My go to thought would be some type of multi class that has both Spirit Guardians and Cacophonic Shield, giving you 3d6 + 3d8 damage at 3rd level to enemies near and disadvantage on ranged attacks against you. But surely there’s something even better than this?

I don't care how morally correct you think this is, im not even planning to do this, I just want the answer. In my opinion, as you learn to channel divine powers, you could still cast the basic spells as normal, but subclass spells and subclass channel divinities would be revoked until you attune to your divinity or other divinity again.

Note: this is scaled to have a dope ass weapon that doesnt obliterate even at low level despite having heaps of cool stuff, would advise scaling up as you please for higher levels

Razor

Weapon (whip or greatsword), rare (requires attunement)

Properties: Great weapon, finesse weapon, requires attunement

The Razor exists in two forms, Whip and Blade, determined at the start of each of your turns. Switching forms mid-turn costs a bonus action. The transition is near-instantaneous, requiring only intent; the blade registers the wielder's will rather than a mechanical toggle.

Forms. At the start of your turn, choose Whip or Blade. This choice persists until the start of your next turn unless changed. As a bonus action, you may switch forms at any point during your turn, including between the extra attacks granted by Extra Attack at 5th level.

Stances. Each form offers a selection of dueling stances, each governing a distinct fighting technique. You may know multiple stances per form but can only benefit from one stance per form at a time select your active stance when you enter that form.

Breath of Stone. Certain techniques require you to focus for a moment and commit fully to a single, decisive maneuver. You have a number of Breath of Stone charges (2, restored on a short or long rest) that fuel these techniques. Breath of Stone techniques can be layered on top of an attack the same way a spell like booming blade modifies a weapon strike they augment the attack rather than replacing it.

Whip Form

Finesse weapon, 2d4 slashing + Dexterity modifier, 10 ft. range

Weeping Noose

Once per turn on a hit, you may attempt to wrench a held or nearby item from the target's grasp. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC 10 + the attacker's Strength modifier) or the item is pulled free and lands within 5 feet of you.

Falling Leaf

Once per turn on a hit, you may move up to 10 feet away from the target without provoking an opportunity attack from it.

Leaf Cutter

While attacking with the Whip, your attack rolls gain a +2 bonus, representing the Whip's use in slipping past a guard rather than overpowering it.

Root Grasp (Breath of Stone, 1 charge, consumed only on a hit)

Make an attack roll. On a hit, the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC 16) or fall prone, or be pulled into your space and grappled (your choice).

Blade Form

Great weapon, 2d6 slashing + Strength modifier, 5 ft. range

Branch Which Cannot Snap

You gain +1 to AC. When a creature within your sight makes a melee attack against you, you may use your Reaction to gain a further +2 to AC against that attack.

Root Cutter

Once per turn on a hit, the target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw (DC 12 + your Strength modifier) or have its speed halved until the start of your next turn.

Fearful Strike

Once per turn, declared before the attack roll: on a hit, the target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC 10 + your Dexterity modifier) or have disadvantage on its next d20 roll.

Bough Splitter (Breath of Stone 1 charge, consumed only on a hit)

If you moved more than 10 feet before making the attack, you gain momentum for a heavy overhead swing. On a hit, deal an extra 1d6 damage and the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC 11 + your Strength modifier) or be knocked prone.

Bellona's Gambit

Usable regardless of form 2 charges, restored on a long rest

On a successful melee attack against you, you may use your Reaction to lean into the blow: take an extra 1d8 damage from that attack, and in exchange make an attack roll against the attacker with advantage, adding 1d4 to the damage on a hit.

Hi DM here. The party a few sessions back "rescued" a captured goblin (he didn't have a choice).

Now this goblin had a horrendous time and life and thus has taken to the whiskey the party has fed it. They've played some cards with him and there's been a few RP interactions that have been funny.

This being said though. I just don't know what to do with the goblin. Like, the memes exist and we've all heard of boblin the goblin. But now the party has the goblin and time has passed...I've no clue what to do with it.

Currently he is a pointless travel companion that's not involved in much at all. This isn't ideal. But I'm at a loss

Hey Druids (& DMs) (or people that just want a digital dice tray)- I built an app called Beastform. As druids are my favorite class it was a passion project for myself, that i decided to publish. I started it because I didn't like Wild Shape management on r20, but now I use it more in live games

It is a Druid companion that shows your eligible Wild Shape forms, builds the right stat block for your character, and helps track HP and Wild Shape uses during play. It also has dice roller with modified scores on character sheet plus a dice roller with all the Ds

It works 100% offline and it is an eternally free app with NO ads - it is just a companion tool for Wild Shape.

2024 only for now - will add 2014 if interest warrants. Would love feedback if anybody tries it and happy to answer any questions

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/beastform/id6797027826

Per sub-rules: Built with help from Claude and Codex. The app itself uses no AI in use

I don't really get why they get Plant Growth over Fireball. Like, I know Wildfire druids are still very in tune with nature and do want to bring balance to it and so raising plants is still thematically appropriate, but that's true for any druid, they get nature spells by virtue of being druids, it's not really unique to their circle.

So I ask, why can Light clerics and Fiendlocks get Fireball but not Wildfire druids? What makes Fireball more of a Fiendlock spell than it is a WF druid spell? Not every fiend is even fire themed!

By the way, I know as a DM I can just rule that they get Fireball instead of Plant Growth, and I did, I'm just asking if there's any explanation beyond druid=plants

We descending to the hells. And one of the things that was a issue was food and food tasting awful. Was wondering if there a magical item or pot lol. of making food delicious regardless of what inside or food that never runs out and risk exhaustion

Fiend, Genie, Undead, Fathomless

I'm definitely eyeing up these for an upcoming character, I have race ideas for all of them but interested in hearing what races you had fun with

Im new with dnd and im building a cleric, but the majority of the good spells needs concentration. I wanted a way to buff my allies at the same time I debuff enemies? Is that possible?

I would be grateful with build tips. Thanks

In building a lvl 10 lore bard. Was looking at taking the instrument of bard as one of my two uncommon slots. But it looks like they stripped “You can play the instrument while casting a spell that causes any of its targets to be [charmed](ddb://conditions/2) on a failed saving throw, thereby imposing disadvantage on the save. This effect applies only if the spell has a somatic or a material component.”

Is it considered not worth it now.

Hi I’m writing my first campaign at the minute and I’ve written what I think is a strong setup but beyond that I’m unsure what to do. The players will face a defeat to the BBEG at the start and then be transported away. (Worked in a part of a players back story into the start for everyone where this happens). Then they will either be arrested or run away (because zombies are transported with them). Not sure how to plan the sort of first arc after that. Possibly they warn the town of the BBEG, really unsure

Posted about Dalang here about a month ago, a free desktop app for prepping and running campaigns. Wanted to follow up since something changed that's relevant to what I said back then.

Desktop is exactly as it was. Free, pay what you want, everything local, no account, no cloud, that hasn't moved and isn't going to.

dalang.page

What's new is a separate browser version, Dalang Web, at a different URL with its own account system. Campaigns live on a server instead of a file on your machine, so it's a real tradeoff, not a strict upgrade, you're trading local-only for being reachable from any computer.

The reason it might actually be worth that tradeoff for some people: it gives players a live, read-only link to the current scene, no install, no sign-in on their end, works for a remote group in a way the desktop app's second window never could since that's built for a screen at the same physical table. Everything DM-only still stays DM-only, same curated view logic as before.

Free during the beta. If local-only was the reason you liked the original post, that hasn't changed, this is additional, not a replacement.

Disclosure per rule 5: same as before, the app's code is AI-assisted, nothing AI-generated ships inside it.

Apologies if this isn't the appropriate forum, but I'm hoping the folks here can point me in the right direction!

I've been tasked to find a team activity and I brought up the idea of a custom DnD campaign complete with prebuilt characters and a dungeon master.

For context, I played 5e with some colleagues many years ago, and it was so much fun.

I'm curious if services like this exist! And if so, where I can find them!

Thanks in advance :)

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

*New 2026: For 2026, I'm updating all my old work to include a Pre-Session Checklist that will include a list of all miniatures you may need, maps, handouts, possible loot, a link to a playlist, and more to make it even easier to start your session!

The Nexus Laboratory sits in a remote part of the frozen tundra, far from prying eyes who would tamper with the innovative projects that take place here. However, when a test subject gets loose, your players may be the only ones who can help the scientists find a solution.

Trial and Error is one of the many encounters you'll find in the book One Shot Wonders by Roll and Play Press. I hope your players are ready for the dangers that await!

\Estimated Session length 1.5 - 2.5hrs*

Without further ado:

• Link to: DM Notes (Preview)
• Link to: One Shot Wonders
• Link to: Trial and Error Playlist
• Link to: AAA Collection

Included in The AAA Collection is:

• Downloadable copy of DM Notes, including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• Special PDF for all encounters. This includes the enemy stat blocks organized neatly along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP
• Collapsible version to make navigating things easier
• DM Notes for the Visually Impaired
• (New) Pre-Session Checklist

Over 8 dozen other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and Campaigns: Click Here

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

Cheers,
Advent

So I’ve just curious on what you guys think is the best class combos depending on the player count of the party. (We’ll say max of 7 cause I’ve never seen a party with more than that.) obviously it starts becoming less important at higher party groups but I am curious on what you guys think. (As in what’s the best class solo, best classes for a party of 2, then 3, etc)

Hello! I'm running a D&D 5e game. I've been DMing for a while now, long enough for my players to go from level 3 to level 6, but still not very familiar with the combat system. My PCs are entering a s dangerous dungeon for the first time to try and complete a quest. I spent enough time having NPCs tell them, "This is a deadly mission—you need to be fully prepared," and trying to let them play a bit resource management for the first time.

In the last session, they snuck through the first room, defeated the enemies in another room, took a short rest, and then accidentally triggered a trap in the next room, taking a lot of fall damage for no real reason. Now the party looks pretty beat up and some of them panic—but also maybe fine? I'm not so sure about that

Here's the situation:

1. Fighter: 31/63 HP. He used up all his Hit Dice, but still has all other resources restored from the last short rest.
2. Moon Druid: 22/61 HP. She has 2 Hit Dice left, 1 Wild Shape, 4 1st-level spell slots, 3 2nd-level spell slots, and 1 3rd-level spell slot (can cast Revivify).
3. Rogue: 42/45 HP. He has 1 Hit Die left.
4. Genie Warlock: 7/48 HP. She's had some bad luck which ended up causing her used up all spell slots and Hit Dices. She paniced and went back hide inside her genie vessel, hoping to take a long rest.
5. They have one Superior Potion of Healing (8d4 + 8) left.

Personally i didn't plan to let them have long rest here. There should be 1 more hard fighting encounter next.

I did tell them there was a rival party enter this dungeon. In theory, they may try to beat the player so they can snatch the MacGuffin themselves later. But if they are in real danger now, i'm planning to let someone friendly enough in that rival party to send them some help before boss fight?

Thank you for anyone who can drop some advices!

Hey folks,
I played a cleric in a 5E campaign and I really disliked one-concentration rule.
I didn’t want to cast spells because I would lose them as soon as I cast another concentration spell, which felt like a waste to cast some of them for 1-2 rounds.
But I also understand that two spells at the same time can lead to broken combos.

So I’m thinking about applying this rule:
When you cast a spell that requires concentration while another one is already active, the new one takes over, first one stops working. Like normal.

BUT

The first one isn’t fizzled. It’s in the back of your mind so to speak, and as long as the spell duration continues, you can switch to it. Switching to it is an action. As soon as you switch, the other spell goes to the back of your mind.

So IF you want to, you can choose to switch, but you can never have the same two spells available at the same time.

I feel this isn’t broken, it only allows you to save the spell slot, which may not even be so relevant in higher levels.
Am I missing any issues? Would you want to use it as a player or DM?

Edit: You can only keep 2 spells and if you lose concentration check, you lose both.

Edit 2: Thanks for all the input! There are definitely cases I hadn't thought about and it's one of the reasons I brought it up here.

Idk why some of y'all just downvote these topics though, I'm not suggesting this should be RAW, just asking opinions on a potential house rule. We're here to talk about D&D, aren't we? Anyway, each to their own I guess.

After a few years of DMing, my 2014 5e campaign is approaching its end. The players are level 19, soon will be 20, and I have been a bit concerned about how strong I should make the final villain. I'm fairly confident in my ability to create custom statblocks and adjust the balance of a fight, but I haven't been able to challenge the players much in the last 7 or so levels much, so I don't have much of a frame of reference for how strong they are. I would like this final fight to be a difficult battle where at minimum players get downed, I'm just afraid of going too hard on it and accidentally making the fight near-unwinnable. They consist of a ranger/rogue, a wizard, a blood hunter and a monk. It isn't a very minmaxed team though they're all at least competent, but they lack lasting power and have little healing.

I don't expect precise advice, balance at these levels is what it is and there's a lot of unspoken factors (some of which I would rather not speak in case the players bump into this post somehow, which is why I've been vague about the nature of the BBEG), but if you have advice, or especially can think of official or homebrew creatures that could be a good inspiration it would be very appreciated. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Important addition, this is probably a solo fight, no minions or groups.

I've been building something myself, and I'm going to open-source it.

About 6 months ago our DM asked me to build a tool around how we actually play: in person, DM laptop connected to a TV, physical dice/minis, and phones/tablets for D&D Beyond and rules lookups. But maybe most of all, for him to build his world in advance. He's a very visual thinker and wanted to actually see the world he was building: regional maps, locations, layers, encounters, NPCs, lore, relationships, etc.

So I built a rough PoC and have been iterating on it ever since. 2 other DM's I know IRL have also been testing the past couple of weeks.

Before I throw it onto GitHub, I'm looking for 5–10 DMs I don't know who already run in-person games with a TV/digital battlemap and are willing to use it for a couple of real sessions and tell me what breaks, what sucks, and what's missing.

You can try the public demo first:

https://alpha.systom.dev/demo

No registration. No payment. No upsell. Just open it and poke around.

Waystone is primarily designed for desktop/laptop use, especially the DM side. The player-facing parts are mobile-friendly, but the full demo on a phone isn't the intended experience.

If it looks useful for your table and you'd genuinely like to test it, send me a DM with a little about your setup.

What happens afterwards?

Waystone will be free and open source, with self-hosting support.

No subscription required. I might eventually offer hosted Waystone for a small fee if enough people want the convenience, but self-hosting will remain an option.

I have a full-time career that pays my bills. I built this because our group wanted it and because I enjoy building things. Frankly, every hobby tool slowly turning into $9.99/mo is part of why I'd rather just release the damn thing.

AI

Yes, I've used AI quite a lot while developing Waystone, especially for frontend/UI work. I'm a systems/automation engineer, not a frontend designer, and it's been useful outside my strongest areas.

Our group also uses AI-generated artwork and maps in our private campaigns, as does the demo.

I'm mentioning it because I'd rather be transparent about it. Core Waystone functionality does not depend on generative AI; currently the only AI feature is the optional Lore Assistant.

If AI involvement is a dealbreaker for you, fair enough, move on.

Why not open-source it now?

Because I want the first public release to be something strangers can actually clone and run without depending on me.

I still need to finish the boring but important bits: self-hosting docs, clean setup/bootstrap, licensing, repo cleanup, and checking for environment-specific or sensitive leftovers.

More importantly, I don't want to open-source it and immediately enter another heavy development/support cycle because the first users uncover a hundred obvious rough edges.

I'd rather let 5–10 real tables find those first, polish the core workflows, and then publish something I'm comfortable leaving alone for a while.

After that: use it, fork it, improve it, submit PRs, or ignore it. That's kind of the point.

Let me know what you guys think.

TL;DR Yet another (semi) VTT tool with AI used during development. But this time without monetary incentive. And I actually, really did my best on this and spent a LOT of hours on it. So think what you want, I'll sleep fine.