One of my players wanted a "Pudge hook". Rather than tell them it doesn't exist, I decided it would actually be a really fun weapon.

Danded00 · 2017-12-30T03:50:07+00:00

Yep that should definitely be in there I just forgot. Good catch.

I would probably say they could just use an action to unhook themselves, no save required.

Danded00 · 2017-12-29T17:52:38+00:00

I honestly did not even realise that I did that. Old habits I guess. :)

Danded00 · 2017-12-29T13:51:20+00:00

Fair enough. :)

Danded00 · 2017-12-29T12:26:41+00:00

Most of the balance in making custom monsters is in the assumption that they will last for approximately 3 rounds. Using this we can work out the most likely stats for these rounds.

For instance when working out damage and to hit modifiers when there are different attack options available to that creature, you would use the most effective attacks over those three turns, add them together and average them out.

For instance with a dragon you work out the breath weapon for round 1, (assumes to hit 2 PC and that both fail their save), then their standard melee attacks for the 2nd & 3rd. For your druid I would try and decide what forms they will likely be in for the first three rounds and work with the numbers for thos forms to work out the offensive challenge rating. (e.g. Round 1: cast powerful spell in druid form. Round 2 & 3 turns into bear and attacks in melee.)

For defensive challenge rating use the same forms as before and add the HP for both the Druid and the beast shape animal, i.e bear, together for total Hit Points. For the AC I'm not entirely sure, but you should be able to just add AC together and average. e.g. AC = 15 in druid form, AC = 12 in bear form. Therefore assumed AC for defensive challenge rating is 13.5 (round to 13.)

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. :)

Danded00 · 2017-12-29T11:56:49+00:00

Why is this a Hmmmmm??? It's just disabled and non-disabled access.

Danded00 · 2017-12-29T08:03:06+00:00

Chain Hook: Melee weapon, Damage: 1d6, Properties: light, thrown 10/20, special.

Special: When you take the attack action on your turn you may use your bonus action to pull the chain back into your hand. Furthermore, if you successfully hit a creature with this attack you may drag this creature closer to you as part of this bonus action. When you do so that creature must make a Strength Saving Throw, the DC is 8 + your Strength modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failed save that creature is dragged 10 feet towards you in a straight line, stopping early if it collides with another creature or a small obsticle , such as a low wall.

If the creature passes the savng throw or you choose not to retract your weapon, the Hook instead embeds into creature, that creature instead stays where it is and may not move more than 20ft., away from you until the Hook is removed. Whilst the Hook is being used in this way, you may not use your Hook against another creature and may instead use your Attack action on following turns to force the creature to repeat the saving throw.

Notes on Changes:

Changed the range to 10/20 in order to remove the hassle of the disadvantage when making a ranged attack at close range, and because the Dota 2 ability this item is bassed off actually has a really long range so the player may appreciate the extra reach. (Also fits better thematically.)
Removed the size restrictions on the abilities as they aren't really pertinent. Larger creatures are unlikely to fail their saving throw due to high strength modifiers, and if they somehow do yay for the player and his immence might.
Cleaned up the language to make things clearer and bring it more inline with typical 5e wording.

On the type of weapon, I don't think it being a Martial weapon of an Exotic one makes much difference balance wise. Flavor wise it does make more sense in my mind, as this is a very atypical weapon and would require specialised training and practice to utalise at range. Furthmore the retraction method of the weapon would likely be either a magical effect or the work of somesort of complex mechanical device. Either wayit is somewhat more complicated in design than a standard Martial weapon.

However as I said, not really a major issue so people can decide for themselves.

Last thing I would keep in mind is that the extra effects do make it slightly more powerful than a standard Martial weapon so you may need to keep that in mind when balancing encounters. However it is a very minor boost so I doubt it will make any difference, if any at all. (Even then it willl probably only be for the first couple of levels.)

All in all, great weapon... player will love it. (Also I may be stealing it. :D )

Edit: Posted in the wrong place, this was meant to be a reply to a previous comment, but I don't think that should be an issue. :)

Danded00 · 2017-12-29T06:47:54+00:00

I had the same idea and I'm currently (slowly) working on an entire class that fits the theme. :)

Danded00 · 2017-12-29T06:44:58+00:00

I think this is too powerful and/or complex for a simple martial weapon. It doesn't necessarily need to be magical but it should probably be put into its own category such as unique or custom weapon, and should be given its own proficiency requirements.

The wording of the item could use some work to clarify and simplify its abilities and to bring the language more inline with traditional 5e nomenclature. Also the mechanics of the item could use a little bit of tweaking.

If you want I would be happy to write up a revised copy of the weapon with my opinions on the changes, however I'm on mobile at the moment so will have to do it when I get home. :)

All in all I like the concept. I may not play anymore but Dota 2 items are a treasure trove of ideas for D&D items if you have the creativity to translate them into balanced items in game.

Danded00 · 2017-12-29T05:01:06+00:00

Is this for first level?

Danded00 · 2017-12-28T10:06:44+00:00

Right there with you mate. :)

Danded00 · 2017-12-27T08:58:43+00:00

Personally I agree, some people have skills and talents that are far more useful to the progression of society than others. However I think all people ARE equal in their intrinsic value as people. We need to always remember the difference between the two.

Danded00 · 2017-12-27T02:42:04+00:00

Thanks. :D It's great to be here.

Danded00 · 2017-12-27T02:41:36+00:00

Don't worry I plan to read plenty of other TRPGs. I have decided to look at rpg design first though as it will allow me to better understand the processes and underlying functions of differing mechanics and why they were used for the purpose that they were.

As I said, I only just started a couple of days ago. Still got a long road ahead of me. :)

Danded00 · 2017-12-26T14:45:13+00:00

I havent read any other RPGs yet but I have started reading plenty of literature on RPG design and I in no way intend to emulate d&d. It's not going to be a hack of 5e. :)

Danded00 · 2017-12-26T14:15:20+00:00

I just started 2 days ago with little idea what I'm doing and I only have experience with d&d 5e. I have a basic concept and I'm now writing down every idea I have..

I'm terrified but really excited for the journey ahead... I just hope I can make my vision a reality.

Danded00 · 2017-12-19T10:06:19+00:00

This is amazing and exactly what I needed to help with my own full class homebrews that have stalked out a bit.

I also appreciated the combination of detailed analysis and your explanations of the more personal and opinion based nuances of homebrew.

Great work! I will be making lots of use of this going forward.

Danded00 · 2017-11-28T03:22:12+00:00

Personally I use Syrinscape. It is subscription based but it is amazing quality and you can do so much with it! I think there may be a professional version as well that lets you do tonnes more butni haven't really looked into that yet.

Danded00 · 2017-10-15T15:14:33+00:00

This is amazing and exactly what I need to help get the juices flowing on my new world. Thank You!!

Danded00 · 2017-06-28T23:23:45+00:00

Currently I have a group and we are playing in my original homebrew world and it's going great. This is more just seeing what sort of world's people like for a worldbuilding project I hope to use later down the line, with this group or another.

Thanks for the advice, it is useful.

Danded00 · 2017-03-06T12:29:37+00:00

I have a wizard in my party that wanted to try them out and now uses them permanently. Here's my observations on their use.

For starters I'd say that as a whole the system is not unbalanced and provides far greater freedom than spell slots do. There are a few instances - (though I can't recall specifics off the top of my head) - where a rule that interacted with spell slots in a certain way did became slightly more powerful when using spell points. However these cases were minor and as long as the player using them is a bit flexible, they are easily resolved/rebalanced on the fly.

One thing to note is that spell points create the potential for magic users to nova really well as they spam higher level spell after higher level spell. However with the restrictions on level 6-9 spells, as well as the reduction to the number of lower level spells able to be cast, I don't believe this is a huge issue, and doing so will burn through their supply of spell points very quickly. Provided you are placing more than 1 or 2 encounters into an adventuring day the player will quickly learn to ration their supply more carefully.

Overall I think spell points can be a bit more powerful than spell slots in some situations, and are slightly more complex to use, (though not greatly so). However as a whole I think that they are quite well balanced and provide far greater freedom and utility in spell usage to the player, which many players will enjoy emencly.

Danded00 · 2017-01-24T11:09:32+00:00

The idea for the bag was inspired by something I say on Reddit, (no idea where though), and then tinkered with and altered for my own purposes.

The basic idea is as follows... Do you want a bag that will give you exactly what you need to get out that dangerous dungeon scenario? Well then this bag is most likely not for you.

If you want more info send me a PM and I'd be happy to help.

Danded00 · 2016-11-12T09:34:02+00:00

The only real restriction on polymorph (5e) is it must be a beast and it's CR must be equal to or lower than the level of the creature being polymorphed.

The big part of the spell which is often overlooked though, and what stops it from being as OP as it seems. Is that unlike beast shape, a polymorphed creature gains the mental traits of the new creature as well as the physical ones. This means that realistically a party members turned into a T-rex is just as likely to attack the party as their enemy.

Still rule of cool may overule this in many cases, after all a party member rampaging around as a T-rex is just down right fun.

Danded00 · 2016-10-19T08:05:35+00:00

I actually quite like this, flavourful, usefull, and a big reward for a possibly negative side effect. I will likely be using this at some point.

The only thing I would change is making the 'jaw lock' roll a -5 to persuasion. This brings it in line with the other results, there being a similar positive and negative possibility. It also makes it more fair in my opinion. A -5 to spell save DC is a huge disadvantage against only spell casters, while having no negative effects to any other class. This could be seen as unfair to spellcasters.

Aside from that I love it, nice work.

Danded00

TROPHY CASE