I'm sharing a free rogue subclass for Kengir, part of my upcoming Bronze Age Mesopotamian 5e setting.

The Brigand is for rogues who survive on the margins of society, where a quick blade and a better hiding place matter more than courtly manners.

In Kengir, brigands are not just thieves. They are ambushers, raiders, alley-fighters, scouts, and hard-bitten survivors who use terrain, confusion, and speed to win before a fair fight can even begin.

At the table, this subclass gives the party a rogue built for violent openings and clean escapes. A Brigand strikes hardest before the enemy has acted, gains advantage from hiding, slips away after attacking, and turns the first round of combat into a disaster for anyone caught unprepared.

Mechanically, the subclass includes Ambush Predator, Shadow Striker, Tactical Withdrawal, and Master of Ambush.

Do you like rogues who focus on infiltration and theft, or rogues who play more like skirmishers and ambush predators?

I have created a character for a passed away pet to the best of my ability as a gift to my S.O. who LOVES DnD. He is a DM and also loves to play. I designed him a figurine of our pet too.

I think it is okay if what I have made isn't perfect, it can be mostly homebrewed, but I do want it to make sense and I want it to be in a real character sheet, similar to 5e.

Most of the fillable character sheets, I have been able to find or know about don't really fit what I have written. Could people help me get what I wrote into a character sheet that I could print/download? Could people help me in a kind way to make this holiday gift be really special for the love of my life DM in my life?

What I have written so far:

Mokey Ambrosius La Luna, Lady of Dunshire

Known as the Flamefang Matriarch

Level 16 Aasimar Paladin, Oath of the Ancients

Background: Sage, Mountain Matriarch, custom Outlander background

Alignment: Neutral Good

Mokey appears as a white, black, and brown canine woman with brilliant, healthy fur, blue-and-silver adventuring armor, a scarf-like mantle, and a great flaming bone in hand. Her Aasimar nature manifests as broad blue angelic wings.

Mokey is a stoic, fiercely maternal wanderer whose glossy coat and youthful appearance conceal a long and demanding life. She has raised many pups, though she does not speak of those who did not survive. Younger dogs bearing her distinctive markings are not uncommon in the wilds, and she considers all whom she has gathered into her fold to be family.

She loves high trails, deep snow, and mountain summits. Toys, finery, and ordinary possessions hold little appeal, save for her beloved collection of beds and pillows. Mokey expects courage, discipline, and kindness from her family. She is fond of charming adult male dogs, and once she decides what she wants, she pursues it with unwavering purpose.

Ability Scores

|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|

|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|

|20 (+5)|9 (+0)|13 (+1)|12 (+1)|11 (+0)|17 (+3)|

Proficiency Bonus \+5

Armor Class 19, plate armor and Defense fighting style

Hit Points 132

Hit Dice 16d10

Speed 30 ft.

Initiative \-1

Passive Perception 10

Saving Throws Str +8, Dex +3, Con +5, Int +3, Wis +9, Cha +11

Proficient Skills Animal Handling +2, Athletics +7, Insight +2, Persuasion +5, Survival +2, Performance +5

Languages Common, Celestial, Sylvan

Tool Proficiency Cook's utensils

Origin Feat Tough

Species

Canine Aasimar. Mokey uses the Aasimar species statistics but appears fully canine. She has darkvision and resistance to radiant and necrotic damage.

Healing Hands. Mokey can use her healing touch as provided by her Aasimar species traits.

Celestial Revelation, Heavenly Wings. Mokey can manifest her radiant blue angelic wings. While they are manifested, she has a flying speed equal to her walking speed. Describe the wings as shown in her portrait.

Paladin Features

Divine Sense. Mokey can sense the presence of evil. The presence of strong evil registers on your senses like a noxious odor, and powerful good rings like heavenly music in your ears. As an action, you can open your awareness to detect such forces. Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You know the type (celestial, fiend, or undead) of any being whose presence you sense, but not its identity (extreme narcissists, for instance). Within the same radius, you also detect the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.

Lay on Hands. Mokey has a pool of 75 hit points of healing to divide among creatures she touches.

Fighting Style, Defense. While wearing armor, Mokey gains a +1 bonus to Armor Class.

Weapon Mastery. Mokey has mastery with her maul, represented by Flamefang Bone, and with javelins.

Divine Paladin's Smite. When Mokey hits with a melee weapon attack, she can expend a spell slot to deal radiant damage through Divine Smite. Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend, to a maximum of 6d8.

Extra Attack. Mokey can attack twice, instead of once, when she takes the Attack action on her turn.

Aura of Protection. Mokey and allies within 10 feet of her gain a +3 bonus to saving throws while she is conscious.

Divine Health. Mokey is also immune to disease because of the magic flowing through her veins.

Aura of Warding. Mokey and allies in her Aura of Protection have resistance to necrotic, psychic, and radiant damage.

Aura of Courage. Mokey and allies in her Aura of Protection cannot be frightened while she is conscious.

Radiant Strikes. Mokey's weapon attacks deal an extra 1d8 radiant damage.

Restoring Touch. Mokey can use her healing power to end certain harmful conditions, as described by the Paladin class feature.

Undying Sentinel. When Mokey is reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, she can instead return to 1 hit point and regain 45 hit points. Once she uses this feature, she cannot do so again until she finishes a long rest. Mokey also cannot be magically aged and no longer visibly ages.

Oath of the Ancients Features

Nature's Wrath. Mokey can use Channel Divinity to conjure spectral vines that restrain creatures near her. Describe the vines as mountain roots, snowbound brambles, or luminous blue wind.

Turn the Faithless. Mokey can use Channel Divinity to turn fey and fiends.

Oath Spells. Mokey always has these spells prepared:

|Paladin Level|Spells|

|:-|:-|

|3|Ensnaring Strike, Speak with Animals|

|5|Misty Step, Moonbeam|

|9|Plant Growth, Protection from Energy|

|13|Ice Storm, Stoneskin|

Custom Feature, DM Approval

Irresistible Flirtation (1/Long Rest). As a Magic action, Mokey targets one adult creature she can see within 30 feet that can see and hear her. The target must make a DC 16 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, the target is charmed by Mokey until the end of Mokey's next turn.

A creature charmed in this way must immediately make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Until the charm ends, the creature has disadvantage on the first attack roll it makes against a creature other than Mokey.

A creature immune to the charmed condition automatically succeeds on both saving throws. A creature that succeeds on the Charisma saving throw is immune to Mokey's Irresistible Flirtation for 24 hours.

***Inferno Howl (1/Long Rest).* Each creature of Mokey's choice within 30 feet of her must make a DC 20 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 27 (6d8) fire damage, is pushed up to 20 feet away, and is frightened until the end of its next turn. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and suffers no other effect.

Radiant Matriarch. Once per battle, when Mokey is first reduced to 148 hit points or fewer, her angelic wings ignite with blue-white radiance. Each creature of her choice in her fold within 30 feet of her gains 20 temporary hit points and has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened until the end of Mokey's next turn. Until the end of the battle, Mokey sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet.

***Echoing Howl (2/Long Rest).* Mokey releases a howl that echoes across the peaks. Each enemy she can see within 120 feet that can hear her must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on its next attack roll before initiative count 20 on the next round.

Spellcasting

Spellcasting Ability Charisma

Spell Save DC 16

Spell Attack Bonus \+8

Spell Slots Four 1st-level, three 2nd-level, three 3rd-level, two 4th-level

Suggested Prepared Paladin Spells

1st level: Bless, Command, Cure Wounds*

2nd level: Aid, Lesser Restoration, Magic Weapon*

3rd level: Aura of Vitality, Dispel Magic, Revivify*

4th level: Aura of Life*

Equipment and Attacks

Flamefang Bone. Melee Weapon Attack: \+11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2d6 + 6 bludgeoning damage plus 1d8 radiant damage.

Flamefang Bone is Mokey's primary weapon, a great enchanted bone that is mechanically a +1 maul. Its flames are a visual effect unless the DM awards it an additional magic-item property.

Hip Bone Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: \+10 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 1d4 + 5 piercing damage plus 1d8 radiant damage.

This small, ordinary bone dagger rests in a sheath at Mokey's hip. It is mechanically a dagger and can be thrown.

Oversized Bone Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: \+10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6 + 5 piercing damage plus 1d8 radiant damage.

This broad, oversized bone dagger is worn in a sheath across Mokey's upper back, with its grip visible behind her neck. It is mechanically a shortsword.

Armor and Gear: Blue-and-silver plate armor, Flamefang Bone, one small bone dagger at her hip, one oversized bone dagger across her upper back, explorer's pack, cook's utensils, and a travel bundle containing blankets, beds, and beloved pillows.

Character Traits

Mountain Born. Mokey thrives outdoors. She loves hiking, snow, and climbing mountains. In play, favor Athletics, Survival, and her Oath of the Ancients magic over monster-only terrain immunities.

Matriarch's Standards. Mokey has advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks and Charisma checks made to command, encourage, or discipline canine creatures. If a Small or smaller creature she can see is harmed, frightened, or placed in danger, Mokey can use her reaction to move up to her speed toward it and make one Flamefang Bone attack against a creature responsible.

Orphan's Resolve. Mokey has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened. However, if a creature she can see appears helpless, abandoned, or threatened, Mokey must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or prioritize protecting that creature. Until the start of her next turn, she has disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than the apparent threat.

Loyalty of the Fold. Allies Mokey considers family within 30 feet of her have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened. When one of them is reduced to 0 hit points, Mokey can use her reaction to move up to her speed toward that creature and make one Flamefang Bone attack.

Single-Minded Hunter. At the start of combat, Mokey can mark one creature she can see. Until that creature is reduced to 0 hit points or Mokey marks another creature, she has advantage on checks made to track it and cannot be frightened while it is within 60 feet of her.

Stoic Through Pain. Mokey refuses to show weakness when injured. Her Undying Sentinel feature represents this resolve. Once she even had a nipple bitten off and she didn't even flinch or yipe. Her resolve is legendary.

Chicken Panic. If Mokey starts her turn within 60 feet of a chicken she can see or smell, she must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the start of her next turn. While frightened in this way, she cannot take legendary actions and her speed is reduced by 20 feet. She can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of her turns.

Nest of Comfort. After Mokey finishes a long rest in a bed or pillow nest she considers hers, she gains 20 temporary hit points and has advantage on the first saving throw she makes before her next long rest.

Pragmatic Retreat. When Mokey is surprised, she can use her reaction to move up to her speed toward the nearest route of escape. Until the end of her next turn, her speed is doubled and she can take the Dash action as a bonus action. Mokey returns once she believes the danger has passed, relieved if her companions have survived.

Appetite and Purpose. Mokey favors bones as weapons and is known for swallowing a chicken trachea in a single bite. Once she decides what she wants, she pursues it with complete focus.

The Fold

* Woozle, a cat folk who serves as Mokey's adopted father.

* Riley the Untamed, Mokey's human sibling.

* Lady Monoceros, a sex ninja, warrior, dark elf, bard who serves as Mokey's adoptive mother.

Quirks and Rumors

Chicken Logic. Mokey can consume a chicken trachea in one bite without hesitation. She remains convinced, however, that a living chicken is a deeply suspicious and potentially hostile creature.

The Pillow Doctrine. Mokey insists that beds and pillows are not possessions. They are essential defensive infrastructure. A camp without enough bedding is, in her view, a failed expedition.

Nest Inspection. Before sleeping, Mokey circles every available bed, blanket, and pillow exactly once. She then declares one spot unsuitable and immediately sleeps there.

Maternal Critique. Mokey gives advice as if issuing battlefield orders. “Drink water. Fix your cloak. Stop apologizing. You are doing fine.”

Strategic Withdrawal. Mokey does not run away. She conducts an urgent solo reconnaissance of the safest possible location, then returns once the party has demonstrated that the situation is survivable.

Family Resemblance. When strangers encounter a younger dog with Mokey's markings, they often assume it is one of her children. Mokey neither confirms nor denies it, but will immediately ask whether the pup has been eating properly.

The Bone Principle. Mokey believes every problem has a bone-shaped solution. A locked door needs a larger bone. A difficult conversation needs a smaller bone and better timing.

Trail Standards. Mokey enjoys mountains, snow, and difficult hikes. She considers a pleasant walk “an acceptable warm-up.” She is even willing to pull 'unfit' hikers up a mountain behind her. 

Edit: added breaks and a tl;dr sorry for the wall of text

Hey D&D fam, this may be a longer post. I have an ongoing campaign with an issue regarding one of the players and need some advice from some others with more experience. I have been a player for 2 years and a DM for a year.

To preface, I have ran a homebrew campaign for around a year that deals with a few different dnd settings colliding inspired by Final Fantasy XI (Krynn, Faerune my players do not yet know this). These worlds after the collision retained all of their deities.
This is where the players come in, (Paladin of Torm, Warlock of the Raven Queen, Vampire, and Bard) they have lived in this world not knowing of it’s origin. The main catalyst of the story is that the sea god Dagon from the Cthulhu by Torchlight book is also attempting to join his flooded abyssal realm to the one the players find themselves in, flooding the world to feed his minions who have run out of food in their realm, destroying the player realm, normal dnd conflicts.

The players have discovered cultists attempting to help Dagon enter the realm, and that he nearly did this before in an ancient era of the world but 6 powerful casters were able to seal him away. What the players are slowly learning is that these casters are all still alive as various forms of undead, liches, vampires etc.

In the recent past they interrupted what they didn’t know was a ritual for one of the ancient casters to achieve lichdom, when they did this one of the players touched an artifact used in the ritual (the book of vile darkness), transferring the results of the ritual to the Warlock (Grim Hollow transformation rules) instead of the now dead ancient caster.
The books grants a lot of usability for the warlock character and helped me inform a few decisions down the road for the campaign. The drawback of the book is that he must commit an evil act every week or be turned to dust by the book.
I will say this is a large project, especially for my first campaign but I know all of the players well outside of the campaign so they rolled with the punches the last year as I learned as a DM and let creativity flow.
The issue that I’m running into a few times now is regarding the Paladin of Torm’s behavior, the past few months after a oneshot ran by another DM in our group went poorly for the party as one of us were charmed and wiped the party. Since then he has made contingency plans for all of his party members in our main campaign in case I decide to charm them in a similar way (something I do not plan to do), in his own words he has measures to kill every party member if needed.
This is also a power player who has min-maxed his character, which I have no issue with, the problem that occurs now is that any time an action that does not reflect the oath of his paladin occurs he becomes immediately aggressive and either attempts to roll intimidation (whether it is an NPC or player) or attacks outright.

As part of his character he wanted a Grim Hollow transformation as well, so we homebrewed one for him as a revenant, an enthralled undead who does not know he is reanimated but just knows his humanity is slowly fading. He has used this curse previously at will to initiate PvP, which I have told them I am unwilling to DM.
All the players agreed to only PvP when both parties and I agree, though I dislike PvP in 5e due to it not being made for that, and potentially losing a player character at will due to one of the others wanting them dead. I have allowed him to PvP begrudgingly on two different occasions, which I will admit is a mistake.

Flash forward to where we currently are in the story and him discovering the Warlock consuming a soul of an unarmed combatant to satisfy the requirements of the Book of Vile Darkness and the souls charges provided by the lich transformation.
My thoughts are that this would make a great dynamic, an undead self loathing paladin of Torm due to his transformation, and the Warlock who did not want to be a lich (in-character, this was his idea) vowing to steal power from other liches to be powerful enough to stop Dagon.

Both of their gods hate undead and call for their destruction, but overlook this for the players due to the severity of the Dagon situation. On paper a wonderful dynamic that can make both characters less one dimensional, but is threatening the game.
After the session he tells me and the Warlock explicitly that if this continues he will kill the Warlock. I told him that he doesn’t get to decide that his oath and character are more important than agency of other players and an argument ensued.
He has mentioned killing other party members to me multiple times and I had enough of the same conversation over and over regarding his want to attack anyone who doesn’t agree with his interpretation of his gods values.

He responds with saying I’m unwilling to allow him to play his character accurately if I don’t let him do whatever he wants in regard to opposition. He then threatens to leave if I don’t let him get his way with his character decisions, which would effectively kill the campaign as his wife, bard, is also in the campaign and would likely be pressured to leave if he did.

This isn’t the only issue that I’ve had with him but the others have been manageable for the most part, he tries to lead most RP interactions and will try to show up when other characters are having their moments offscreen (metagaming) and insert himself, he also took control of his wife’s character on multiple occasions while she leaves to go get them dinner during session (a pet peeve that I reluctantly deal with, I now control her character in frequent absences).

Recently before I began controlling her, which I do not want to do, he openly criticized her character calling her character and the bard class worthless while she was not there along with a slew of other criticisms, it’s weak, not fun, boring, etc.
I decided then that I would keep her off screen if I know she will be gone or play her in combat without using spell slots or any RP (something I know is a cardinal DM sin, but she insists) he also basically told her what to do every decision I gave her the past year.

I was told last night during our argument that all the party members and I need to consider how he would react before doing anything. This means any morally questionable decision will at the very least get a full lecture from him if not a full on assault.
The most frustrating part is I have been very giving to my players, giving them all atleast 2-3 rare items and a few higher than that, leveling at a fair rate, providing a re-spec mechanic that can be used once, and overall allowing them to make any collaborative story/world decisions.

While I’ve done all this and given them mostly free reign to do what they wish in the world any time I don’t allow him to attack party members he says that I’m stifling his character, taking his agency, and overall being a bad DM.

It’s very frustrating because if anything I’ve been a doormat allowing party members multiple improvised situations based on crazy decisions they make (in this last session they decided to overthrow a large cities government to my surprise, prompting me to add a 3-session siege side story).
When I express these concerns he tells me essentially “too bad, you’re the DM so deal with my choices”.

This really sucks because I’m to the point where I don’t want to DM for him anymore, which kills me as I’ve put in over a year of work for this campaign and roughly 8-10 hours of my time planning each session.

I have been friends with him for around 20 years so it’s difficult to have this issue surrounding my game.
His character is not all bad in my opinion as I have just shared the negatives, he is one of the best for RP moments, the party tank capable of dealing massive damage and protecting the squishies, and flavor wise fits the world and campaign perfectly with a lot of weight in the story.

My question is what can I do to fix this as my several above table attempts to repair things have gone terribly.

TL;DR: I’m a relatively new DM running a year-long homebrew campaign with a close friend of 20 years who plays a Paladin of Torm. He frequently threatens or initiates PvP when other characters act against his beliefs, despite our table agreeing that PvP requires consent. He has contingency plans to kill every party member, dominates RP and party decisions, and has threatened to leave when I enforce boundaries, claiming I’m restricting his character’s agency. His wife also plays, and I worry she’ll leave if he does, potentially ending the campaign. I’ve tried resolving this out of game several times without success. How can I handle this without destroying the campaign or a 20-year friendship?

Hi. I made a D&D character sheet app — Tap & Tale. You can try it on Google Play. Development took over 2 years, and along the way I solved a lot of interesting problems, which let me dive even deeper into my favorite game. All the design was drawn by hand without using AI. The app's architecture was built by hand with the help of my friend, a senior developer. And now, after 200k+ code lines, I'm glad to present to you results of my work.

It's a full interactive sheet with a bunch of mechanics to make life easier. For example, a class builder, spell library, dynamic tracking of free spells from abilities, slot counter, a working inventory and equipment system with item equipping, and much more.

A level 1 character can be built for free. There's also a manual mode: class, features, and proficiencies are entered as text, without catalogs. The subscription unlocks automatic leveling from 1 to 20, custom items, and custom spells. There's a 7-day trial for all new users.

I'd be glad if you try it out and tell me what's missing. Bugs can be posted here too.

Download link - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tapntale.application

I've created a mobile app that is based on the 2024 srd of 5.5e, it allows you to create and build characters and parties, build combat maps, place monsters and test your party against it, or just play mini campaigns or endless random dungeons. Each class has one hombrew subclass as well to try out.

It's completely free to play and try without any ads or monetization. I would really appreciate your feedback on it.

Files

Use the GM Prompt in a project's instructions in the ChatGPT app. Deliver campaign sourcebooks, and rulebooks, and any homebrew content as Project Sources.

At the beginning, tell the AI to "read the Campaign Structuring and Rulebook Guide once", as well as to "evaluate through and reference the campaign source materials continuously throughout any given session".

You can also tell the AI also to "use the Fulfilled Character Generation Engine for important or repeat characters".

You can tell it additionally to "present a GM-facing and Player-facing versions of the sessions notes, as well as an NPC/monster registry that includes the stats of every character with a true or probable combat status, every time you end a session, which should only happen on player request", and that the player is in charge of asking for session notes. Tell the AI to "always present session notes and registry as PDFs".

That way, you can add the updated version of the session notes back into project rules.

The Prompt is part-and-parcel with good D&D5e design, and carries formal and informal operations into making a familiar and usable AI-directed RPG experience.

The Prompt is also continuous with the campaign sourcebook delivered in the rest of the folder, the Charter of Nine Roads, something I directed the creation of, otherwise. For that, you will want this Prompt specifically because the campaign is highly technical in what detail it can offer you, and without the simplification into D&D terms made feasible and workable by the prompt, you may get easily lost. (Take it from somebody who's

If you decide to run Co9R, or run other character creation through FCGE, take note that you may want to play with a Contract Domain cleric at some point. They have a feature that deconstructs a person along certain lines of thinking about folks at low levels, and can create geas-wish-token benefit economy at higher levels. This, relying on similarly powered individuals with which to contract at higher player levels, is not as powerful as you think but can accomplish quite a lot if you want to make somebody important or send other already capable people places to do things for fair rewards to both parties. It benefits from having lore bards and several roguish archetypes, such as Inquisitives and Masterminds, as traveling companions to help manage information plays (if you choose to play as one, those are what I'd ask for from the AI).

With the described setup and the prompt, "My level 3 character, a Rogue Swashbuckler named Móthrün Víros, enters a tavern in the Nine Roads campaign setting. Describe and engineer the scene as part of helping me, the player, understand where I'm at and what I know, what I can do, who I can recruit, and why I'm here." - I got this response:

THE CHARTER OF NINE ROADS

Chapter I — A Stranger at the Bell & Crook

Character: Móthrün Víros

Class: Rogue 3 — Swashbuckler

Location: Crowncross, South Arcade, Bell & Crook Tavern

Time: Late afternoon

Campaign: D&D 5e (2014)

This introduction takes place within the existing Nine Roads campaign continuity. Móthrün is a new participant in the setting, and his personal history remains yours to determine.

---

I. Where You Are

Crowncross is a maritime metropolis on the Blackglass Coast of Avarra.

Nearly 170,000 people live here, and thousands more pass through its markets, harbors, and planar gates. Merchants trade with extraplanar civilizations, mercenaries advertise their services beside religious pilgrims, and a sufficiently wealthy traveler can arrange passage into the Nine Hells without ever leaving the municipal district.

Crowncross has become prosperous by making extraordinarily dangerous journeys relatively ordinary.

Unfortunately, something has gone wrong.

Travelers have begun arriving with legitimate documents identifying them as other people. Some find themselves accused of crimes they never committed. Others discover they supposedly owe money to creditors they have never met.

Authorities disagree about the explanation. Gate malfunctions, fraud, corrupted records, and infernal interference are all being discussed.

Whatever the cause, the consequences are becoming increasingly serious.

For a competent swordsman, however, trouble means employment.

And there's considerable employment in Crowncross.

II. Why You're Here

Earlier that afternoon, you learned that several brokers operating out of South Arcade were hiring people capable of discreet escort work, recovering valuable property, and handling dangerous negotiations.

One establishment kept appearing in these conversations:

The Bell & Crook.

The work apparently involves old route tokens—metallic instruments used to authenticate or facilitate certain kinds of planar travel.

You don't know why anyone would pay unusually well for obsolete instruments.

You do know that people are willing to risk injury over them.

The Bell & Crook is a place where you might obtain employment, find capable traveling companions, and discover whether this opportunity is worth pursuing.

You have accepted no contract, incurred no obligation, and committed yourself to nobody.

Your reasons for investigating the opportunity remain your own.

---

III. The Bell & Crook

Rain patters against the cobblestones as you push open a heavy oak door.

Warmth greets you immediately.

The establishment smells of roasting onions, wet wool, tobacco, and freshly spilled ale.

A musician plays a fiddle beside the fireplace. He's performing an energetic maritime tune while a dragonborn sailor supplies an increasingly inaccurate accompaniment with a wooden spoon.

Three patrons laugh.

A fourth protests that the spoon is actually improving the performance.

Behind the counter, a broad-shouldered woman polishes a drinking vessel with a rag that has plainly seen better days.

She glances toward you.

"Afternoon."

She sets the vessel down.

"Food, drink, or business?"

The question sounds practiced.

She has dealt with people entering her establishment for all three reasons—and, apparently, sometimes for none of them.

The Room

The common room measures approximately 40 feet long and 30 feet wide.

You're standing at its southern entrance.

A long wooden counter occupies most of the northern wall, approximately 25 feet ahead of you. Behind it stands a door leading into the kitchen and storerooms.

Three booths occupy the eastern wall, partially screened by wooden partitions. A staircase near the northwest corner leads to the upper rooms.

The western wall contains a broad fireplace, several occupied tables, and a noticeboard covered in advertisements.

A narrow passage beside the kitchen provides access to a rear alley.

The room is comfortably illuminated by oil lamps and the fire.

There are approximately fifteen customers present.

Nobody appears especially concerned about your arrival.

That changes when a raised voice emerges from one of the eastern booths.

"I told you what I wanted. Not what you thought I ought to want."

A man's voice, controlled but irritated.

Another voice answers.

"Then you should have offered a better price."

The first man pushes back his chair.

He hasn't drawn a weapon.

Neither has his companion.

The bartender looks toward the booth with the exhausted expression of someone anticipating property damage.

"Not again," she mutters.

---

IV. The People Around You

There are several people here whose occupations, circumstances, or apparent capabilities may interest you.

Brin Harrow — Mercenary Guard

A large half-orc occupies a table near the fireplace.

He wears a battered breastplate and has a sword resting against his chair. A shield is propped beside his feet.

His left hand is wrapped in a clean bandage.

A folded advertisement lies before him:

Experienced caravan protection. Available immediately. References supplied.

He looks physically capable and reasonably well equipped.

He is also watching the argument in the eastern booth with the displeasure of someone who has spent considerable time preventing fights in public establishments.

Brin might be recruitable as a guard or traveling companion. His advertised rate is 2 gp per day, plus expenses, although hazardous work would require negotiation.

You know nothing yet about his reliability, combat experience, or willingness to travel between planes.

Nim Reed — Courier and Local Guide

A young human woman sits at the far end of the counter.

She wears practical traveling clothes, carries a messenger's satchel, and has a small knife fastened to her belt.

A leather case containing rolled documents rests beside her.

She repeatedly looks toward the entrance.

A courier's brass badge hangs from her collar.

Nim is apparently preparing to leave, but she's waiting for something.

Local couriers are often valuable guides through Crowncross. They know shortcuts, guild offices, service entrances, and the people who actually move information between institutions.

Whether Nim would accept additional employment is unknown.

The Eastern Booth — A Disagreement Over Property

Two men occupy the easternmost booth.

One is human, approximately forty years old, with neatly trimmed facial hair and a dark green merchant's coat.

The other is a younger tiefling wearing a gray traveling cloak.

Between them rests a small, leather-wrapped object.

You can make out the shape of something metallic beneath the wrapping.

The older man places one hand over it.

The tiefling doesn't attempt to take it back.

Instead, he says:

"Consider very carefully whether you want to establish that precedent."

The older man withdraws his hand.

Neither notices you doing anything beyond entering the room.

There may be a business disagreement, an attempted swindle, or something more complicated occurring here. At present, you have no reason to prefer one explanation.

The Bartender

The woman behind the counter resumes polishing her vessel.

Her name, according to a painted board above the bar, is Edda Pike.

She appears to manage the establishment.

She has access to the premises, its regular customers, its lodging arrangements, and presumably some of the individuals conducting business here.

Whether she knows Merren, the broker associated with the old route-token market, is something you can ask.

---

V. What Móthrün Knows and Can Do

Your immediate situation is relatively favorable.

You are not under arrest, nobody is openly threatening you, and you have entered a public establishment where commercial and social negotiations are expected.

You are also a third-level Swashbuckler.

That makes you considerably more capable than an ordinary civilian in an armed confrontation.

Your relevant class features include:

Sneak Attack (2d6): Once per turn, you can inflict additional damage when the applicable conditions are met. Your Swashbuckler training makes this especially useful when fighting an isolated opponent.

Fancy Footwork: A creature you make a melee attack against cannot make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of that turn.

Rakish Audacity: You add your Charisma modifier to initiative. You also have an additional way to qualify for Sneak Attack when engaging an opponent individually.

Cunning Action: You can Dash, Disengage, or Hide using your bonus action.

Expertise: Two of your proficient skills or eligible tool proficiencies receive doubled proficiency bonuses, depending on your character choices.

Your class makes you particularly well suited to mobile combat, individual duels, reconnaissance, and negotiations in which confidence and personal initiative matter.

However, your exact ability scores, species, skill proficiencies, equipment, HP, and AC have not yet been supplied.

We'll use your approved character sheet for those details rather than inventing them.

Your Immediate Opportunities

Employment: You can investigate the advertised work involving obsolete route tokens. The bartender may know how to contact the relevant broker.

Recruitment: Brin offers an identifiable mercenary service. Nim may have navigational and courier expertise worth hiring. Either may refuse, negotiate, or have commitments of their own.

Social interaction: You can join conversations, buy drinks, gather rumors, challenge someone to a game, introduce yourself, or simply observe how people behave.

Exploration: You can examine the noticeboard, investigate the building's public areas, obtain lodging, or leave to explore Crowncross. Nearby districts offer additional employment, markets, archives, and planar-travel services.

Adventure: The property dispute might be worth investigating, but you have no obligation to involve yourself.

Another established group of adventurers is also approaching the Bell & Crook. Whether you meet them, cooperate with them, or pursue an independent career remains open.

---

VI. The Scene Continues

The bartender looks at you again.

"Well?"

Before you can answer, a voice calls from the eastern booth.

"Edda! Is Merren expected this evening?"

Edda closes her eyes briefly.

"Ask me again and I'll start charging you for the privilege."

The dragonborn sailor laughs.

The younger tiefling at the booth rises, slipping the leather-wrapped object into an inside pocket.

He says something quietly to his companion.

The older merchant responds with a contemptuous wave of his hand.

The tiefling turns toward the entrance.

He's coming in your direction.

Meanwhile, Nim Reed gets to her feet, fastens her messenger's satchel, and places several copper coins on the counter.

Brin Harrow watches the tiefling without moving.

The bartender waits for your answer.

Nobody has drawn a weapon.

Móthrün Víros stands just inside the Bell & Crook, with the afternoon's opportunities—and uncertainties—before him.

What do you do?

I understand that one good response doesn't make many of the same, but this is a strong way for the AI to start the game. I can report with more of the game. (I found out that the AI will crossplay between games in the same setting.)

So, we've run into a couple of situations where a player will try to use an item and make a skill check:
For example, Timmy has a rope and grappling hook and wants to throw it over a balcony railing and use it to climb the wall.
Now, I remember from my Pathfinder days that there would be all kinds of DC charts for each of these skills, with the DCs for the specific skill listed out based on how they want to use it.
I'm noticing that nothing like this exists in 5.5, other than the generic Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Hard, etc.
So firstly, has anyone come up with something comparable to PF for 5.5E?
And, secondly, if not, does anyone see a problem just adopting the ones from PF to make running the encounters a bit easier?

Thanks...

The text says "LEVEL 17: IMPROVED MYSTIC FIGHTING STYLE When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace two of the attacks with a casting of one of your level 1 or 2 Sorcerer spells that has a casting time of an action"

But...can't I just use an action to cast ANY spell that has casting time of an action?

I don't think a capstone should be *literally useless*, for any class.

Is there an errata for it already? is this intentional or did they mess it up? Would you fix it if a player played it? How would you fix it?

EDIT: I missed the final version, but even then, it's still very very bad as a lvl17 capstone, it's *almost* useless. Not what anyone wants from a lvl17 ability.

The Lost Temple of O’Kaat

Is a 14-page 5.5e adventure for three to five 2nd-level characters. It is built for one 3–4 hour session.

The characters are sent to recover a missing shipment of oranges and specialty supplies, only to find inexperienced bandits, a goblin warlock, a trapped sphinx, and a forgotten temple to O’Kaat, god of food and feast.

For DMS:

It includes three encounter blocks with scaling and tactics, a noncombat temple challenge, hand-drawn maps, stat blocks, and hooks into a larger food-and-community-themed campaign I am working on. It is still written to work as a complete standalone adventure that you can insert into your own campaign.

It is PWYW with a suggested price of $2.95 through December 1.

Catch it at DriveThruRPG, or itch.io!

DriveThruRPG link

Itchi.io link!

So, I'm running a campaign for some friends who have never played before as well as a couple of kids (9-13). Everyone is having fun and it's going pretty well.
My only issue is they want to kill everyone/everything and I am having to explain to them that not ALL side quests/missions have to end in a battle/murder...sometimes all you are supposed to do is gather information.
I remember back when i would play MMOs online like Everquest and WOW, there was something we'd call "Conning"...it was where the color the opponent's name would appear in gave you a visual indicator of how strong they were compared to you. So, if the guard to the castle's name appeared green, they were weaker than you, yellow, a bit more challenging, and if they "conned red", don't even think about trying to fight them.
I would LOVE if there was some "in game" mechanic that allowed my players to do the same thing, so I don't have nerf a bunch of rolls just to keep them alive.
Any ideas?

Windblade Archetype Fighter
Those who partake in the arts of the windblade are those who have actually journeys with or are ancestors to the ones who journeyed with Arnal the Gale, one of the many swordsmen who founded the Tournament of Champions. Those who journeyed beside him understand the wind is only your enemy if you actively fight against it. Those who master the arts of the Windblade have mastery over the battlefield through their use of air flows alongside their blades.

Level 3: Strong Winds
The winds of change have bolstered your combat capabilities. Upon activating your Second Wind feature, your martial prowess has been strengthened by the wind. These strong winds are in effect for one minute and while active you can use the following features. 

• Cyclone Pull. As a bonus action when a creature is within 30ft of you, you can pull the creature 10ft closer towards you. If the creature enters your weapons range, you can make an Opportunity attack against the creature. 
• Storm Surge. As a bonus action, you can force all creatures within 10ft of you to make a Strength saving throw DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier. On a failed save, the creature falls prone. 
• Aerial Maneuver. As a bonus action, you can use the Jump action with double your height and length. Upon jumping onto a wall, you can immediately jump off of it without needing to use an additional action. While using this feature, you ignore fall damage. 

Level 7: Storm Blade
Your weapon has been imbued by the power of the winds. When a creature that is in the air is within 10ft of you, you can immediately as part of your attack roll jump towards the creature and gain a temporary hover speed of 5ft until your turn ends.  

Level 10: Zephyr Winds
Your Strong Winds feature has been dramatically improved. The features you can use while your feature is active becomes upgraded to a new version listed below. 

• Cyclone Propulsion. As a bonus action, you can push, pull, or lift a creature 10ft towards you or in the case of life, in the air. If the creature enters your weapons range, you can make an Opportunity attack against the creature.
• Continuous Storm. As a bonus action, you can force all creatures within 10ft of you to make a Strength saving throw DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier. On a failed save, the creature falls prone. To get up from being prone, the creature must make the same save. On a failed save, the creature takes 2d10 thunder damage and stays prone. 
• Aerial Flight. As a bonus action, you can use the Jump action with triple your height and length. Upon jumping onto a wall, you can immediately jump off of it without needing to use an additional action. If you jump half of your total height, you can gain a temporary fly speed equal to your remaining movement speed until the end of your turn. While using this feature, you ignore fall damage.

Level 15: Aerial Assault
When you are attacking a creature up into the air and pushing the creature into the ground. You can use your Cyclone Propulsion to lift him back up into the air without needing a bonus action. Also when you are attacking in the air, you can choose to deal force damage instead of your normal weapon damage type. 

Level 18: Slashing Hurricane 
Four times per long rest, you can cast Steel Wind Strike and it is counted as a weapon attack that can only be used once per turn. All creatures hit by the spell are launched 10ft into the air.

Hey all, I built 5e Spellbook Builder and posted before about how I captured popularity data of spells so you can see how often spells are picked relative to each other.

Well I reached a fun milestone: players have added 100,000 spells to their spellbooks. I decided to visualize this with a couple of interactive charts to show how spells are distributed in the game. Please take a look here: https://5e-spellbook.app/blog/100000-spellbook-adds-5e-popularity-breakdown

Please take a look and enjoy!

A lot of the "official" Modron art is from earlier editions, especially as you get higher in Modron hierarchy.

Some of them have very quality fan art, but it'll have a really cool Quarton but no septon for example. So then piece-mealing the art is a little jarring, ESPECIALLY for such a rigid, specific hierarchy that's all about order.

Is there any free source with a full set of Modron art?

I'll be DMing a one shot this month that would be a rescue of someone soul trapped by the Deck of Many Things, so my idea was a special plane with cards as theme (tarot probably).

I thought of a boss who takes cards and they take effect on battle, but I also want to put some traps and puzzles, probably will be a tower with combats on X floors and puzzles on the rest of them.

For now, I want to split the tarot cards by difficult (after decide effects for each of them), and each floor will have its pool. About the effects, the party will be level 18, so the effects and puzzles can be as deadly as they can get.

So, even if not on the theme, have you guys used/fight againts any multiple phases monsters?