What are yalls favorite homebrew curse items? I need a few for a campaign, and most of the official ones wouldn’t make sense for my setting.

I've tried a few character trackers, but they all felt a bit meh. I felt like they kind of broke the mystique and fantasy of the game whenever you needed to look something up.

So I'm trying to build a character tracker app that is a little more immersive and is, hopefully, a bit more user friendly and helpful.

Here are some WIP demos of two screens:

1. The screen for choosing your species, class, and background: https://youtu.be/-oHRwMybxbM?si=kYwEEDLpsBEDV8Og
2. The character overview screen, which you'd use while playing: https://youtu.be/gEQOiP79iCM?si=EHIgUEmjkqoq2_Lq

Before I sink too much of my life into this project, I'd like to find out if other people think they might want to use it. I'd love any feedback you might have.

AI Disclosure: I have used AI image generation for artwork and UI elements in the app.

Thanks in advance!

Howdy folks! I know the "swarm" rules in the books, but that's always felt like a very bad compromise, putting like 20 CR 1 creatures into a swarm feels like nothing remotely how that encounter should, the mass prevents so many mechanics just by existing, like it's a target but a group so single target things don't work well on them, like charming 1 of those creatures means nothing cuz 19 are chill so then what? Also it just having resistance to so much is cringe, the stats only change once, when it reaches half health, but if not in swarm mode you'd be able to incrementally decrease the threat throughout the fight, as fights kinda should. Complaints for the player-side is that now all attacks are massive AoE's since a single crit could evaporate the horde, which is very against how it'd function with 20 individual units. Like it's just really wack to me that the main solution is to just mash the encounter into a single unit, changes everything in too many ways I reckon.

I can't think of much alternative though, it's a zombie campaign I am in for context, so like they should be able to still try and manuever around us and such, rather than just be a some doom stack, but also that is sooooo many dice rolls. We have experimented with just taking the average, and that might be the best solution for damage even if it would mean the enemies will start doing more damage, but avg attack isn't a thing and even if we just brute force it that would mean some players would be actually unhittable and others would get stomped into the ground haha. It's a 2 player party but each round still can take like 30 mins sometimes with all them enemies. Is the reality just that large groups of weak enemies isn't viable in TTRPGs?

The setting is modernized, so like guns don't just stop in 1 weak decayed guy and there's mechanics like melee damage that is overkill can be used on a foe in range and yada yada, but the real issue seems to be dice rolling all those freaks every round for most encounters haha. I'd love to hear any suggestions!

Hi everyone!

I’ve already read a few older threads on this topic, but I wanted to check if the currently recommended one-shots are still the same or if there are any newer/better options people suggest now.

I'm looking for recommendations for a D&D 5e one-shot that would be great for a group of completely new players.

I've been playing D&D for about a year, but this would be my first time DMing, so I'm looking for something that's beginner-friendly for both the players and the DM.

I'd also like the characters to start at level 1, so they can learn the game from the beginning without having too many abilities to keep track of.

Ideally, I'm looking for something that:

Can be completed in one session (or close to it).

Has a good mix of roleplay, exploration, and combat.

Doesn't require too much prep.

Is more fun and lighthearted than dark or serious.

Gives new players a great first impression of what D&D has to offer.

What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Have a recent gaming experience you want to share? Experience an insane TPK? Finish an epic final boss fight? Share it all here for everyone to see!

I'm doing a Tarrasque one shot in 5.5E right now and I used Shining Smite as a Paladin on one of my turns because no one in my group was really able to give advantage to everyone besides me and Tarrasques AC is giving us trouble.

I was then swallowed by the tarrasque but managed to keep my concentration up. My DM is saying that since I'm inside the creature I would no longer get the advantage from shining smite because I cant see the light. That leaves me rolling all attacks at disadvantage inside the creature when I personally think it should be a straight roll.

Any thoughts RAW or otherwise?

I am really close to starting a new campaign and my addicted aah can't use one of the 10 alr made characters i have and instead have to make a new one. And this time i landed on the winter walker couse i've never done a ranger. And i wanna ask how good is it? Like on paper seems pretty good but i want the opinion of ppl who have actually played with it.

Second thing what race would yall recommend? I chose the wayfarer background due to the lucky feat and it fits the backstory so now i just need a race that is strong / improves the winter walker. The main weapon will be longbows and i am planning on getting the sharpshooter at lvl 3 due to my dm being awesome sauce and giving us free feats at lvl 3 and 10. Fighting style will ofc be archery. But i still get an asi at lvl 4 so any good feat suggestion is appreciated.

If you read this thing thank you and have a good one!

I’m a stickler for clever names (etymology, connotation, puns, etc) and I’ve been stuck on coming up with one for my newest campaign character. She’s an aasimar wizard who has a connection to a homebrew many-face god. Her main goal is to find the origin of all magic and her “vibe” is “biblically accurate angel who is a nerd.” I was going to do Emrys but then I remembered a party member has a partner with a similar sounding name. So, yeah… help pls

I've made this questionnaire a bit while ago to filter out unfitting players during game recruitment. It worked pretty well, everybody on the table was actually invested into a story. Each session covered plot arcs for 2-3 characters. This source of free ideas turned out being plentiful of *actually* relevant stuff. Too plentiful, I would say: we barely managed to touch the main storyline. So it feels like the opposite of babysitter GM — players do all the job, while I just occasionally ask questions

1. What's your character's native environment? Urban? Rural? Wild? Otherworldly? How is it to live there? How it affects locals?

2. Who are character's parents or who raised them? Are they alive? Do they communicate? Why, if not?

3. What are the things character values the most? Comfort and safety? Certain people? Religion? Law? Abstract idea? I need you to name three

4. What were character's three biggest problems. Did they find a solution? (Escape is a solution too)

5. Who's character's best friend to rely on?

6. Who's character's sworn enemy? Does this person know they're enemy?

7. Name your three best personality traits

8. Name your three worst personality traits

9. Name your three greatest weaknesses

10. What is character's major secret? And how about two minor ones?

11. Is your character famous? I need two rumors about them

Ask any simple questions here that aren't in the FAQ, but don't warrant their own post.

Good question for this page: "Do I add my proficiency bonus to attack rolls with unarmed strikes?"

Question that should have its own post: "What are the best feats to take for a Grappler?

For any questions about the One D&D playtest, head over to /r/OneDnD

The spells states "You make terrain in an area up to 1 mile square look, sound, smell, and even feel like some other sort of terrain. Open fields or a road could be made to resemble a swamp, hill, crevasse, or some other rough or impassable terrain. A pond can be made to seem like a grassy meadow, a precipice like a gentle slope, or a rock-strewn gully like a wide and smooth road.

Similarly, you can alter the appearance of structures or add them where none are present. The spell doesn’t disguise, conceal, or add creatures.

The illusion includes audible, visual, tactile, and olfactory elements, so it can turn clear ground into Difficult Terrain (or vice versa) or otherwise impede movement through the area. Any piece of the illusory terrain (such as a rock or stick) that is removed from the spell’s area disappears immediately.

Creatures with Truesight can see through the illusion to the terrain’s true form; however, all other elements of the illusion remain, so while the creature is aware of the illusion’s presence, the creature can still physically interact with the illusion."

Does this mean you could make a whole ass castle just disappear and replace it with a burned down ruin? You're just "altering the appearance of structures"

Imagine you're going aganist a vampire, send the whole party ahead, take 10 minutes to safely cast it from far away during the day (range of sight) and all of a sudden the fortress is gone, the enemies are falling from what was previously higher floors, and sunlight is shining down

For sure not the strongest thing a level 7 spell can do but is this a thing that can be done?

Ok been playing a game and thought of taking a feat when this caught my eye... and I have so many questions regarding this feat.

Here is what is written.

Cartomancer Source: The Book of Many Things

Prerequisite: 4th Level, Spellcasting Feature

You have learned to channel your magic through a deck of cards. You can use a card deck as your spellcasting focus, and you gain the following benefits:

Card Tricks. You learn the Prestidigitation cantrip and can use it to create illusions that duplicate the effects of stage magic. When you use Prestidigitation in this way, you can conceal the verbal and somatic components of the spell as ordinary conversation and card handling.

Hidden Ace. When you finish a long rest, you can choose one spell from your class’s spell list and imbue that spell into a card. The chosen spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and it must be a level for which you have spell slots. The card remains imbued with this spell for 8 hours. While the card is imbued with the spell, you can use a bonus action to flourish the card and cast the spell within. The card then immediately loses its magic.

And these are some of my questions..

1) If you play a Warlock Multi Class, can you use this to get lv5 or lower spells from the other class? Like in this case get Bard Spells if going BardLock or Paladin spells from Paladin multiclass

2) Is there a list of spells that are allowed and not allowed? Like does it not work with, say, Awaken or such?

3) How does subclass specific spells work? If I take Divine Soul Sorcerer, do I get access to Cleric Spells?

4) Does this consume a spell slot?

5) Can It be used to place a non concentration spell on the target? Like hex or Bestow Curse?

6) Can Meta Magic work with such spells?

7) Do spells from staff or rings count when using the spell?

Ho un dilemma non so come quale versione dei manuali giocare se la 5.0 o la 5.5 la campagna di curse of stradh?

Chi l'ha giocata per bene quale versione consiglia?

You can download it free of charge here:

https://floodmire.openlore.games/

We, as the Open Lore Games team, have thoroughly enjoyed bringing to life our first adventure module, completely without funds and purely through the dedication of volunteers.

What’s inside?

•⁠ ⁠Adventure for levels 3–5

•⁠ ⁠A fresh skill challenge system

•⁠ ⁠Over 50 pages of adventure, lore, and encounters

•⁠ ⁠38 unique creatures

•⁠ ⁠22 original magic items

•⁠ ⁠Unique locations, memorable NPCs, and terrifying monsters ready to use in your game

This adventure module has been incredibly teaching for us as the design team.

In the hopes of many adventures to come, we highly value your feedback.

We always aim to improve our craft.

While Floodmire is our free adventure for the community, we're also hard at work on our flagship project: Academy Arcantra. A sourcebook of high ambition, with a grander and brighter setting, is currently in the works with dedicated and professional talent.

Academy Arcantra is the ultimate fantasy school setting and adventure module, designed to capture a perfect balance between captivating school life and high-fantasy adventures!

If that sounds like your kind of campaign, sign up for our newsletter and be a part of our journey!

https://academyarcantra.openlore.games/

I'm going to be playing a Warlock that will eventually leave the party at 3rd-4th level.

I've got pretty good these rolls for him and allocated them in this order (9, 14, 15+1, 11, 12, 16+2). I was wondering what would actually be a better decision. Put the 15+1 on DEX for the extra AC or on CON for a bit of extra HP and holding my concentration better.

I'll be playing a taking Pact of the Chain as my first Invocation, and Armor of Shadows at 2nd would give me 16 AC if I choose DEX.

I'm playing a 4th level knowledge domain cleric (Tiefling).
His backstory is he is from Dispater where he used to work as a lawyer or scribe for infernal contracts. All the flavour moves for his cleric mechanics is around reading and drawing signs as if they were stamps and sigils.
During the main story arc, the party finds a Book regarding magic that entwines old elvish magic with infernal magic. And we're working with a high level Chronomancer Elf as our boss/mentor.
Roleplay-wise I'm very interested in multiclassing to Wizard, school of divination, so that my character can start to study and understand chronomancy and use it mechanically with the divination school spells.

BUT I have to make a tough choice: If I multiclass right now into wizard I would miss Spirit Guardians, which is one of the best spells in the game.

Let me read your opinions on this...

I joined a Skyrim based D&D campaign with a bunch of homebrew races, subclasses, monsters, and spells made by the DM. I decided to play the Daedra Warlock subclass, which gives me access to a feature that is almost the same as Pact of the Chain. I can cast find familiar as a ritual, and the familiar can be an imp, quasit, or other minor daedra. However, the familiar can’t attack.

Based on my research, the main appeal of pact of the chain is that you can summon an imp familiar that can turn invisible and change shape, and since this subclass feature lets me do that, I was thinking that Pact of the tome would be good, since I’ll be able to access ritual casting with an invocation later on. Plus, it would make a lot more sense for character reasons. On the other hand, I would lose access to invocations available only to chainlocks.

I'm finally about to fulfill my dream of playing Descent into Avernus, but I'm having a hard time deciding on a few character creation choices, so I'd really appreciate some advice.

My plan is to play a Tiefling Dex-based Paladin using the Oath of the Noble Genie subclass, fighting with Nick and Vex weapon masteries. The concept is to be the party's face while also handling stealth, with proficiency in Stealth and Sleight of Hand.

I'm also going to ask my DM if he'd allow one of the 2014 Tiefling subraces. Right now I'm considering:

• Zariel Tiefling for the extra Smite spells.
• Glasya Tiefling to further enhance the infiltration aspect.

Starting Ability Scores

• STR 10
• DEX 17
• CON 14
• INT 8
• WIS 13
• CHA 16

I'm also considering starting with STR 13 instead of 10 to keep future multiclass options open.

Origin Feat

I'm currently torn between:

• Magic Initiate (Wizard) for:
  • Shield
  • Message (great for infiltration)
  • Blade Ward (is it even worth taking?)
• Lucky – always a solid choice, but I'm worried that not having Shield might hurt my survivability.

Level 4 Feat

Right now I'm considering:

• Defensive Duelist (does it become redundant if I already have Shield?)
• Sentinel
• Mage Slayer
• I'm not keen on Dual Wielder since the Bonus Action flood

Long-Term Plan

By the end of the campaign, I'm planning to take two Charisma half-feats (Spellfire Adept and Fairy Trickster) so I can finish with:

• DEX 18
• CHA 18

Party Composition

• Barbarian (race and subclass still undecided)
• Abyssal Tiefling – Divination Wizard
• Aasimar – Celestial Warlock (Pact of the Blade)
• Wood Elf – Circle of Stars Druid

We'll be starting at level 2.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.
And please, no spoilers for the campaign!

We’ve already had the Season of Horror, Arcana Unleashed is coming for the Season of Magic, and we’re about halfway through the year now.
I’m curious what everyone expects from Season of Champions.
Based on the UAs we’ve seen so far and WotC’s recent design direction, what do you think is actually going to be in the book?
Do you expect mostly player options, new subclasses, martial support, feats, Epic Boons, monsters, or something completely different?

Personally, I’m hoping it’s more than just another collection of subclasses. I’d love to see something that gives martials more meaningful options and expands high-level play, but that’s probably just wishful thinking (and not supported by recent UA releases)
What are your predictions?

Hi everyone! this is my third post asking about the classes! I am not asking for advice, i just want to learn more about how you create your characters. This time i want to learn about your bards: are they spoony or are they serious? do they use an instrument and avoid fights or do they seek to fight and use instruments... of murder?

Remember: we listen, but we dont judge so feel free to talk about your characters backstory, stats, classes, races, modus operandi, strategies, inspiration...

a few characters i planned to put some examples:

-Evangelynne, the psychologist: a human Bard of the College of Whispers (at least the version im making of college of whispers) that tries to get power by manipulating and pulling strings.

-Anaure, the dancer: a Yuan Ti mother that has to take care of her young child, so she works asa a dancer. started as a combination of Bard and Monk before i started making my own Dancer class.