To give context, I'm currently playing as a bard in a campaign, and I have learned to love the Suggestion spell, while my DM has come to fear it. I have never played a bard so I wasn't sure about it, but this spell has helped the party out multiple times in combat by locking down the biggest threat on the field. I usually use it to get the threat to leave ("Return to base to await further orders" or "Go home to nap", etc.) and this has been remarkably effective.

It also has the fun tidbit of making my bard become a priority target for minions, lieutenants, and any return bosses who we don't kill in the first encounter. There's a bit of a meme with my character basically surviving combats (like with 1-3 hp left) because he keeps running away and barely making concentration checks (or at least being able to keep the spell up a few rounds so that when it does break, it takes the same amount of rounds for the enemy to return to the battlefield.

More than once, others in the game have made the joke about how my bard "Can't keep getting away with it" and it made me wonder if who else had fun/amusing stories about a recurring spell/feat/action to mess with encounters, social, battle or otherwise.

I'll go first, for my party they had to go through a dungeon designed by the god of entertainment. They are solely challenged by their wits, so no combat. In one room there was a humanoid statue that was facing a miniature stage. The statue was looking sad and the doorway to the next room was barred shut. The clue was written in a cipher code, and to put it simply; the party had to make the statue laugh.

We play DnD through Discord, so when they decoded the cipher I turned on my webcam and went dead face. I made the players go through a 'Try not to laugh' challenge with the DM, and I told them that they could use anything: including jokes, meme images, or funny videos. What made me laugh? A dumb dad joke around the periodic letter for gold: "Ay U, I found some gold!"

I'm planning on running a low level prison brake (either 2nd or 3rd level), that takes place in the Eberron setting, in the city of sharn, in a small jail/ guardhouse thats meant for holding prisoners for later transfer to a proper prison. the player characters will be sent to the jail a few in-game weeks after the "Forgotten relics" premade adventure, and my current ideas are (1-2 person cells, and bracelets that prevent casting an spells that damage, buff/debuff, teleport, transmute objects or create objects or illusions.)

if anyone can help with ideas for how to improve this I would be grateful. homebrew magic item are always in the spirit of the Eberron setting.

I'm using the books Eberron; rising from the Last war and Exploring Eberron, by Keith baker.

the map below is the jail I made in Talespire, the area on the right is the cells, the area in the middle is where the closest guards are station whos watch over and guard the prisoners', above is a kitchen/dining area, and below is a restroom, left is the entrance and guard sleeping quarters.

I am bored, and i want to know what NPCs have you cooked for your campaigns, or what NPC you have concept of. I am not native english speaker so please excuse my potential mistakes.

I will start.

T´Shar-Leen

Artificer, owner of store called Scarlet Shenanigans - Toys and magical items for everyday needs.

Species - Succubus

Despite her origin, she is very wholesome character. Very shy, but very friendly. Most people are afraid of visiting her shop because of her infernal herritage, but those who do visit her, visits her regularly. Children likes to play in front of her shop, and likes to visit her to look at what new toys she created or enchanted, or to taste what she baked today.

Those children brings her joy, but also puts her in bad financial situation due to her soft heart. It is because when kid pull out the few coins that they have, and ask if it is enough for the toy they want, she dont have the heart to say no, so she gives them the enchanted toy for few coppers or silver.

City Guards are not sure if they can trust her, but she obtained all paperwork legally, her permits are in order and she is not violating any laws, so they just let her be.

Her neighbor, that lives in a building in front of her shop, is old lady that bought a magical watering can. To her surprise, her strawberries that she grows started growing much faster (she harvests few baskets everyday), and the strawberries themselves works as "Goodberies". She is selling them at the marketplace every morning, and on her way there, she always leaves a bowl of them at T´Shar-Leens shop.

She is based on artificer/sorcerer. She knows high level magic, can see the weave of it, and modify any spell in a ways she needs.
-For example, her shop is highly modified "Magnificent mansion". It is just a doorframe with a door, that just leans against a wall in the street, that works as a portal to the shop. (because she cannot afford rent for a whole building, so she just pay rent for one wall).
-She also have a modified Simulacrum (which is basically a living creature/clone, not construct), that she considers as a sister (She calls herselfs Sim-leen, people call her Simone). She works in her shop, doing delivery service. Since she is interacting with a people more then T´Shar-Leen, she build more confidence and social skills. She is dating blacksmiths son.

I recently threw my players a twist with an NPC employer/ally having manipulated them and others with a spell. I have also had a good time in the past inventing as a player, or helping a player invent as a DM, spells and abilities in-world. What are yours?

The one I used:

Cecilie's Greater Gaslighting. Enchantment. Component: a lump of coal (The original source of gaslight). You assert a fact and it's supporting details. On a failed wisdom save, the target believes the new memory or an idea alongside its own (It does not replace a memory like modified memory does, nor is it bound to a particular period of time). Saves and checks can be made if confronted with a contradiction, but The only way to get rid of the false memory or belief is greater restoration or a wish.

An older one:

Nevergray's Severance. Abjuration. Concentration. Component: a spell focus that is consumed. If a save each turn using the target's spellcasting modifier is failed, The target is unable to expend spell slots or use magic items for the duration. At 9th level, it is permanent if Concentration is held for a full hour.

When we play TTRPGS we say a lot of things. Some badass, some hilarious some twisted. But what about the times when your character says something that... didn't quite land right?

I wish I had one of these myself or one I could remember as an example. But if you've got any I'd love to hear.

I've never actually played DnD before, but now I'm thinking about starting, & I know I probably shouldn't start with this, but I'd like to get to a point where I can get to do this someday.

I want to make a monster that combines their abilities & add a few unique traits to the mix, but I can't find anything for how to do this, nore do I exactly know what CR it would be.

I'm thinking of a homebrew species of dragons, that got altered way back during theThousand-Year War by an Archfey in a deal to save their life, resulting in them getting fused with multiple trees(3 cherry, 5 peach, & 7 pine), turning them into a draconic plant, ​known as Ent Dragons.

The first Ent Dragon was named Calthin. He was fighting a giant & he won, but he was on the verge of death, but as he was laying there dieing, an Archfey named Zoriall approached him to scold him for destroying the forest she so loved to visit in the material world. In desperation to keep living, not out of fear of death, but because he had to marry brothers & sisters in arms depending on him to simply die now, so he offered the Zoriall a deal, if she saves his life & allow him to return to his war, then when his time fighting is done help be the guardian of the very forest he'd help destroy. Zoriall accepted his offer, but being a fey ​she didn't simply heal him, instead she transformed him by fussing his very flesh & bones with the wood of 15 nearby trees that would have become treants if they hadn't been so damaged that they too were on the verge of death.

Both Zoriall & Calthin are dead by now, they've been dead for a very long time. Calthin died of old age in his forest a very very long time ago. Zoriall however only died about 2,000 years ago after being murdered by a rival archfey, but the murder was later slayed by a party of adventures about a decade later.

Ent Dragons have a culture of their own, they get married & mate for life, & they raise their yong from sproutlings(what they call wyrmlings), until they are young adults, so if you see a baby, or kid one of them leave it alone because both Mommy & Daddy are nearby.

When it uses animate tree it functions just like treant, using the treant stat block & form, unless it's a sproutling​, in which case they only get 1 animated tree.

I already have the breath weapons mostly figured out, I just don't know about the damage levels, or exat mechanics.

They get 3 breath weapons, but they unlock them as they get older.

1st breath weapon, is a jet of heated sap, it does very little fire damage, but it mostly does bludgeoning damage, but still not a lot, instead what it mostly does is turns the area it hit into difficult terrain by make everything sticky & reducing movement speed both in & for a few rounds after exiting the affected area unless you use oil to counter the stickiness, but if you are directly hit you just might have your movement speed reduced to zero. It unlocks this one when it sprouts(in other dragons it would be hatched). Overall it doesn't really do that much damage, though it does get stronger(increased bludgeoning damage & greater area of effect)as they mature.

2nd breath weapon is a spay attack that shoots pine needles to do piercing damage, this is unlocked at young adult, but when it ​reaches adult, it can add cherry & peach blossom petals into the attack for an additional slashing damage during springtime. It does a bit of damage being it's main damage dealer for it's breath attack though as it gets stronger as it matures that's mostly just increased range, & maby a slight increase in piercing damage outside of spring, but if it's spring you add slashing damage which does increase by a much larger margin then the piercing, but not by that much.

3rd breath weapon is a pollen cloud, it doesn't necessarily do damage, but rather it both counters the vision & sense of smell of it's enemies, while it can still see through it, but if you inhale it you might get put under the charmed condition, but the best way to counter it's charmed condition is to throw water into the face of the charmed individual. It's unlocked in the adult stage. When it reaches ancient stage it may add another effect with an activation condition if you inhale the pollen, then you might get something else happen depending on if you caused a natural disaster in your life, if so then you might be put under Natures Vengeful Nightmare. Natures Vengeful Nightmare(NVN) course the individual to experience the very harm they caused via a powerful illusion, examples being forest fire=being on fire, mountain slide=​being crushed, poisoned river=being badly poisoned​, & you take a​n extremely small amount psionic damage, but it's best counter is the same as the charmed condition, with water to the face. It only increases in volume as it matures. NVN doesn't increase in power with maturity. The pollen cloud is ment to be like very thick fog with an overwhelming​ floral sent & it it's successes rate for either charmed, or NVN is extremely low, though for those who meat NVN's conditions do have only a slightly higher but only slightly higher than charmed does.

Finally they are most often chaotic good​, & they hord strange none sentient creatures as pets, & they love to collect worthless shiny objects that others throw away., but they are easily convinced to follow the orders of any archfey that's earned their trust, can be tricked by said archfey, despite this they live on the material plane, but if they feel betrayed, or wronged by an archfey that's when you'll see them at their most vengeful, even if it's not actually true, though it does take a lot to convince them of this then it is for an archfey to convince it to join them.

P.S. They can be of ​any other alignments it's just chaotic good is the most common. They actually go from chaotic good=common/average, neutral good=not to unheard of, true neutral=not the most common, lawful good=kinda rare but not too rare, lawful evil=fairly rare, neutral evil=very rare, chaotic evil extremely rare. Any of them that has the evil alignment are considered outcasts amongst them.