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[Kagus]

So the 5th ed group I was talking about before was planned to start up some time in October, since the DM was going to be moving into town and would set up after he got settled in.

I've gotten a chance to meet the fellow now, and learned that the campaign start is going to be pushed back a bit because moving is moving and never finishes as quickly or as cleanly as you expect.

Looks like we're probably going to be playing with core books only, so no pulling out SCAG feats on Xanathar classes to make a horrific abomination of munchkinnery. Oh well. Time to narrow my scope for character ideas.

He's slightly inexperienced as a DM, but that's probably why he's okay with hosting a bunch of new players. Also seems like a pretty nice guy, but that's probably due to his inexperience as a DM. He is coming to terms with how incredibly determined players are to do everything except what you want them to do.

He was also talking a bit about trying to tie together two different campaigns he's running, so our different parties would be indirectly touching upon (and interfering with) the other's adventure. Personally, I think that sounds like a massive pipe dream and a catastrophic invitation for trouble, but hey!


Anyways, yeah... Fun and silly things to do in base game... Might try my hand at a grappler, but I want to have some ideas ready for rogue types and healer types that I can run with on the off chance that nobody else picks a support class (which is entirely likely on a good day, and I suspect even more likely with a bunch of starry-eyed newbies).

[Hanslanda]

I like being bards, jack of all trades. And with sufficient investment, master of all. Someone ran a level 20 Rocks Fall campaign and I made a female celestial bard with all the toys. Status negators, teleport items, status inflictors, defensive tools, a dope ass rapier she never had to touch to kill you with, great armor that allowed spellcasting, and a flute.

[Kagus]

and a flute.

"This one time, at bard camp..."

[Hanslanda]

and a flute.

"This one time, at bard camp..."

"...I raped and killed a demon. Because level 20 Celestial bard played by a guy named after a Nazi."

[Kagus]

Looking at a Tempest Cleric grappler. There are a few things you can do here, but it's all going to be pretty feat-intensive...

The class itself has some fun things to offer the overall grappler archetype. There's heavy armor proficiency from the get-go, a reactive shock ability that uses a DEX save (meaning that if you've taken the Grappler feat you can restrain someone and force them to make such saves at a disadvantage), Destructive Wrath is a pretty decent usage of CD in general (and pretty hilarious with Call Lightning), and you can apply 1d8 (later 2d8) thunder damage to any weapon attack, which technically includes kicking one of the two grappled opponents you're keeping your hands full with. Additionally you get the option when dealing lightning damage to shove the target 10' away from you, which can be useful when you've dragged someone to within 10' of a precipice or just want enemy number 3 to piss off.

Clerics also get the lovely Enhance Ability spell to make strength checks at an advantage, Spiritual Weapon to smack whoever you've cornered, and more tasty bits.


The problem of course is that you'd like to have War Caster as a minimum, and both Grappler and Shield Master would be great to have on top of that. There's also no clean way of getting Expertise, but I suppose if you wanted to focus on single-target stuff you could dip into rogue and pick up sneak attack so you could grab 'n' stab someone with a thunderous rapier after grappling and shoving them to get advantage. It'd be lovely to have something like Create Bonfire (if/when you're not using Enhance Ability) to use with Grappler, since you could just pin someone in the fire to make them keep taking disadvantaged DEX saves while being toasted like a Manmallow (and you can keep attacking them with other things so long as you maintain concentration!)... But that would involve dipping into probably Druid, since the Magic Initiate feat is yet another feat.

[Rowanas]

Looking at a Tempest Cleric grappler. There are a few things you can do here, but it's all going to be pretty feat-intensive...

The class itself has some fun things to offer the overall grappler archetype. There's heavy armor proficiency from the get-go, a reactive shock ability that uses a DEX save (meaning that if you've taken the Grappler feat you can restrain someone and force them to make such saves at a disadvantage), Destructive Wrath is a pretty decent usage of CD in general (and pretty hilarious with Call Lightning), and you can apply 1d8 (later 2d8) thunder damage to any weapon attack, which technically includes kicking one of the two grappled opponents you're keeping your hands full with. Additionally you get the option when dealing lightning damage to shove the target 10' away from you, which can be useful when you've dragged someone to within 10' of a precipice or just want enemy number 3 to piss off.

Clerics also get the lovely Enhance Ability spell to make strength checks at an advantage, Spiritual Weapon to smack whoever you've cornered, and more tasty bits.


The problem of course is that you'd like to have War Caster as a minimum, and both Grappler and Shield Master would be great to have on top of that. There's also no clean way of getting Expertise, but I suppose if you wanted to focus on single-target stuff you could dip into rogue and pick up sneak attack so you could grab 'n' stab someone with a thunderous rapier after grappling and shoving them to get advantage. It'd be lovely to have something like Create Bonfire (if/when you're not using Enhance Ability) to use with Grappler, since you could just pin someone in the fire to make them keep taking disadvantaged DEX saves while being toasted like a Manmallow (and you can keep attacking them with other things so long as you maintain concentration!)... But that would involve dipping into probably Druid, since the Magic Initiate feat is yet another feat.

you're going too wide. if you want to Tempest grapple people to death, do that.

[Kagus]

Yeh, but how does one make the grapplest Tempest ever to shocker someone? Going for the Grappler feat first means you get attack advantage on grappled opponents, and can pin them to put their DEX saves at a disadvantage. But you won't have War Caster to either secure your concentration buffs or to make the most out of spells while in the thick of the fight. Going for Shield Master lets you grapple and slam someone into the ground in one turn, but you're then left with just unarmed attacks after grappling one dude (there also doesn't seem to be much of a consensus regarding War Caster and making somatic gestures when you're holding onto a creature, since War Caster only specifies that it lets you ignore weapons and shields when determining "free hands"). Grab War Caster first, and you'll be able to hold onto your spells and use more of them, but... You won't be as able to grapple people into a good spot for getting the most out of those spells.

Clerics don't get extra attacks either, which is a bummer. The grappler archetype has fascinated me through multiple editions (and homebrews), but there's always the case for optimization, heh.


Looking at spell lists though, apparently Bonfire isn't even in the "base" list, so bah on that for now. Shame. The idea of "burning witches at the hug" tickled me.

[IcyTea31]

I wouldn't make him a vampire. I'd make him some sort of body-snatching spirit that possesses someone else in the state whenever he dies. The protagonists can temporarily inconvenience him, but cannot easily defeat him completely: as long as there is a Florida, there is a Florida Man.

Run it. I'd play.

Yiss

I could retry running a game if there was enough interest and the times matched, but that's a difficult goal to reach.

I'm always interested, and iirc if you're Finnish and I'm Swedish so there's a good chance of compatible timezones.

Ah, hell, let's do it.

[Andres]

When it comes to dnd spells that have a range of "self", can you target other people if they've eaten a part of your body and are in the middle of digesting it? Hair, for instance.

[IcyTea31]

No. If you remove a part of your body, it's no longer a part of "you". D&D magic isn't particularly sympathetic, bar a couple specific spells.

In 3.5e and Pathfinder, if you want to affect someone else with a self-range spell, the solution is to craft a potion with the effect. In 5e, there aren't any particularly deep rules for crafting so it requires homebrew.

[Kagus]

The closest you could get otherwise would be to be a cleric of trickery, summon an illusory duplicate, move it so it inhabits the same space as a creature, then cast a self-targeting spell from its position.

Which still wouldn't hit the other creature unless you're REALLY good at lawyering and your DM is REALLY impressionable.



Just looked at Shadow Monk (still on grapplers) and some of the ridiculousness that it can pull off, potentially with a few levels of different dips... Free teleport into the shadows behind someone, run up and then suplex them into the dirt with advantage.

[Rolan7]

No. If you remove a part of your body, it's no longer a part of "you". D&D magic isn't particularly sympathetic, bar a couple specific spells.

In 3.5e and Pathfinder, if you want to affect someone else with a self-range spell, the solution is to craft a potion with the effect. In 5e, there aren't any particularly deep rules for crafting so it requires homebrew.

Yeah, and 3.5 potions can only contain spells of third level or less (though they can be of high caster level, which helps duration or potency usually)

[Mephisto]

Send help. My morbid curiosity has been piqued.

That preview...

[Sirus]

The same Perfectly-Balanced Table-Top Rpg. Game Module but Summarized-Up and not Wholly there and Left with a Lushful Camp@ign Maneuver and Flash-Backs of Parts of The Game with Spaces for Beautiful Art done by You and/or a Friend as a Picturesque/Pretty Hobby Collection of Perfectly-Balanced Aspiring Campaigning Imagery for your Fanning

I have zero idea what this person is trying to say.

[MrRoboto75]

Its call of cthulu but written in the perspective of cthulu instead of the humans.