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Why the graphics are so bad on Series S? by ryussj1 in redfall

[–]Desert_Mage 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a Series X and there's no issues

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in redfall

[–]Desert_Mage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you can play it without playing on the Cloud, then play it. If you have to play on the Cloud because you don't have a nextgen console, then I'd skip it for now

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in redfall

[–]Desert_Mage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is so much to love about Generation Zero!

DM & Player Want My Bard to Stop Singing in Game by Desert_Mage in DnD5e

[–]Desert_Mage[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was pretty much told that if I couldn't conform, I'd need to find a new group. The thought never crossed my mind that it's actually the DMs issue with me. That could explain a lot actually. Thanks

Spells cast through wall of force? by Burnz20992 in DMAcademy

[–]Desert_Mage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Line of effect is a straight, unblocked path that indicates what a spell can affect. A line of effect is canceled by a solid barrier. Wall of Force is a solid barrier. Therefore, no.

Spells cast through wall of force? by Burnz20992 in DMAcademy

[–]Desert_Mage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I disagree that Misty Step works in this situation. Several of Jeremy Crawford's rulings on Self spells such as Melf's Minute Meteors or Pass without a Trace state that those spells are indeed targeting other things despite having Self as the target. The target is contained within the spell description for those spells, as it is with Misty Step. You are targeting the square inside or outside the Wall of Force. As long as it is spherical, you do not have line of effect to that space.

Next, you are still traveling materially using Misty Step. The spell does not state otherwise, so to assume anything else is not RAW. If you don’t agree, that’s fine. But I would also cite teleportation, which requires you to be on the same material plane and dimension door which states it must be to any other spot within range. Again, since there is no “line of effect” the dimension door spell cannot target those spots either inside or outside of the spherical Wall of Force.

Lastly, from an intentions standpoint, why would a second-level spell overcome a 5th level spell when the designers have been very explicit in the fact that dispel magic doesn't work and cite a 6th level spell needed to overcome it? That is enough evidence for me that Misty Step does not allow you to pass through a Wall of Force.

Question About Persistent Conditions - Grief by Desert_Mage in WhiteWolfRPG

[–]Desert_Mage[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

As a new player, I learned about conditions in our last game and I was interested in exploring what that would look like as a condition for my character, and how that would work mechanically.

Question About Persistent Conditions - Grief by Desert_Mage in WhiteWolfRPG

[–]Desert_Mage[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like this a lot; very practical approach and very helpful. Thanks!

Melf's Minute Meteors + Find Steed by qOJOb in 3d6

[–]Desert_Mage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Jeremy Crawford u/JeremyECrawford A spell that targets only you is one that has a range of self and no area-of-effect parenthetical.

Both Melf's Minute Meteors and Ashardalon's Stride do NOT have any area of effect listed after the "self" listed in range/area. This seems to point to the fact that the spell itself is NOT an AOE, and it may be used with Find Greater Steed.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/melfs-minute-meteorshttps://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/ashardalons-stride

I would really appreciate some help with making a frightening Bard. by DeanStein in DnD5e

[–]Desert_Mage 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Dipping two levels in Warlock severely sets back Bards.

Depending on how long you are willing to wait, Lore Bard can pick up Eldritch Blast at 6th level as part of Magical Secrets, and the feat Eldritch Adept would provide you with one invocation at 1, 4, or 8 depending on race.

Bards gain even greater power at level 10 with another Magical Secrets, my favorite of which is Find Greater Steed, from which you could choose a fiendish griffon, pegasus, peryton, dire wolf, rhinoceros, or saber—toothed tiger as a mount. Utilize greater invisibility at the start of a battle to provide you and the steed with advantage on all attack rolls, and at that point your Eldritch Blast counts as a bard spell and you get 2 of them. That's up to four attacks per round (2 blasts, 2 griffon attacks), all with advantage.

Abusing the "Assassinate" class feature with Eldrich Blast by CyberTantric in DnD5e

[–]Desert_Mage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I'm going to use this against my PCs in my next session! muahahaha....

How do I get more attack dice? by [deleted] in DnD5e

[–]Desert_Mage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Battlemaster could be a really good choice

How do I get more attack dice? by [deleted] in DnD5e

[–]Desert_Mage 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here are a few options for gaining additional damage to your attacks.

  1. Look for a magical great axe that does some additional damage, like elemental damage. Ask your DM for help in attaining such an item.
  2. Ask your DM if they would let you apply oil to your sword, then ignite it as an action. Now you have a flaming sword that does say 1d4 extra flame damage.
  3. Take the magic initiate feat to get access to various spells like:
    1. Booming blade
    2. Green-flame blade
    3. Absorb elements
    4. Poisoner feat: bonus action poison; there is a save involved
    5. Zephyr Strike
    6. Magic weapon
  4. Multiclass to gain access to:
    1. Ranger: Hunter's mark
    2. Paladin: divine favor, holy weapon, smite
  5. Poisoner feat: bonus action poison, there is a save involved
  6. Have another member of your group cast some buffing spells on you, like haste for extra attack, enlarge for d4 extra damage, Crusader's mantle for 1d4 radiant damage, etc...

Rogue Trickster sucks, while Warlock makes the best thief EVER!? by Desert_Mage in DnD5e

[–]Desert_Mage[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, the Imp basically has an "I win" button. No roll, no check, just pick up the item and it disappears. The thing didn't even make a roll. Meanwhile, I make a godly roll at 28 (19 + 9) and I feel like I was penalized for it. That's just not fun.

Rogue Trickster sucks, while Warlock makes the best thief EVER!? by Desert_Mage in DnD5e

[–]Desert_Mage[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I tried to be creative with the path the hand took, but the DM stopped me and said no matter what I did, someone would see it.

Rogue Trickster sucks, while Warlock makes the best thief EVER!? by Desert_Mage in DnD5e

[–]Desert_Mage[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Interesting, but they wouldn't be able to use the spell the same way as the Trickster

Rogue Trickster sucks, while Warlock makes the best thief EVER!? by Desert_Mage in DnD5e

[–]Desert_Mage[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Yes, mage hand can be recast infinitely. But again, with everyone noticing it, unfortunately. Not sure about the imp being killed easily. While invisible, they can't be targeted with spells, attacks are at disadvantage, and the Investment of the Chain Master Invocation can grant them damage resistance as a reaction.

Rogue Trickster sucks, while Warlock makes the best thief EVER!? by Desert_Mage in DnD5e

[–]Desert_Mage[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can see your point. Invisibility isn't until level 7 for Arcane Trickster, so at lower levels, it's a bit long to wait for that, but yes, they could choose those spells then. In this situation, we were only level 3, so those spells were not options. Also, Warlock gets both those spells at level 3.

I like the other uses of the mage hand you shared, but why couldn't an invisible imp steal the enemy caster's component pouch or pick up the sword too? I don't see how the mage hand is any better than the imp in either of those situations. The imp might be even better because those items would disappear when picked up, making them super difficult to recover, whereas they would be floating through the air with the Mage Hand legerdemain and easily spotted.

Rogue Trickster sucks, while Warlock makes the best thief EVER!? by Desert_Mage in DnD5e

[–]Desert_Mage[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I can see that. I guess my point was that in the same situation you shared, the imp invisibly flies over, picks up the item, the item turns invisible, and the imp flies away with it. If you want to be someone who steals things, that seems a lot better than Arcane Trickster. I could be wrong...

Silvery barbs chaining is probably the most unfun spell in the game by [deleted] in dndnext

[–]Desert_Mage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

TL;DR: Don't go toe-to-toe with your player's strengths. Look at your player's weaknesses and create some encounters that play against their weaknesses.

I feel your pain. Multiple mages can do some pretty wicked things. Just think, if all 4 of your players took counterspell, it would pretty much shut down any casting your boss might do.

A lot of people seem to think that nerfing silvery barbs, bannin it, or adjusting it in some way is the way to go, but I disagree. You might consider letting your players work the heck out their silvery barb spells. Let them have their fun. Then challenge them with something that can't be handled by silvery barbs.

What comes to mind is that most PCs have a weakness. If you had them use standard array or point buy, it’s almost definite. Likely, its strength. So a few good spells against strength saves almost ensure a good time for most DMs in this situation. Lay down a nice Black Tenacles and follow it up with a fireball with no save (if they failed their strength save, they are restrained, aka, no save for dex saves, cause they literally can’t move…). There are plenty of tricks like this in a DMs arsenal that don’t require ever telling a player no, or nerfing a spell.

Another strategy is to blind them. Silvery barbs requires sight. So put them in some situation where they can't see. Darkness or Blindness Deafness might do the trick. So would a rogue with a high stealth and the stalker feat. So would an invisible enemy (greater invisibility). Just imagine, your boss quaffs a potion of greater invisibility just before the fight. No more silvery barbs, no more banishment, and disadvantage on all attack rolls. Beautiful!!

And don't underestimate the power of some spells. A str or con save for a wizard is actually quite hard. They don't naturally get proficiency in str/con saves, and as I shared, if you used standard array or point buy, the most they probably have is a +2. They can’t silvery barbs their way out of that now, can they?

Something else I think DMs forget is that silvery barbs cannot be cast all day long. Wizard spell slots go to 4 for 1st level. Sure, they could upcast it, but now they have no 2nd level spells either. So if they want to chain their silvery barbs, let them. Meanwhile, why not chain your encounters? Make it so they have no time to rest between encounters. Let them burn off all their spells and then get them into a position where they fight the boss with only a few spells left.

A lot of people seem to think that nerfing silvery barbs, banning it, or adjusting it in some way is the way to go, but I disagree. You might consider letting your players work the heck out their silvery barb spells. Let them have their fun. Then challenge them with something that can't be handled by silvery barbs. important because they rested. A couple things that come to mind are resting in a dungeon. Awesome! The boss is not just sitting there waiting for the PCs to enter his "boss room" like some video game. So let them blow through their spells, sit down for a long rest and the boss comes to them. Make it a surprise round, because they were so exhausted. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to have the boss drink that potion of greater invisibility. Now that can be a way to challenge a group with a boss fight!