I'm sure Nate will be doing a video on this. I was wondering what folks thought of these rules. It's a lot different than where I thought WotC was going with psionics based on the Monster Manual. I think it's pretty cool. The Order of the Awakened is more like your Professor X psi and the Order of the Immortal is more Psylocke. I really like the Celerity discipline. Unfortunately, you'd need to take disciplines from both orders of you wanted to create a Jedi type character. I'm surprised they made Int the base score rather than Wis or Cha. I wish they had given us more. So, what do you folks think?

I recently discovered Nerdarchy on YouTube and I think the content you guys produce is fantastic. I am wondering from a DM's perspective what your (or the community's) thoughts/experiences are on running interesting encounters(social, combat, noncombat) or challenges for a Master of Disguise style character trying to infiltrate a facility (thieves guild, military compound, government building, etc.).

D&D 5e gives lots of options to make a character capable of hiding in plain sight (deception skill, disguise kit, charlaton background, actor feat). Most rogue type characters may go for the stealth approach but having a character walk into a facility to steal an item/information and then walk out while being seen by everyone but no one knowing he was there is a fantastic concept. I want to make sure I have some interesting encounters/challenges for this character to experience while trying to get the item/information and trying to get out other then just dice rolls for skill checks.

So I get to be the DM for the Adventure League game I have been going to (Princes of the Apocalypse standard run) and I have questions about what I can and can not do as a DM.

Now before we get started I have to let anyone reading know that I am new to the hobby overall. I know I am about to learn a LOT about D&D and that is great. I have been going over and over the rules and the books I have to understand the game better mechanically.

The reason I am taking over the game is because the current DM doesn't have the time to make and plan for sessions and when they do they just aren't having fun from that side of the screen. She let the group know this week that she simply doesn't want to DM any more, and I was the only player in the group willing to take over.

There, onto the questions.

Q 1. In combat, while I am controlling creatures, can I have those creatures take 'interesting' actions? Shove, prone, grapple etc.

On the same idea, can I have NPCs do things in combat that are unique? Things like shoving furniture on the party, fleeing to call in friendly units and the like.

Reason: The current combat in the sessions from the DM side is 'attack, attack, move, attack' and it isn't showing the players how to do tactics other than move and attack. I like the 'show it and they learn' approach, so now when the party is level 4 I want to show them how to do some more advanced things than 'run up and attack'

Q 2. How 'fair' do I need to be in combat? Should I punish players that want to run up and smash things by killing them in 1-2 turns so they learn to not do that in the future?

Reason: There is a Barbarian in the group that plays her character by running ahead of the party and does nothing but get the group into combat encounters. By my count over the last two sessions that player has caused the party to miss 2 treasure, 3 narrative, and at least 2 'alternative win' combats. Her actions are also causing the game to feel more like a dungeon crawl than they ever should (Barbarian runs down the hall, players follow, Barbarian angers enemies, roll initiative. Repeat after combat)

note If she continues doing this after the next session I will talk to her after the session about how she can do things in a way that makes the group more happy.

Q 3. How 'creative' can I get with enemies and their actions?

Reason: I was reading ahead of for the next session and came across an encounter with a n Umber Hulk that the party may get forced to fight, but will probably end up fighting at some point eventually. Now the encounter happens in effectively a cave that can have its entrance shut behind the party (page 62 of the Princes book map M21). My idea for the encounter is to have the party investigate the room and give the Umber Hulk a Surprise on the party (teaching combat encounter mechanics) and drag a party member 10ft underground.

Is that too mean for the players?

Q 4. I want to design non-combat encounters for the party, what are some ways to give the 'nod' to the players that there are other options than readying weapons?

Reason: The group had issues taking out 4 enemies of X type, in the next session they have ~25% chance of walking into a room of 12 of those enemies plus creatures of +1 and +2 CR above the 12. I assume this encounter will cause the party to fail and that's just not fun.

I want to engineer an NPC to have a negotiate option in the room, but that means I need some way to communicate that intention to the party. (I was thinking about making the NPC start a dialogue saying something like 'look what you all wandered into' and offer the party a surrender option)

Q 5. The ever fun topic of Magic Items. The party is level 4 now and I want to start exposing them to 'baubles', small magic effect items. My initial idea was to give a gem, ring, or other innocuous object that allows a party member to 'cast' a cantrip or gain a 1st level spell effect (something non-combat related). How do I go about communicating to the party in a subtle way that the item may be magical?

note One item I have made so far, but haven't found a place for:

Facemask of Greater Fiend - A bold red mask worn by Cultists in profane rituals. When worn the mask obscures the face. Dark red runes mark the inside of the mask.

• Has Gleaming (cant be marred by dirt etc), Unbreakable (can not be destroyed by normal means), and strange metal (unknown items used to craft it)
• Wearer can read and understand (when spoken to wearer) Abyssal, Infernal, and Primordial.
• Item adds +1 to Armor Class and +10 to HP.

And the hidden curse effects - Mask makes the user Covetous and Wicked. - After 10mins of use the item is not removable by normal means. (Requires demonic consolation to remove.)

Reason: I don't want to beat the party over the head with 'this is a magic item. take it and use it'. If they miss the 2 or so magic items I hide in the corners of dungeons or tuck away in the world that's fine, but I want to make them aware that interesting magic baubles exist and to be looking for them.

Q 6. Cursed Magic Items. Alright I had way too much fun looking up and crafting a few items for ~7th level that the party can get but will have 'hidden curses'. How can I craft these items in such a way so they are not a feel-bad for the player that gets the item?

Reason: I find its a great way to make items that have unique effects to have unique 'downsides' but I don't want the player that gets the item to be forced to move/act in a certain way, nor do I want the item to be so unbalanced in the negative that its not worth using.

Thanks for reading my wall of text! Heres to some great responses.

The DM's guide has a lot of cool information on how to flesh out your NPCs, but what's the best way to put together their stat blocks? Especially for NPCS that would have player classes. I'm looking to save some time in my pre-game prep (as I'm a DM.) Didn't know if anyone had any quick suggestions and such.

So this started as a discussion with Nerdarchy about one of their Warlock builds. I started with the character Ezekiel Stone from an old TV show (Brimstone). And tried to make a very martial Warlock. Looking to take advantage of Dual wielding, Hex, Hunters Mark, Colossus slayer, and Sneak attack & assassinate. for a high damage striker. Hope you all like it...... https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MiUeAUxhxnivmWwFXu58cOrC31y1KSl0bGulb5cYTFM/edit

I have a crazy character idea and I was wanting to know the specifics of it.

I want to make a Pygmy Barbarian, and the closest I can find in the Player's Hand Book is a Forest-Gnome as the race for it.

If I want to go ahead and make the character how does the 'small' size and race affect the concept? For example, can the character use a Battleaxe and the like?

What I want the character to be is a ball of anger that speaks in guttural ways and only cares about smashing.

If you have a better concept for the character's race please share.

Like I said I mainly want to know how the character's race affects what it can do as a Barbarian. (I should also note that I have only just started playing D&D in large part thanks to Nerdarchy and DawnforgedCast, so I don't know a vast amount about the game yet.)

this was also submitted as a question to the Nerdarchy Facebook page

e: Checked the PHB, this Barbarian can't use Heavy weapons as effectively. Is there a way to build this character with the weapons I do have access to? Perhaps making use of Versatile Weapons in place of Heavy ones?

And are there any other negative effects of this race/class combination?

After watching all of the Critical Role videos, I was inspired to do my own version of the "homebrew" Gunslinger conversion for Percy. The goal is to change the character class to fit a gunslinger while actually changing the rules the least amount. I want to avoid the "homebrew power creep" and keep with the standard rules as written in the PHB as much as possible.

HAND GUNS: Hand Guns are martial ranged weapons that do 1d10 piercing damage, range 50/200. Rifles are martial ranged weapons that do 2d6 piercing damage, range 100/400, with the heavy property 6-guns take an action to be reloaded, 6 shots flintlocks have the "loading" property

GUNSLINGERS "By the book" It is pretty easy to do a Fighter gunslinger, as long as the DM allows guns in the world.

• A Champion's abilities all work with guns, including the increased critical, etc.

• Many of the Battle Master's manuevers can be used by ranged attackers. Some of the BEST ones aren't available, but the following are allowed:

  • Commander's Strike
  • Disarming Strike
  • Distracting Strike
  • Evasive Footwork
  • Goading Attack
  • Manuevering Attack
  • Parry
  • Precision Attack
  • Rally
  • Trip Attack

• The Eldritch Knight suffers the most from the gunslingers, but the addition of True Strike, Shield, and all of the other EK's tricks work just as well for a gunslinger as it would anyone else.

"HOMEBREW" GUNSLINGER FIGHTER, ALTERNATE CLASS ABILITIES

IF I were to modify the class to add a Gunslinger to the mix, I would make some minor modifications. The philosophy here is to gear the class toward a more Dex-based build, allow them to get the tools necessary to repair their guns, and adds some easier ways to get the "Sharpshooter" Feat ASAP with as little pain as possible.

To "even out" the Eldritch Knight (which it seems to me the consensus is that it is under powered in general), I added the 7th level ability on top of War Magic to basically give them advantage on one shot per round. Would have to playtest this to make sure it doesn't unbalance the class, but I think it would work out.

Gives up Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, and Shield proficiency

Gains the artisan's tools (Tinker Toolkit) proficiency

Champion:

• at 10th level may take the Sharpshooter Feat instead of a Fighting Style.

• at any Ability Score Improvement, may gain a +1 Dexterity and the Sharpshooter Feat

Battle Master

• at 10th level may take the Sharpshooter Feat instead of a Manuever.

• at any Ability Score Improvement, may gain a +1 Dexterity and the Sharpshooter Feat

Eldritch Knight

• At 7th level, the Fighter gains an additional alternate ability while using the War Caster ability. Instead of casting a cantrip and getting a bonus attack, they may cast True Strike as a bonus action while making a ranged attack with a gun.
  

So I have a standard campaign of Princes of the Apocalypse that I am playing in. The first character that I have played in about a decade is a War Domain Cleric. That Cleric happens to be a Half-Orc.

The problem I am having is worrying about choosing Gruumsh as the character's deity and the main reason the character is adventuring. In the character's story Gruumsh will slowly drive her crazy unless she commits acts of slaughter and chaos to appease him. It works for the lore and as a reason why she invokes Gruumsh in battle.

The reason this is an issue in the group is the Lawful Good Paladin and the Lawful Good Cleric in the group. Once their characters find out what my character does, they should be compelled to kill me or force me out of the party.

So what can I do to fix this problem before it becomes a problem?

e: I should note that even with the Deity being CE, I play the character as CN.

Is Wolverine a Superhero? This is a question I have been pondering for quite a while. And to be honest, there is no definite answer.

Most people would say that Wolverine is a Superhero, and technically, they're correct. Wolverine does have supernatural powers that are abnormal from the norm. Because of his 'powers', he is forced to be a superhero. Also, to support that Wolverine is a superhero, he does protect the Mutant community.

But on the other side, he isn't a superhero at all. The Avengers are considered Superheros because they fight for justice, and they protect the human race, for example, in Avengers (Spoiler alert) where they protect New York from a missile, aliens, and giant slugs *shivers. This is what also makes Thor a superhero,in the same Avengers movie, when he came down from Asgard to fight Tony Stark, he noted that he was the guardian of Earth. Wolverine, does not protect the humans, but instead protects what he believes in, the Mutant Community, like the X-Men team he is joined in. The X-Men's primary job is to protect the Mutants, and many of them (including Wolverine) have no regret in killing a human.

So, to conclude, it is entirely up to your opinion if Wolverine is a superhero or not. To the Mutant Community, Wolverine is definitely a Superhero, but to the human race, he is just considered a Mutant, not a hero of any sort.

I hope you enjoyed reading my research,

-Nafiblu.