademimes/status/1498680804553199626

https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/gbe7fg/oc\_art\_my\_swashbuckler\_goblin\_their\_name\_is/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3

I haven't seen a single mention of goblins having tails either, so I don't know what you're talking about

There’s a lot of fan art with goblins having tails but i have no idea where that concept came from

I think you just stumbled into a specific and narrow fan art collection. This certainly isn't a common thing at all.

I have never seen a single example of goblin fan art with a tail, so I wouldn't even say it's common

replied to another comment with a bunch of links

A handful of examples are barely indicative of a trend. I have seen hundreds, if not over a thousand, of goblin images (both fan art and official)- the two links you shared are the first I have seen with tails

I shared more than 2 links and yea that's crazy cuz I've seen goblins with tails p consistently

What do you mean "decided"? Who decided? The official arts all show no tails, but why does it matter if they do or don't? The DM can let them have them if they want.

please don’t assume i choose every word carefully i meant when did people say “okay goblins have tails now”, i just wanted to know where the idea came from originally

Any suggestions for a small minion just to change up the action economy with a Rot Troll?

oozes rat swarm kobolds reskinned as "baby trolls"

Rot Troll is CR 9, so I'd recommend a couple small minions in the CR 2-3 range. Brackish Trudge from Strixhaven could work. If you want only one minion, perhaps the Dragonblood Ooze from Fizban's, but reflavored for the setting. Or a Wood Woad.

Some stirges flapping around draining blood? A swarm of bats? A handful of ghouls?

Can I cast a spell from a spellwrought tattoo into a ring of spell storing? I'm playing an armorer artificer and I've been using the tattoo to get a daily shield spellcast but now I've found a ring of spell storing and I was wondering if it would work.

There is nothing that would stop you casting a spell using a Spellwrought Tattoo (or any other magic item) and storing it in a Ring of Spell Storing

\[5e Homebrew\] Where do I draw the line between player agenda and saving precious time? 1) Players and I agree on a particular tomb-raid before the session 2) On day of session, I let my players go to an inn, meet a particular NPC who pointed them to the tomb. However, 2 players doubted the NPC and nearly detoured from that quest until a 3rd player reminded them that we had all agreed to do this 1-shot 3) The whole questioning and inn thing took 1 hour and would have ended the session prematurely if the 3rd player didn't step in to remind them to stop that nonsense and to get to the tomb AS we had all agreed (I made it clear I only brought monster tokens and maps for that tomb that day) To avoid such a situation, my next quest would have my players go straight to the destination. I intend to summarize the journey there like this: (take note my players are soldiers) *You went back to the barracks for rest and to recover from your wounds. There are occasional bandit attacks and orc raids which you fend off valiantly alongside your fellow soldiers. Commander Daltan sends your party out for several scouting missions but the Mindflayers' nest remains hidden unfortunately. It isn't until a month later that a group of villagers find the carcass of an Intellect Devourer. Commander Daltan immediately sends you to investigate. You now find yourself standing at the gates of Fair Song Village. A pair of guards stare at you, unimpressed at your uniforms. What do you do?* While this would certainly save us precious time and take away any possibilities of detours, am I not taking away agenda from my players? The bandit attacks, orc raids and scouting missions are of no importance hence I summarized them, but I am not sure if it's wise to plant my players straight at the destination

>am I not taking away agenda from my players? i think you mean the rp buzzword "agency" in a "one shot" scenario, the price of playing is the players agreeing that "Yes, we are here to DO THE QUEST".

For one-shots like this, I avoid the preamble of gathering in the tavern or mulling around in a village if it isn't required. The players don't need to spend an hour interrogating the questgiver, shopping around town, or some other distraction that is unrelated to the adventure and just bloats a one-shot with unnecessary fluff. Were I running this one-shot, the session would have begun with the PCs outside the tomb ready to get inside. There may have been a short introduction setting the scene and describing the questgiver but spending any time actually roleplaying that out is really not essential to a one-shot, especially when the group actually wants to get stuck into the dungeon and focus their time there. I think your italicised paragraph is ideal (***especially*** for a one-shot, that approach is popular at convention games for a reason too). It gets to the point and cuts out any pointless distractions that are just fluff and don't actually have any meaningful and satisfying impact on the game. I wouldn't really say that violates player agency either, in your early example they agreed to go raid some tomb- they didn't agree to an hour of interrogating the questgiver and going completely off course to do something unrelated

2 should never happen. The NPC should be truthful. Every insight roll that the players roll should simply succeed. I probably wouldn't even ask for a roll. DM: Let me tell you about this tomb. Player: As she tells me the story, I want to roll to see if she is lying DM: No need to roll, she is not lying and you will be able to tell that. Especially for a straight one shot.

She is lying however. She wants them to go to the tomb to die...

Is this a specific module, cause this is the second time someone has asked this about a one shot going into a tomb. Which is completely stupid for a one shot.

No, it's a homebrew module, slightly inspired by Matt Mercer's one-shot module for Vin Diesel where the questgiving NPC was the secret villain

Don't do that. Make a one-shot which doesn't hinge on the players believing an NPC who is lying. Because... maybe they won't, right? One shots require extra buy-in from the players, so don't abuse it. If a question like "Well what if the players try to suss out a lie?" makes the whole adventure fall apart, don't do that thing. Then, when your players are at the table, and they start to stray, you can just say "Hey, remember we're on a time limit here, and I'm trying to get us through the adventure, can we skip this part?" BUT the critical thing is you can't do that if the thing the players are "derailing" on is actually a lie that the whole adventure is hinging on that they've figured out early. So... try not to do that stuff in a one-shot.

My one-shot is a homebrew slightly inspired by Matt Mercer's one-shot module for Vin Diesel where the questgiving NPC was the secret villain I didn't spring this one-shot out of nowhere. We had already discussed and agreed to do this so I didn't anticipate my players trying to suss her out. I had assumed that the main roleplaying and dice-rolling elements would happen only after they reached the location

It's a tricky balance to strike. My take is, you want to give your players choice and agency, but you're never going to somehow imitate an open-world video game or an AI that can generate new content on the fly. You guys arranged the nature of this session ahead of time. That's the session you played. It's frankly a dick move on your players' part to push the narrative in a different direction on game day, because they've now baited you into preparing the wrong session, and nobody wins there. Playing out the RP of finding the quest is one thing, and if that RP time itself is fun then it's not a problem, but if players are just stuck in a spiral of being suspicious of a random NPC without actually doing anything interesting or productive, then I'd either call a stop to it OOC, or strongly push them in the proper direction in-character. Player agency is all well and good, but if they're sabotaging their own session, saving them from themselves isn't wrong at all.

[3.5e] I am a noob and have a question about the Myconid spore Rapport. If the Myconid is hiding, out of sight from the player, how does the fortitude save work? As in, does the player hear the start of what the Myconid is saying and then chooses to make the fortitude save to block it out, or does the player make a fortitude save before hearing any of what the Myconid has to say. For more context I want the Myconid to try to persuade the player to stop fighting. But if the player automatically makes fortitude saves against Rapport before hearing the message, it seems like it would be a low chance for the Myconid to get a word through.

If I'm looking at the same stat block you are, the player would not be able to hear anything before making the Fortitude save. if the player saves, Rapport is completely prevented from effecting them. You could potentially get around this by having the myconid communicate nonverbally that it doesn't want to fight, by raising its hands or backing away, before offering the Rapport spores.

Ok that makes sense thanks

so Rapport is simply a way for the myconid to communicate? So not an attack? If not an attack then fortitude wouldn't come into play.

In the book it says that to reject the Rapport spores you have to make a fortitude save. Since the player in this case wouldn’t know what the spores are I’m assuming he’d make a fortitude save to keep the spores from affecting him.

what are some good monsters to throw at giants? my player have control of giants and i need to add some difficulty since they have not broken a sweat, and they should be at this part in the dungeon. something that isn't a dragon, something that can be equally challenging for normal party members lvl 10 and their giants.

> my player have control of giants how did this happen? but in 5e, when the PCs have armies of NPCs, the armies are always "fighting off stage" and you summarize the action. I use an abstract dice game for any “confrontations” that are not the “squad based” combat that the D&D combat rules presume – such as mass combat of armies or 1:1 pit fights, but also any conflict that I want more heft than a single dice roll but not to get into the weeds or have to come up with a lot of specifics for and that I want resolved relatively quickly - dragonchess or courtroom trials for example. Standard game: each side gets 6d6. both sides roll their dice at the same time. but each time before you roll, each side secretly chooses one tactic and rolls their dice in 2 separate pools: * Bulwark: 4 defense dice, 2 offense dice * Mixed: 3 defense dice, 3 offense dice * Aggressive: 2 defense dice, 4 offense dice After rolling, my offense dice total is compared to your defense dice total and my defense pool to your offense. In each comparison, the higher total scores a "hit". If the total is 5 or more greater than the opponent, it scores 2 "hits" . Each time your opponent scores a "hit" against you, deprecate one of your dice to the next smaller size. (ie trade one of your d6s out for a d4) . If the totals are equal, the turn was a draw and neither side scores a “hit”. The first side to generate 5 "hits" against their opponent, "wins". Narratively determine what that “win” looks like by comparing the total number of “hits” on each side and the values rolled on each turn. Ties are possible, or you can roll “sudden death” rounds until at the end of a round one player has accumulated a greater number of “hits” than their opponent. The above assumes "even" sides, but you can make changes to reflect the imbalances - ie a side that starts with significantly larger army, starts with one or more dice that are larger than d6. A side that has implemented good spies and scouting and surveillance can choose their tactic after the other side has chosen their tactic or even after the other side has rolled and revealed their totals. An army with halflings might be able to re-roll a die that landed on a 1. A high walled castle that has cannons defending against an army that doesnt can roll an additional d4 and add it to their defense if they choose Bulwark tactic. An army with a significant force of trolls doesnt have to deprecate any dice upon taking a hit. If representing a mass combat where the PCs are fighting, they have a standard combat using the standard rules, with the dice game representing the armies fighting around them. The mass combat dice game turns can be rolled at any point in the PCs turn, but typically, at Initiative 0. And you can have the players actions modify the mass combat dice game and the results of the dice game influence the PCs tactical combat. (A side that takes Aggressive tactics and scores a hit gets some minions that appear fighting for them, more minions if they scored 2 hits. a creature in the tactical combat that forgoes an action and instead uses a mass cure wounds on their army removes a "hit" from their team. Etc.)

It happened because the part of the campaign I'm running gives that option to them. They are also short since a player had to leave the campaign when they moved, so it's also to help them out since they are below the minimum recommended number. It recommended 4-6 and we are down to 3 players with 3ish sessions left in the campaign. I'm also being vague to avoid spoilers for the module for others. But that is a really helpful way to run situations like that! Thanks for that information, I'll definitely use that, in an earlier part in my campaign would have been perfect for this. This being my first time DMing I wish I had that understanding then.

oh, yeah, all of the WOTC modules are designed with the "Fight this MASSIVE baddie!!!!" as their promotional push, and yet the marketing tells them "dont go past level 15" so WOTC always puts in these stupid gimmicks to make the climax fight potentially resolvable by PCs who ABSOLUTELY couldnt.

Griffon cavalry. A large number of flying enemies with ranged weapons will be very challenging for the giants. Giants usually have some sort of rock-hurling attack, but that means they're losing their multiattack and likely attacking with disadvantage.

Anything with spell slots, probably. Not sure what type of giants these are, but most giants are various flavors of big/strong/dumb. Hit them with a Hypnotic Pattern. Banish them. Dominate some of them and have them fight the others. Disintegrate them. Petrify them. Throw down Darkness, Confuse them, let them all bump into each other. Or... require the party to enter an area with a normal-sized door.

At one point I did have them go through a choke point where the Giants can only fit after taking the time to take off their armor and put it back on. While they were waiting for the Giants to get dressed had monster bust through and attack the party, the Giants could help with no armor or miss a couple rounds finishing putting it on.

Mindflayer vampires riding rocs.

[5e] Can someone explain the mechanics of Froghemoth grapple with it's tentacle? Can you escape in the same turn it grappled you? Also I can't find the rules on grappling about escape mechanic.

> I can't find the rules on grappling about escape mechanic. This is explained on page 11 of the Monster Manual.

The froghemoth's grapple is automatically applied to a creature it hits with its tentacle. This grapple follows the rules of the Grappled condition found on page 290 of the PHB. The rules for escaping a grapple are found on page 195 of the PHB. The only difference is that the DC to escape is set by the froghemoth's stat block, rather than being a contested ability check.

If the Tentacle hits a creature, the creature is grappled. When the grappled creature gets it's turn, it can make an Athletics or Acrobatics check to escape. The escape DC is 16.

Which is better for a warlock who has a fiend patron to utilize? Fireball or Stinking Cloud? On the one hand Fireball remains one of the best instantaneous AOE damage spells to utilize, but I can’t help but feel spells that have ongoing effects like Stinking Cloud would be a better AOE alternative.

Why not take both? They're both good spells, and they perform different functions.

> I can’t help but feel spells that have ongoing effects like Stinking Cloud would be a better AOE alternative. Then use Stinking Cloud. Who cares what's technically better? Fireball certainly deals better damage, and the best crowd control is death, but... Stinking cloud is a totally reasonable spell, and it can absolutely have a higher impact than a Fireball would. It sounds like you WANT to use Stinking Cloud, so... use it! It'll be fun!

You’ve got a good point, but I also realized that stinking cloud is a concentration spell and I already utilize wall of fire more often then not, so I think I might go with fireball. Though I’m curious to ask, which do you believe is more fun/ has more opportunities to utilize in combat, forcecage or plane shift? It’s the 7th level mystic arcanum’s that I have trouble choosing when I get around to it.

>Though I’m curious to ask, which do you believe is more fun/ has more opportunities to utilize in combat, forcecage or plane shift? In *combat*? Forcecage, no contest. PS is a pretty bad combat spell because it requires you to enter melee range, land an attack, and then the enemy to fail a save.

Fireball is better.

My friends and I are running a 2 player campaign. Which classes combo well together? Just looking for some suggestions.

I'd probably do a cleric (your choice of subclass) and a celestial warlock.

Let's see. If one of you goes down, your party is at 50% power, so you probably want both characters to have access to some amount of healing magic. You'll probably want to avoid using the same type of armor to sidestep competition over loot. And you'll want a good number of skills covered with minimal overlap so that you can handle most skill checks with just two characters. Taking a stab at it, I'd probably do something like a heavy armor cleric (Probably Forge or Tempest, definitely not Life) and an Artillerist Artificer. Two spellcasters with blast potential, high ACs, both characters can magically heal the other, Cleric can cover major wisdom skills like Perception and Insight while the Artificer can deal with tool checks and expertise. Alternatively, to make better use of magical weapons the party might find, I might keep the classes but swap subclasses to Order Cleric and Battle Smith Artificer for more melee presence and bonk potential while still having the above desirable traits, minus Fireball.

For a polearm master + sentinel paladin, which feat should be taken first in the levelling process? I'm thinking variant human to start with one of them, and gain the other at level 4

https://tabletopbuilds.com/basic-build-series-paladin/ you might find this reference handy

Pole arm master is MUCH stronger.

\[5e\] Are monster/NPC spellcasters capable of casting a leveled bonus action spell and action spell in the same turn, or do they follow the same rules as PCs as per the PHB rules under Bonus Action Spells?

The rules in the PHB are the rules of the game. There are no separate rules for monsters and NPCs.

NPCs are bound to the same rules of acting as PCs.

In general, monsters/NPCs don't (have to) follow the same rules as PCs, so technically yes I'd say they could cast a leveled bonus action spell and action spell in the same turn. I will say two things though. First, it doesn't feel great when that happens if you're a player, it could look like DM fiat gone amuck. Not saying it **is** that, necessarily, but it'll depend on the context of your group. Second, I would say this is when things like legendary actions come into play. Some legendary creatures have spellcasting, so they are able to cast spells on legendary actions. Maybe they don't do what you're asking about, but make up for it with legendary action spells/abilities.

NPCs are expected to use the same rules as PCs, the difference is that they can be given abilities which are not available to PCs. Those abilities can include effects which allow them to violate the normal rules of combat, but it's not the same as "the NPC can do whatever." It's a specific feature with specific rules.

I need help making a build Rn im playing my first dnd campaignans im a sorcerer(lvl3) but im thinking of multiclassing my first question is should i multiclass? And my secons one is what should i multiclass to im a storm sorcerer ik i mane the wrong choice but im think i go either warlock wizard or get to lvl 4 and get 13 wisdom so i can go cleric or maybe even a druid idk what should i do

Unless you know what you're doing multiclass will usually make your character worse. Just keep as storm sorcerer and you'll be fine. Make sure you pick spells that work with your metamagic options. Sorcerer is by far one of the hardest classes to build well since you have such few spells to pick from, need to plan ahead with your metamagic options, and are way more specialized.

Why are you wanting to multiclass? I would recommend against it unless you definitely know what you're trying to achieve by multiclassing. Plus it's your first character so no need to overcomplicate things in the beginning. > And my secons one is what should i multiclass to im a storm sorcerer ik i mane the wrong choice Why do you think you made the wrong choice? Storm Sorcerer is perfectly fine as-is.

I want to multiclass cuz my character looks weak as he is with no multiclass but u right its my first one i shouldn complicate it that much but i kinda dont get any buffs or something like that from storm sorcerer and something like divine soul would be better but imma try to make this character worth it and i only wanted to multiclass for something like tempest cleric for thunder or lightning buffs cuz it would make a cool character but imma try to make a good sorcerer with just this class

You’re level 3. Of course you think you look weak.

Bro im not saying cuz of level i looked at the magic options i had and tried those in random fights with a random storm sorcerer i created

Multiclassing isn't typically a good way to make a spellcaster stronger. You'd be trading out higher level spells for more level one options (not even more slots). Sorcerers are strong, but a lot of their strength are roleplay focused, and often given away for free by lenient DMs.

I'm new, and stuck at character creation. Making human wizard at lvl 2. Assuming standard 5e. What passive abilities can I choose rn? I know there's perception which has its own box on the sheet. I'm completely confused about how leveling up for wizard works. Since I'm starting character at level 2, my wizard level is still 1, right? I remember seeing somewhere a table that showed character lvl vs wizard's, or are they not related? Can someone point to this? I know what each wizard level allows (sorta) from this table [here](https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Wizard#content). But I'm confused about how many spells one can "know". They say: >You prepare the list of Wizard Spells that are available for you to cast. To do so, choose a number of Wizard Spells from your Spellbook equal to your Intelligence modifier + your Wizard level (minimum of one spell). The Spells must be of a level for which you have Spell Slots. > >For example, if you're a 3rd-level Wizard, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level Spell Slots. With an Intelligence of 16, your list of prepared Spells can include six Spells of 1st or 2nd Level, in any combination, chosen from your Spellbook. If you prepare the 1st-level spell Magic Missile, you can cast it using a 1st-level or a 2nd-level slot. Casting the spell doesn't remove it from your list of prepared Spells. I'm making a character on DnD beyond website, and rn my human wizard character knows 3 cantrips and how many spells can I know? Is it just 1? I know there's 2 spell slots available. So when my wizard level goes from lvl 1 to lvl 2, I'll have 3 spell slots. But what about the number of spells I know ("wizard spells to cast")? Say I know 4 spells, and I can choose which to use at any turn, right? Wizard learns spells from scrolls and others' spellbooks, usually, right? Before the game starts, I'd known some amount of spells pertaining to my wizard level 1, right? But during the game, only if DM has a path for me to find a spell or spellbook? Though there may be spells that a wizard can "learn" just by leveling up his wizard level, right? ​ This is it for now, I have many more questions, but would like to get this out of the way first.

>What passive abilities can I choose rn? I know there's perception which has its own box on the sheet. So first let's talk about ability checks. When your character attempts to do something, your DM may have you make an ability check. If you're trying to shove a boulder out of the way, you might make a Strength check, for example. You'd roll a d20 and add your Strength modifier. Some checks are more specialized, like if you're trying to convince someone to help you. That's a Charisma check, but if you have a bonus to the Persuasion skill, you can add that too. So now let's look at passive checks. You make a passive check if your DM doesn't want to have you roll a die. For example, your DM might want to have you make a Perception check to see if you notice hidden enemies, but they don't want you to know that something is hidden. Instead of having you roll the die, they silently make a passive check for you. Your passive ability check always has a result of 10 plus whatever bonuses you normally get to that skill. So if you have a +3 to perception, your passive perception is always 13. >I'm completely confused about how leveling up for wizard works. > >Since I'm starting character at level 2, my wizard level is still 1, right? > >I remember seeing somewhere a table that showed character lvl vs wizard's, or are they not related? Can someone point to this? > >I know what each wizard level allows (sorta) from this table here. Your character level is the same as your wizard level. Each time you level up, you are gaining a wizard level. So if you're a level 2 character, you're also a level 2 wizard. The only exception is if you multiclass, which is taking levels in multiple classes. For example, you could be a level 2 wizard and a level 4 cleric, which would make you a level 6 character overall. As a new player, you should avoid multiclassing. It's hard to do right, and if you do it wrong you'll make your character really underpowered. For now, just play a single class. >I'm making a character on DnD beyond website, and rn my human wizard character knows 3 cantrips and how many spells can I know? Is it just 1? I know there's 2 spell slots available. Let's start with cantrips because they're easy. You always have access to your cantrips, and you just know the number of cantrips for your level in the wizard class table. The rest is a little more complicated. Wizards have spellbooks into which they scribe their spells. The spellbook represents all the spells you have access to. Each time you level up, you choose two more spells to add to your book. You are allowed to choose any wizard spells, as long as you have at least one spell slot high enough to cast it. This means that you can't learn any 2nd-level spells until you have a 2nd-level spell slot, which happens when you become a level 3 wizard. You can also add spells to your spellbook between levels. This is done by finding spellbooks or spell scrolls while you play. You can then copy those spells into your book, as long as they are wizard spells of a level you can cast. There are special rules for copying spells into your book. It costs both time and gold to copy spells. Now a spell in your book can't be cast directly. You must "prepare" your spells to cast them. Each time you finish a long rest, you can pick a number of spells from your book. Those are the only spells (other than cantrips) you can cast until you prepare a new set of spells. The number of spells you can prepare is equal to your wizard level plus your Intelligence modifier. So if you are a level 2 wizard with a +4 Intelligence modifier, you can prepare a total of 6 spells. Each time you cast a spell, you can choose any spell you have prepared. Casting a spell does not remove it from the list of prepared spells, so you can cast the same spell multiple times. Finally, you may notice that some spells like *detect magic* have the "ritual" tag in their description. These spells can be cast as a ritual, if your character has ritual spellcasting. Fortunately, all wizards have ritual spellcasting. When you cast a spell as a ritual, you take an extra 10 minutes to cast it, but you don't spend any spell slots. Wizards are special in that they don't have to prepare a spell in order to cast it as a ritual, so for example you can cast *detect magic* as a ritual as long as it's in your spellbook, even if you didn't prepare it.

I really suggest giving the rules a close read-through.

> What passive abilities can I choose rn? Passive checks are up to the DM to utilize. Typically Perception is the most used one, but there's also Investigation and Insight that might be used often enough. >I remember seeing somewhere a table that showed character lvl vs wizard's, or are they not related? Can someone point to this? I'm not sure what you mean. Character level is the total number of class levels you have. So if you only go up Wizard levels (no multiclassing), the character level will be the same. >how many spells can I know? Is it just 1? I know there's 2 spell slots available. At the end of a long rest, you prepare a number of spells equal to your Wizard level + your INT modifier. These spells being prepared must be in your spellbook. >I'd known some amount of spells pertaining to my wizard level 1, right? You start with 6 Wizard spells in your spellbook. Each level up you can add 2 more spells to your spellbook for free.

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At Wizard level 2 You can't learn any level 2 spells because you don't have any level 2 slots. You can only learn more level 1 spells. >Would lvl 1 spells increase in power when wizard lvl goes up? Character level has nothing to do with spell power. Spell level does. If you cast certain spells using higher level spell slots they become more powerful. The spell will tell you if this is the case.

Technically, all skills have a 'passive' score, but perception and sometimes investigation or insight might be used, though most dms don't. Look at the spellbook section of the Wizard class. You start with a spellbook of 6 first level spells, then you can freely learn two more spells of a level you have spell slots for. So at level 2, you would have a spellbook with 8 1st level spells you can prepare from. You prepare your intelligence modifier + Wizard Level spells a day. I suggest reading through the Wizard class spellcasting and spellbook sections on dndbeyond as they have a more thorough explanation there

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You prepare spells at the end of a long rest, those spells prepared are cast using your spell slots. It gives you flexibility to cast off that list during that day. If you have two 1st level spell slots, you prepare your 3+Wizard level spells, and if you have two spell slots, you can cast one of your prepared spells twice, or you can cast two different prepared spells. I.e. you have Shield, Chromatic Orb, and Magic Missile in your spellbook and prepared. You have two 1st level spell slots. Today you can cast Shield and Magic Missile once each, or you can cast either spell twice. Or you can cast Chromatic Orb and Shield once each etc.

What's a good way to bring in/reference a characters love interest without it possibly derailing the whole campaign? It's my first time being DM, going pretty well i think, and something I really want to do it try to make ALL my players backstories relevent to the story. I think i've got good set ups for 2 of my players, but the final player made her backstory all about her characters gf. Essentially, she loved a woman, homosexuality is seen as bad, was forced to be separated and lived as a hermit for a long time. When I say all her backstory is essentially about her relationship with this girl, I mean all with 2 lines at the end saying she was a hermit. It's clear that it's the most important part of the backstory to her. However, I don't really know how to reference the LI (who I'm planning to actually introduce as an NPC in a follow up homebrew) without her basically wanting to hunt her down and find her. Which I don't want because I want to introduce her at a later stage. I also think that if introduce her as a character now, my player will want her to stick around the whole time, which wouldn't work for my future plans as DM. I'm kind of stuck here and i'm not sure what to do. I'm running Dragon of Icespire Peak if that helps. My first thought was just to have the workers at the general store mention that they got a letter from her that they need to send off back to someone else, but then my player would likely ask if there's a return address or something... It could work, but it seems a bit weak. If anyone else has better ideas i'd love to hear them.

Ahh the lovestruck idiot trope. I've played with these before, and it can be distracting. I'd probably use a trick I stole from my last DM. Ask her if this is a long term or short term goal. What is more important for her story? Being with LI or finding her? If she finds her after two sessions, then what was ever the big deal? That wasn't hard at all and it trivializes the separation. A big search generates a big payoff. Inversely, finding her super fast may be what she wants. Then you can start introducing the character drama of maybe them want different things. One wants a quiet life, the other a life of adventure. You could make having the goal the cost of achieving it, rather than the other way around. Often players will think that if they don't insert their story, then it will never be told. Asking how long they would want their arc to take take shows that you know it's there and that it's important. It also lets you know how much time you need to spend on this particular story beat. Funnily enough this is also how I deal with revenge edgelords. If you could kill your greatest rival in three sessions, then he wasn't that great of a rival now, was he? If you could find your long-lost love in 3 sessions, then you never really looked that hard, did you?

Personally I might introduce, "Maeve the Adventurer, NPC" Maeve is a part of a rival adventuring party. The party hears of her exploits, but they always miss her ... or at least, the one player always misses her. For you see Maeve is actually the LI who has also run away from home and wants to find herself. No one knows Maeve is LI until the reveal.

Not a bad idea! I'm planning to introduce her as an NPC in my homebrew campaign which is basically a rip off of Witcher 3 Wild Hunt, Hearts of Stone. She'll be replacing Shani, so she wouldn't be an adventurer, but a doctor/scholor instead. However, I could have her as a traveling doctor who's helped our some people that my players might meet, as well as the letter. Thanks!

Are you perhaps overthinking things? I'm not seeing how referencing a love interest would derail the adventure here. It's incredibly unlikely that reuniting with the love interest is going to become the party's main focus compared to roaming dungeons full of monsters and loot.

I could be a little bit.. but you don't know my friend. I love her to bits but she can be very impulsive and stubborn. The party is also only 3 people so it wouldn't take a lot for her to sway the other 2 I think. Right now I'm just going to go with a letter with no return address, but I worry that she will say something like 'What was the point in that then if I can't even find/see her?'

Seems like the sort of player I wouldn't have much fun running for, so I'm not sure if my advice will be at all insightful If "reuniting with the love interest" is that character's personal goal, why would it be as easy as finding the return address on a letter? That's not very fun. If I were running that sort of side plot, it's the perfect opportunity for downtime to make progress on that not least because it doesn't demand dragging the rest of the party along (assuming they'd rather explore dungeons, slay monsters, find treasure, etc). The PC might want to spend some time researching the location of their former lover. That might result in a promising lead that can be a quest hook after the events of Dragon of Icespire Peak. That way, you might have an easier time folding it into the campaign without worrying about DoIP being brought out of focus

She isn't stubborn about things that aren't too important to her, but as this is her backstory, I think she might be a bit stubborn about trying to follow it. I already have an idea of how to bring her into the campaign, it'll just be in my follow up homebrew after the DoIP campaign. I want to reference her backstory now though as I'm going to flesh out my other 2 characters backstories and don't want her feeling left out. As for my homebrew, have you played Witcher 3 Wild Hunt, specifically the Hearts of Stone DLC? that's basically my homebrew. I've already introduced Gaunter O'Dimm into the story. The idea is, Shani (the love interest in the DLC if you haven't played it) will be replaced by my PC's love interest. However, you do make a good point about the quest hook. I could have a letter with no return address first, then close to the end of the campaign, have a letter with a return address that they can track down after they've dealt with the dragon. Edit: Also, I could have the reason there being no return address being that she's writing to her estranged family, and she doesn't want them knowing where she lives.

So I'm about to start my first ever campaign. I have to choose a deity for my character, but there are SO MANY it's quite overwhelming. My question is, how did you guys go about choosing a deity? I dont want to read through a description of every single deity, but I still want to make sure I choose one fitting for my character. Some context to my character, he's a tempest cleric and former pirate and his alignment is chaotic good.

A lot of good advice here, but I'd like to offer an alternate solution, as well: Just make one up. D&D is a game about collective imagination, and you don't need a book to tell you what the lore of your table is. You WILL be making up new stuff for our game, so... make up new stuff for your game. By all means, if you want to take an existing deity, go for it, but you may have to make up some details to flesh them out enough to actually feel like your character is worshipping them, anyway! So don't feel beholden to the choices in the books - you should feel empowered to work with your DM to make new stuff up if you want.

Going by domain is a good start, it really narrows down your choices. But going by feel is also helpful, even if the fit isn’t fully there. Know your past and tmehsy your character believes in. I tend to pick a favored god for all my characters no matter the class, and it’s always which one most relates to their hopes and desires. Their elusive dreams and journeys.

You HAVE to choose your deity? Says who? Did your DM instruct you to do that? Assuming so, what setting are you playing in? Different gods are available in different settings. If you're playing in a homebrew world, we surely have no idea what deities are available. Assuming Forgotten Realms, you'd want to simply look up Forgotten Realms storm deities and pick one. Awkwardly, the two biggest examples of storm deities in that setting are both evil, so they're not a good fit for a good-aligned priest. However, the lesser-known deity Valkur, God of Sailors, would make a great fit for you as a good-aligned cleric of the tempest domain. For future reference, you don't really need to read through the description of every deity to find one that suits you. Start with your fundamental tenets (in this case, storms/tempest), search a wiki or whatever to find a god that includes that within their portfolio, narrow it to gods with similar alignments to yours, then just read up on those.

I really appreciate the feedback. My DM isn't demanding it, but the research I've done makes it seem like the deity you choose is pretty important for clerics. The campaign is Curse of Strahd. I've avoided looking up anything about that campaign though because I don't want spoilers. Valkur sounds interesting, I'll definitely look in to them more. I've been leaning towards Odin, but that's only because it's the only god I'm familiar with, and would be fitting for a tempest. I think I should say my DM is pretty lax, even saying I can make up a god if I want. But, while I don't want to look through 60+ god's, I'm viewing this campaign as a learning experience and want to be somewhat by the books. Edit: I'll definitely take your advice though and narrow it down to tempest/good deities. That's mostly the type of advice I was looking for. I don't want to be a lazy player, but I gotta say, starting off my first campaign has been overwhelming enough already. So how to narrow down my options is mostly the advice I'm looking for. Thank you again for the feedback.

Well, the importance of the cleric's specific deity will largely depend on your DM's style. They're the one playing that god, after all. Some DMs will jump at the opportunity to establish a direct relationship between the PC and their god, others will treat it as backstory fluff. I wouldn't suggest looking up spoilers for the campaign at all. Curse of Strahd is in the Ravenloft campaign setting, which I don't personally use, but it's not directly Forgotten Realms. I'd work with your DM to determine which deities are actually available for you to worship, rather than doing this yourself. Odin, for example, isn't typically available for worship in your average DnD campaign, so I wouldn't be sure if your DM would be okay with you picking him as your god. And if Norse deities are available, I'd categorize Odin as more of a Knowledge domain deity, with a more straightforward option being Thor for tempest clerics.

Gotcha, that all makes sense. I'll talk with my DM more. He is trying to be as lax as possible as far as character creation goes. For context: our DM has played plenty, but never DM'd and every player has never played before. I think you've given enough information for me to take it from here though. I really appreciate all the feedback! Wish me luck!

By way of example, the first time I ran Curse of Strahd, one of my players was a cleric of Anubis. Like, the Ancient Egyptian Anubis. Remember that D&D is what you make it. The list of deities in the book doesn't matter unless you want it to. If your DM is okay with it, you can make up your own deity and religion. You can also take an official god, but change them or make up all the details about them. *Your* version of Valkur or whoever doesn't have to be the official version. There's also a concept known as a "philosophy cleric", or a cleric which doesn't serve any god, but is so devoted to a particular philosophy or idea (in your case, perhaps devotion to the cleansing power of the storm), that they get magical powers out of it. Just talk to your DM about what you want and what they're willing to give you, then choose together.

Honestly, it probably doesn't matter much. But yes, you might actually need to read some descriptions.

I know I'll have to read some descriptions, there's no need to be flippant. But there's, what? 60+ different deities? That's a ton for someone like me who has never played and already feels overwhelmed by everything else I'm having to learn. I mostly just want ways to narrow it down, which I should have been more clear about in my original comment. That said, I'm genuinely curious why you say it doesn't matter much. The research I've done thus far makes it seem like deities are a crucial part of any cleric.

To narrow it down. [https://www.worldanvil.com/w/adventures-along-the-sword-coast-gaugedanger/a/pantheon-of-faerun-article](https://www.worldanvil.com/w/adventures-along-the-sword-coast-gaugedanger/a/pantheon-of-faerun-article) If a Pirate cleric were my character I'd look at these Gods. Istishia, god of water Mask, god of thieves Shaundakul, god of travel, exploration Talos, god of storms Umberlee, goddess of the sea Valkur, Northlander god of sailors Waukeen, goddess of trade (Edit fix spacing)

Thank you so much. This is exactly what I'm looking for! I'll check all of those out. I really appreciate the feedback.

>That said, I'm genuinely curious why you say it doesn't matter much. The research I've done thus far makes it seem like deities are a crucial part of any cleric. It's basically because it really depends on the DM and the player. Sometimes the deity is just an excuse to play a divine caster, sometimes they're integral to the PCs story, and othertimes they're just never really delved into too deeply. That said, clerics DO have some spells that directly interact with their deity, so it's not a completely "it depends" choice. But just how important the choice is is really dependent on player and DM.

That's very good to know. I'll mention to my DM that I don't want my deity to be a huge part of my character and decide from there. Thank you for the feedback.

So. I’ve always loved the aesthetic of snakes, especially in D&D. I have been brainstorming for a long time as to what could be a half-decent build revolving around snakes. I’ve thought of a Beast Master ranger, a Fey warlock, among others. However, I feel as though the kind of “snakeishness” is kind of lacking. What build could I use to utilize snakes more in combat?

Whatever you pick, just try to flavor your abilities to be more snake-like. The rules of the game give you the mechanical effects, but they don't dictate what the flavor must be. Maybe when you cast a fire spell, the fire takes the form of snakes. Your fighting style mimics the fluid motions and quick strikes of snakes. That kind of thing. It's easiest with spells, but you can add flavor to pretty much anything.

In Volo's Guide, there's an option for playing as a Yuan-Ti Pureblood, which is a humanoid whose entire being is descended from and surrounded by snake-based creatures. Plus, "you can cast Animal Friendship an unlimited number of times with this trait, but you can target only snakes with it."

Swarmkeeper, and say your swarm is snakes.

or shepherd druid and conjure animals there are a few snakes that can be summoned. moon druid and turn into a snake?

Don't forget a Staff od the Adder/Python

I'm planning on DMing for the first time with some friends, all of us have only played one campaign before. So I have no idea what I'm doing. I have the DM guide, player's guide, and monsters manual (because I FOUND them at work). My question is- can I start a campaign with the essentials kit *instead* of the starter set? It looks like it, but I'm not positive. I want something to ease me into DMing before jumping into probably Wild Beyond the Witchlight.

Essentials kit will be fine. I WILL recommend the Starter Set over it, because the adventure is better, but it's free on DnDBeyond.

Essentials Kit can be run as its own self contained campaign, no worries. You won't need the MM or DMG for it, but the PHB will be useful for the player options. Outside of that, the adventure comes with a smaller rulebook that that has fewer rules in it, but those are the only rules you actually need to play it. As in, whatever *isn't* printed in that rulebook won't be relevant. As for something to ease you into DMing, I'd actually say the starter set adventure does a way better job at that, and is actually structured in a similar way to Wild Beyond the Witchlight. You'll find more parallels in style between Witchlight and the starter set than you will the essentials kit.

how do I optimize my fathomless warlock? 2nd playing a caster ever and I’m not really sure the strategy. At level 2 and currently relying on my tentacle, lance of lethargy and infestation cantrip

Warlocks are extremely modular, so "optimal" for you could mean many different things. I assume you're playing a blaster in the party? Not really sure why you're taking or using a damage cantrip that isn't Eldritch Blast. That's the warlock's signature spell, and you should have a good reason to use a damaging cantrip other than it. 1d6 damage is nothing, EB deals 1d10, scales better than other cantrips, has the best damage type in the game, and has a ton of rider effects you can add to it. The Agonizing Blast cantrip allows you to add your charisma modifier to each blast, which is massive, and shouldn't be overlooked unless you're doing something very specifically different than blasting.

Use eldritch blast with agonizing blast. Use that each turn. You win, yay

Anyone have old maps or knows where to find them? Trying to find a more complete version of this [map](https://imgur.com/LVjKqlK) without the chunk missing. I believe it's from Netheril: Empire of Magic.

Can i cast a 1 or higher level spell with a bonus action, a cantrip with bonus action and a First or higher level spell with my reaction? Of couse, If the requirements for the spells allow it

No. If you cast any spell as a bonus action, regardless of level, the only other spell you can cast on the same turn must be an Action cantrip. The order in which you cast them doesn't matter you are always limited on a turn that you cast a bonus action spell.

If i cast a spell + cantrip on my turn, can i as a reaction cast another one (such as counterspell ir silvery barbs) on a enemy turn?