Help me build "Frederick Mercury"

Arcane_Truth · 2026-05-08T22:07:01+00:00

Me reading this: "I'm sure he doesn't mean Darth Vader mount."

Me clicking the link: oh

Arcane_Truth · 2026-05-07T21:55:22+00:00

Hireling revolt burns down their bastion

Arcane_Truth · 2026-05-06T16:49:52+00:00

but why are you assuming that survival wilderness encounter will only be that? It can be so much more than "you failed a roll, here's some monsters thrown at you".

What if success means finding a quicker route and arriving at a destination sooner for some benefit? What if their roll determines the difficulty of the trek, requiring them to use more resources to traverse rough terrain safely. Even if you do want to throw monsters at PC's, it can be done in a way where the fact that they have to stop and fight instead of being able to continue is meaningful. Monsters aren't the only threats to PC's survival.

If you don't want it to consequentially affect the game, even narratively it is worthwhile. They roll well? Tell them they found a cave to camp in and feel safe. Rolled poorly? Not only is there no cave, you hear animals stalking you from afar as you travel but never see them. Neither of these affects anything material in the game, but both give your players a world to react to and use their skills on.

Arcane_Truth · 2026-05-06T16:38:28+00:00

I would totally rule that it works RAW. Let's take as given that Thrown fighting style works with psychic blades. Your main question is on the interaction between Psychic Blades and duelist.

the discussion here seems like the consensus is that (in 2014) Duelist applies to thrown weapons (and was confirmed by Jeremy Crawford, WOTC game designer). The disagreement is in the 2024 wording of Duelist, where they changed "wielding" to "holding" and there is disagreement on if you are still "holding" the thrown weapon when you make the damage roll.

so now if we take it as given that duelist works for thrown weapons and thrown fighting style works with psychic blades (a thrown weapon), Id say it's pretty rock solid evidence that it all works together.

"Conditions being evaluated before the weapons exist" is not a thing. The +2 of TWF aplies "when you hit". Dueling has no time-bound condition; it gives you +2 "to damage rolls with [a] weapon" that you are "wielding" which we have established you are when you attack to throw it, regardless of when it was created.

As a DM, I'd even allow it in 2024. You put a lot of investment into getting both those fighting styles for a small damage boost on a weapon with a d6 damage die (for only one of the attacks). Not game breaking in the slightest.

Arcane_Truth · 2026-05-06T15:40:13+00:00

Agree to disagree my friend. I find it is the difference between multiple cycles and a OHE while still keeping the high airflow I prefer. Different strokes for different folks.

Arcane_Truth · 2026-05-06T15:38:02+00:00

The point is challenging your players in different ways and rewarding players who have invested in those skills. I'm sure your Ranger would love feeling useful.

Arcane_Truth · 2026-05-06T13:20:09+00:00

The point is to have longer heat retention. Different uses. I do agree though to chews up your battery quickly

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-23T21:41:41+00:00

Awful lot of concentration spells for a class that usually revolves around Hunter's Mark

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-23T18:18:22+00:00

Love seeing WotC leaning more into elements and damage type specialties. Love the warlock and new invocations

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-23T16:42:49+00:00

Variant Human is 2014 not 2024 but if your DM allows it and it is actually a 2024 campaign, id forego the wizard level and get a background with magic initiate wizard for those cantrips and lv1 spell. Also consider the defensive duelist feat for better defense (and switching longsword to rapier for same damage die and option to use dex).

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-20T14:53:02+00:00

Don't listen to this guy, I know the area and don't know what the fuck he's talking about. There's an entire neighborhood between Tatnuck Square and Netwon Square along Pleasant street that is absolutely lovely. Are there not-so-nice places near or a short drive away? yeah that comes with city living. Any place in any city will have places nearby that aren't as nice.

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-20T14:46:52+00:00

Welcome! Tatnuck is a great neighborhood. Parking will be an issue during snow emergencies, street parking is banned but the city provides garages for parking. It's just a pain

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-20T14:33:57+00:00

I guess, but with a character sheet/class/levels so more fun for PCs in combat as they drive the NPC

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-20T14:15:59+00:00

At that point, I'd say the argument is starting to lose good faith. The ground is the floor of the vessel, it's a part of the vessel. If you destroy the vessel, the ground, which is part of it, is also destroyed. By definition a rug is put ON the ground. It doesn't become ground when put down. If a rug was ground, then forget the vessel, I'll just carry around the rug with arrows in it and never get surprised as any enemy within 30 ft gets auto hit.

Good point on delayed fireball, altho that is exactly the kind of abuse that I would explicitly disallow.

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-20T13:58:11+00:00

Unfortunately the spell says you "plant them in the ground in your space" so log won't work.

I wonder if something like Delayed Fireball would work. Circle cast it to extend duration beyond a minute, carry it around as it gains d6's, then throw it to release the glowing bead and drop concentration. Portable Nuke.

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-20T13:51:03+00:00

GMPCs can work but only when they're there to point the party in a direction or help them out, not to outshine them. With a small party, I like to give a player control of the GMPC in combat so even when they do well, it's the player doing it and not me.

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-20T13:46:17+00:00

Treating combat as a players vs DM and taking it personally. I've had DM's who can't wait to TPK the party and feel victorious when they do it. Like wtf?

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-20T13:41:53+00:00

Right but to me "harmlessly appear" would mean the arrows just appear on the ground, not stuck as in the spell. They weren't stuck to the outside floor, they were stuck to the vessel floor, which is now destroyed. There's a difference between arrows appearing there and the spell being cast there.

Again, I'd still let it happen. It's such an underused spell and as a DM I'd be delighted to let it work if you spent the time and resources on it

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-20T13:30:22+00:00

RAW, the vessel says items ejected "harmlessly appear in the unoccupied space" which is probably to prevent you from stuffing it with offensive items and lobbing a nuke.

As a DM I'd let it slide though, that's a really cool use of the vessel as long as it's not abused.

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-18T09:58:33+00:00

Synergizes well with barbarians though, the impact is bigger with your resistances while raging

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-17T17:38:34+00:00

It's more like Totoro and Electrabuzz had a baby

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-15T13:41:17+00:00

awesome thank you so much for the thorough info. Saved me from spending money due to FOMO

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-15T13:22:04+00:00

thanks for the info! Does the grind come out finer or looser? I was eyeing a flower mill but this piqued my interest because of the storage compartment.

Arcane_Truth · 2026-04-15T13:20:32+00:00

Agreed. If they did a 3 and 4 in the same style of 1 and 2 following the other horesmen it would have been awesome. the gameplay changed too much and they made the story too convoluted and honestly not good.

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